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The Jodel DR100 SeriesF-BIVI DR.100A Ambassadeur The Jodel DR 100 series came into being after Pierre Robin, a flying instructor at the time, wanted to build a 3 seater version of the D11. He bought the D10 wing from Delemontez for the price of the wood alone and started building what became known as the Jodel-Robin. Delemontez had some reservations, but backed Robin up by doing a number of calculations for him.
In 1958/59 the prototype of the new aircraft was finished and called the DR100 Ambassadeur. DR for Delemontez-Robin and 100 from the original D10 numbering. Immediately after the first flights of the prototype, Robin started producing the DR100's. Earlier examples had a 90 hp Continental C90 engine, later ones were fitted with 100 hp O-200's and 105 hp Potez 4E20 engines. The DR100 series features the typical cranked wing, a spatted (taildragger) undercarriage, four seats and is of wood and fabric construction.
The DR series progressed through a number of changes, giving it the following names:
It was not uncommon for a race to see 4 Jodels in the top 5 results, such was the lead of the type over its contemporaries. The races did very well for Jodel sales, and large numbers of orders were placed. After the results of the races, Robin decided to incorporate a number of the things that they had learnt from the races in the design of the DR1050 "Ambassadeur". This lead to the "Sicile" model. The most notable changes were:
It was in 1963 that Robin and delemontez started thinking of changing the tail section of their plane, to give it more directional stability and a more powerful elevator. Robin took to work to design the DR1050 MM1 model. It was at this time where SAN, a company that was building DR1050's under a license agreement, introduced the DR1050 M model. This plane was a DR1050 with the tail section of the recently introduced D150 Mascaret. Thus far, SAN had given their DR1050's the name "Excellence", and the new model was called "Excellence Record". Soon after SAN introduced the Excellence Record, CEA entered their DR1050 MM1 Sicile Record. The difference between the two is very notable. The SAN model has a more angular transition between the turtledeck and the vertical tail, just like the D150, whereas the CEA version has a fluent rounded profile. The following two pictures are of a SAN DR1050 M and a CEA DR1050 MM1.
Mainly due to hp restrictions, the loading capacity is not quite up to having all four seats occupied. The back seats are not all that roomy either. Finally, loading up the back seats quickly pushes the Center of Gravity too far aft (partially solved in the later M models with revised tailplanes). The DR 100 series should be looked at as a large two seater, or a 2+2 at best.
Many homebuilders have fitted or retrofitted flaps to their DR1050's. These are copies of the flaps that can be found on the DR200 and onward models. The air brakes are omitted and a rod running aft from the original airbrake torque tube mechanically operates the flaps, just like it is done on later factory models. A careful look at the photo's of G-AYLC and F-PYHO on this page reveals two instances of these retrofitted flaps. As far as I know, no flaps were ever fitted to the DR100 by the factory. Curious detail that I have seen on the DR 100 and on several other types as well: Due to an automotive background of Joly (he had a Citroën garage), automotive details can be found on their aircraft. Most notable are the door handles, which are 1950's Citroën 2CV items. And since the 2CV featured "suicide" type doors (hinged at the back), the door locks in the car are facing forward. In the Jodel they face backward, so the left and right handle needed to be switched in the transition. This explains why the DR 100 (and other Jodel/Robin models as well) have the door lock on the righthand side of the plane! Incidentally, with a little work, the door handles can be swapped, yielding a door lock on the proper door. Check the tech section for more details. Parts of the DR100 series are still produced and plans are still being sold by SAB.
Exploded view of the DR1050. This is the Australian version, nicknamed Sky King. Click on the picture to get a large version (339 kB). Specifications of DR 1050
In 1966, the DR 100 series was replaced by the Robin DR 200 series. |
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Author Hans Teijgeler |