The Chasle LMC-1 Sprintair is an all-metal, single-seat sports light aircraft designed in France in the early 1970s and intended to be built by aero clubs from plans.
| LMC-1 Sprintair | |
|---|---|
| Role | Two seat light aircraft Type of aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Léon-Morane Club members |
| Designer | Yves Chasle |
| First flight | 18 June 1975 |
| Number built | at least 3 |
Yves Chasle worked as an Aérospatiale stress engineer and independently designed several light aircraft, starting with the Chasle YC-12 Tourbillon. Beginning in 1973 he designed the LMC-1 Sprintair, an all-metal, side-by-side two-seater. The first prototype was built by about twenty members of the Léon-Morane Club, hence the model initials. Most club members were SOCATA employees, based in Tarbes.[1]
The Sprintair has a low, cantilever, unswept, constant-chord wing, mounted with 4° of dihedral and with square tips which have slightly rounded leading edges. Structurally, the wing is a torsion box with a single main spar at 30% chord and a lighter rear auxiliary spar. Almost the whole trailing edge is occupied by a control surface, the outer parts hinged as ailerons and the inner halves as three position flaps.[1]
The fuselage is a metal semi-monocoque with a 75 kW (100 hp) Rolls-Royce Continental O-200-A air-cooled flat four aircraft engine in the nose, driving a two-blade propeller. The two seats are over the wing under a one-piece, forward-hinged canopy which extends ahead of the leading edge. There is a fixed rear transparency that drops down to the fuselage. At the rear, the tall vertical tail is straight-edged with sweep on both fin and rudder; overall sweep is 30°. The tailplane is mounted on top of the extreme rear fuselage and, together with the elevator, is rectangular apart from a projecting, cockpit-adjustable trim tab. Both the tailplane angle of incidence and a rudder trim tab are adjustable on the ground.[1]
The Sprintair has fixed tricycle landing gear with main wheels on faired legs mounted on the lower fuselage and an unfaired, telescopic, sprung, steerable nosewheel.[1]
The Léon-Morane built first prototype was first flown on 18 June 1975[1] and remained there until written off at Tarbes in 1984. At least two more, possibly three, were completed from plans provided by Chasle; one of them was still active at Toulouse in 2008.[2]
Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1976-1977[1]
General characteristics
Performance
Yves Chasle aircraft | |
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