The Rihn DR-107 One Design is an American

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

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 ...

that was designed by Dan Rihn and first flown in 1993. The aircraft is supplied by Aircraft Spruce & Specialty of

Corona, California Corona (Spanish language, Spanish for "Crown") is a city in northwestern Riverside County, California, United States, directly bordering Orange County, California, Orange and San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino counties. Its curre ...

in the form of plans and a materials kit for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 107. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. The DR-107 was designed as a low-cost

one design One-design racing is a racing method which may be adopted in sports using complex equipment, whereby all vehicles have identical or very similar designs or models, avoiding the need for a handicap system. Motorsport One-make racing series (also ...

aircraft for competition and sport basic to advanced aerobatics, including

International Aerobatic Club The International Aerobatic Club (IAC) is a division of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and the National Aeronautics Association (NAA). It promotes aerobatics and governs the sport of competition aerobatics in the United States under ...

Class One competitions. For this role it is stressed to +/-10 g.

Design and development

The DR-107 is a

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

that features a cantilever

low-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing config ...

, a single-seat enclosed cockpit under a

bubble canopy A bubble canopy is an aircraft canopy constructed without bracing, for the purpose of providing a wider unobstructed field of view to the pilot, often providing 360° all-round visibility. The designs of bubble canopies can vary drastically; so ...

, fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

with

wheel pants An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...

. The aircraft is predominantly made from wood, with some steel parts and doped

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

. Its span wing employs a Wainfan 16% symmetrical

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

and has a wing area of . The wing has almost full-span

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 ...

s that produce

rolls Rolls may refer to: People * Charles Rolls (engraver) (1799–1885), engraver * Charles Rolls (1877–1910), Welsh motoring and aviation pioneer, co-founder of Rolls-Royce Limited * John Etherington Welch Rolls (1807–1870), British jurist and art ...

of 360° per second. The wing has no flaps. Other features include a low-mounted cable-braced

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters ...

and a wide cockpit. The DR-107 can accept engines of . The standard engines used are the

Lycoming O-360 The Lycoming O-360 is a family of four-cylinder, direct-drive, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, piston aircraft engines. Engines in the O-360 series produce between , with the basic O-360 producing . The engine family has been installed in ...

, modified with high compression pistons, an inverted oil system and fuel injection or the Lycoming AEIO-320 powerplant. The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload is . The designer estimates the construction time from the supplied materials kit as 2000 hours.

Operational history

By 1998 the company reported that 355 kits had been sold and five aircraft were flying. In November 2013 33 examples were

registered Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...

in the United States with the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

, with another 11 previously registered and now removed. Also in November 2013 there were two registered with

Transport Canada Transport Canada () is the Ministry (government department), department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, Policy, policies and Public services, services of road, rail, marine and air Transport in Canada, tra ...

and ten in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

with the Civil Aviation Authority. As of August 2024, ten are registered in Australia with the

Civil Aviation Safety Authority The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is an Australian statutory authority responsible for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's civil aviation. CASA was formed on 6 July 1995 under the ''Civil Aviation Act 1988'' when the Civil ...

(including nine recorded as DR-107 One Design and one recorded as One Design); it is unknown how many are registered with

Recreational Aviation Australia Recreational Aviation Australia (abbreviated to RAAus), formerly known as the Australian Ultralight Federation (AUF), is the governing body for ultralights in Australia. RAAus registers ultralight aircraft and issues pilot certificates throug ...

Specifications (DR-107)

References

External links

*
DR-107 “One Design” 25th Anniversary Presentation at Oshkosh 2018 by Dan Rihn
{{Aerobatics DR-107 1990s United States sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Aerobatic aircraft Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft

Design and development

Operational history

Specifications (DR-107)

See also

References

External links