The APEV Pouchel II () is a French amateur-built aircraft, designed by Daniel Dalby and produced by APEV of Peynier. The aircraft was supplied as plans or as a kit for amateur construction, but is no longer available. It has been replaced in production by the APEV Pouchel LightBertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 122. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X

Design and development

The Pouchel II replaced the original APEV Pouchel in production. The original Pouchel was constructed using three commercially available

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

ladders, hence APEV is the Association pour la Promotion des Echelles Volantes, or in English, Association for the Promotion of Flying Ladders. Later the ladder manufacturer grew concerned about liability and refused to supply any more ladders. The Pouchel was then re-designed to use aeronautical rectangular aluminium tubing in place of the original ladders and the new aircraft was designated the Pouchel II. The Pouchel series are all derivatives of the classic 1930s

Henri Mignet Henri Mignet (19 October 1893 – 31 August 1965) was a French radio engineer who became well known as an aircraft designer and builder.Ellis & Jones (1990)Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', page 142. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Mon ...

-designed

Mignet Pou-du-Ciel The Flying Flea () is a large family of light homebuilt aircraft first flown in 1933. The odd name comes from the French nickname for the Ford Model T automobile: ''Pou de la Route'', or "Louse of the Road", because Henry Ford's economy car ...

(Flying Flea). The Pouchel II features a cantilever rear wing with a

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 struts, which act in ...

parasol An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy (building), canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionall ...

front wing, a single-seat open cockpit without a windshield, fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...

. The aircraft is made from bolted-together aluminium tubing, with its flying surfaces covered in

Dacron Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods ...

sailcloth. Its span front wing and span rear have a combined area of and both employ NACA 23112

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

s. The prototype used a Rotax 447

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

powerplant, but the Rotax 377 is also recommended. The

Hirth F-33 The Hirth F-33 is a Single cylinder engine, single cylinder, two stroke, carburetor, carburetted aircraft engine designed for use on ultralight aircraft, including Powered paragliding, powered paragliders and ultralight trikes. the engine is n ...

has also been fitted.

Specifications (Pouchel II)

References

External links

Official website
{{APEV aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Pouchel II Tandem-wing aircraft