Piel Diamant

CP.60 Diamant
Piel C.P. 605 Diamant
Role civil utility aircraft
National origin France
Manufacturer Homebuilt
Designer Claude Piel

The Piel CP.60 Diamant is a single-engine light aircraft designed in France in the 1960s and marketed for home building.[1] It is a conventional, low-wing cantilever monoplane and essentially an enlarged version of Piel's successful Emeraude designed to accommodate more passengers.[1][2] This extra capacity is provided by a redesigned fuselage which is higher in the rear section and longer overall.[3] While the Emeraude has only two seats, side-by-side, the Diamant has an extra bench seat at the rear of the cabin to seat one or two more people.[2] The wingspan is also greater than that of the Emeraude, allowing for a greater maximum take-off weight.[3]

As with the Emeraude, Piel obtained type certification for the Diamant, allowing it to be manufactured on a commercial basis.[2] However, unlike the Emeraude, this did not actually transpire, and the Diamant was only ever built as a homebuilt.[4]

By the late 1970s, the original versions of the Diamant were no longer offered and had been supplanted by the Super Diamant, designed for more powerful engines and featuring revised tail surfaces.[2]

Variants

Specifications (CP.605B)

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1977–78, p.496

General characteristics

Performance

Notes

  1. ^ a b Taylor 1989, p.725
  2. ^ a b c d Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1977–78, p.495
  3. ^ a b Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1977–78, p.495–96
  4. ^ Simpson 1995, p.283

References