Piccard Eureka
title: "Piccard Eureka" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1980s-swiss-aircraft", "cruciform-tail-aircraft", "single-engined-tractor-aircraft", "low-wing-aircraft"] topic_path: "arts/film" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccard_Eureka" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Eureka |
| aircraft_type | Single seat ultralight |
| national_origin | Switzerland |
| designer | Bertrand Piccard |
| number_built | 1 |
| first_flight | c.1984 |
| :: |
| name = Eureka | logo = | logo_size = | image = | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Single seat ultralight | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = Switzerland | manufacturer = | design_group = | designer = Bertrand Piccard | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = c.1984 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = The Swiss Piccard Eureka was designed to be an easily transportable single seat three-axis ultralight. Its development was brought to a halt by the Swiss ban on ultralight aircraft in 1984.
Design and development
The Eureka was a small but conventionally laid out tractor configuration low-mid wing monoplane with an open cockpit and cruciform tail. It was formed from aluminium tubing with fabric covering. The wings were approximately semi-elliptical in plan and wire braced from above and below, with straight, unswept leading edges and curved trailing edges. The 2.05 m root chord reduced to pointed tips. Roll was controlled with wing warping from a conventional control column.
A 20 kW Rotax 277 single cylinder two-stroke engine in the nose at wing height drove a two-blade propeller, with the cockpit immediately behind. The pilot had a windscreen and behind him the seat back was faired into the short, thin fuselage section between the wing trailing edge and the tail. The vertical tail was kite shaped, with the longer triangular section above the wing and with the rest forming a short ventral fin. The whole rear section was hinged as a conventional rudder. The horizontal surfaces were each triangular and mounted on the fuselage, with the rear sections forming elevators.
The Eureka had a conventional fixed tail wheel undercarriage, with rubber suspended mainwheels on individual pairs of V-struts and linked by a cross axle. The tail wheel was held below the ventral fin on a long rearward strut from the fuselage. With wings and tail folded, the Eureka could be transported on the luggage rack of a medium-sized saloon car.
The Eureka was first flown in the early 1980s but its testing development ended when the Swiss government completely banned ultralight flying on the basis of noise pollution. This ban on ultralights was not lifted until 2005. Only one Eureka was ever built.
Specifications
|ref=Berger and Burr |prime units?=met General characteristics
|genhide=
|crew= |capacity= |length m= |length ft= |length in= |length note= |span m=7.30 |span ft= |span in= |span note= |height m= |height ft= |height in= |height note= |wing area sqm=10.7 |wing area note= |aspect ratio=5.0 |airfoil=NACA 23015 modified |empty weight kg=98 |empty weight lb= |empty weight note= |gross weight kg= |gross weight lb= |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg=218 |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity=10.0 L (2.2 Imp gal, 2.6 US gal) |more general= Powerplant
|eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Rotax 277 |eng1 type=single cylinder air-cooled two stroke, with maximum power at 6,200 rpm |eng1 hp=27 |power original= |thrust original=
|prop blade number=2 |prop name=geared down 2.6:1 |prop dia m=1.4 |prop dia note=
Performance
|perfhide=
|max speed mph=68 |max speed note= |cruise speed mph=50 |cruise speed note=economical |stall speed mph=31 |stall speed note= |never exceed speed kmh= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed kts= |never exceed speed note= |minimum control speed kmh= |minimum control speed mph= |minimum control speed kts= |minimum control speed note= |range km=160 |range note=at average cruise speed |endurance= |ceiling m= |ceiling ft= |ceiling note= |g limits=+6.0, -4.0 recommended |roll rate= |glide ratio=6:1 at 70 km/h |climb rate ms=3.0 |climb rate note= best, measured at 850 m, 10 °C |time to altitude= |sink rate ms= |sink rate ftmin= |sink rate note= |lift to drag= |wing loading kg/m2=20.4 |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note=
|power/mass=92 W/kg (0.056 hp/lb)
|more performance=
- Take-off distance: 30 m
- Landing distance: 50 m |see also= |related= |similar aircraft= |lists=
References
References
- Berger, Alain-Yves. (1985). "Ultralight and Microlight Aircraft". Haynes Publishing Group.
- "Swiss ultralight ban".
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