Thinking about buying a Jodel D120. Why? because its cheap, an LAA aircraft so can maintain myself and they guy i’m buyng it off said I can keep it in the hangar as long as I want (paying rent, of course) and the airfield is only 15mins down the road. which beats 45mins+ to the next closest larger ones with aircraft shares availible.
I recently completed my IMC course and want to build IFR time. As expected, the panel is basic VFR. I am electronically minded and fitted a full IFR stack into a cessna 172 about a year ago which got signed off. My plan was to totally redo the panel and bring it up to IFR standards (plus a heated pitot and lights). I know you can get LAA aircraft signed off for IFR and night flying and the paperwork seems fairly simple, but all the examples they give tend to be modern RV’s.
What im planning currently is a gns430W, DME, mode s transponder and maybe an ADF to cover all bases. Its running an 0-200 which i have a vacuum pump for and all the gauges plus brand new attitude AI and DI gyros.
Im not planning to fly the atlantic in it, just be able to shoot ILS approches and dip into the clouds occasionally and this fits my budget nicley.
Has anyone done anything similar with an old vintage aircraft? Is this posible or am I totally dreaming?
Go for it, sounds fun! :)
I’ve looked into this a little, and I assume you’ve already read the LAA technical leaflet 2.28. My conclusion was that the Jodel D.11 variants wouldn’t be possible to approve for IFR and that the type was generally unsuitable anyway.
The LAA require the wing loading of the aircraft to be in excess of 60kg/m^2, for stability in turbulence. A D120 has, I believe a wing loading shy of 50kg/m^2 so it may not be eligible. I cannot see any mention of the wing loading requirement in TL 2.28 though so maybe that has been dropped.
Besides RVs, I know at least one Europa has been approved for IFR but that type is more suitable IMO. They are generally well over double the price of a D.11 variant however.
There are only a small handful of IFR approved homebuilts in the UK and the LAA seem to be quite restrictive in general, the UK homebuilt regs have little in common with the US E-AB category. I did look at getting a Europa fairly recently and getting the IFR approval would have been on the list if I did get one. I’m now in a lucky position to have access to a proper fully IFR certified aircraft, and I’m reconsidering a Jodel or similar but solely for some low cost summer grass stripping.
I think it doesn‘t make sense. Apart from needing to check if IFR approval is possible at all, to get this to passable IFR standards will cost a lot of money (even without autopilot), which you won‘t get back.
For punching through clouds you don‘t really need a formal IFR aproval. And then ask yourself: how many regular destinations do I have in my mission profile which have an ILS but no excessive fees for my budget?
Thanks for the replies. The wing loading is interesting, I didnt know about that so will have to look into it. Regarding cost, I already have a gns430W and tray and antenna i got for £2k. a dme and indicator is going to be £200. I have the AI, DI and vac pump. A mode S transponder will probaby set me back at most £1k. factoring in the cost of the AC and some additional small things and lights £1k? this is going to be £14k total, and id say with a nice panel this would be well worth that. My mission is to build hours and experiance for the lowest price, and paying £165+ and hour for a IFR capable cessna makes me wince. 95% of my flying will be vfr but i want he option to shoot a few ILS approaches for training a month. I want to tidy up the panel anyway so my hope was might as well go whole hog.
“A number of factors such as design strength, stability, performance, wing-loading and powerplant
type influence the suitability of any type for an IMC clearance. The LAA consider the types in the
table below to be potentially suitable for removal of Day VFR limitations, subject to individual
application. This table will be reviewed and updated from time to time, however in general the LAA
would support a recommendation for removal of Day VFR limitations for a type which has a wing
loading less than 60 kg/m2
. Clearly any aircraft not on the list will take significantly longer than a
previously approved type. It is recognised that many LAA types have a lighter wing loading than
60kg/m2
, including some PTC aircraft. This limit may be reviewed as more experience is gained in
assessing aircraft. "
Obviously millions of night and IFR flights have been made in Cessna 150s (and God knows how many other types) with wing loading the same as that of the Jodel D120.
c150 WL is 46 kg/m2. D120 is 47.3 (both assuming MTOW)
I say “infeasible” rather than “impossible” because I didn’t want to spend many months, if not years, and thousands of ££ plus the grey hairs trying to get this through with the LAA. Life is only so long and you have to pick your battles.
I flew Jodel DR1050 G-AZAD at night, when they were certified aircraft. When looking to buy another DR1050 G-AYUT, the owner mentioned he flew it IFR in IMC on an IMC Rating.
The DR1050 Is very different from the D120. Consult the LAA.
If building instrument hours with commercial flying in mind, consider the time before you get the D120 permission, assuming that is possible. It is likely not an economic choice.
