What Happened To...Le Pelican

[Tiger Tim]

Can someone tell me definitively if there are plans available for the Le Pelican ultralight?

I don’t believe there are. The Le Pelican was originally a kit meant only for assembly so the factory manual would have read like instructions for IKEA furniture (Bolt A into Hole B, etc.). One of our members was reverse engineering one and drawing plans as he went but I don’t recall that project making it past some fuselage parts, at least as was posted. Maybe he’s done now but was asked not to post here by the mods for liability reasons, who knows?

Personally, for the small size of the Le Pelican I’d be inclined to design from scratch while taking lots of inspiration from it and other ultralights. Size-wise I think a full-scale C-2 would be a good place to start but I’m not sure if you could make true UL weight.

 

[pwood66889]

You are correct about the LePel size, Tig. I sat in mine and didn't like the idea of eating my knees for the duration of the flight.

 

[erkki67]

Hmm. Looking at the Pelican and the Stewart. It could be made with an Affordaplane look a like fuselage, why net even be squeezed into the 103 class?!

 

[Tiger Tim]

Hmm. Looking at the Pelican and the Stewart. It could be made with an Affordaplane look a like fuselage, why net even be squeezed into the 103 class?!

Sounds like what you want is very nearly a Dream Classic:

 

[erkki67]

Sounds like what you want is very nearly a Dream Classic:

Hmm yes, but with the engine lowered and some kind of suspension in the mlg.

 

[Tiger Tim]

but with the engine lowered

That’s going to add a bunch of weight for fairly minimal gain. I suppose you could take a good look at the Le Pelican structure from the spar-to-landing gear A-frame forward then see if a similar arrangement could be grafted onto the Dream Classic but remember that you’ll be adding all of that to the weight of the airplane while only sawing off about a foot of fuselage top tube. Either way still gives you a windy ride.

and some kind of suspension in the mlg.

49 cm (19.3″) Polyurethane Wheels – Wheeleez, Inc. | WheelEEZ® low-pressure wheels

wheeleez.com

 

[erkki67]

windy, I love it! ;-)