Hat tip to David Cenciotti for bringing our attention to the “Aerogallo” or “flying rooster” aircraft designed by Italian aircraft designer and homebuilder Ottone Baggio which apparently has been making the rounds at Italian air shows:
Image credit: Daniele Beltrame and the Aviationist.
According to Flight Journal, Ottone’s homebuilt flying rooster design was first hatched on a bar room napkin of all places (naturally after a few drinks led to a challenge) and consists of wooden wings and a steel tube fuselage covered in fabric. The rooster’s neck and head contains a 100-horsepower Rotax 912 engine while the control stick comes down from the cockpit roof – meaning the pilot must push forward to go up and pull back to go down.
However and on the initial test flight, the flaperons on the inboard two-thirds of the trailing edge of the wings were less than satisfactory to the test pilot – forcing the rooster back into the coop for some “molting.”
Nevertheless, one does need to give Ottone Baggio some credit for coming up with a homebuilt aircraft that’s as creative as the flying rooster and perhaps the only thing more creative would be a flying Ostrich, Dodo or Penguin as Flying Journal suggested – something to think about next time you are in a pub having a whiskey after a flight!
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