History

In l990, after more than 40 years of designing airplanes, and achieving international recognition for his work, and as a member of the EAA Hall of Fame, Mr. Pazmany embarked on the development, of a new airplane: The PL-9 ( a 3/4 scale of the original German Fieseler Storch. It took 9000 hours of engineering and seven years of development. All this with the support of friends worldwide….without hurry, contracts, revenues, or commerce to compromise the design – or shortcut its potential. It was done right. And with the highest standards of safety – and integrity of design to achieve the same flying characteristics of the original Fieseler Storch.

With the same dedication that Mr. Pazmany used to draw his plans he also went further, writing books that facilitate, and support step-by-step you the builder, as you construct your own aircraft. The “Light Airplane Construction”, and the “PL-4A Construction Manual”, complement each other, simplifying and guiding you with photos, illustrations, and tables, that work together to account for every function. The books apply to the new PL-9 as well, because the basic principles of homebuilding are the same……layouts, tools, riveting, fabrication of molds, forming ribs and frames, parts, and skins. Also contained are pre-assembly of frames and bulkheads, aileron and flap assembly, and metal work on the spar. Discussed and illustrated are assembly of fin, rudder, stabilator, wing, and fuselage.

Each part has a purpose and a function. For instance, when considering ribs, each rib was designed calculated and attached in a way to obtain the best compromise. If they are not done or attached correctly they could degrade the structural resistance, changing the rigidity of the wing to a non-favorable way that can cause flutter or go or some other critical patch.

This level of detail, found in the books is often astounding, including also, as another example, a simple description of sheet metal bending for the spar, a step that can be accomplished in 20 minutes – either at home in your own shop, or outside – another case of good, hands-on homebuilding – developed from all the separate parts working together.

You the homebuilder may find, upon examining the plans, or books, that the PL-9 is a great plane to build. Simple. Straightforward. Solid. Exactly the characteristics you look for in a homebuilding project. And, one that can be done by almost any serious amateur builder, without short cuts, and with only some outside help from a trade school (where they could allow you to use their machinery), or machine shop for certain manufacture of parts. The PL-9 is worthy of your investment, time, and talents.

From a practice of expecting excellence came this standard:

That every part, every function, of every drawing, and every specification, in the PL-9 plans is, from prop to tail, in every way humanly possible, the best to obtain the optimum building, flying, and safety characteristics – for you, our friend and homebuilder. Further, to maintain our pledge in the future we now require any supplier of PL-9 information, parts, molds, or kits, to meet a certification standard that conforms to the original engineering plans, and as these suppliers are authorized they will be listed here on our web site for your security.