Engineering:Penkala 1910 Biplane

Short description: Early Croatian aircraft

Penkala Biplane
CA-10 replica of the 1910 Biplane
Role	Pioneering aircraft
National origin	Croatia
Designer	Slavoljub Eduard Penkala
First flight	22 June 1910
Introduction	1910

The 1910 Penkala Biplane also called the Leptir (English: Butterfly) was the first aircraft to fly in Croatia.

Design and development

The Leptir was a single engine, sesquiplane aircraft with conventional landing gear. The open girder fuselage provides an unusually long distance to the tail surfaces, compared to modern aircraft. The flat bottom surface of the fuselage was covered, forming a long thin triangular surface intended to provide lift, which was not functional in level flight. The aircraft was tail heavy with a center of gravity at 70 percent of wing chord.

Operational history

The first flight occurred on 22 June 1910 with pilot Dragutin Novak. The aircraft was crashed several months later.

Variants

1910 Biplane

Original design

1910 Leptir II

Modifications to include skids

2010 CA-10 Replica

Replica aircraft - Powered by 80 hp (60 kW) Rotax 912 with the center of gravity moved forward for safety.

Specifications (Penkala Biplane)

Data from Sport Aviation

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 11 m (36 ft 1 in)
• Wingspan: 11 m (36 ft 1 in)
• Empty weight: 330 kg (728 lb)
• Propellers: 2-bladed

External links

• YouTube Video about the flight of the replica
• Article about the aircraft
• Image of Leptir I DEAD LINK