Société Avions Jodel is a French aircraft company started in 1946 by

Édouard Joly Édouard Joly, born in Burgundy in 1898, deceased in 1982 was a French aeroplane designer best known for his work with Jean Délémontez on the Jodel range of light aircraft. Biography Joly worked for 14 years at a company that sold and repaire ...

and his son-in-law Jean Délémontez.

History

Jodel designed a range of light aeroplanes shortly after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Popular myth has it that the two industrialists, with no formal

aerodynamic Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

s training, set about designing a single-seat aircraft with some spare plywood and a small engine, a Poinsard 25hp 2-cyl. The result was the 1948 D9 Bébé (Baby) model. In fact, the two had much experience of building and designing aircraft, Délémontez being a trained aeronautical engineer, and Joly having built an aircraft before the war. The French government bought many of the aircraft, with more than 500 D9s being built during the next twenty years. Subsequently, the government expressed interest in a larger aircraft as a trainer and the two-seat D11 model followed in 1950. Jodel aircraft are all-wood, usually made from

Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to just over tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth- ...

and plywood made out of okoume (also known as gaboon), a kind of

West African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

. Most of the designs are recognisable by their distinctive

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

s, which have ‘cranked’ dihedral only on the outer third. The wings also incorporate washout, retaining

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement aroun ...

effectiveness at or just prior to the stall. From above or below, the wings are also distinctive as this cranked section of the wing tapers sharply towards the wingtip. The designs are popular in France and in Southern

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, UK, but are little known in the USA. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the design has been brought up to date somewhat by Frank Rogers who produced new drawings to standards suited to Australian amateur builders. Jean Délémontez and Pierre Robin went on to form Centre-Est Aéronautique, eventually

Robin Aircraft Robin Aircraft is a French manufacturer of light aircraft. It succeeds to ''Centre-Est Aéronautique'', ''Avions Pierre Robin'' and Apex Aircraft (''Avions Robin'' and ''Robin Aviation''). History Centre-Est Aéronautique was formed by Pierre R ...

, in October 1957.

Production under licence

Apart from prototypes, Jodels were made by a variety of French aviation manufacturers, but all construction ceased during the 1960s. Since then, the Jodel company has sold licences and detailed plans of its models to amateur builders of

homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

. The Jodel designs were later licensed to the following companies which produced derivative designs that retained the Jodel wing: *

Avions Robin Robin Aircraft is a French manufacturer of light aircraft. It succeeds to ''Centre-Est Aéronautique'', ''Avions Pierre Robin'' and Apex Aircraft (''Avions Robin'' and ''Robin Aviation''). History Centre-Est Aéronautique was formed by Pierre ...

, France *

Aero Difusión Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane). Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to: Aeronautics Airlines and companies * Aero (Am ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Falconar Avia Falconar Avia was a Canadian aircraft manufacturer based in Edmonton, Alberta. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of kits and plans for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 1 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Aircraft

The first model was built in 1948. All Jodel planes have been low-wing monoplanes.Aviafrance Avions Jodel
/ref> *

Jodel D9 Société Avions Jodel is a French aircraft company started in 1946 by Édouard Joly and his son-in-law Jean Délémontez. History Jodel designed a range of light aeroplanes shortly after the Second World War. Popular myth has it that the t ...

1948 * Jodel D91 1948 * Jodel D93 1951 *

Jodel D11 The Jodel D.11 is a French two-seat monoplane designed and developed by Jodel, Société Avions Jodel in response to a French government request for a low-wing aircraft for use by the nation's many emerging flying clubs. More than 3,000 examples ...

1950 *Jodel D111 1951 *Jodel D112 1952 *Jodel D113 1960 *Jodel D114 1952 * SAN Jodel D.150 Mascaret 1962 * Jodel D18 1984 * Jodel D19 1986 * Jodel D-20 1990 * Jodel DR1050 Excellence

References

* {{Jodel aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of France Companies based in Occitania (administrative region) French companies established in 1946