The Beaujon Enduro is a single-seat,
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
high-wing,
pusher configuration
In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, wh ...
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 Aircraft flight control system, conventional three-a ...
. The Enduro was introduced in 1978 and remains available as plans from
Beaujon Aircraft of
Ardmore, Oklahoma
Ardmore is the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 24,725 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 1.8% increase over the 2010 census figure of 24,283. The Ardmo ...
.
[Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page B-8. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. ]
Development
The Enduro is an early ultralight design that was first developed before the United States ultralight category and its
FAR 103 ''Ultralight Vehicles'' rules were finalized, but it fits into the requirements including the category's maximum empty weight.
With the originally specified
Briggs & Stratton
Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of small engines with headquarters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Engine production averages 10 million units per year as of April 2015. The company reports that it has 13 large faciliti ...
401417, four-stroke, 656 cc, lawn mower powerplant the aircraft has an empty weight of . The engine burns only per hour giving an endurance of 5 hours on the specified of fuel, hence the aircraft's name.
Reviewer Andre Cliche says of Beaujon's designs that they are "beautifully simple".
Design
The Enduro's wing and tail structure include wooden aircraft-grade spruce spars with
polystyrene
Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It i ...
foam ribs. The constant-chord, wooden-framed wing and the tail surfaces are covered with
poplar plywood. The wing is
strut
A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension.
A stay is sometimes used as a synonym for ...
-braced.
The
tricycle landing gear
Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...
features a fixed tail skid just behind the cockpit, steel-sprung main-gear suspension and a nose skid. Like many pusher ultralight aircraft the Enduro sits on its tail skid when unoccupied and on its nose skid when a pilot is sitting in the seat. No brakes are specified in the design.
The controls are three-axis, with an overhead-mounted control column. The
rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...
and
ailerons
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
are designed to be interconnected and controlled via the control wheel.
The open frame fuselage consists of 6061T6
aluminum
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 ...
tubing and a single open pilot's seat. The powerplant is installed behind the pilot and above the fuel tank.
Beaujon Aircraft supplies plans for the Enduro as part of a package which includes plans for eight ultralight craft as well as a 31-page manual.
Specifications (Enduro)
See also
References
External links
Official websitePhoto of a modified Enduro
{{Beaujon Aircraft
Single-engined pusher aircraft
1970s United States ultralight aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1978