Boston
MA.
USA
Circa 1931 airplane builder
Author: Terry
Palmer Sunshine Clipper
The Sunshine Clipper was a small two-seat amphibious homebuilt aircraft designed and constructed by Henry C. Palmer of St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. The aircraft uses a 14 ft (4.27 m) Orlando Clipper aluminum boat of 1948 vintage as basis for the fuselage, which was then combined with the wings of a Piper J-3 Cub, and parts and components of Piper J-3 Cub, PA-22 Tri-Pacer and PA-25 Pawnee aircraft.
The aircraft (N62SC c/n 1) first flew in November 1987, powered by a 65 hp Continental A65 engine. The aircraft remained a one-of-a-kind design and was registered to the SUN ‘n FUN Aviation Foundation on August 21, 1999 and is on display at the Florida Air Museum.
Engine: Continental A65, 65 hp
Span: 33 ft 0 in (7.20 m)
Weight empty: 1,100 lb (360 kg)
Loaded weight: 1,500 lb (572 kg)
Max speed: 65 mph (145 kmh)
Cruise speed: 55 mph (120 kmh)
Climb: 100 ft (1,000 m)/min
Palmer Skyhook
The second Palmer trike, the Skyhook (FAA registered N4411) in spite of its early date of origin, had most of the attributes of a modern ultralight trike, except it used a single cylinder snowmobile engine, as the two-stroke twin cylinders were not available yet. It was powered by a 17 hp (13 kW) at 5000 rpm single cylinder JLO L297 two stroke engine, driving a composite propeller designed and built by Palmer himself and driven by a 2.1/1 reduction gearbox. The engine had electric start and the craft had fiberglass composite spring landing gear.
The airframe consisted of bolted 6061-T6 aluminum tube, with 6061 T-6 extruded angle. The craft took off, flew, and landed at about 30 mph (48 km/h). Palmer’s trikes were not developed further and remained in obscurity. Palmer moved on to design a successful line of personal hovercraft.
Palmer Paraplane D-6
In March 1967 Palmer built and flew the first true weight-shift powered ultralight trike aircraft: the Paraplane (FAA Registered N7144) and it was controlled by a single vertical control bar. The Paraplane used two West Bend-Chrysler 820 engines (8 hp at 6000 rpm, reduced to 4700 rpm for about 6.5 hp (4.8 kW) each, for a total of 13 hp). Each engine had a direct drive to a 27in diameter two-blade propeller made of polyester & fiberglass. On March 24, 1967 Palmer registered the trike at the American FAA as the Palmer Parawing D-6, serial 1A, N7144; No restrictions were noted.
Palmer Rogallo
On August 1961 Barry Palmer first saw a photo of the Rogallo wing mounted on the Fleep experimental aircraft published in the Aviation Week magazine and became interested in this flexible wing because of its light weight and simplicity. In October 1961 he completed construction and flew the first flexible wing hang glider; this took place near Latrobe, east of Sacramento, California. He used polyethylene sheet, aluminum tubing and no wires for construction as he did fear kinking during assembly and transport. Most flights were performed with just a set of inclined parallel bars that split his weight between his underarms and hands to experiment with the center of gravity and thus he demonstrated that the Rogallo wing, when used as a hang glider, could also be controlled by shifting weight alone. Palmer built the first modern-age foot launched hang glider.
Palmer experimented with about 8 different hang glider versions and their wings were mostly 90 degree swept back wings. His smallest glider weighed 24 lb (11 kg), and had a surface area of 205 sq ft (19.0 sq.m). The flexibility in the frame caused no performance problems. His first and largest hang glider was about 45 pounds and had a surface area of 342 sq ft (31.8 sq.m). Palmer explored control of his several versions of hang gliders by using different control frames: pilot in front of the control frame, pilot behind the control frame, and control frame in front of the pilot in a swing seat, which inadvertently approximated the George A. Spratt mechanism from 1929.
During the period from 1961 to 1963 Barry Palmer made tens of flights using the Rogallo wing concept. His flights were usually 110 metres (120 yards) long and his longest flight was about 180 metres (590 feet). He flew at altitudes up to 24 metres (79 feet). His best glider had an overall glide ratio of 4.5 to 1 at the speed of 29–32 km/h (18–20 miles/h). The last of Palmer’s hang gliders flew in the summer of 1963 and it had a single point suspension ski-lift type of seat mounted to the keel with a universal joint; the seat could be forced fore and aft, and laterally, but allowed for no twisting of the seat relative to the wing due to lateral stick movement. That is why a single control stick could be used to replace the control frame.
Palmer relates that he had a good paying aerospace job at the time and he was flying on a minimalist and inexpensive glider purely for curiosity and fun. He did not attempt to modernize or market the flexible wing hang glider; there was no attempt to publicize on the media, except for an ‘accidental’ report made by a small local newspaper. In fact, Palmer concealed his efforts to the American aviation bureaucracy (FAA) of flying without credentials in a pre-ultralight era, but freely gave information about the wing to any person interested, including Francis Rogallo and Richard Miller, who develop the famous Bamboo Butterfly Rogallo wing hang glider, the plans of which circulated in some American magazines in the mid 1960s; Tara Kiceniuk’s followed with plans for the bamboo Batso Rogallo wing.
Palmer, Barry Hill
Barry Hill Palmer (born November 10, 1937) is an American aeronautical engineer (UC Berkeley, 1961), inventor, builder and pilot of the first hang glider based on the Rogallo wing or flexible wing. Palmer also designed, built and flew the first weight-shift ultralight trike aircraft.
Palermo-Corben P-10
An executive pilot for Eastman Kodak’s Gulfstream, Joseph Palermo built his single-seat P-10 registered N666Q from plans published in Mechanics Illustrated magazine, but changed the tail configuration and skinned the steel tube fuselage with .025 magnesium alloy. The $600 craft took six years to build.
The wing has fabric covered wood structure and is fitted with Palermo’s own designed tips.
Engine: Continental A-65-A8, 65 hp
Wingspan: 26 ft / 7.92 m
Empty weight: 540 lb / 245 kg
MAUW: 740 lb / 335.7 kg
Cruise: 87 mph / 140 kph
Landing speed: 35 mph / 56 kph
ROC: 900 fpm / 4.57 m/sec
Range: 270 mi / 435 km
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex MFI-395 Super Mushshak Gallery
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex MFI-395 Super Mushshak
The MFI-395 Super Mushshak is a military trainer / light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF).
The development of the MFI-395 started in 1995. The aircraft was built by upgrading the MFI-17 with an advanced 260hp engine, electrical instruments, dual flight control systems and a Bendix RSA fuel injection system. PAC rolled out the improved version, the MFI-395 Super Mushshak aircraft in 1995.
The MFI-395 features a high wing monoplane design. It boasts two integral fuel tanks which carry 47 gallons of fuel. The large baggage compartment located aft of the cockpit can be easily accessed through a door on the rear side of the fuselage.
The Super Mushshak is equipped with a blind screen, which allows the aircraft to carry out instrument flying missions.
The spacious glass cockpit of the MFI-395 accommodates two flight crew members, a student pilot and a flight instructor. It is integrated with two ejection seats adjacent to each other, with an option for third seat at the rear side. It is enclosed by an oval shaped glass canopy which opens upwards to meliorate the visibility.
The cockpit is equipped with two multifunctional displays to exhibit data related to navigation, flight instrumentation, fuel and the engine. It is also equipped with an Enviro R-134 air conditioning system to sustain constant temperature.
The avionics suite incorporated in the MFI-395 includes instrument flight rules (IFR) capable electronic flight instrumentation system (EFIS), a global positioning system, instrument landing system, voice over recorder, UHF radio, automatic direction finder, distance measuring equipment and information friend or foe transponder.
The MFI-395 is fitted with six hardpoints under the wing pylons. The inner two stressed hardpoints can carry up to 150kg each. The remaining four carry rockets, gunpods and Bofor Bantam anti-tank missiles.
The MFI-395 was designed to provide primary flight training to the pilots of the PAF Academy situated at Risalpur. It was designed to suit both military and civilian missions. The aircraft’s design is compliant with the US FAR 23 certification standards in aerobatics and utility classes.
The tricycle type undercarriage allows the aircraft to operate from unprepared airstrips and rough airfields.
The maiden flight of the Super Mushshak took place in August 1996. The production aircraft was rolled out in November 2000. It entered service in May 2001 and was certified by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority in 2002.
It was displayed at the Dubai Air Show held in November 2011.
Approximately 300 MFI-395s were operational at the academies of the Pakistan Armed Forces.
Customer orders for the MFI-395 included: PAF (50), RSAF (20) and Royal Air Force of Oman (five).
The PAF received its first Super Mushshak in May 2001. Deliveries to the Royal Air Force of Oman were concluded in 2004.
Pakistan signed an agreement with Iraq for the supply of trainer aircraft to Iraqi Air Force, in what is billed as “major milestone” in the export of aviation products from the country.
The contract of sales of Super Mushshak Aircraft to Iraq was signed by General Anwer Hamad Ameen Ahmed, Commander Iraqi Air Force and Air Marshal Sohail Gul Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Kamra.
In total two agreements were signed including the one for sale of the trainer aircraft. According to the first agreement Pakistan Air Force will provide Training, to Iraq Air Defence Force personnel, in all sphere of Modern Air Force concept pertaining to different field special Air Defence, and Air Crew.
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex MFI-395 Super Mushshak
Engine: Lycoming IO-540 V4A5, 194kW (260hp)
Time between overhaul: 2,000 hours
Propeller: two-bladed Hartzell
Climb rate: 8.6m/s
Never exceed speed: 363km/h
Maximum speed: 268km/h
Cruise speed: 240km/h
Stall speed: 96km/h
Maximum range: 814km
Service ceiling: 6700m
Maximum endurance: 4 hr 15 min
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex was established 1978. Comprises four factories: Aircraft Manufacturing Factory constructs the Saab MF117 Safari Supporter under license as the Mushshak and Super Mushshak, and is partnered with Hongdu and AVIC of China in developing and producing the K-8 Karakorum jet trainer and light-attack aircraft. Other factories are Kamra Avionics and Radar Factory, Mirage Rebuild Factory and F-6 Rebuild Factory (the last being the oldest factory of the group), for manufacturing components and overhauling Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied combat aircraft.
