The ELA 07 is a series of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-d ...

s, designed and produced by

ELA Aviación ELA Aviación, SL () is a Spanish aircraft manufacturer based in Córdoba, Andalusia. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Direc ...

of Córdoba, Andalusia. The aircraft are supplied complete and ready to fly.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 179-180. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 192. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

The ELA 07 series features a single main rotor, a two-seats-in-

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 ...

open cockpit with a windshield,

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 ...

with

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. ...

and a four-cylinder, air-cooled,

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

dual-ignition Dual Ignition is a system for spark-ignition engines, whereby critical ignition components, such as spark plugs and magnetos, are duplicated. Dual ignition is most commonly employed on aero engines,Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, ...

Rotax 912S engine in

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 ...

. The

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

Rotax 914 The Rotax 914 is a turbo-charged, four-stroke, four-cylinder, horizontally opposed aircraft engine with air-cooled cylinders and water-cooled cylinder heads. It is designed and built by the Austrian company BRP-Powertrain, owned by Bombardier ...

powerplant is optional. The aircraft

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

is made from

TIG welded Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW, also known as tungsten inert gas welding or TIG, tungsten argon gas welding or TAG, and heliarc welding when helium is used) is an arc welding process that uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode to produce the ...

, CNC laser-cut

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

tubing for corrosion resistance. The

cockpit fairing 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. ...

is non-structural

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

and resin. Its diameter rotor has a chord of and is mounted to a rotor head made from a combination of stainless steel and 7075 T6 aluminium. The triple tail is also made from carbon fibre and resin. Equipment fitted includes a pre-rotator, pneumatic pitch trim and mechanical roll trim. The Cougar version has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . A forward baggage compartment with a volume of is optional.

Operational history

By January 2013 two examples had been registered in the United Kingdom with the Civil Aviation Authority.

Variants

;ELA 07 Agro :

Agricultural aircraft An agricultural aircraft is an aircraft that has been built or converted for agricultural use – usually aerial application of pesticides (crop dusting) or fertilizer (aerial topdressing); in these roles, they are referred to as "crop duste ...

version with the rear seat replaced by a tank that can be used to apply liquids or solids in ultra-low volumes. The aircraft fits an spray boom and an enlarged windshield. The Agro can be quickly returned to two-seat configuration by removal of the spraying equipment. ;ELA 07 Cougar :Version for recreational touring use, with a single windshield for the front cockpit. ;ELA 07S :Version for

flight training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

use, with two windshields, one for each cockpit, plus dual controls.

Specifications (ELA 07 Cougar)

References

External links

* {{ELA aircraft 07 2000s Spanish sport aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined pusher autogyros