M.Simons The World's Vintage Sailplanes 1908-45

THE PELICANO

  The Pelicano was one of two Italian entries for the Olympic Games sailplane design competition held in 1939. It was designed by a student group at the Polytechnic in Milan. In spite of its failure to win the competition, it entered ДальшеMore>>> limited production and became popular with Italian pilots. The only modifications introduced were the addition of a landing wheel and changes to the rudder.
  Aerodynamically the Pelicano had the unusual feature, for a European sailplane, of American NACA aerofoils of the four-digit series. These were less cambered than the Goettingen aerofoils preferred in Germany. In all respects the Pelicano was otherwise typical of contemporary 15 metre, medium-performance sailplanes.

  Technical data:
  Pelicano: Span. 15.00 m. Wing area, 14.7 sq m. Aspect ratio, 15.3. Empty weight, 160 kg. Flying weight, 255 kg. Wing loading. 17.3 kg/sq m. Aerofoils, NACA 24 series at root, tapering to thin symmetrical tips.