Fauvel AV.36

AV.36
Fauvel AV 36 at the French Air & Space Museum.
Role Flying wing glider
Manufacturer Homebuilt
Designer Charles Fauvel
First flight December 31 1951
Number built over 100

The Fauvel AV.36 was a single-seat tailless glider designed in France in the 1950s by Charles Fauvel. Although the "AV" in AV.36 stands for Aile Volante (Flying Wing), it was not a true flying wing: it featured two large fins mounted on stubby tailbooms extending back from the wing's trailing edge, and accommodated the pilot within a stubby fuselage. The aircraft was designed to be quickly disassembled for road transport, with the nose detaching, and the fins able to fold back against the trailing edge of the wing. A refined version with a slightly longer wingspan, the AV.361 was introduced in 1960.

The AV.36 lent itself to easy motorisation, with some builders installing an engine at the rear of the cockpit pod to drive a pusher propeller turning between the tail fins, and the Bölkow factory manufactured some aircraft in this configuration as the AV.36 C11.

Plans for the AV.36 have not been available in France since Fauvel's death in 1979, but as of 2007 they are still available from a Canadian supplier.

Specifications (AV.36)

General characteristics

Performance

References

External Links