Era

Duruble Roland Duruble 2 / RD 02r Edelweisse

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Conceived primitively in 1945 of wood, and the construction beginning in 1946, there were disappointments with the Caurite glue. The Office Véritas informed the builders that the plane could not be accepted.
With thoughts of a metallic prototype, the goal was to show that one with 65 cvs. Several years of study and the first drawings done, the framework began at Bessonneau until 1956. The plane was transported at Legrand, where the prototype was finished towards the end of 1961.
The assembly and completion were achieved at the Boos airfield.
July 7, 1962, Edelweiss first flew. Testing by the CNRA was completed June 24. CNRA n° 270952 was delivered August 19, 1963, partner to the file n° 341 of August 23, 1963.
A two-seater, all metal plane, with a Walter-Mikron 4-III motor of 65 hp at 2600 rpm, with retractable tricycle undercarriage.
The Edelweisse was presented to the gathering of the amateur constructors at Rouen-Boos the 16, 17 and 18 August 1963 and made a sensation.
On February 21, 1981, a motor breakdown led Roland Duruble to fit a Revmaster 2100D n°s 2496 of 75 hp, and a twin-bladed metallic constant speed Maloof propeller.
The prop was replaced with a twin-bladed in wood and Revmaster reduced performance to 65 hp at 3200 rpm, although TBO became 1000 hrs instead of 800. Climb rate was noted at + 1,5 m/ses to 11500 ft. The
By October 8, 1984 with 947 hs 25 min TT. the craft wass sold to M. Jacques Plumet. The reported flight time on October 23, 1993 was 1097 hs 39min.

Dunstable Kestrel

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In January 1935 W.L.Manuel joined the Dunstable Sailplane Co and built a developed version of the Willow Wren which was named the Dunstable Kestrel.

The Dunstable Kestrel was manufactured by the company from designs by W.L. Manuel in 1935; production was limited to one sailplane with a British Gliding Association id of G221. Records comment that G221 was purchased by a trainee pilot who was still in his early stages of training with a primary glider. This Dunstable Kestrel passed to the Norfolk & Norwich Aero Club and crashed in 1938, however W.L. Manuel drew up plans for home builders which were offered for sale at the cost of £6. 6s. W.E. Godson purchased a set of plans and built a second British Kestrel whilst three more Kestrels were built in Australia by R. New, R. Basillie and the last by P. Pratt. Whilst no remains exist of the British built aircraft all three Australian-built ones are in museums.

Wingspan: 12.19 m / 40 ft 0 in
Length: 6.10 m / 20 ft 0 in
Wing area: 13.93 sq.m / 150 sq.ft
Aspect ratio: 11
Empty weight: 111.13 kg / 245 lb
AUW: 188.24 kg / 415 lb
Wing loading: 13.52 kg/sq.m / 2.77 lb/sq.ft
Max L/D: 18
Stall: 45 kph / 28 mph
Min sink: 0.95 m/sec / 2.9 ft/sec

Dunstable Sailplane Company

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The Dunstable Sailplane Company was established in 1934 by W.L. Manuel and C.H. Latimer-Needham to design, manufacture and repair gliders from its workshop at Barton-Le-Clay Airfield in Bedfordshire, UK.

The Dunstable Kestrel was manufactured by the company from designs by W.L. Manuel in 1935; production was limited to one sailplane with a British Gliding Association id of G221.

W.L. Manuel drew up plans for home builders which were offered for sale at the cost of £6. 6s.

W. L. Manuel was born William Lancelot Manuel in 1903; parish records list his birthplace as Malling, Kent. Manuel spent his early life working at RAF Hawkinge Kent with 25 Fighter Squadron, He was a key member in the establishment of the Channel Gliding Club (1930), and built an estimated 14 aircraft over his 84-year life. William Manuel retired in 1965 from the AC Cars company of Thames Ditton; it is thought he was the company’s chief planning engineer on retirement.

Dunning 1934 sailplane

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The basic design of the Cloudcraft Dickson Primary was modified and built by a Mr Dunning, of the Southdown Gliding Club, in 1933-34.

It was first flown from Lancing, UK, on 10 March 1934 only to be written off there on 20 May 1934.

Only one was built and no Certificate of Airworthiness was issued.

Dunne D.8

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Unfortunately, by that time the War Office decided that it had spent far too much on experiments with aeroplanes a total of about £2,500, at a time when Germany was devoting £400.000 a year to military flying and Dunne lost his official support.

Dunne’s final designs were built during 1911 1912. When the Dunne D.5 crashed in 1911 it was rebuilt as the D.8. Reverting to the biplane con¬figuration he rebuilt the D.5 with a 4-cylinder, 60 hp Green engine and dual controls. It was a tailless four bay unstaggered biplane with its wings swept at 32°. The washout on tips well behind the centre of gravity provided longitudinal stability in the same way as a conventional tailplane. Wing tip elevons were used for control, operated by a pair of levers, one either side of the pilot. It was powered by a 4-cylinder, 60 hp Green engine that directly drove a single pusher propeller. The Green engine was later replaced by an 80 hp Gnome. The D.8 first flew in June 1912 at Eastchurch.

Captain Carden, who had but one hand, used this machine to gain his Royal Aero Club Aviator’s Certificate in June 1912. In August 1913 the aircraft was flown from Eastchurch in Kent to Paris, France for tests by the French Aeronautic Corps, during which Commandant Felix of the Nieuport company astonished crowds at a Deauville flying meeting by stepping from the cockpit and walking along the aircraft’s lower wing in flight.

Dunne D.8 Article

Three Dunne tailless biplanes were built by the Burgess Company of Marblehead, Massachusetts in 1916 and evaluated by the US Army, but by then Dunne had been advised by his doctors to give up aviation, which he did.

Engine: 60 hp, Green.
Span 46 ft
Length 30 ft. 4 in
Wing chord 6 ft
Weight empty about 1,400 lb
Weight loaded 1,900 lb
Max. speed 55 mph.