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View Full Version : Attempted to buy French junqua carnard plans



David Jones
10-24-2011, 12:14 PM
The following is one of the replies I rec'd regarding the Ibis, if there is anything anyone knows about this I would greatly appreciate any light that can be shed on the matter.
David Jones




USA - IBIS plans délivery Ustaritz 30 Avril 2006 We very much regret to advise you that we have encountered problems with certain homebuilders, primarily those in the USA. Although these homebuilders have all signed and accepted the contract between themselves and Jean Claude JUNQUA it has been revealed that some signatories are not abiding by the terms of this contract. They are failing to adhere strictly to the IBIS design plans, and they are making their own modifications to the detriment of flight safety. The American rules and regulations allow some modifications to the aircraft plans without reference to the designer, but do not take account of the peculiarity of the Canard formula. Strict adherence to the plans, in accordance with the contract and in the interests of safety, cannot, unfortunately, be enforced in the USA. There is, however, a fundamental difference in the situation in “European Union” , where the regulations protect homebuilders from themselve by compelling them to comply with the design plans in the absence of the written authority of the designer himself. Our present concerns arise from long, profound research, as well as the wind tunnel tests and on the “Prof of Concept” of this airplane, which is still the only one “Canard Homebuilt” equipped with flaps. We therefore have to advise you that we now have no choice but to cease, forthwith, the sale of plans of the aircraft “The French Canard – IBIS” in the USA. These are measures which have already been taken by other designers ( American and European !! ) for similar reasons.This decision is irrevocable. We cannot be held responsible for the risks taken by certain amateur homebuilders, and it would be inevitable that some of their modifications would only lead to accidents. With great regrets, sadness and my best wishes, Jean Claude JUNQUA ( Co-désigner IBIS Rj 03 )

flyingriki
10-24-2011, 08:29 PM
That's a lot of work to fly that slow......

cluttonfred
10-25-2011, 05:38 PM
Unfortunately, the craziness of U.S. liability laws combined with the relative freedom under U.S. regulations to deviate from the designers plans gives most European designers the absolute heebie jeebies when it comes to selling their plans in the USA. A number of European designers do not knowingly sell their plans to U.S. builders for that reason, the same reason that Burt Rutan got out of the homebuilt business.

dougbush
10-27-2011, 07:34 PM
At AirVenture 2011, Burt Rutan said he quit selling plans because builder support takes too much time.

Eric Witherspoon
11-05-2011, 08:36 AM
Which is probably a nice way of saying the same thing - it takes too much time to "support" builders who are asking questions about changes to the design that they want to make... The time is spent convincing the builder that they really don't want to do what they think they want to do... In addition to the questions with respect to getting it done in accordance with the plans. I wonder if this situation has been improved for kit / plans suppliers by the internet and the proliferation of builder's log websites. You don't have to ask the factory if you can go see, via the internet, how 10 or 20 other people got it done, with photos and complete descriptions...