BDC Aero Puma explained

The BDC Aero Puma is a Canadian ultralight and light-sport aircraft, originally designed by the Italian aircraft designer Antonio Bortolanza and built by Aeroplast of Sale, Piedmont, Italy. It is currently produced by BDC Aero Industrie of Lachute, Quebec. At one time available as a kit for amateur construction, now the aircraft is supplied only as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Design and development

The aircraft was originally called the Pluto by Bortolanza when he first designed it in the mid-1980s. Later it was known as the Drakken (Swedish for "dragon") before being renamed Puma.[5] [6]

The aircraft was structurally redesigned by BDC Aero Industrie for higher gross weights, to comply with the Canadian Advanced Ultralight rules and US light-sport aircraft rules, in 2006. It features a strut-braced high-wing, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit with composite doors for access, fixed tricycle landing gear with wheel pants and a single engine in tractor configuration.[5]

The aircraft is made with an aluminum wing and composite fuselage. Its 27.92NaN2 span wing has an area of 124square feet and flaps. Standard engines available are the 800NaN0 Rotax 912UL and the 1000NaN0 Rotax 912ULS and Rotax 912iS four-stroke powerplants, plus the 1150NaN0 Rotax 914 turbocharged engine. Originally there was a factory-supplied kit that was 90% complete and required the builder to paint the airframe and procure and install the engine and instruments. By 2015 the aircraft was only available factory-built.[5] [7] [8] [9]

The Puma is an approved Transport Canada Advanced Ultralight and limited category aircraft, but, as of September 2015, does not appear on the Federal Aviation Administration light-sport aircraft list.[3] [10]

Operational history

In November 2017 there were three advanced ultralight and two limited category BDC-built Pumas registered with Transport Canada, all built by BDC between 2010 and 2016. There was one BDC-built Puma registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration in 2013. In addition Canada had one Bortolanza Puma, built in Italy in 2007, on its register.[11] [12]

Variants

Aeroplast Pluto A-65
  • Original model, designed by Antonio Bortolanza and produced by Aeroplast in Italy, with a 4500NaN0 gross weight for the European microlight category. Powered by a 640NaN0 Rotax 582 or a 800NaN0 Rotax 912UL.[5] [6] [13]
    Aeroplast Drakken
  • Model designed by Antonio Bortolanza in Italy.[5]
    Bortolanza Puma
  • Model designed and built by Antonio Bortolanza in Italy, with a 5600NaN0 gross weight for the Canadian advanced ultralight category. At least one built in 2007.[2] [14]
    BDC Aero Puma Advanced Ultralight
  • Redesigned model produced by BDC Aero Industrie in Lachute, Quebec, Canada, with a 5600NaN0 gross weight for the Canadian advanced ultralight category. Three built, one in 2010 and two in 2011.[8] [5] [12]
    BDC Aero Puma LSA/Limited
  • Redesigned model produced by BDC Aero Industrie in Lachute, Quebec, Canada, with a 6000NaN0 gross weight for the Canadian limited category and the US LSA category. Two built in 2013 and one in 2016.[8] [5] [11] [12]

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 71. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
    2. Web site: Listing of Models Eligible to be Registered as Advanced Ultra-Light Aeroplanes (AULA). 27 August 2012. Transport Canada. 15 August 2012.
    3. Web site: Puma-Aircraft History . Puma-aircraft.com . 28 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120715023328/http://www.puma-aircraft.com/en/history.html . 15 July 2012 . dead .
    4. Web site: Aeroplast. virgilio.it. 7 November 2015.
    5. Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16, page 75. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.
    6. Web site: Aeroplast Pluto A-65. virgilio.it. 7 November 2015.
    7. Web site: Puma-Aircraft Kit Price . Puma-aircraft.com . 2012-08-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20140227085328/http://www.puma-aircraft.com/en/kit-price.html . 27 February 2014.
    8. Web site: Puma-Aircraft Characteristics . Puma-aircraft.com . 2 November 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160223072943/http://www.puma-aircraft.com/en/characteristics.html . 23 February 2016 . dead .
    9. Web site: Puma-Aircraft - Advanced Ultralight Aircraft. BDC Aero Industrie. 3 November 2015.
    10. Web site: SLSA Make/Model Directory . 28 September 2015 . . 11 September 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130516004527/http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/gen_av/light_sport/media/SLSA_Directory.xls . 16 May 2013 .
    11. Web site: Make / Model Inquiry Results. 5 November 2017. Federal Aviation Administration. 5 November 2017.
    12. Web site: Canadian Civil Aircraft Register. 5 November 2017. Transport Canada. 5 November 2017.
    13. Web site: AEROPLAST PLUTO 912. ultraleggero.it. 7 November 2015.
    14. Web site: C-IPUM, Canadian Civil Aircraft Register. 28 September 2015. Transport Canada. 3 November 2015.

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