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The Canaero Toucan is a Canadian high-wing, two seats in
In Canada Toucans are registered as
tandem
Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...
, twin engine push-pull configuration
An aircraft constructed with a push-pull configuration has a combination of forward-mounted Tractor configuration, tractor (pull) Propeller (aircraft), propellers, and backward-mounted (pusher configuration, pusher) propellers.
Historical
The e ...
, twin-boom ultralight
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 conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...
kit aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...
that was produced from 1983 to the late 1980s by Canaero Dynamics Aircraft of Rexdale, Ontario
Rexdale is a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located north-west of the central core, in the district of Etobicoke. Rexdale defines an area of several official neighbourhoods north of Highway 401 (Ontario), Highway 401 and east of Highwa ...
.Taylor, John WR: ''Janes All the Worlds Aircraft 1986-87'' Page 662-663, Janes Publishing Company, 1986.
The Toucan greatly resembles an ultralight Cessna Skymaster
The Cessna Skymaster is an American twin-engine civil utility aircraft built in a push-pull configuration. Its engines are mounted in the nose and rear of its pod-style fuselage. Twin booms extend aft of the wings to the vertical stabilizers, ...
.
Design and development
The Toucan design work started in January 1983 and was completed in April of the same year, with the first flight of the prototype in September 1983. Construction of the first pre-production aircraft was started in July 1985 with the first production aircraft flying in January 1986. Four prototypes/pre-production aircraft were completed, which were followed by a run of twelve Toucans, all completed by June 1986. A second batch of 25 aircraft were planned to have been completed by November 1986 as well. The Toucan design features astrut
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 high wing built from 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 ...
covered with aircraft fabric
Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...
. The wing's leading edge is of "D" cell construction and has fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...
wing tip
A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft.
Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...
s. Flight controls are conventional three-axis with full-span flaperons
A flaperon (a portmanteau of ''flap'' and ''aileron'') on an aircraft's wing is a type of control surface that combines the functions of both flaps and ailerons. Some smaller kitplanes have flaperons for reasons of simplicity of manufacture, ...
and twin 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 ...
s. The fuselage is constructed from welded 4130 steel
41xx steel is a family of SAE steel grades, as specified by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Alloying elements include chromium and molybdenum, and as a result these materials are often informally referred to as chromoly steel (common va ...
tube. When originally delivered an airframe parachute was standard.
The landing gear is of tricycle 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 ...
configuration with the main gear legs of sprung steel and brakes are standard equipment. Wheel pants
An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. ...
, skis and pontoons were optional.
The original engines were Rotax 277
The Rotax 277 is a , Single-cylinder engine, single-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, that was built by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catalog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge ...
s with Rotax 377
The Rotax 377 is a , twin-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, that was built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catalog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995.
Development
Th ...
engines as optional, although some aircraft have been modified with larger engines.
Operational history
In Canada Toucans are registered as basic ultralight
The Canadian Aviation Regulations define two types of ultralight aircraft: basic ultra-light aeroplane (BULA), and advanced ultra-light aeroplane (AULA).
Definition
Regulation of ultra-light aircraft in Canada is covered by the Canadian A ...
s which prohibits passenger-carrying. Both seats can only be occupied by a student and instructor or two licensed pilots.
In November 2016 there were still five Toucans registered in Canada.
Aircraft on display
* Alberta Aviation Museum - in long term storage (2019)Specifications (Toucan T-IV)
References
External links
{{commons category Twin-boom aircraft Twin-engined push-pull aircraft Homebuilt aircraft 1980s Canadian ultralight aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1983