AEROCAD « AEROCANARD »






 

Design owner: AeroCad, Inc.

Type:  four-seat canard homebuilt airplane

Powerplant: 1 x 200 hp (149 kW) Lycoming IO-360 (typical)

Significant date:

The AeroCad AeroCanard is a family of amateur-built aircraft designed and produced by AeroCad of Florissant, Missouri. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction. The AeroCanard line of aircraft all feature a cantilever mid-wing, a canard tail, a four seat enclosed cabin and a single engine in pusher configuration. The tricycle landing gear features either fixed main wheels and a retractable nose wheel or fully retractable gear, depending on the model.

The aircraft is made from composites. Its 28.1 ft (8.6 m) span wing has an area of 102.3 sq ft (9.50 m²). The aircraft's recommended engine power range is 160 to 200 hp (119 to 149 kW) with the standard engine used the 200 hp (149 kW) Lycoming IO-360 four-stroke powerplant.

The AeroCanard FG is the version with fixed main landing gear and retractable nose wheel. It has a 1000-mile range and typically cruises at over 200 mph on less than 10 gallons per hour. The AeroCanard is available as a "Plans Built" or complete quick build kit aircraft. There is also an option of purchasing as few or many pre-fab fiberglass kit parts as one wants to help reduce the building time. The estimated time to build this model is 1400 hours. The AeroCanard SB has a fixed main landing gear, retractable nose wheel with a "smaller body" width at the front seats. The estimated time to build this model is 1500 hours. The plans that are marketed by Aerocad include instructions for building either the FG or SB aircraft.

The AeroCanard RG has a fully retractable landing gear. The estimated time to build this model is 1700 hours. Three had been reported as completed and flown by the end of 2011.

Finally, the AeroCanard SX has a fixed main landing gear but a retractable nose wheel. It features a forward opening canopy so both pilot and co-pilot can enter both sides of the fuselage. The top is the major change compared with the standard AeroCanard FG fuselage. The wider turtleback, larger canopy and round rear windows have all been changed for more room in the fuselage. Builders can still change the rap-a-round canopy to a full bubble canopy just by cutting more of the fuselage top out. They can also cut in larger rear windows if they so like. The estimated time to build this model is the same as for the FG model.

Twenty-four AeroCanard aircraft had been reported as completed and flown by the end of 2011: eighteen FG models, two SB models, three RG models and one SX model.


Population:

Specifications:

General characteristics

Crew: one
Capacity: three passengers
Length: 16.8 ft (5.1 m)
Wingspan: 28.1 ft (8.6 m)
Wing area: 102.3 sq ft (9.50 m2)
Empty weight: 1,300 lb (590 kg)
Gross weight: 2,150 lb (975 kg)
Fuel capacity: 50 U.S. gallons (190 L; 42 imp gal)
Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming IO-360 four cylinder, air-cooled, fuel injected, four stroke aircraft engine, 200 hp (150 kW)
Propellers: 3-bladed constant speed propeller

Performance

Cruise speed: 210 mph (182 kn; 338 km/h)
Stall speed: 78 mph (68 kn; 126 km/h)
Range: 1,000 mi (869 nmi; 1,609 km)
Rate of climb: 1,900 ft/min (9.7 m/s)
Wing loading: 21.0 lb/sq ft (103 kg/m2)

NOTE: All data from 2012 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide, Kitplanes Vol.28, No.12, Dec. 2011.

Crew/passengers: 4

Main sources: