Early Bird Jenny
experimental aircraft, Early Bird Jenny experimental lightsport aircraft, Early Bird Jenny
homebuilt aircraft, Early Bird Jenny amateur built aircraft, Lightsport Aircraft Pilot News
newsmagazine.
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Lightsport
Aircraft Pilot is a directory of aircraft that generally fit
into what are described as ultralight aircraft, advanced ultralight
aircraft,
light sport aircraft, experimental light sport aircraft, experimental
aircraft, amateur built aircraft, ELSA or homebuilt
aircraft in the United States and Canada. These include
weight shift aircraft, more commonly known as trikes,
powered parachutes, and powered para-gliders.
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Early Bird Jenny experimental
aircraft, experimental
lightsport aircraft, amateur built aircraft.
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Manufacturer/www.loehle.com
Jenny 2/3 Scale
If you wax nostalgic for the barnstorming days of old, this
could be the aircraft for you. The Early Bird Jenny is a
2/3-scale version of the Curtiss JN4-D WWI trainer that was
a part of many of the firsts in aviation (first combat
aircraft, first mail airplane, etc); fortunately for us,
though, the construction process of the Jenny wasn't stuck
in the '20s.
The fuselage is constructed of 4130 chromoly steel, 6061-T6
aluminum-tube spars and pre-stamped aluminum ribs compose
the wings, and standard 2.7-oz Dacron covers your creation. |
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This replica was first
introduced in 1985. The airframe is capable of accommodating
various two- or four-stroke engines in the 130- to 140-lbs.,
45-to 65-hp range. The folks at the home office boast that
the Rotax 503 utilized in the prototype did an admirable job
hauling two average-sized people around at more than
5000'?while burning only 2.5 gph! In 1996 a 60-hp,
fuel-injected Geo Metro conversion was added to the power
plant list. This cute lit' taildragger weighs 419 lbs
empty and stands a proud 7' tall; length is listed at 18.3'.
If you're worried about headroom, don't be. In the front
seat, you could bump your head on the upper wing
(remember, this is an open cockpit) but that's only probable
if you can look Shaquille O'Neal in the eye. Payload is 321
lbs with full fuel.
As far as performance, you can expect a top speed of 80
mph when a 503 is turning the prop; cruise with the 503 is
60 mph and you can travel at that rate for 200 miles before
needing a pit stop (fuel capacity is 10 gal). Stall
speed is 35 mph. She'll give you an 800-fpm rate of climb
and a 100' takeoff distance; landing distance is 250'.
Structural limits are +6 and -3 G. The wings span 27.5' and
have an area of 175 sq ft. Wing loading is 4.5 lbs/sq ft.
Requiring an investment of at least 400 hours (although
they tell us the average is more like 500 to 700) of your
time to build, of which some of that time will be spent gas
welding.
Prebuilt fuselages and wings were available.
In case you're wondering in 1996 the factory reported
selling more than 480 sets of plans since the design was
introduced. |
Early Bird Jenny
experimental homebuilt lightsport aircraft |
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