By: Rénald Fortier
Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation
The Pélican brief: The fascinating history of one of the founding pillars of the Québec ultralight aircraft industry, Ultravia Aéro Incorporée, Part 1
A typical Ultravia Pélican ultralight aircraft on floats. The absence of a registration is worth noting. Anon., “Amateurs – ULM ou avions?” Aviation magazine international, 1 August 1983, 37.
Good day, good day indeed, to you, my reading friend, and welcome to the wonderful world of aviation and space. Well, to that of aviation anyway.
For many aviation enthusiasts, the light / private planes present in small airports are way too expensive to buy, and have been for several if not many decades. Machines often very similar in appearance and performance known as ultralight / microlight / light sport aircraft, if they were delivered in airworthy condition, or as amateur-built / homebuilt aircraft, if they were delivered in the form of a kit to be assembled at home or manufactured at home from a set of plans, have to a great extent satisfied their passion for several if not many decades. Indeed, such machines represented a good percentage of North America’s private aircraft as of 2023.
What follows is a brief look at the history of a very interesting family of ultralight / microlight / light sport / homebuilt / amateur-built aircraft designed in Québec.
The Ultravia Pélican, developed by Ultravia Incorporée of Repentigny, Québec, a firm founded in July 1982, was among the first North American ultralights, to use the terminology of the time, which did not look like a flying lawn chair. Indeed, it was similar in appearance to a factory-built light / private plane. The Pélican was much cheaper to acquire than one of those machines, however.
The firm, which quickly became Ultravia Aéro Incorporée, owed its origins to the hopes and dreams of mechanical engineer and private pilot Jean-René Lepage, a graduate of the Université de Sherbrooke of… Sherbrooke, Québec, born in 1952, I think, as well as those of Guy Charrette, another engineer, and Lorraine Chauvin, a teacher (English and mathematics). Incidentally, the latter, who became vice president of the firm pretty much on the day it was founded, was one of the few ladies present at the time in the ultralight industry of Québec, if not Canada. Chauvin and Lepage had met around 1977.
Need yours truly remind you that Sherbrooke is my homecity? I thought not. Dare I assert that, just like history, teaching leads to everything provided one gets out of it? Very well, I will not dare. (Hello, EP!)
Incidentally, again, Ultravia Aéro was the only ultralight manufacturer hailing from Québec around 1984. It had no more than 10 full time employees at the time.
Designed between 1979 and 1982 by Lepage, when he was teaching mechanical engineering, the first Pélican flew in May 1982. That single-seater with a more or less open cabin looked a lot like an Aeronca C-2, an American lightweight single-seater tested in 1929, the first successful American light / private plane in fact, and was powered by what was for all intent and purposes an American lawn mower engine.
Mind you, the Pélican also had more than a passing resemblance to a member of the Pelecanus genus of large water birds, a genus which makes up the family known as the Pelecanidae.
A typical Ultravia Pélican Long Nose ultralight aircraft with a somewhat atypical colour scheme. Dany Doucet, “Ultravia Aéro de Repentigny – Le seul manufacturier d’ultra-légers au Québec.” L’Artisan, 31 July 1984, 8.
In any event, the success of the Pélican led to the introduction of a pair of more powerful versions, the Ultravia Super Pélican, in the fall of 1983, and the Ultravia Pélican Long Nose, at some point in 1984. Both of these aircraft were single seaters.
And yes, Aeronca does indeed stand for Aeronautical Corporation of America, but back to our story.
Anxious to… Err, you do not believe me when I say (type?) that the Pélican looked a lot like a C-2, now do you? Sigh… Well, ye doubting Thomasina / Thomas, feast your visual sense organs on the following illustration…
A typical Aeronca C-2 captured by an artist during a 1930 economy test organised in the United States by the National Aeronautic Association. During a flight which lasted 77 minutes, that particular machine consumed a measly 7.6 litres (1.7 Imperial gallon / 2 American gallons) of gasoline. Please note that this drawing was extracted from an advertisement. Anon., “Aeronautical Corporation of America.” Aviation, 5 April 1930, 103.
Incidentally, given the cruising speed of the C-2, a brief calculation showed / shows that this aircraft was not a gasoline guzzler. Nay, it was not. Its fuel consumption was a measly 5.6 or so litres per 100 kilometres (50 or so miles per Imperial gallon / 41.5 or so miles per American gallon). Would the automobile you or your parents owned in 2023 have been able to top that, my reading friend?
And now that this problem is solved, let us move on, and… What do you mean, that was only a drawing? You actually want to see a photograph?! Sigh…
The very first Aeronca C-2 registered in Canada, Saint-Hubert Airport, Saint-Hubert, Québec, September 1930. CASM, KM-00480.
Incidentally, the owner of the C-2 in the photograph above was the honorary treasurer of the Montreal Light Aeroplane Club Incorporated, a club whose premises were located at Saint-Hubert Airport, in… Saint-Hubert, Québec. Dougall Cushing did not keep that aircraft very long, though. He sold it in April 1931 to a Montrealer whose family name started with a G. Yes, that family name. (Hello, EG!) Mind you, the C-2 in the photograph above was later owned by a gentleman whose family name started with an R. Yes, that family name. And you will never guess his initial… Yes, you guessed right, my reading friend. (Hello, RR!) Coincidences can be positively fascinating, you know, and utterly meaningless, but I digress.
Lieutenant Cushing, a notary public by profession and the junior partner in the Montréal firm Barron & Cushing until his enlistment if you must know, was serving in France with the Royal Flying Corps of the British Army when his aeroplane came down in occupied territory, in September 1916. He spent the rest of the First World War in a German prisoner of war camp. Cushing seemingly lived a peaceful life after the end of the conflict. He left this world in July 1971, at the age of 85.
Are you happy now, my curmudgeonly reading friend? Good.
Anxious to increase its sales, the management of Ultravia Aéro sent a few Pélicans to potential distributors in Europe (France, Norway, United Kingdom and West Germany). That was done no later than 1984. Mind you, the firm also took part in the Salon de l’aviation récréative held at the Palais des Congrès in Montréal in April 1985. Mind you, again, Ultravia Aéro teams probably attended a number of North American air shows during the 1990s and 2000s, if not the 1980s.
Ultravia Aéro produced 100 or so kits between 1983 and 1985. Their value varied between $8 000 and $11 000, sums which correspond to something like $20 000 to $30 000 in 2023 currency. Assembling one of these kits was said to take 130 or so hours.
Any pilot interested in taking off and landing from a body of water would have to fork another $ 1 400 for a pair of floats, a sum which corresponds to something like $3 500 in 2023 currency. And yes, skis could also be used, in winter of course. Water skiing with a Pélican would have not have been a good idea. Sorry, sorry.
And you have a question… How many ultralight aircraft were put putting across the skies of Canada around 1984, you ask, my intrigued reading friend? A good question. It looked as if there were 1 200 or so flying machines of that type in that sky at that time. By comparison, there were 17 000 or so ultralight aircraft put putting across the skies of the United States around 1984.
To answer the question which is slowly coalescing in you noggin, yours truly has a feeling that up to 20 or so of the 100 or so kits produced by Ultravia Aéro between 1983 and 1985 were sold to American customers.
Jean-René Lepage and what appears to be the first Ultravia Pélican Club. Jan Ravensbergen, “Aircraft weighs mere 350 lbs.” The Gazette, 16 April 1985, C-2.
Lepage began to design a greatly improved two-seat aircraft in 1983. Construction of a prototype began in July 1984, by hand. That machine designed with the help of a couple of small computers, to some extent for use as a training machine, first took to the sky in May 1985. As was his habit in such cases, Lepage was at the controls – and alone.
Kits of that new machine apparently hit the market in June – or perhaps July. Sets of plans and ready to fly aircraft hit that same market in July.
To a large extent, Lepage proceeded with the Pélican Club as a result of comments made by pilots. As fun as the flying lawn chair type ultralights might have been, many of these individuals were now looking for a versatile, simple, rugged, economical and docile ultralight with the appearance of a far more expensive, factory made 2-seat light / private plane.
And yes, the Ultravia Pélican Club had an enclosed cabin, with detachable doors. Said cabin was as large as that of the world famous Cessna 152, an American factory made light / private plane produced by the thousands, close to 7 600 from the looks of it, both in the United States and France, and this between 1977 and 1985. Inspired as he might have been by the cabin of the Cessna 152, Lepage designed something better, with better forwards visibility and more headroom. (Hello, Max!)
Why the puzzled look, my reading friend? No… For mercy’s sake, do not tell me that you did not get the little virtual nod in the direction of Max Headroom. Seriously? Headroom was a pretty popular fictional character, not a computer generated one mind you, created in the United Kingdom in the spring of 1985, back to our story.
Starting the engine of the Pélican Club entailed using a pullcord whose handle was located besides the pilot’s seat. And yes, it was also possible to start said engine with an electric starter, an option which added to the cost and weight of the aircraft. Another option which added to those cost and weight was an electric cabin heater.
As far as yours truly can figure out, the Pélican Club was not a gasoline guzzler. Nay, it was not. Its fuel consumption was a measly 7.8 or so litres per 100 kilometres (36 or so miles per Imperial gallon / 30 or so miles per American gallon). Would the automobile you or your parents owned in 1985 have been able to top that, my reading friend?
Before I forget, the wings of the Pélican Club were detachable for storage and / or transport. Detaching said wings took about half an hour, however.
In any event, the Pélican Club met many expectations. Let us not forget that the sheer cost of light / private planes put them out of reach for most pilots. These same pilots also did not want to toil for years on assembly or fabrication projects involving increasingly complex two-seaters.
In practice, however, Transport Canada regulations prohibited carrying a passenger in aircraft manufactured or assembled by amateur builders.
A potential Canadian customer who agreed to that limitation, or an American one who did not have to worry about it, could pick up a set of Pélican Club plans for $200 or a kit for around $12 000, a sum which included a 300 or so page assembly manual. A ready-to-fly Pélican Club cost around $16 000. These sums correspond to $ 500, $ 30 000 and $ 40 000 in 2023 currency. Said sums did not include taxes, of course, not did they include floats or skis. Or the paint an owner might want to use to decorate her or his aircraft.
Before I forget, the Pélican Club was designed in such a way that it could be used with either a nosewheel or a tailwheel, depending on the pilot’s preference.
And if you think that $ 16 000 was a lot of moolah, you better not ask yours truly how much a brand new typical American-made light / private plane cost in 1985. All right, all right. A typical Cessna 152 cost almost US $ 41 000 in 1985, a sum which corresponds to approximately 155 000 $ in 2023 Canadian currency.
You see, the price of factory-built American light / private planes hit the proverbial roof during the 1980s. That of a Cessna 152 almost tripled between 1977 and 1985 for example.
Firms like Cessna Aircraft Company, an American giant mentioned in August 2020, December 2021 and April 2023 issues of our equally gigantic blog / bulletin / thingee, were at the receiving end of an ever increasing number of product liability lawsuits, suits which cost them ginormous sums of money, even when the courts sided with them. As they tended to do. Most of the time. You see, by and large, the light / private planes mentioned in the lawsuits were not defective. The accidents were, by and large, the result of pilot error.
Indeed, would yours truly go off the deep end of the pool if I stated that, when some sort of technology derived disaster takes place, more often than not, the human operator(s) of that machine was / is (were / are) at fault? All right, I shall remain silent, but I know and you know that I know that you agree with me.
Even so, by how much do you think the average cost of the liability insurance for each light / private plane manufactured in the United States rose between 1962 and 1988? It was multiplied by 4, you think, my reading friend? Think again. That average cost was not 4 times higher, nor was it 40 or 400 times higher. It was in fact 2 000 times higher. I kid you not.
The results of the product liability lawyers’ feeding frenzy were not long in coming. In 1978, the American general aviation industry had produced 18 000 or so aircraft. In 1994, it produced 930 or so.
Understandably enough, North American ultralight aircraft manufacturing firms dreamt of filling the void. And yes, the number of firms increased by leaps and bounds during the 1980s.
And you have a question… If firms like Cessna Aircraft could be sued, would it not be possible to sue ultralight aircraft manufacturing firms? Yes, of course. In theory. The catch was that Cessna Aircraft’s large assets made it worth suing. A struggling ultralight maker with 10 employees and a factory no bigger than a broom closet did not have such assets. Many, if not most lawyers seemingly refused to take cases involving such firms. There was no moolah in it for them.
In any event, proving that an accident involving an aircraft made from a set of plans or a kit had not in fact been caused by a homebuilder who did not know which way was up might have proven difficult.
Incidentally, the rage and outrage the American general aviation industry felt toward product reliability lawsuits had for consequence the General Aviation Revitalization Act. Passed into law in August 1994, that act limited the duration of the aircraft makers’ liability for the aircraft they had produced, but back to our story.
As an incentive to purchase a Pélican Club in kit or ready to fly form, Ultravia Aéro provided 8 hours of free instructions to each Québec buyer at the small airport located at Mascouche, Québec, near Montréal, Québec’s metropolis, and this through the good offices of a small operator, Les Services aériens Perfecair Incorporée of… Mascouche.
And yes, you are quite correct, my astute reading friend, an average Homo sapiens needed on average 8 hours of training to obtain an ultralight flying licence. She or he also needed to have $ 500 to $ 600 in the bank or credit union, which corresponds to $ 1 250 to $ 1 500 in 2023 currency. Mind you, a gifted pupil would be able to walk away with a licence after only 5 hours of training. By comparison, a standard private pilot licence cost approximately $ 3 000, or $ 7 500 in 2023 currency, but back to our story.
The various versions of the Pélican Club proved very popular in that they could be categorised as ultralight or homebuilt aircraft, available as airworthy aircraft or kits or made from plans, depending on their weight and / or the power of their engine.
About 400 Pélicans, all versions included, were flying in 20 or so countries around the globe around 1993-94. As early as 1986, for example, Pélican Clubs had been sold to customers in America (Canada, Panama and United States), Asia (Pakistan) and Europe (United Kingdom).
A turning point in the history of the Pélican Club and its derivatives was the certification and service introduction, in 1989-90, of the very successful Rotax 912 engine by Bombardier-Rotax Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, an Austrian subsidiary of Bombardier Incorporée, a Québec industrial giant mentioned many times in our spectacular blog / bulletin / thingee since March 2018. Light yet powerful, the new engine made possible the development of a bewildering variety of aircraft in numerous countries around the globe.
It should be noted that Ultravia Aéro seemingly moved from Repentigny to Mascouche, and this no later than the spring of 1991.
If I may say (type?) so, yours truly is rather pleased with the way this article is proceeding. I am in fact pleased to such an extent that I will now take a break. You will therefore have a wait a bit to see how the saga of Ultravia Aéro ends.
See you in a few days.
Rénald Fortier
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