Leon Davis DA-11

Hi All.
Just a quick one. Was watching discovery and saw a few aircraft including
the Cri-cri and a DA-11. Both are very small and look like great fun. My
main point of interest is the DA-11. It is a small single seater, with a
cylindrical fuselage, and would you believe a Briggs and Stratton 2 cylinder
lawnmower engine of 18HP. Reportedly does 100kts. The aircraft was built
by a chap called Leon Davis, who also built a 2 seater called a DA-2. Does
anyone know if more than one was ever built, and if there are more, are
there plans and/or kits available. Looked on the internet, but only found a
few pictures.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Rob Fonhof

Melbourne Australia.

There is an article in Nov '96 Sport Aviation on the DA-11. The DA-11
appears to be a lower horsepower version of the DA-9. The September
issues of Kitplanes and Sport Aviation have articles on the DA-9.

The key to the high performance of these two aircraft is in minimizing
weight by using a smaller pilot. A much smaller pilot. I think that
both Davis and his test pilot each weighed under 140lbs (including
late-middle-age "spread", and the stated maximum pilot weight of the
DA-11 is 160 lbs. The DA-9 was so cramped that the pilot couldn't wear
shoes in the cockpit. Other, more popular and commercially successful
undersized aircraft have been the BD-5, the Heath Parasol and the
Hummelbird; and Ray Stitts built his SA-2 "Sky Baby" with an 7'2" wingspan.

Rob Fonhof wrote:
Hi All.
Just a quick one. Was watching discovery and saw a few aircraft including
the Cri-cri and a DA-11. Both are very small and look like great fun. My
main point of interest is the DA-11. It is a small single seater, with a
cylindrical fuselage, and would you believe a Briggs and Stratton 2 cylinder
lawnmower engine of 18HP. Reportedly does 100kts. The aircraft was built
by a chap called Leon Davis, who also built a 2 seater called a DA-2. Does
anyone know if more than one was ever built, and if there are more, are
there plans and/or kits available. Looked on the internet, but only found a
few pictures.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Rob Fonhof

Melbourne Australia.



--
John Kimmel


I think it will be quiet around here now. So long.

Remember that Ray Stits is also of diminutive size, as was Mr. Heath.

Regards,
Peter

guynoir wrote:

There is an article in Nov '96 Sport Aviation on the DA-11. The DA-11
appears to be a lower horsepower version of the DA-9. The September
issues of Kitplanes and Sport Aviation have articles on the DA-9.

The key to the high performance of these two aircraft is in minimizing
weight by using a smaller pilot. A much smaller pilot. I think that
both Davis and his test pilot each weighed under 140lbs (including
late-middle-age "spread", and the stated maximum pilot weight of the
DA-11 is 160 lbs. The DA-9 was so cramped that the pilot couldn't wear
shoes in the cockpit. Other, more popular and commercially successful
undersized aircraft have been the BD-5, the Heath Parasol and the
Hummelbird; and Ray Stitts built his SA-2 "Sky Baby" with an 7'2" wingspan.

Rob Fonhof wrote:
Hi All.
Just a quick one. Was watching discovery and saw a few aircraft including
the Cri-cri and a DA-11. Both are very small and look like great fun. My
main point of interest is the DA-11. It is a small single seater, with a
cylindrical fuselage, and would you believe a Briggs and Stratton 2 cylinder
lawnmower engine of 18HP. Reportedly does 100kts. The aircraft was built
by a chap called Leon Davis, who also built a 2 seater called a DA-2. Does
anyone know if more than one was ever built, and if there are more, are
there plans and/or kits available. Looked on the internet, but only found a
few pictures.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Rob Fonhof

Melbourne Australia.



--
John Kimmel


I think it will be quiet around here now. So long.

"Rob Fonhof" wrote:

Hi All.
Just a quick one. Was watching discovery and saw a few aircraft including
the Cri-cri and a DA-11. Both are very small and look like great fun. My
main point of interest is the DA-11. It is a small single seater, with a
cylindrical fuselage, and would you believe a Briggs and Stratton 2 cylinder
lawnmower engine of 18HP. Reportedly does 100kts. The aircraft was built
by a chap called Leon Davis, who also built a 2 seater called a DA-2. Does
anyone know if more than one was ever built, and if there are more, are
there plans and/or kits available. Looked on the internet, but only found a
few pictures.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Rob Fonhof

Melbourne Australia.

Two were built, both by Leeon Davis. The first was registered in June
of 1995 and the second was registered (as a "DA-11-2") in August of
this year. A one page article in the November 1996 issue of EAA's
Sport Aviation magazine said Leeon wanted to offer the DA-11 as a kit
but liability concerns from engine manufacturers was a problem. To
date, the plane has yet to be offered in either plans or kit form.

The DA-11 weighs a mere 177 lb empty (with the 18 hp Briggs & Stratton
4-cycle engine). Useful load is 198 lb. Leeon is quite "compact".
The DA-11 is too small for most pilots. The SA article said 160 lb
max for pilot weight. Here is a pdf file of the November 1996 SA
article,

http://www.airplanezone.com/NewsgroupPix/DA-11.pdf

I'll leave the article up for a few days. The address for Leeon given
in that article is still valid.

The DA-11 is quite similar in size and shape to Leeon's C-90 powered
DA-9, which was first flown in 1990. Cruise speed for the DA-9 at
altitude and full throttle (65% power) is 225 kt. The DA-9 was
featured in a 7 page article in Sport Aviation, August 1996. Here is
a picture of the DA-9 on that issue's cover,

http://www.airplanezone.com/Newsgrou...r_Aug_1996.jpg

I'll leave the picture up for a few days.

You mentioned the DA-2. I snapped this picture of a DA-2A at last
year's Oshkosh,

http://www.airplanezone.com/Oshkosh/...02/page81.html

On the same page is a link to a 1973 DA-2A pirep by Budd Davisson.
Budd revisited the DA-2A in a Sport Aviation article published a few
months ago (September, 2003).

Lastly, as I've posted one of their articles, I'll note that the
complete set of Sport Aviation magazines from 1953 through the end of
2002 is available in searchable Adobe Acrobat format on CD-ROMs from
the EAA for $159 + S/H. I make frequent use of my set. Here is a
link to the EAA shop,

http://shop.eaa.org/html/02_sacd.html


David O -- http://www.AirplaneZone.com

Earlier, "Rob Fonhof" wrote:

Looked on the internet, but only found a
few...

I had the same problem. I got much better results when I spelled the
name "Leeon Davis" with two e's, as Davis does.

Here's a page on the DA-11 I dug up a while back:

http://www.aircraft-spruce.com/da11.html

Thanks, and best regards to all

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com