Two French manufacturers are reverting to bois et toile (wood and fabric) for ultra-modern aircraft. Both of their aircraft will be electrically powered, and both will use non-traditional approaches to construction. In the meantime, both have fairly traditional demonstration models. The French have done wonders with wooden aircraft from the very beginning of aviation. Santos Dumont built the petite Demoiselle with bamboo longerons, for instance, and Henri Mignet crafted his diminutive Pou du Ciel (flea of the sky, or flying flea) from available wood. After World War Two, Messrs Joly and Delemontez fashioned a small single-seater, the Jodel D-9, from wood and ply and powered it with converted VW Kubelwagen engines, Jeep-like German vehicles which littered scrap yards and former battlefields. Avions Mauboussin and Aura Aero use more modern power systems and vastly different approaches to bois and toile structures. Mauboussin Mauboussin goes back to prewar times with small aircraft that look as though they could have come from a …
An Airplane With a Familiar Rung to It
APEV, the Association Pour la Promotion des Eschelles Volantes, or the Association for the Promotion of Flying Ladders, began life creating Pou de Ciels (Flying Fleas) based on a fuselage made from a popular, commercially-available aluminum ladder (“Electrified Minions of Mignet,” February 1, 2010). The ease of construction made these a big hit in France, and the group’s latest effort, an aluminum and Diatex 1000 fabric tribute to Alberto Santos-Dumont’s Demoiselle, appeared at last weekend’s Green Aviation Show at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France. The Demoichellec (the name comes from the use of l’echelle, or ladder, and the “ec” indicates an electric powerplant) is the latest brainchild of the APEV people. Although legal threats caused them to give up the use of actual ladders several years ago, the ladder-like appearance and the shiny aluminum remain. Demoichellec’s wings have a single 50 millimeter by 100 millimeter (about two inches by four inches) aluminum spar, wood-reinforced Styodur ribs, and no ailerons. Each wing panel pivots …