Piel CP.150 Onyx / CP.152 ![]()
At the end of 1981 Piel completed plans of his CP-150 Onyx microlight - it should have flown during 1982 but was held back by the demise of its designer. Single-seat single-engined double monoplane in tandem with conventional three-axis con-trol. Two-fin tail. Pitch control by fully flying wing; yaw control by fin-mounted rudders; roll control by ailerons; control inputs through stick for pitch/roll and pedals for yaw. Under-carriage has three wheels in tricycle formation with additional tailskid; suspension on all wheels. Push-right go-right nose-wheel steering connected to yaw control. No brakes.
Wood/fabric fuselage, partially enclosed. Engine mounted above main wing driving pusher propeller. The CP-150 is a double tandem monoplane whose front wing has a NACA 23012 profile and is adjustable for incidence. It thus acts as the elevator and is stabilised by an anti-servo tab. It is much smaller than the rear wing which has a NACA 23015 profile and a swept-back leading-edge but an unswept trailing-edge. Both wings are cantilevered, the front mounted on two faired supports on which it is articulated, with incidence control via pushrods. The rear wing is fitted with ailerons and has large fins at the wing tips on which the rudders are hinged. The fuselage is largely made from wood as are the wing, wing spars and vertical tail surfaces. Of rectangular section, the fuselage is covered with plywood, the two wings use a covering of Tergal and are de-mountable, so that the Onyx is trailer transportable.
Designed for low power engines, the Onyx was tested at the beginning of 1982 with a Solo 12 hp engine.
The 2nd version had a longer wingspan with a fiberglass body. It was developed by R. Francois, an enthusiast for the design. This was the only version with a steerable nose wheel.
The third version, the one that is available as plans, is the wood fuselage with the longer wingspan of the fiberglass body. The 4th version was the 2 seat produced by Veritas, probably developed by R. Francois.
Madame Piel distributes plans for aircraft.
Engine (prototype): Solo, 12 hp ![]()
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