Jodel D11 sky princess project
Has anyone built the sky princess variant? Basically the cabin is widened by 2” and the seat is moved back 2”.
I want a homebuilt that on completion will qualify as a light sport aircraft. I will NEVER carry passengers as the wooden homebuilt a are just too tight.
The sky princess is a little heavy but I think that the rules will have changed by the time I complete the project.
Here are the specifications from Graham Clark. He took over from Frank Rogers who originally put the plans out to the Australian market.
SKY PRINCESS
The Sky Princess is a locally (Australia) developed, side-by-side wooden aircraft based on the Jodel D11 but incorporating several desirable improved features. As it is structurally and aerodynamically similar to the D11, this description covers areas where differences occur.
The cabin width is increased to 44" and the seat back moved 2" further aft for better comfort. The firewall width is increased, enabling a wider but narrower 13 Imperial gallon fuel tank to be fitted, thus giving greater room between the tank and instrument panel. The instrument panel is hinged for accessibility during maintenance. Aft of the seat, below the upper longeron is a large capacity baggage locker accessible from the cabin.
The wing incorporates a strengthened main spar enabling the main undercarriage track to be increased to 8' 6" for even better ground handling. Provision is made for two optional 5.5 Imperial gallon (25 litre) wing tanks,.
The cabin doors are hinged on the windscreen bow, but a sliding canopy can be fitted if desired. To compensate for torque, the engine is offset 1.5 degrees. Engines of from 100 to 118 hp may be fitted.
Specifications with a 100 hp Continental O-200 engine.
Span 26' 9"
Length 21' 5"
Wing Area 137 ft²
Weight Empty 860 lb
Weight Loaded 1,450 lb
Wing Loading 10.6 lb/ft²
Max Speed 135 mph
Cruise speed 120 mph
Stall Speed 35 mph
Climb 800 fpm
Range 560 miles
Sport Association of Australia Plans No 56
The useful load is 590 pounds. Standard fuel load is 13 us gallons. Add in the optional tanks and it comes in at 24 gal. With full fuel that still leaves 446 pounds for carrying big guy (me) plus some luggage in the aft compartment.
Any other suggestions or alternative choices for wooden homebuilts?
(I really considered a Pietenpol but I just can’t see how I could make the cockpit a usable size. The fly baby isn’t an option for payload reasons.)
I wrote the builder of the following project to get the details of his cockpit tweaking. Search for Jodel Diesel and you can see the plane in flight.
http://www.aviationnews.co.nz/news/1...y-s-new-Jodel/
Thanks again for reading my post and offering feedback.
