Max Plan PF.204 Busard

The Max Plan PF.204 Busard was a French-built light sporting monoplane of the early 1950s. Following some modifications it was redesignated as PF.214; a planned derivative, the PF.215, was never made. The plane led to the subsequent construction of the Lefebvre Busard, a single-seat racing aircraft built marketed for homebuilding.

Max Plan PF.204 Busard
The sole PF.204 Busard stored at Mitry-Mory airfield near Paris in May 1957
Role light sporting monoplane
National origin France
Manufacturer Max Plan
Designer Max Plan
First flight 5 June 1952
Introduction 1952
Retired by 1963
Primary user private pilot owner
Number built 1

Development

The PF.204 Busard was designed and built by Monsieur Max Plan for personal use as a racing and sporting monoplane. The PF.204 was of all-wood construction with plywood skin. The aircraft was fitted with a fixed cantilever undercarriage enclosed by light alloy fairings.[1]

Operational history

Only one example of the Busard was completed in 1952. By 1956 it had received several modifications, the most noticeable being a revised engine cowling and enlarged cockpit; at this point it was redesignated the PF. 214.[2] At that time there were plans to replace the Minié with a 90 hp (67 kW) Continental C90 4-cylinder horizontally opposed engine, producing the PF.215.

After some years of active flying, it was placed in storage at Mitry-Mory airfield on the northeast outskirts of Paris by May 1957. It no longer appeared on the French civil aircraft register by 1964.[3] By 2006 the aircraft was in storage at the Musée Regional de l'Air,[4] Angers - Loire Airport, France.[5]

Variants
Max Plan PF.204 Busard
The original racer, designed and built by Max Plan, powered by a 75 hp (56 kW) Minié 4.DC.32 h4-cyl. horizontally opposed piston engine.
Max Plan PF.214 Busard
The sole MP.204 re-designated after modifications to the engine cowling and an enlarged cockpit.
Max Plan PF.215 Busard
A planned derivative to have been powered by a 90 hp (67 kW) Continental C90 4-cyl. horizontally opposed piston engine.

Specifications (PF.204)

Data from Green (1956)

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 17 ft 7 in (5.35 m)
  • Wingspan: 18 ft 1 in (5.5 m)
  • Wing area: 65 sq ft (6.0 m2) [2]
  • Empty weight: 419 lb (190 kg)
  • Gross weight: 728 lb (330 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 794 lb (360 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Minié 4.D.32 4-cylinder horizontally opposed, 75 hp (56 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 130 mph (210 km/h, 110 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 99 mph (160 km/h, 86 kn)
  • Endurance: 2 hours 30 minutes

Notes
  1. Green, 1956
  2. Bridgman 1956 p.145
  3. Butler 1964 p.113
  4. Angers Museum collection
  5. Ogden 2006, p. 135

References
  • Bridgman, Leonard (1956). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1956-57. London: Jane's All the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd.
  • Butler, P.H (1964). French Civil Aircraft Register. Merseyside Society of Aviation Enthusiasts.
  • Green, William (1956). The Aircraft of the World. Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
  • Ogden, Bob (2006). Aviation Museums & Collections of Mainland Europe. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-375-7.
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