Piuma Tourer
This motor glider is the fast version of the Piuma Evolution with which it has practically everything in common, except for the wing, which is slightly smaller in span and with different airfoils; other minor changes are specified in the drawings.
Some variations are foreseen in the Construction Book to bring the gross weight to 275 Kg (605 lb) and 300 Kg (660 lb), with a slightly greater span and wing area.
In the basic version, the variations compared to Piuma Evolution are as follows:
- Wing airfoil: NACA 4415 (for the rectangular wing area); NACA 2R1-12 (for the tapered area - warping 3°)
- Wing area: decreased from 114.1 sq. ft to 99 sq .ft (wing loading = 5.5 lb/sq. ft)
- Wing span: decreased from 38.7 ft to 34.1 ft; the aspect ratio is 11.7
- Tailplane balancing
- Increase the spar thickness
- Increase the max take-off weight to 550 lbs
- Increase thickness of the hood by 1.5mm or stiffen by bending
The performances numbers are:
Max level speed (35 HP engine)
Normal cruising speed
Never exceed speed
Stalling speed
Max climb rate at sea level
Min sink rate (at 42 Mph)
Best glide ratio (47 Mph) |
93 Mph
84 Mph
100 Mph
39 Mph
1000 ft/min
235 ft/min
17 |
Construction plans
The Construction Plans consist of the same
14 drawings of the Piuma Evolution with the addition of an
additional 120 x 60 cm (47” x 24”) drawing which reproduces:
- 1 to 1 scale profiles of all 9 new ribs
- the new wing in plan with the detailed dimensions
- the new wing spar
- the system for balancing the tail plane
Also included is the Construction Book, which is the same as the Piuma Evolution; please refer to the Piuma Evolution page for details.
The Project Book is also attached to the Plans, which is an integration of that of the Piuma Evolution limited to the elements that differ, practically the new wing; this too was updated in autumn 2020 and consists of 36 pages.
It contains the structural calculations for a weight in flight order of 250 kg (550 lb), the calculations of Lift, Drag, Moment and L/D and the calculation of the flight characteristics and the various speeds (VNE, VA, Vso, etc). All the changes to be
made to reach a maximum weight of 275 kg ì(605 lb) and, for particularly tall and heavy pilots, further modifications to reach up to 300 kg (660 lb) were also included.
The Piuma Evolution Project Book in English language is also attached; with these plans it is possible to build both the Piuma Evolution and the Tourer.
Also included is a DVD with 3800 photos of the construction phases of the various Piuma, many photos of the completed and flying Piuma and some in-flight videos, videos which are always visible on YouTube and Facebook (see the links at the bottom of all pages of the website).
In the DVD there are also the CAD drawings for laser or water cutting of all the flat metal parts to be made, as well as a note in Excel of all the metal parts to be cut, turned or milled with reference to the drawing where the part is located.
Other useful information for the builders
As an indication, the cost of materials, excluding the engine and instruments, is around 5,000 $ (at 2023 prices); the cost of the engine and instruments is somewhat variable, depending on the choice of the type of new or used engine and on the more or less essential instrumentation; from the photos you have a broad overview of the possibilities offered.
The construction time is estimated at around 900 hours, having the metal parts made by a workshop.
The tail boom is made of 6005-T16 aluminum alloy in the dimensions: diameter 127 mm - thickness 1.5 mm - length 5.2 m; by adapting the fuselage fittings, it is also possible to use slightly different tubes, as long as their bending strength is not lower than that of the tube above (bending strength values are in the Project book).
