Piel Zephir Explained

The Piel CP.80 Zephir (or Zef), Piel CP.801 and Piel CP.802 are racing aircraft developed in France in the 1970s and marketed for homebuilding.[1] They are compact, single-seat, single-engine monoplanes with low, cantilever wings.[2] [3]

Design and development

The pilots sit in fully enclosed cockpits and the tailwheel undercarriages are fixed.[2] [3] [4] Although designed to be built of wood,[3] the first CP.80 to fly (registered F-PTXL and named Zef) was built from composite materials by Pierre Calvel and beat even the designer's own CP.80 into the air.[2] Calvel's CP-80 was entered in the French Formula One air races in 1976, but failed to qualify.[5]

Variants

Piel CP.80
  • Single seat racer, typically powered by a 1000NaN0 Continental O-200 for Formula One Air Racing.[6]
    Piel CP.801
  • Piel CP.802

    • Notes and References

    1. Book: Taylor, Michael J. H. . Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation . 1989 . Studio Editions . London . 0-7106-0710-5. 725.
    2. Book: Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1977-78 . Taylor . John W.R. . Munson . Kenneth . 1977 . Jane's Yearbooks . London . 9780531032787 . Sixty-eighth year of issue.. 496.
    3. Book: Markowski, Mark . The Encyclopedia of Homebuilt Aircraft . TAB Books . Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania . 1979 . 0-8306-2256-X. 256.
    4. Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 96. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
    5. TAYLOR. JOHN. French Formula One. Flight International. 31 July 1976. 262-263.
    6. Tacke. Willi. Marino. Boric. World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16. Flying Pages Europe SARL. 2015. 101. 1368-485X.

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