FLYING THE BABY JODEL

HERE IN FRANCE the "byword" for flying is the Ultra light Baby Jodel. Sporting a 17-foot wing span, and powered by a 26-hp Volkswagen engine, it seems to be the answer to the "home-builder's" dream. With building time of 300 hours, at a cost of less than $500, it can put just about anyone in the air without breaking the bank account.

After joining the Club Aeronautique of France, and acquiring a French airplane and glider license, I finally worked up enough courage to ask the "Chef de l'Aerodrome," Mr. DeBankort, what "that little bug poking its nose out from under the wing of a Piper Cub" was. Eyebrows raised in astonishment at my question, the "Chef" silently walked over to the tiny blue and silver plane, picked it up by the nose and pushed it out of the corner of the hangar onto the grass taxi strip.

Walking beside the Baby Jodel, you get the feeling of standing next to an overgrown model airplane. The tiny wings seem barely able to support the fuselage, but such is not the case.

Mr. DeBankort was more than happy to give me a brief rundown on the "Baby."

After World War II, Civil Aviation in France had a very difficult time getting started. Material was hard to get and the prices high, but a small company named Jodel came along with the plans for the Baby, a low-cost, high-performance, single-place aircraft. Aimed at the "home-builders" market, the little planes were soon flying in almost every Club Aeronautique in France. Jodel now offers the little craft assembled, in kit form, or plans for it with a stock list of ready-made parts available from the factory. Built of cloth-covered plywood with a very simple type steel landing gear, the plane offers simplicity of design and construction.

After a short briefing on the controls and flying characteristics, Mr. DeBankort helped me into the cockpit. Though I stand six feet one, there was ample room in the tiny cockpit for me. Putting on the seat and shoulder straps, I took a look at the instrument panel. The instrument grouping is not so large that you must spend time looking for any one instrument. In the center is the air-speed indicator, next to it are the tachometer and altimeter, on the far right are the oil pressure and temperature gauges; to the left is the choke knob, the compass is hung in the center on the bottom of the panel, the throttle is located just above the left knee. Starting the Volkswagen engine seems a little strange, for an automobile type choke is used when the motor is cold, doing away with the primer. While warming up, the Chef gave me the final instructions on performance and pulled the chocks.

The Baby is not equipped with brakes. Instead it has a steel spring tail skid and the problem of taxiing may appear to be difficult, but after the first few turns you get the knack of it. This, I think, could be modified for those who want all the conveniences. After lining up with the runway, I opened the throttle to 2,600 rpm and, holding a little rudder, became airborne in about 150 feet at an indicated airspeed of 25 mph. Climbing out in the pattern gave me a chance to get the feel of the little ship. This aircraft can be compared to a jet for ease of control and sensitivity. It responds to the slightest pressure of the stick in a very positive manner and yet has all the feel of larger aircraft.

In the first turn of the pattern, I found myself in a very steep climbing turn. This was due, I found later, to the unusual shape of the wing. The wings have a 25-degree upsweep at the middle and, using the tip as a reference, results in a very, very steep bank. On leveling off and leaving tile pattern, the throttle is not reduced to cruise rpm. The Volkswagen engine is designed to run full throttle, 2,600 rpm, all the time, except landing.

At the time of writing, the engine in the Baby had 421 hours without showing any sign of Wear despite the high rpm.

The Baby is not stressed for spinning but it was found almost impossible to spin under normal conditions.

In level flight a little rudder was still held, however, this condition can easily be overcome with the use of a small fixed trim tab. The cruising speed of 77 mph comes up rather quickly after leveling off and very little change of elevator trim is required to hold it. Climbing to 3,000 feet, I throttled back and tried a series of power-off stalls, all of which came through with a nice shudder and a gentle break. No indication of falling off on a wing was noticed at any time during the stalls. In power-on stalls, the warning is not as pronounced, however, there is no sharp break to worry about. Power-off, hands-off recovery can be made in as little as 300 feet with no help from the throttle and a normal glide will result.

The biggest thrill I received was soaring the plane. With the low weight and the wide chord, it's possible to throttle back to idle and gain altitude in a thermal while making 360-degree turns. The method used is the same as followed in sailplanes. The ship has been soared for two hours and six minutes which is not bad for an airplane.

After a check on soaring characteristics had been completed, I put the Baby into a series of steep turns to check the tip horizon reference line. The angle of bank is approximately 60 degrees, however, at all times during the banks, positive control with no excessive back pressure nor tendency to stall or roll was noted.

One of the most remarkable features of the tiny plane is its ability to stand on its tail without stalling, much like a VTOL aircraft. On several occasions I have had the Baby in a Steep, 60-degree climbing attitude at full power with the airspeed reading zero and the altimeter holding steady. Perhaps this ability serves little or no purpose but it's a lot of fun to try.

With the check completed, I started setting up the landing pattern. With the throttle closed, and keeping in mind the soaring characteristics of the plane, I made a long downwind and long base leg, for what I thought was a very fine approach, however, I had not reckoned with the 20-mph wind and a normal gliding speed of 30 mph. The final turned out pretty sad. Winding up with a lot of power and not too much airspeed, the Baby and I dragged over the edge of the field and sat down. The minute the tail skid touched the ground it became apparent why the design had not included brakes. The landing roll is about 50 feet and, with practice, this can even be shorter.

Perhaps flying in an open, single-place, ultra-light airplane will not appeal to all pilots. It will, however, bring flying to those of us who are not able to buy and maintain a larger ship.