- Source: Croses Para-Cargo
The Croses EC-9 Para-Cargo is a 1960s French six-seat tandem-wing cargo-carrying homebuilt aircraft designed by Emilien Croses.
Design and development
Developed from the earlier two-seat EC-6 Criquet and three-seat EC-8 Tourisme, the Para-Cargo was a cargo-carrying aircraft with a tailwheel landing gear and a tandem wing similar to the Mignet Pou-du-Ciel family. It could carry up to six persons or 450 kg (990 lb) of freight and was intended especially for carrying skydivers: the aircraft was equipped with a large side door that hinged inward and upward to facilitate skydiver egress. Another door at the rear of the fuselage was provided to allow oversize loads to be carried. The Para-Cargo aircraft had Cosandey Flaps, rear wing mounted upward deflecting flaps that can be used independently to assist in roll control, or jointly as an elevator, that were often mistaken for ailerons . At least two examples (F-ACVC and F-PYBC) had been built by 1965.
Specifications
General characteristics
Crew: One pilot
Capacity: 450 kg (990 lb) of freight or four skydivers or two stretchers with attendants
Length: 7.50 m (24 ft 7 in)
Wingspan: 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Empty weight: 650 kg (1,433 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming , 134 kW (180 hp)
Performance
Cruise speed: 175 km/h (108 mph, 94 kn)
Rate of climb: 4.0 m/s (800 ft/min)
References
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 272.
Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1977–78. London: Jane's Yearbooks. pp. 487–88.
Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1985–86. London: Jane's Yearbooks. p. 549.
"Un cargo pour les amateurs". Aviation Magazine (702): 63. 1977-03-15.
External links
Photographs of restored Para-Cargo
Para-Cargo specifications, photos and videos on site operated by Emilien Croses's son (in French) Archived 2009-03-11 at the Wayback Machine