M.Hardy. Gliders & Sailplanes of the world

ENSAE Farfelu France

  The Farfelu is a two-seat training glider designed and currently being built at Toulouse by students of ENSAE - the Ecole Nationale Superieure de I'Aeronautique et de I'Espace. Instructor and pupil sit side-by-side under ДальшеMore>>> a one-piece canopy and the monocoque fuselage, of integrally stiffened epoxy/Nomex/epoxy sandwich construction, is built in two halves, the cockpit section tapering into a slimmer rear half carrying the tail; a metal box structure provides additional strength and reinforcement at the wing attachment points. The cantilever shoulder wings have single box spars and a laminated epoxy/Nomex/epoxy sandwich skin; there are Schempp-Hirth air brakes above and below each wing. The unswept cruciform tail unit is of similar construction to the wings, and there is a fixed monowheel in a small fairing and a tail bumper. At the time of writing the Farfelu prototype had not yet flown.


Span: 52 ft 6 in
Length: 25 ft 3 in
Wing area: 181.4 sqft
Aspect ratio: 15.19
Empty weight: 617 lb
Max weight: 1,102 lb
Min sinking speed: 2.50 ft/sec
Best glide ratio: 32:1