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#1796667
Has anyone heard of a stretched cockpit D11?

From everything I’ve been able to deduce the D11 becomes really tight for anyone taller than 6 feet.

I have been trying to find a set of wood homebuilt plans that would fall within the LSA guidelines.

At 6’5” and no lightweight this has been a challenge.

Realistically I’m going to fly on a sport pilot privileges. I already have my ppl. I won’t carry passengers for space reasons. Here is the idea I came up with.

No single seater is going to work.

The idea is

Build a D11. Rig the controls so the PIC (me) is centered.

Extend the cockpit by 6”.

Move the seat back 6”.

Accomplish this with reducing the depth Of the baggage space by 4”

Extend the engine 2” forward. (Needed for weight and balance reasons.)

The downside is

Reduced fuel capacity. The aft fuel tank is under the baggage space.

The goal would be to keep the cg in the same relative location.

Definitely would need to lose some aft fuel capacity to head off a tail heavy plane.

Also need to extend the arm of the engine side for the same reasons.

The stretch definitely makes this an experimental aircraft.

Look at powering the plane with a c90 or similar engine. I definitely don’t want this to be underpowered.

A Corsair/Subaru/VW auto conversion is also a possibility,

In effect what I am trying to accomplish is a Super D9.

I certainly would appreciate any feedback or suggestions.

Email at peter.westre@und.edu
#1796730
Interesting.

The D11 and derivatives aren't huge so I think you're correct in thinking they wouldn't suit you 'as is'.

In the D11 the 'seats' are made up of the wing (which you sit on via a cushion) and the bulkhead (which you lean on via a cushion). So, to extend the cockpit by 4" would not seem too complex in terms of just making the longerons 4" longer, along with the two side ply-panels. The cg range on Jodels is unusually large (don't recall the numbers, but it's of the order of 8" or 9") so, assuming you reduce the baggage and fuel loads and make it a single seater, you might not need to change the engine location. Could even get away with keeping the overall fuselage length the same, but simply moving the bulkhead and frame aft within the existing envelope. Increasing the front fuel tank capacity might help too, as well as recovering fuel lost from the rear tank volume reduction.

Headroom is also not overly generous so either get your hair cut or raise the canopy line.

The Continental C90 is the usual engine for many of the D11 variants so nothing new there.

Sounds fun, good luck. Sends some pics once you've built it!
#1796772
Thanks for the feedback. It’s much more helpful feedback than “buy a c 172.” Which isn’t a financial possibility.

My journey to home building goes back 30 years. With kids career and everything else I never had time to pursue the dream.

I met Bernard Pietenpol shortly before his death about 1982. I bought a set of plans. (Since lost.) I checked out the VP2 and bought plans. My wife threw them away during a move. :(.

I saw the Jodel in an article a few years ago. I have always thought what a cool design

I have a private pilot license so I can fly in the US under the sport pilot regulations. I can make a light sport aircraft work as long as I go with a 2 seater.

I did check out some of the kit models. I am not a metal worker so that is less than optimal. The
Sonex B maybe works. The kit cost is sort of affordable but the idea of flying a plane that I would be laying down in isn’t exactly stimulating.

The zenith 701/750 is attractive but $45000 US is a burden.

Anyway it comes down to a Jodel or a pietenpol.

The Jodel is much more weather friendly than the Pietenpol for a Minnesota Pilot.

So yes I will raise the canopy up a bit to improve headroom.

I am extremely lucky as I have a friend who is a brilliant engineer who can check the numbers for CG etc.
#1797371
I have been in contact with Graham Clark. I will be buying a set of plans as soon as he and I can touch base again.

Charlie Kenny in New Zealand built a Jodel that he expanded by 10%. 8 inches headroom for a 6 foot pilot. So if I can get some of his dimensions I can sketch the cockpit on the floor. I can then see if I need to do any further tweaks.

See

His new Jodel is impressive and looks bigger than it really is. Actually it is almost the same size as the familiar Jodel D11, but Charlie has widened and deepened the fuselage to give a 44in wide cockpit also able to take 6ft pilots in comfort. And the luggage locker is also huge, able to take 60kg. Charlie told me that the aircraft is based on the D150 Mascaret of 1961, but he has incorporated the best features of every model of Jodel.
The fuselage is D150 with the sloped fin and rudder, the wing uses the D18 aerofoil with a modified D150 box spar, the luggage area is from the D140 and the all-flying tailplane is scaled up from the D18. Charlie has also added split flaps underneath the wings and built wing strakes at the roots to house the battery and the radiator.

http://www.aviationnews.co.nz/news/104/ ... new-Jodel/

Plus it’s diesel powered with a 1.9 liter Peugeot engine.