Procaer Picchio
type of aircraft
The Procaer F.15 Picchio (Italian: "Woodpecker") is an Italian-designed light utility aircraft built by Procaer (PROgetti Costruzioni AERonautiche).
Design
The Picchio was developed in Italy in the late 1950s as a further development of Stelio Frati's Falco and Nibbio designs. Similar to its predecessors, the Picchio featured a conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane design with exceptionally clean lines and a retractable tricycle undercarriage. Early versions of the Picchio retained the same wooden construction as earlier models but incorporated a thin aluminum skin over the plywood. The F.15E and F.15F, however, were all-metal.
Production
Production of the early, wooden Picchios was carried out by Procaer in Milan, but in the mid 1960s, Frati established General Avia as his own factory to build his designs, commencing with the F.15E. Only a few examples were built, however, and the design lay dormant until revived by an Austrian company, HOAC in the mid 1990s. HOAC arranged to have the two-seat F.15F model built at the JSC Sokol plant in Niznij Novgorod, but ran out of money, leaving Sokol with unsold airframes in various states of completion.
Operational history
The Picchio was primarily intended for operation by private pilot owners and the design was exported to several European countries as well as being purchased by Italian individuals. Several are still airworthy (2012).
Variants
F.15 - prototype and initial production with 160 hp (120 kW) Lycoming O-320 engine and three seats.
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