Mantelli Parma

The single example of the Parma glider, one of many glider designs from Adriano Mantelli, was built in 1947 in the workshops of Mantelli's Alaparma SpA[1] by Emilio Pastorelli during his spare time.[2] It was intended to be light, simple and cheap to build and easy to transport, whilst flying well in thermals. It had a cantilever high wing mounted on top of its fuselage and constructed in one piece to keep the weight very low. The wing had a single spar, with plywood skin forward around the leading edge forming a torsion-resistant D-box. In plan the wing was rectangular with rounded tips.[2]

The Parma had an smoothly plywood skinned, oval cross-section fuselage, with its cockpit under the wing leading edge and enclosed by a single piece transparency. The fuselage tapered rearwards, where a straight edged, round tipped tailplane mounted on top of the fuselage carried elevators with a cut-out for rudder movement. The fin and rudder were rounded, the latter of broad chord and reaching down to the keel. The glider landed on a sprung skid reaching from the nose almost to the wing trailing edge, assisted by a small tail bumper.[2]

Mantelli flew his glider on its first flight in 1947, aerotowed by the AM-9, a two-seat motor-glider[1] and another of his designs.[2] The Parma proved to be a useful trainer and could use weak thermals; it could also, despite its single piece wing, be transported behind a bicycle. To remove the wing for transport required the removal of just three bolts.[2]

Data from Pedrielli (2011) p.217[2]

General characteristics

• Capacity: One
• Length: 4.80 m (15 ft 9 in)
• Wingspan: 11.30 m (37 ft 1 in)
• Wing area: 11 m² (120 sq ft)
• Aspect ratio: 11
• Empty weight: 65 kg (143 lb)
• Gross weight: 145 kg (320 lb)

Performance

• Maximum glide ratio: estimated 20:1
• Rate of sink: 0.80 m/s (157 ft/min) minimum[3]
• Wing loading: 15 kg/m² (3.1 lb/sq ft)