Back in the 1970s and ‘80s, ‘bent wings’ were best in New Zealand. The Jodel D11 was the backbone of the recreational/homebuilt aircraft fleet, and the Fletcher was king of most topdressing operations around the country, plus the first Thorp T18 had flown here in 1976. So the bent wings had it all: a workhorse in the FU24, versatility in the D11 and speed in the T18.
Surely but slowly all of these types are fading as more modern aircraft and quicker-to-build kit sets have become available. The Jodel D11 as a type still musters 30 on the register, plus we have a couple of Falconar cousins, a slightly modified version of the Jodel with plans available from Canada, and we also have a couple of factory-built Jodels and the bigger brother Robin 400, with the 400 still wood construction.
Not bad for a design from Eduard Joly and Jean Delemontez (Societe Avions Jodel) that first flew in 1950. The design itself was based on their very successful Jodel D9 that first flew in 1949. The little D9 had impressive performance and this inspired hundreds of builders all over France to start construction and also put pressure on the designers to develop a two seater.
D 11s were licence built by several European aircraft companies and various models with different engines were developed. Plans were offered for homebuilders by Falconar of Canada and in Australia by Frank Rogers, who named his model the D 11 Club.
The D 11 is 6.2 metres (20ft 4in) in length, and its wingspan is 8.2 metres (26ft 11in). Empty weight is around 340kg (750lb) and MAUW is 616kg (1358lb). This lies outside the present microlight limits in NZ, and so the Jodel D18 stepped forward to offer similar performance but designed around the larger capacity VW. The NZ examples are generally powered by the O-200 and give a cruise around 95kt and a stall around 28kt.
ZK-LAN first flew in 1987. It was partly built by Bob Wagner in Nelson and completed by Les McAlwee and Arthur Jordan of Mapua, and steadily flew up until 2000. Early this year LAN changed hands to Claus and Annett who dismantled it for a full inspection and found it to be in good condition, so set about some minor restoration before reassembly at Motueka. It returned to the air in August, watched over by Bob, Margaret, and son Gary who had fond memories of the aeroplane being constructed out in the shed all of those years ago.
ZK-LAN is such a neat aeroplane. The wide undercarriage keeps it straight for the take-off and landing; the big wing gives a soft ride and cushions you on landing at low speed; the bent-up tips make the stall benign whether in the turn or straight; the cockpit offers good comfort for two with plenty of width; and in flight the aeroplane isn’t fazed if you are operating in and out of paddocks or pointing to some far-off place since the front tank and wing tanks offer plenty of range.
The Jodel D11 movement was started here by ZK-CKG with initial registration in July 1966 and flying in 1968, so as the type in NZ approaches 50 years of service it is great to see another back in the air.
- Report by Paul Harrison, photograph by Evan Belworthy.