Piel Zephir

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]

CP.80
A CP.801
Role	Racing aircraft
National origin	France
Manufacturer	homebuilt
Designer	Claude Piel
First flight	ca. 1974

Design and development

The pilot sits in a fully enclosed cockpit and the tailwheel undercarriage is 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 100 hp (75 kW) Continental O-200 for Formula One Air Racing.^[4][6]

Piel CP.801

Piel CP.802

Specifications (CP.80)

Data from ^[7]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 5.3 m (17 ft 5 in)
• Wingspan: 6 m (19 ft 8 in)
• Height: 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)
• Wing area: 6.2 m² (67 sq ft)
• Aspect ratio: 5.8
• Airfoil: NACA 23012
• Empty weight: 260 kg (573 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 380 kg (838 lb)
• Fuel capacity: 40 L (11 US gal; 8.8 imp gal)
• Powerplant: 1 × Continental C90-8F 4-cyl air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine, 67 kW (90 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed wooden fixed pitch propeller, 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in) diameter

Performance

• Maximum speed: 310 km/h (190 mph, 170 kn)
• Cruise speed: 240 km/h (150 mph, 130 kn) at 60% power at 1,200 m (3,900 ft)
• Stall speed: 95 km/h (59 mph, 51 kn)
• Never exceed speed: 380 km/h (240 mph, 210 kn)
• Range: 450 km (280 mi, 240 nmi) at 60% power
• Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 12 m/s (2,400 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 61.2 kg/m² (12.5 lb/sq ft)
• Power/mass: 0.177 kW/kg (0.107 hp/lb