Duruble Edelweiss

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Edelweiss
Type Utility aircraft
Manufacturer Homebuilt
Designed by Roland Duruble
Maiden flight 7 July 1962
Number built at least 10 by 1985

The Duruble Edelweiss is a light utility aircraft designed in France in the early 1960s and marketed for homebuilding. It is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with retractable tricycle undercarriage and all-metal construction. Two- and four-seat versions were designed. The aircraft's creator, Roland Duruble flew the first example, a two-seater designated RD-02 in 1962, and in 1970 began to market plans for a stretched version with a rear bench seat as the RD-03. Over the next 15 years, 56 seats of plans had been sold, and at least nine Edelweisses finished and flown. In the 1980s, Duruble marketed an updated version of his original two-seater as the RD-02A, and sold around seven sets of plans, with at least one aircraft flying by 1985.

[edit] Specifications (typical RD-03)

General characteristics

  • Crew: One pilot
  • Capacity: 3 passengers
  • Length: 6.88 m (22 ft 7 in)
  • Wingspan: 8.82 m (28 ft 11 in)
  • Height: 2.35 m (7 ft 9 in)
  • Wing area: 11.4 m² (123 ft²)
  • Empty weight: 510 kg (1,124 lb)
  • Gross weight: 1,010 kg (2,227 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-320 horizontally-opposed air-cooled four-cylinder piston engine, 112 kW (150 hp)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 275 km/h (171 mph)
  • Range: 1,100 km (685 miles)
  • Service ceiling: 5,030 m (16,500 ft)


[edit] References

  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 347. 
  • Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1985-86. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 549-50.