The Botali P.A.M.A or Botali-du Rivau P.A.M.A. Type 1 was a very low power

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

single seat aircraft built in 1934 to a target price of 20,000 Francs.

Design and development

In order to meet a target price of 20,000 Francs set by the Air Ministry a decade before, Botali designed a 1930s version of the very low power light aircraft that competed in the

Lympne light aircraft trials The Lympne Light Aircraft Trials were held to encourage the development of practical light aircraft for private ownership, with a strong but not exclusive emphasis on fuel economy. They were held in 1923, 1924 and 1926. Each year saw different rest ...

of the 1920s. Unlike the earlier aircraft, his design had an enclosed cabin and robust

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Marti ...

. His P.A.M.A. designation stood for ''planeur à moteur auxiliary'', or motor glider. Built in collaboration with du Rivau, the Botali P.A.M.A was a

high wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

, braced

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

. In plan its two-piece wing was rectangular apart from rounded tips. It was built around two

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ( taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the sub ...

and plywood box

spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well ...

s apart and ply covered. The wings were wire braced on each side, with a pair of stout

flying wires 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 ...

from the lower

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 ...

to the spars and thinner

landing wires 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 ...

from a triangular steel tube cabane on the upper fuselage. Long

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 t ...

, with a

chord Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

of only occupied the entire

trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 199 ...

. The fabric covered fuselage of the Botali was flat-sided, with four

longerons In engineering, a longeron and stringer is the load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural ...

connected by spruce diagonal members. At the front two vertical frames defined the cabin and carried the engine bearings, braced by a

rhomboidal Traditionally, in two-dimensional geometry, a rhomboid is a parallelogram in which adjacent sides are of unequal lengths and angles are non-right angled. A parallelogram with sides of equal length (equilateral) is a rhombus but not a rhomboid. ...

frame to the wing

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

. Its horizontal cylinder-shaped nose had the air-cooled

Poinsard The Poinsard 25 hp or Mengin Type B is a small, two-cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally opposed aircraft engine built in France. it was manufactured by Établissements Pierre Mengin from a design by René Poinsard. Power was around 19 k ...

flat twin A flat-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders on opposite sides of the crankshaft. The most common type of flat-twin engine is the boxer-twin engine, where both pistons move inwards and outwards at the same ti ...

attached to it externally. Immediately behind the engine, where the upper half of the fuselage was entirely glazed, was the wide cabin, with two more windows aft. Access was via a starboard side door. Behind the cabin the fuselage tapered, markedly in plan, to the tail. This was conventional, with a triangular

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

and rectangular

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw a ...

that reached to the keel. The

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplan ...

and separate

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They ar ...

s were also rectangular in plan apart from a deep cut-out in the latter for rudder movement. The Botali's

was simple: on each side a wheel was mounted on the apex of three steel tubes, two from the lower longeron and a third to the nose framework about halfway up the fuselage. Dunlop balloon tyres provided shock absorbing deflections of more than . there was a long steel spring tailskid. It was flown for the first time on 22 May 1934 by Pierre Pharabod at Toussus-Paris, who reported good handling. In December 1934 the P.A.M.A. Type 1 was successfully demonstrated at Orly by Cressaty, flying along with several other French light aircraft in very wet and windy weather; a

Mignet Pou-de-Ciel The Flying Flea (french: Pou du Ciel, lit=Louse of the Sky) is a large family of light homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional ...

took the honours. It was displayed at the 14th Paris Aero-Salon in the same month.

Specifications

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite journal , date=21 June 1934, title=L'avion de "20.000 francs" Botaili-P.A.M.A. , journal=Les Ailes , issue=679 , pages=3, url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6576044c/f3 {{cite journal , date=13 December 1934, title=de Toussus à Orly , journal=Les Ailes , issue=704 , pages=6–7, url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6576072p/f6 {{cite journal , date=December 1934 , title=L'avionettte BOTALI "PAMA", journal=L'Aérophile , pages=24, url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65536869/f26 {{cite web , url=http://www.aviafrance.com/botali-du-rivau-p-a-m-a-type-1-aviation-france-10222.htm, title=Botali-du Rivau P.A.M.A. type 1 , author=Bruno Parmentier , date=12 May 2010, accessdate=8 March 2016 1930s French sport aircraft High-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1934 Motor gliders