The Druine D.60 Condor is a light aircraft designed by Roger Druine in France in the 1950s. Druine’s primary aim was to design a trainer aircraft for amateur construction. The Condor was subsequently made in quantity in the UK by Rollason Aircraft & Engines.Jackson 1988, pp. 548-550.

History

The first Condor ''F-WBIX'' first flew in 1956. The Condor was an evolution of the

Druine Turbi __NOTOC__ The Druine D.5 Turbi was a light aircraft designed in France in the 1950s for home building. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed tailskid undercarriage. The pilot and a single passenger sat in tandem, open cockpits. Essenti ...

, but featured an extensively revised fuselage allowing the pilot and instructor to sit side by side under a full canopy. Norman Jones, the founder of the Tiger Club and owner of Rollason Aircraft & Engines, had already had a number of

Druine Turbulent The Druine D.31 Turbulent is a French single-seat ultralight Homebuilt aircraft designed by Roger Druine.Jackson Vol 2 1988, p. 303. Development The D.31 Turbulent was designed to be amateur-built and is a single-seat ultra-light aircraft with c ...

s built by his company and hit upon the idea of developing the Condor for the demands of club flying. With a number of refinements to the design, Rollason Aircraft and Engines undertook series production at

Croydon Airport Croydon Airport was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. It opened in 1920, located near Croydon, then part of Surrey. Built in a Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical style, it was developed as Britain's main airp ...

from 1961 as the Rollason Condor. As Croydon had closed for flying in 1959, all aircraft were transported to Redhill, where they were reassembled and test flown. Norman Jones was keenly interested in the development of Flying Clubs and so made Condors available on favourable loan terms. To emphasise the fact that his company was entirely independent and un-subsidised, Norman Jones had painted on the rudder of one aircraft the legend "British Made - Private Enterprise and No Taxpayers Money". In 1973, Rollasons ceased all aircraft work at Croydon and moved to Shoreham where a single Condor was completed. A number of unfinished fuselages were sold off for possible completion as amateur-built aircraft; one of these was ''G-BADM'', registered to Rollasons in 1972 and subsequently completed in 1994 by an amateur. Borea in France also produced the D.61 Condor.

Variants

;D.60: Druine's prototype with 65 hp CNA D.4 ;D.61: Druine production variant with 65 hp

Continental A65 The Continental O-170 engine is the collective military designation for a family of small aircraft engines, known under the company designation of A50, A65, A75 and A80. The line was designed and built by Teledyne Continental Motors, Continental ...

;D.62: Druine or Rollason variant with 75 hp Continental A75 - 1 built by Rollason, later upgraded to 90 hp

Continental C90 The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in3 (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''Federal Aviation Admini ...

;D.62A: Rollason variant with 100 hp

Continental O-200-A The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in3 (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''Federal Aviation Admini ...

- 2 built ;D.62B: Rollason variant from 1964 with 4" shorter fuselage and flaps - 41 completed; some subsequently converted to D.62C standard ;D.62C: Rollason variant with 130 hp Continental O-240-A for glider towing - 4 built

Specifications (D.62B)

References

Bibliography

* * * * *Jackson, A. J. ''British Civil Aircraft 1919-1972 Vol 3'', 2nd Edition (reprint) 1988. London: Putnam

External links

*http://www.rollason-condor.co.uk/ {{Druine aircraft 1950s French civil trainer aircraft

Condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua language, Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. One species, the And ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1950