The Ellipse Fuji is a French
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 conf ...
, single-place,
hang glider
Hang gliding is an air sports, air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or Composite ma ...
that was designed and produced by
La société Ellipse of
Étuz
Étuz is a commune in the Haute-Saône department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geog ...
.
[Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', pages 43 and 98. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X]
Design and development
The Fuji was designed as an intermediate hang glider for local recreational and cross-country flying. Built in four sizes, it is also suitable for adding a motorized harness for
powered hang glider
A foot-launched powered hang glider (FLPHG), also called powered harness, nanolight, or hangmotor, is a powered hang glider harness with a motor and propeller in pusher configuration. An ordinary hang glider is used for its wing and control fram ...
operations.
Typical of the series, the Fuji 15 is made from
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It h ...
tubing, with the wing 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 food ...
sailcloth. Its span wing is
cable braced from a single
kingpost
A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, supports items above f ...
. The nose angle is 122° and the
aspect ratio is 6.6:1. The model number indicates the approximate wing area in square metres.
Operational history
The Fuji 15 is used on the
DTA Alizés nanotrike and the
Electravia Electro Trike.
Variants
;Fuji 13
:Extra-small sized model with a wing area of , wing span of , aspect ratio of 6.3:1 and a pilot hook-in weight range of .
;Fuji 14
:Small sized model with a wing area of , wing span of , aspect ratio of 7.1:1 and a pilot hook-in weight range of .
;Fuji 15
:Medium sized model with a wing area of , wing span of , aspect ratio of 6.6:1 and a pilot hook-in weight range of .
;Fuji 16
:Large sized model with a wing area of , wing span of , aspect ratio of 6.3:1 and a pilot hook-in weight range of .
;Fuji 16 Moteur
:Large sized model, structurally reinforced for motorized flight, with a wing area of , wing span of , aspect ratio of 6.3:1 and a pilot hook-in weight range of .
Specifications (Fuji 16)
References
{{Ellipse aircraft
Hang gliders