Category:Fournier motor glider (monowheel gear)
René Fournier, born on 14 April 1921, will be 104 years old in 2025.
An amateur pilot but trained as a ceramist, certified as an aircraft mechanic by the Air Force, in 1957 he began studying a concept combining the appearance of a glider with an engine of only 27 hp : the "motoplaneur" (motor glider). This engine has around 10 to 15% of the usual power for such light / utility aircraft.
The RF-01 made its first flight in 1960 but was lost a few months later during a flight demonstration. Having attracted attention, this aircraft served as the basis for a new version with a 39 hp engine (the RF-2), which was commissioned by the government. He reached an agreement with Pierre Robin, who could only build two airframes, as his own productions were successful and saturated his production capacity.
Soon after he met Antoine d'Assche, who had set up a small company called Alpavia on the edge of Gap-Tallard aerodrome and was producing Jodels. Alpavia went on to build 88 RF-3s (a slightly modified RF-2 to facilitate construction) before the factory closed in 1966.
In 1965, Fournier had studied the RF-4 (a RF-3 reinforced for aerobatics), the construction licence for which was purchased by the German company Sportavia, which produced 155 of them.
The last motor glider was the RF-5, a two-seater tandem version also produced in Germany (more than 200 units). It was the last Fournier with a monowheel gear as subsequently, René no longer designed such aircraft but more conventional ones (if we exclude the RF-7, which remained at the prototype stage).
This page lists all films that feature one of the Fournier motor glider : RF-01 / RF-2 / RF-3 / RF-4 or RF-5 (and even the RF-7 protototype).
See also
Pages in category "Fournier motor glider (monowheel gear)"
The following 2 pages are in this category, out of 2 total.