M.Hardy. Gliders & Sailplanes of the world

Castel C25S

  Since 1936 the French firm of Etablissements Fouga et Cie operated an Aircraft Department which built aircraft to the designs of its Director, Pierre Mauboussin, and the Technical Director, Robert Castello, as Castel-Mauboussin ДальшеMore>>> or just Castel and later as Fouga designs. These included a number of sailplanes culminating in the postwar CM 10 military glider which could carry up to 35 fully armed troops or two jeeps, and the V-tailed CM 8R-13 and CM 8R15 Sylphe each powered by a dorsally-mounted Turbomeca Pimene jet for flight testing and research; the two latter types led directly to the Fouga CM 170R Magister jet trainer. The C 25S two-seater primary training glider, also sometimes known as the Aire, was an early post-war design of which just over 200 were built. Of conventional wood and fabric construction, it has a cantilever high wing with the two pilots sitting side-by-side under the leading edge beneath a transparent canopy which swings up and back over the wing for entry and exist; dual controls are provided. The tailplane is mounted forward of the rudder on a raised step, and landing gear consists of a nose-mounted skid and a tailskid. About a dozen examples of the C 25S were still on the French civil register in 1979.


Span: 53 ft 10 in
Length: 23 ft 10 1/2 in
Empty weight: 470 lb
Min sinking speed: 2.65 ft/sec at 42 mph



Castel C311P

  This single-seater first flew in 1950 and was intended for training in performance and distance flying, and for pilots who aimed to qualify for the French 'D' licence. It is a semi-cantilever high wing monoplane with a small bracing strut each side for the single-spar wooden wing, which is covered partly with plywood and partly with fabric. The air brakes consist of two staggered rows of three semi-circular metal plates on each side of the wing just outboard of the bracing strut; these rotate on their axes to protrude above and below the wing surface or to be withdrawn into the wing section. No flaps are fitted, and the oval-section fuselage is of all-wood construction with the pilot sitting under a small canopy. The landing gear consists of a fixed monowheel with a sprung nose-skid and a tailskid, and the tail unit is also of wooden construction. There were still about seven examples of the C 311P on the French register in 1979.


Span: 45 ft 11 in
Wing area: 158 sq ft
Aspect ratio: 13.3
Empty weight: 345 lb
Max weight: 537 lb
Speed at best gliding angle: 40.3 mph
Min sinking speed: 2.1 ft/sec