The Celier XeWing (contraction of ''Xenon Wing'') is a Polish

ultralight aircraft Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

that was designed by Frenchman Raphael Celier and produced by his company

Celier Aviation Celier Aviation is an aircraft manufacturer, founded by Raphael Celier in France in 1993. The company was moved to Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland in 2006 and Safi, Malta in 2017. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros a ...

of Jaktorów-Kolonia, Poland. It was introduced at AERO Friedrichshafen in 2009. The aircraft was intended to be supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 34. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X By 2012 the company was no longer advertising the XeWing and it is unlikely that it progressed beyond the prototype stage.

Design and development

The XeWing was developed by mating the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

from the Celier Xenon 2

gyroplane An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...

with a newly designed

strut-braced In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

parasol wing in place of the rotor system. The aircraft was intended to comply with the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintai ...

microlight rules. It features a two-seats-in-

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

enclosed cockpit, fixed

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

and a single engine in

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

. The aircraft wing is made from

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

sheet, has a span of and an area of . The wing can be folded for ground transportation and storage. The standard engine specified was the Rotax 912ULS

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

powerplant. Despite the commonality of the fuselage and engine package with the Xenon 2, the XeWing cannot swap its fixed wing for a rotor system.

Specifications (XeWing)

References

{{Celier Aviation aircraft 2000s Polish ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft High-wing aircraft Twin-boom aircraft