Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Flight of Il Gallo
DANIELE BELTRAME, EAA 326261; VEDELAGO, TREVISO, ITALY
IN THE JANUARY 2012 issue of Sport Aviation, my Midget Mustang
was featured. I was also privileged to perform the test flights for
this unique aircraft. It’s named Il Gallo, “The Rooster” in Italian.
Here’s how it came about. The designer, Ottone Baggio, from
Cittadella, Italy, is in his 70s, has built several aircraft, and has
designed five of his own, besides Il Gallo. He was always fascinated with the Rogallo wing—more by the name than its
aerodynamics. Even though Francis Rogallo was an American,
the fact that his name includes the Italian word for “rooster”
started the process going. It got Ottone imagining an airplane in
the shape of a rooster, and work on Il Gallo began.
Ottone’s home in Cittadella is about an hour’s drive from
my home base of Nervesa Della Battaglia, which is about 20
miles north of Venice in northern Italy. His first project was to
build a radio-controlled version of the airplane to see if the
odd configuration would actually fly. Construction on the full-size Il Gallo began in June 2008 in Cittadella, and it was
completed in 2011.
Just like a real rooster in
flight, it is very sensitive to
wind conditions.
Construction is very simple. The
fuselage is steel tube, the wing is wood,
and the entire aircraft is covered in fabric. Power comes from a 100-hp Rotax
912. The engine placement is unusual,
which makes Il Gallo tricky to fly. The
problem is there is no view of the nose
in front of the pilot to judge if you are
climbing or diving. One of the best tips I
received was to raise the tail to level
flight attitude and apply a strip of black
