The Junqua Ibis RJ03 is a wooden

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

seat pusher canard light aircraft, designed in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the early 1990s for building at home. Eleven have flown and others remain under construction.

Design and development

The first canard aircraft designed and built by Roger Junqua was the one-off Volucelle RJ02, first flown by the designer's son Jean-Claude in 1985. This, the first modern French canard, was used as a development vehicle to refine the final Ibis design. The Ibis first flew in 1991 and retains much in common with the Volucelle both in general layout and in some detail, though it has a more powerful Volkswagen engine. It is designed to be

homebuilt Homebuilt machines are machines built outside of specialised workshops or factories. This can include different things such as kit cars or homebuilt computers, but normally it pertains to homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or ...

from plans, not from a kit; its structure is entirely constructed from

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

or similar wood, covered with

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

and Gaboon

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...

. The Ibis is a single engine pusher canard, with swept mainplanes carrying swept endplate

fins A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foil (fluid mechanics), foils that produce lift (force), lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while travelin ...

and

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

s. These rear wings have constant chord, so all the plywood

ribs The rib cage or thoracic cage is an endoskeletal enclosure in the thorax of most vertebrates that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum, which protect the vital organs of the thoracic cavity, such as the heart, lungs and great vessels ...

are identical for ease of construction, and are built around a constant cross section box spar. They are then filled with styrodur foam before the plywood skin is applied. There is no dihedral or washout. Full span flaperons provide roll control. The vertical surfaces are made in a similar way and extend both above and below the wing, incorporating rudders for yaw control. The canard fore wing is again similarly made but is unswept; it has constant chord with rounded tips and has no dihedral or washout. It carries slotted

elevators An elevator (American English) or lift (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive tracti ...

for pitch control. The fuselage of the Ibis is built around four wooden

longerons In engineering, a longeron or stringer is a load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural frame ...

and plywood covered, with single curvature sides and bottom. Pilot and passenger are seated in tandem under a long, single-piece, Junqua-supplied

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

, with the rear seat at the leading edge root of the mainplane; there is storage space behind the passenger's seat. The pusher engine is close to the trailing edge, driving a two blade propeller. A variety of ungeared flat four engines in the 45-60 kW (60-80 hp) can be used; Ibis have flown with Volkswagen 1835 and 1870 cc, Limbach L2000 and

Jabiru 2200 The Jabiru 2200 is a lightweight naturally aspirated, pushrod four-stroke, flat four, air-cooled aircraft engine produced by Jabiru Aircraft. Design and development The conventional direct-drive engine is fitted with an alternator, silencers, ...

motors. The Ibis has a fixed tricycle undercarriage with mainwheels, which may be spatted, mounted from the fuselage on laminated plywood legs. The nosewheel has a rocker type rubber shock absorber and is steerable via the rudder pedals.

Operational history

Eleven Ibis had been built and flown by 2012, eight in France and one each in the Netherlands, Slovenia and the USA. 41 others remain under construction worldwide, six of which appear on the French civil aircraft register.

Variants

;Junqua Volucelle RJ-02 :A proof of concept and development vehicle for the Junqua Ibis RJ-03. Very similar in layout and construction to the Ibis, differing primarily in power-plant. ;Junqua Ibis RJ-03 :The home-built aircraft developed from the Volucelle RJ-02, fitted with a

Volkswagen air-cooled engine The Volkswagen air-cooled engine is an Air-cooled engine, air-cooled, gasoline-fuelled, boxer engine with four horizontally opposed cast-iron cylinder (engine), cylinders, cast aluminum alloy cylinder heads and pistons, magnesium-alloy crankca ...

or an

Specifications (60 hp Volkswagen engine)

References

External links

{{commons category, Junqua Ibis RJ03
Official website (archived)PH-ISI building site
1990s French sport aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Canard aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1991