The Starck AS-80 Holiday is a conventional two-seat, single-engine

high-wing 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 ...

designed and built in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

around 1950. It was sold in kit form but only a few were completed.

Design and development

The Holiday is wood framed and fabric covered throughout. Its high wing, built around two

spars The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve, also known as the SPARS (SPARS was the acronym for "Semper Paratus—Always Ready"), was the women's branch of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. It was established by the United States ...

, has constant

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 ( ...

and rounded tips. It is braced to 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 ...

longeron 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 ...

s with two V-form pairs of

strut 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. Human anatomy Part of the functionality o ...

s, assisted by

jury struts 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 ...

. The tail unit is braced, with 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 ...

set at mid-fuselage height. The

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 ...

is straight edged, the

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 ...

generous, rounded and fitted with a

trim tab Trim tabs are small surfaces connected to the trailing edge of a larger control surface on a boat or aircraft, used to control the trim of the controls, i.e. to counteract hydro- or aerodynamic forces and stabilise the boat or aircraft in a pa ...

. The rectangular cross-section fuselage is deep behind the cabin, its upper surface at wing height. The cabin is under the wing with the windscreen at the

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, ...

and its glazing extending rearwards beyond the

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 ...

. Access is via

trapezoid A quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides is called a trapezoid () in American and Canadian English. In British and other forms of English, it is called a trapezium (). A trapezoid is necessarily a convex quadrilateral in Eucli ...

al side doors. The conventional fixed undercarriage has mainwheels with low pressure tyes on faired V-struts and half axles hinged on an underside cabane. The main unit is rubber sprung; the tail skid is spring steel. Some Holidays have had wheel fairings, others not. The prototype Holiday first flew powered by a 56 kW (75 hp)

Régnier 4D.2 Régnier or Regnier is a French given name, personal name and surname, and may refer to: Surname * Adolphe Regnier (1804-1884), French linguist * Claude Ambroise Régnier (1746–1814), French lawyer and politician * Émile Régnier (1894–1940) ...

four cylinder inverted inline air-cooled piston engine, but there was a wide range of suitable engines, both inline and

flat four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the boxer-four engine, ...

s, in the power range 44-63 kW (59-85 hp). The second prototype, for example, had a 48 kW (65 hp) Continental A 65 flat four. Though the inline Régnier engine was fully cowled, some of the flat fours have had exposed cylinder heads.

Operational history

At least seven Holidays have appeared on the French civil register. In 2010 four remained; one French-built Holiday is now (2012) on the UK register. Some of those currently registered may not be active. Several of the Holidays first flew around 1950 but at least one was not completed until 1998. In France, the type was usually referred to as the AS.80 Lavadoux.

Specifications (Régnier engine)

References

{{Starck aircraft 1940s French sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1947