Max Plan PF.204 Busard

Max Plan PF.204 Busard
The sole PF.204 Busard stored at Mitry-Mory airfield near Paris in May 1957
Role	light sporting monoplane
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Max Plan
Designer	Max Plan
First flight	5 June 1952
Introduction	1952
Retired	by 1963
Primary user	private pilot owner
Number built	1

The Max Plan PF.204 Busard was a French-built light sporting monoplane of the early 1950s.

Development

The PF.204 Busard was designed and built by Monsieur Max Plan for personal use as a racing and sporting monoplane. The PF.204 was of all-wood construction with plywood skin. The aircraft was fitted with a fixed cantilever undercarriage enclosed by light alloy fairings.^[1]

Operational history

Only one example of the Busard was completed in 1952. By 1956 it had received several modifications, the most noticeable being a revised engine cowling and enlarged cockpit; at this point it was redesignated the PF. 214.^[2] At that time there were plans to replace the Minié with a 90 hp (67 kW) Continental C90 4-cylinder horizontally opposed engine, producing the PF.215.

After some years of active flying, it was placed in storage at Mitry-Mory airfield on the northeast outskirts of Paris by May 1957. It no longer appeared on the French civil aircraft register by 1964.^[3] By 2006 the aircraft was in storage at the Musée Regional de l'Air,^[4] Angers - Loire Airport, France.^[5]

Specifications (PF.204)

Data from Green (1956)

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
• Wingspan: 18 ft 0 in (5.49 m)
• Wing area: 65 sq ft (6.0 m²) ^[2]
• Empty weight: 792 lb (359 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 1,100 lb (499 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Minié 4 DC 32 4-cylinder horizontally opposed, 75 hp (56 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 130 mph (210 km/h; 110 kn)
• Cruise speed: 99 mph (86 kn; 159 km/h)
• Endurance: 2 hours 30 minutes

Notes

1. ^ Green, 1956
2. ^ ^{a b} Bridgman 1956 p.145
3. ^ Butler 1964 p.113
4. ^ Angers Museum collection
5. ^ Ogden 2006, p. 135

References

• Bridgman, Leonard (1956). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1956-57. London: Jane's All the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd. 
• Butler, P.H (1964). French Civil Aircraft Register. Merseyside Society of Aviation Enthusiasts. ISBN none. 
• Green, William (1956). The Aircraft of the World. Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN none. 
• Ogden, Bob (2006). Aviation Museums & Collections of Mainland Europe. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-375-7. 

External links

• Brief details of Max Plan PF.204 Busard technical specification