M.Hardy. Gliders & Sailplanes of the world

GEP TCV-03 Trucavaysse

  The TCV-03 is a Standard Class single-seater designed by Dr Pierre Vaysse, head of the sailplane amateur construction department of the Federation Francaise de Vol a Voile - FFVV, and it was built by the Groupe d'Etudes ДальшеMore>>> Georges Payre - GEP. The Trucavaysse started as a redesigned version of the well known Breguet 905 Fauvette to make it suitable for amateur construction, but with a new, more slender fuselage and a conventional tail instead of the Fauvette's V-tail, it evolved into a new type bearing little resemblance to the Breguet design; other changes include recovered wings with an improved control system and reinforced trailing edges, and the removal of the landing skid. Design work began in October 1968 and prototype construction started in the following February, the prototype, which was actually built by the Aero Club de Norois, making its first flight on 14 July 1973. The type is sold in kit form for amateur or club construction, and several have been built by amateur constructors. The single spar cantilever shoulder wings have plywood/Klegecel sandwich leading edges and slotted wooden ailerons; there are DFS metal airbrakes on both upper and lower surfaces but no flaps. The wooden fuselage is plywood-covered, and the wooden tail unit has a low set one-piece all-moving tailplane with anti-tabs. There is a fixed monowheel and a tailskid utilising rubber shock absorbers. Under development in 1977, the TCV-04 is basically a modified TCV-03 fuselage and tail unit, with a longer one-piece cockpit canopy and small dorsal fin, married to the wings of a Siren C-30 Edelweiss mounted in the shoulder position, thus following Dr Vaysse's design philosophy of utilising components of existing designs. No further details of the TCV-04 had been released at the time of writing.


Data: TCV-03
Span: 49 ft 2 1/2 in
Length: 21 ft 11 3/4 in
Height: 5 ft 11 in
Wing area: 121.1 sqft
Aspect ratio: 20.0
Empty weight: 423 lb
Max weight: 665 lb
Max speed: 130 mph (in smooth air)
Min sinking speed: 2.62 ft/sec at 37.5 mph
Best glide ratio: 28:1 at 50 mph