ACBA Midour

Midour
Midour
	ACBA-7 Midour
General information
Type	Glider tug
Manufacturer	Aéro Club du Bas Armagnac
Primary user	Aéro Club du Bas Armagnac
Number built	7
History
First flight	1993
Developed from	Robin DR400

The ACBA Midour, Midour 2 and Midour 3 are a series of glider tugs manufactured by the Aéro Club du Bas Armagnac in France, and named after the Midou River.

Design and development

The Midour is a double-seat, low-wing monoplane of conventional configuration, fitted with a fixed, tricycle undercarriage. Developed in the workshop of the ACBA using the wings of a Robin DR400, the Midour first flew in 1993^[1] and four additional examples to the original design have been built, along with two modified versions.

Although the Midour is sometimes equipped with only a single seat, a passenger can be carried behind the pilot, to assist in the release of gliders being towed.

Variants

ACBA-8 Midour 2.

ACBA-7 Midour: Original version with 180 horsepower (130 kW) Lycoming O-360 engine; five built.

ACBA-8 Midour 2: Improved version with entirely new wing design. One built.

ACBA Midour 3: Optimised, quieted version of Midour 2 with new fuselage and canopy, designed to be especially quiet due to noise pollution concerns. One built.^[2]

Specifications (ACBA-7)

Data from ^[3]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Capacity: 1 passenger (optional)
Length: 6.81 m (22 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 8.72 m (28 ft 7 in)
Wing area: 14.2 m² (153 sq ft)
Aspect ratio: 5.35
Empty weight: 550 kg (1,213 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 790 kg (1,742 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-360 4-cyl. horizontally-opposed piston engine, 130 kW (180 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 300 km/h (190 mph, 160 kn)
Cruise speed: 190 km/h (120 mph, 100 kn)
Rate of climb: 3.72 m/s (732 ft/min)

References

^ Lert, Frédéric (May–June 2021). "L'ami Midour - Un stackhanoviste de l'aérien". Aviasport (in French). No. 774. pp. 26–31.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
^ - Aéro Club du Bas Armagnac - Construction amateur Archived March 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (French). Accessed 2010-10-29.
^ The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2799 (DR400 wing data)

External links

ACBA Midour - CSVVA – Airliners.net

[1] Lert, Frédéric (May–June 2021). "L'ami Midour - Un stackhanoviste de l'aérien". Aviasport (in French). No. 774. pp. 26–31.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)

[2] - Aéro Club du Bas Armagnac - Construction amateur Archived March 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (French). Accessed 2010-10-29.

[3] The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2799 (DR400 wing data)

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