ACBA Midour

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.

Midour
ACBA-7 Midour
Role Glider tug
Manufacturer Aéro Club du Bas Armagnac
Primary user Aéro Club du Bas Armagnac
Number built 7
Developed from Robin DR400

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 the early 1970s 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.[1]

Specifications (ACBA-7)

Data from [2]

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)

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References
  1. - Aéro Club du Bas Armagnac - Construction amateur Archived March 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (French). Accessed 2010-10-29.
  2. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2799 (DR400 wing data)
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