Any plans-built "RV equivalents" out there?

If you must have an aluminum plane, check out Jim Bede's new design, the
BD-18. This is an update of Bede's BD-1, which became the Grumman Yankee.
It's lighter than the Yankee with a smaller wing and can be powered by a
Jabiru orr Lycoming. The plans are $500, but I understand Bede's plans are
among the best in the business.
http://www.bedecorp.com/designs/bd18/intro.htm


I'm glad someone mentioned the Emeraude. Another venerable wood and fabric
design is the Jodel, which is similar to the Emeraurde but has a unique
"bent" wing. Some of the smaller simpler models ones can be built in 1000
hours or therabouts.

Cruise speed is probably not going to match the Van's models but stall speed
will be lower and Jodels are famous for being some of the nicest flying
planes in the world. The are noted for their great stability and make a fine
IFR platfroms.

One unique thing about Jodels is that they are certified designs that can
also be built by amateurs from plans. You can still get the plans from the
original firm that built thousands of certified Jodels, most of which are
still flying in all corners of the world.

Jodels are very popular with homebuilders in Europe and Australia where the
rules for homebuilt airplanes are much tougher and designs must be
"approved" by the authorities. The official Jodel website is here (in
French) http://www.avionhttp://www.avions-jo...m/s-jodel.com/

This website is in English and is a great reference for Jodels.
http://www.jodel.com/index.asp

The Canadian Falconar series is derivative of the Jodel designs:
http://www.falconaravia.com/

There is a very lively Jodel group on Yahoo, with hundreds of fanatical
Jodel owners and builders around the world. There are probably more Jodels
flying worldwide than Van's RVs. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jodel/

One of the advantages of wooden airframes is that they soak up noise and
vibration quite effectively. If you ever get a chance to fly in a Jodel,
Emeraude or Falco, going back to a spam can will seem like quite a step
down.

Regards,

Gordon Arnaut
Ontario, Canada

"Gordon Arnaut" wrote in message
...
If you must have an aluminum plane, check out Jim Bede's new design, the
BD-18. This is an update of Bede's BD-1, which became the Grumman Yankee.
It's lighter than the Yankee with a smaller wing and can be powered by a
Jabiru orr Lycoming. The plans are $500, but I understand Bede's plans are
among the best in the business.
http://www.bedecorp.com/designs/bd18/intro.htm

Has it flown yet? How many are flying, and how many hours?

Useful load seems low. Put two people in for sport weight, and there will
be no luggage, and not much fuel.

Some here will say, beware of Bede. This looks like vaporware, pictures by
photoshop.
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in message
...
Has it flown yet? How many are flying, and how many hours?


How dare you ask the obvious.

Hey Guys,

I'm not trying to promote Jime Bede. I've never even owned a Yankee or any
of Jim's other designs -- alhtough I know several Grumanns owners and they
are excellent flying airplanes.

The BD-18 does seem like "vaporware" right now, but the smaller single-seat
BD-17 has flown and I don't see why the BD-18 shouldn't fly just fine.

Another possibility for building an aluminum two-seater from plans is Chris
Heintz's Zenith 601 series. With a Lyc 235 max cruise is "only" 138mph, but
stall would be lower than on an RV-9. The Zenith actually has a little more
wing area than the RV with a max weight that is conisederably lower.

You can use a Rotax 912, Jabiru, Continental O-200, or Lycoming on this
plane, or even a Corvair. Lots of people build these from scratch and they
use pulled "Avex" rivets, so no bucking -- which means they go together a
lot quicker.

Personally, I understand Netgeek's point about wanting to build from
scratch. While Van's prices are very attractive compared to what's out
there, I think the actual material costs are probably only a fraction of
that. There are lots of people who build metal planes from scratch. I know a
couple of guys who are building all-metal Polliwagons.

Regards,

Gordon.

PS: I would still rather build a wood plane.


"C.D.Damron" wrote in message
news:Ibu5e.2589$8Z6.1278@attbi_s21...

"Morgans" wrote in message
...
Has it flown yet? How many are flying, and how many hours?


How dare you ask the obvious.

"Gordon Arnaut" wrote in message
...
If you must have an aluminum plane, check out Jim Bede's new design, the
BD-18. This is an update of Bede's BD-1, which became the Grumman Yankee.
It's lighter than the Yankee with a smaller wing and can be powered by a
Jabiru orr Lycoming. The plans are $500, but I understand Bede's plans are
among the best in the business.
http://www.bedecorp.com/designs/bd18/intro.htm


I would be extremely reluctant to build ANYTHING from Jim Bede until there
were at least 500 or so completed and flying without problems. Aircraft
designed by Bede have been known to have serious and deadly flaws in many
cases that were directly attributable to errors in the design. Three of the
eighteen Bede designs have been reworked by others until they became more or
less acceptable. Some are still dangerous. Avoid these offerings. One
example of a Bede design that was significantly reworked until it became
flyable is the Grumman Yankee. Several million dollars were spent by many
people to make that airplane reasonably safe to fly and get it certified.


I'm glad someone mentioned the Emeraude. Another venerable wood and fabric
design is the Jodel, which is similar to the Emeraurde but has a unique
"bent" wing. Some of the smaller simpler models ones can be built in 1000
hours or therabouts.
snip


Anything designed by Claude Piel will be an excellent airplane and the plans
are very good. Many of his designs are certified. The Emeraude is a very
nice one. So are the Diamant and the Beryll. Most of his designs are named
after jewels. An Emeraude powered by an O-200 Continental ( which you can
buy for a fraction of the cost of the Lycoming used in the RV series ) makes
an extremely gentle and flyable airplane that is a pleasure to fly. It is
not a two hundred mile an hour airplane but it will fly very slowly under
complete control and if the engine quits you will most likely walk away
without injury and likely the airplane will as well. The beautiful
elliptical wing is lovely but a chore to build since no more than two parts
are the same and they are likely a left and right hand pair! :-)

Highflyer
Highflight Aviation Services
Pinckneyville Airport ( PJY )

Earlier, Netgeek wrote:

I've been searching quite a bit for
something equivalent or similar to an
RV-9 but available as a plans-built...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that all of the RVs are
available as staged kits - that is, tail, then wings, then fuselage,
then finishing kit. That helps spread the cost out to some degree.

Cost-wise, I think that the RVs compare favorably with
scratch-building. Especially when you figure in the time it takes to
track down all the different materials and the costs to have them
shipped. You also have to figure in the time it takes to make blanks,
forms, dies, and jigs, and tweak them to make usable parts. And you
need to figure in the inevitable scrap parts that aren't
flight-article-worthy.

Back when I did cost-analysis on the HP-18 sailplane kit, I can
remember comparing it to the more refined RV-4 kit and wondering how
Dick V. could deliver so much for so little. The answer, of course, is
volume...

Thanks, and best regards to all

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com/hp-24