The La Mouette Samson is a French
electric-powered ultralight trike, designed by Gérard Thevenot and produced by
La Mouette of
Fontaine-lès-Dijon
Fontaine-lès-Dijon () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.
It is known for the Couvent et Basilique Saint-Bernard, a collection of buildings on the site of the birthplace of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.
Population
Se ...
. The aircraft is supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.
[Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 216. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X]
Design and development
The aircraft was designed 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 category as a single- or two-seater, and also to comply with the US
FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles
Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries.
In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not requ ...
rules when flown as a single-seater. It features a
cable-braced hang glider-style
high-wing, weight-shift controls, a two-seats-in-
tandem open cockpit,
tricycle landing gear and a single
electric motor 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 is made from bolted-together
aluminum tubing, with its single surface wing covered in
Dacron sailcloth. Its wing is supported by a single tube-type
kingpost and uses an "A" frame weight-shift control bar. Powerplant options are electric motors of for solo use and a motor for dual use. Due to its simple design the Samson can be folded up and stowed in the trunk of an automobile, with the wing carried on the roof rack. The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of .
The aircraft can be fitted with up to three batteries that give an endurance of 40 minutes at full power, or 80 minutes at normal cruise. The standard wing supplied is a La Mouette design.
Specifications (Samson)
References
External links
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{{La Mouette aircraft
Samson
2010s French sport aircraft
2010s French ultralight aircraft
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Electric aircraft
Ultralight trikes
High-wing aircraft