Era

Jodel D.11

TerryLeave a comment

The French government, always keen to encourage local enterprise, showed an interest in the D.9 design and a sligtly larger aircraft, the D11 with two seats, followed. Joly and Delemontez fomally set up a company, combining their names. The Jodel company.
The two seat D11 series was designed and constructed as a prototype batch for a French government requirement for an aero club trainer.
The Jodel Club is an enclosed, side by side, two seat dual control, low wing monoplane, which is essentially designed for the amateur builder and pilot, and first flown in 1951. Its essenti¬ally simple but rugged construction, together with the excellent flying qualities, have established the D11 as the most popular French two seater, and led to its adoption by many French flying clubs.
The one piece cantilever wing has upswept tapered outer panels, typical of the Jodel types, with the inboard part of the wing straight. In other respects the con¬struction is conventional and straightforward in spruce and plywood with fabric covering. The wing is built on a single box spar, which also supports the two legs of the wide track undercarriage. The undercarriage em¬ploys rubber in compression springing, and is fitted with light industrial wheels.
The fuselage is a rectangular box structure with a curved spruce top decking and plywood covering. The tailpiece is also plywood covered, while the elevator and rudder are fabric covered. Longitudinal trim is obtained by an elevator trim tab. The design load factor is 6.0 at 1360 lb. The D11 may be powered hp Continental engines from 65 to 100 h.p. and seats two in side-by-side fashion.

The Jodel company did not manufacture that many aircraft itself, their idea being to licence other firms. There were two Jodel-built D.11 prototypes and 11 pre-production D.111. Jean Delemontez worked directly with two organisations in particular to develop the various Jodel models and series.

There were 562 factory built; Wassmer built D.112, SAN 10, Valladeau 50, and other companies. Others were built or sold in kit form in Switzerland, West Germany and Sweden.

Jodel D.117 Article

The D11 variants, principally the 65 hp D112, the 90 hp D117, 225 produced by Society Aeronautic Normande (SAN) at Bernay and the 90 hp D120 from Avions Wassmer at Issoire, were produced in large numbers for aeroclubs through the French government subsidy scheme. Wassmer started aircraft production at Issoire in 1945, building Jodel D.112 under license. There were versions that were called D119 and 1190.

D.112

Alpavia built 10 D.117A, Valladeau built 10 D.119D. Aerodifusion built the D.1190S Compostela version of the D.119, Wassmer built 350 D.120 Paris-Nice versions, and EAC built four of the D.127 version.

Founded 1958 by Mm d’Assche and Noin, Alpavia sa made the slightly modified Jodel D-117-A (two per month from January 1959). In 1962 partnership with Rene Fournier resulted in Avion-Planeur RF3 with Volkswagen engine.
From the 1950s onwards various types, D11, D112, D117 and so on, were built by various companies. There was also a large pool of amateur builders whose examples were generally powered by 90 hp Continental C90s or 100 hp O-200s and usually designated D111. Roughly 1500 commercially built aircraft of this series were produced.
With SAN at Bernay Delemontez developed the 180 hp four to five seat D140 Mousquetaire and later the 100 hp two seat D150 Mascaret. New samples of the breed are still being developed, the D18 and D19 being the most recent models.

Gallery

D.112
Engine: Continental 65 hp
Empty weight: 320 kg
Gross Wt. 1290 lb. / 530 kg
Fuel capacity 10 USG.
Wingspan 26’11” / 8,20m
Length 20’6” / 6,26m
Wing area 136.75 sq.ft / 12,70sq.m
Top speed 124 mph.
Cruise 100 mph / 160 kph
Stall 35 mph.
Climb rate 800 fpm / 2 m/sec
Ceiling 16,000 ft
Takeoff run 500 ft.
Landing roll 800 ft.
Range 300 miles
Seat: 2

Alpavia D.117A
Engine: Continental C-90-14F, 95 hp
Wingspan: 26 ft 11.5 in / 8.22 m
Length: 21 ft 4 in / 6.50 m
Empty weight: 760 lb / 345 kg
MTOW: 1323 lb / 600 kg
Max cruise: 105 kt / 121 mph / 195 kph
ROC: 787 fpm / 240 m/min
Service ceiling: 16,400 ft / 5000 m
Range 20min res: 631 nm / 727 mi / 1170 km
Seats: 2

D.119
Engine: Continental C90, 90 h.p.
Span: 27’0”.
Length: 20’ 5”.
Wing Area: 137 sq. ft.
Empty Weight: 725 lb.
Loaded Weight: 1360 lb.
Wing Loading: 9.9 lb/sq. ft.
Max. Speed: 130 mph.
Cruise Speed: 118 mph.
Stall Speed: 50 mph.
Initial Climb: 790 fpm.
Range: 560 miles.

Engine: Continental O-200A, 100 hp.
Wingspan: 27 ft 0 in
Length: 20 ft 5 in
Wing area: 137 sq.ft
Empty weight: 750 lb
Loaded weight: 1360 lb
Useful load: 490 lbs (222 kg).
Wing loading: 9.9 lb/sq.ft
Max speed: 130 mph
Cruise 65%: 112 mph.
Stall: 28 kt.
Endurance: 3 hr (aux. 4.5 hr).
ROC: 500 fpm.
Range: 560 mi
Ldg roll: 420 ft.

Jodel D.9

TerryLeave a comment
ZK-KMM – pilot Stuart Tantrum

The Jodel design can be traced back to the end of the second world war when the French government, recognising the value of light aviation, purchased considerable numbers of Tiger Moths and Miles Magisters at a very low cost. These were then passed on to flying clubs.
But these ex-wartime trainers were very fuel hungry and slow. This left a gap in the market for Edouard Joly, a private pilot who lived in the area of Beaune, and his son-in-law Jean Delemontez, to fill. The story goes that they fell upon some pre-war aircraft-quality plywood and an old 26 hp Poinsard engine and without formal training in aerodynamics decided to design their own single-seat light aeroplane. The wood was turned into a small, single-seat aircraft with cranked wings. It was so tiny, particularly compared to existing training aircraft, that they called it the D9 Bebe (Baby). The fact that Delemontez spent so much time working on the aircraft, rather than with his wife (Joly’s daughter), is also reported to have something to do with the naming.

In March 1946, the French Societe des Avions Jodel was formed, and built the D.9 Bebe light monoplane, which first flew on 21 January 1948. While the original single place D 9 was built for their personal use, word of the light, responsive handling created a major market demand for plans. As word spread of the amazing performance, the design became so well liked that five French manufacturers got involved in factory production of the series at various times.
The subsequent Model D.92 uses the modified VW engine for power, replacing the original 25-hp Poinsard engine. Many hundreds have been built in Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, France, Germany and the U.S.A. The construction is simple and rugged, the materials being spruce and plywood with fabric covering. The one piece wing has a simple box spar, the outer panels being set at a large dihedral angle to give good stability. Another advantage of the polyhedral wing layout is that the loads at the spar splices are lighter than at the wing root, enabling very simple splices to be used. The fuselage is built up conventionally with four 5/8” square longerons and struts, the whole being covered with ply. The simple undercarriage comprises two legs attached to the spar, and uses rubber in compression for springing. The number of metal fittings has been kept to a minimum for ease of construction. The standard engine is the Volkswagen conversion of 30.7 h.p., but other engines of from 25 to 45 h.p. may be fitted The D9 is designed to a load factor of 9.0 at 600 lbs.

Gallery

D.92 BEBE
Engine: VW, 40 h.p.
Span: 23’ 0”.
Length: 18’ 0”.
Wing Area: 97 sq.ft.
Empty Weight: 453 lb.
Loaded Weight: 705 lb.
Wing Loading: 7.2 lb./sq.ft.
Max. Speed: 100 mph.
Cruise Speed: 81 mph.
Stall Speed: 37 mph.
Initial Climb: 420 fpm.
Range: 280 miles
Seats: 1.
Range 217 nm.

Jodel

TerryLeave a comment

Established at Beaune in March 1946, by Jean Delemontez and Edouard Joly, the former as business and technical manager, latter as test pilot. Initial activities concerned with repair of gliders and light aircraft of Service d’Aviation Legare et Sportive on behalf of French government. In parallel, Jodel designed and built D.9 Bebe single-seat light monoplane, first flown January 1948. After official tests with D.9, French government ordered two prototypes of two-seat D.11 (Salmson engine) and D.111 (Minie engine). Followed by D.112, and D.140 Mousquetaire. All built for private use in France and other countries. License built by other French companies including Alpavia, Societe Aeronautique Normande and Wassmer. Licences for building in Germany, Italy, Spain and other continental countries also granted. Delemontez left to join Pierre Robin at Centre Est Aeronautique CEA) in 1957. Various wood/fabric Jodel models remain available through supply of plans and/or kits/components via SAB in Beaune (also D.9 Bebe via Falconar in Canada), including D.9 Bebe single-seater, D.11 two-seater, D.18 two-seater (developed from Delemontez-Cauchy DC-01 and first flown 1984), D.19 nosewheel version of D.18, D.20 Jubilee two-seater of 1997 and the first SAB aircraft offered as a complete kitplane, and D.150 Mascaret two-seater (formerly commercially built by SAN in France).

Societe des Avions Jodel, 36, Route de Seurre, 21-Beaune, France.

JLD-Cage Lagon

TerryLeave a comment

Paraglider circa 1998.

Lagon 25
Wing area: 24.5 sq.m
Pilot weight: 65-80 kg
No. of cells: 48
Wing span: 11.3 m
Aspect ratio: 5.2
Min sink: 1.1 m/s
Max speed: 43 kph
Price (1998) 19000 Fr

Lagon 27
Wing area: 27 sq.m
Pilot weight: 75-100 kg
No. of cells: 52
Wing span: 12.2 m
Aspect ratio: 5.5
Min sink: 1.1 m/s
Max speed: 43 kph
Price (1998) 19000 Fr

Lagon 30
Wing area: 29.5 sq.m
Pilot weight: 90-110 kg
No. of cells: 56
Wing span: 13.1 m
Aspect ratio: 5.8
Min sink: 1.1 m/s
Max speed: 43 kph
Price (1998) 19000 Fr

Kimball Gee Bee Z replica

TerryLeave a comment

This is a full size, exact, replica of the Granville Brothers Gee Bee Model Z from 1931. The original airplane was victorious in 5 races at the 1931 National Air Races in Ohio after taking only 5 weeks and $5000.00 to construct. This replica was built over a 3.5 year period by Jeff Eicher and Kevin Kimball consuming nearly 6000 man hours of design and construction. The Aircraft in 1996 was part of the Fantasy of Flight colloection in Polk City, FL.

Kimball McCullocoupe

TerryLeave a comment

Late in 2000, a ‘doodle’ of what an M14P powered clipwing-ish airplane would or could look like was made. It does resemble the Monocoupe 110 Special and Jim Younkin’s Mullicoupes, but it is a design all its own specifically for the M14P series engine! The McCullocoupe was named by Jim Kimball.

The airplane is slightly larger than a 110 special with a cabin wide enough for 2 people rather than only 1 1/2 people. The wing is 2 piece rather than one and is fully ply sheeted and incorporates Curtis Pitts’ aerodynamically boosted aileron technology. Tail sizing is improved over the 110 special.

The M14PF engine is 400hp with MT making a special 3 bladed prop for the McCullocoupe that will be optimized for cruise while still having great acro performance. The landing gear is the same spring aluminum unit as used on the Pitts Model 12 hidden inside a large fairing. The firewall forward, including the cowling, are borrowed from the Pitts Model 12 as well.