SOCATA Horizon
| GY-80 Horizon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Four-seat touring monoplane |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | SOCATA |
| Designer | Yves Gardan |
| First flight | 21 July 1960 |
| Number built | 267 |
| Variants | Socata ST-10 Diplomate |
The SOCATA GY-80 Horizon is a French four-seat touring monoplane of the 1960s designed by Yves Gardan and built under licence for Sud Aviation by SOCATA at Nantes and Rochefort.
Design and development
This aircraft was designed by well-known French designer Yves Gardan during the 1950s. In the latter part of that decade, Sud-Aviation acquired from Gardan a licence to build the design. The prototype first flew in the summer of 1960,[1] and Sud-Aviation (which later became part of SOCATA) manufactured 267 units by the end of 1969, when production was terminated.
The design uses a low-mounted cantilever wing which incorporates four mechanically operated Fowler-type trailing-edge flaps and two Frise-type ailerons. The tricycle undercarriage was partially retractable (a little more than half of each wheel remains exposed in the retracted position). The basic design used a 150 hp (119 kW) Avco Lycoming O-320 flat air-cooled engine driving a fixed-pitch metal propeller, but later models had a 160 hp version of the O-320 and a constant speed propellor. Later still a 180 hp 0-360 engine with a constant speed propeller was available.
Most Horizons were bought by French pilot owners, but examples were exported to several countries including Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and numbers remain in service in 2014.
An improved variant was developed originally as the Super Horizon 2000 and later went into production as the ST 10 Diplomate.
Operators
- Khmer Air Force - Former operator.
Specifications (GY-80-180 - constant speed propeller)
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1969-70 [2]
General characteristics
- Crew: one (pilot)
- Capacity: three (passengers)
- Length: 6.64 m (21 ft 9½ in)
- Wingspan: 9.70 m (31 ft 9¾ in)
- Height: 2.60 m (8 ft 6 in)
- Wing area: 13.0 m2 (139.9 ft2)
- Aspect ratio: 7.24
- Empty weight: 625 kg (1,377 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,150 kg (2,535 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-360-A flat-four piston engine, 134 kW (180 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 250 km/h (155 mph)
- Cruising speed: 245 km/h (152 mph)
- Range: 1,250 km (775 miles)
- Endurance: 5 hours 20 min
- Service ceiling: 4,700 m (15,400 ft)
- Rate of climb: 4.5 m/s (885 ft/min)
See also
- Related development
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gardan GY-80. |
Notes
Bibliography
- Taylor, John W R (1969). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1969-70. London: Sampson Low.
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.
- Simpson, R.W. (1991). Airlife's General Aviation. England: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-194-X.
- Mondey, David (1981). Encyclopedia of The World's Commercial and Private Aircraft. New York: Crescent Books. p. 232.