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Just to preempt remarks from astute readers: the observer depicted on the right is indeed at home in the Plegadis taxonomy, but obviously is not of the white faced variety...
In 2007 it was exactly 20 years ago that Jean Claude Junqua and his father Roger Junqua presented F-PJQA, their proof of concept "RJ.02 Volucelle", during the 1987 RSA Fly-in, which took place at Brienne-le-Chateau (LFFN).
Since then, Volucelle was developed into the first IBIS prototype (F-WZGY). The next development step was the RJ.03 IBIS as we know it today, of which P-PBSM (built by Stéphane Malandain and Frédéric Barbeau) was the first to fly. Twenty years of development and incremental refinement is a milestone allright. Congratulations to Jean Claude and his team!
I've written an article about my visiting the 2007 RSA fly-in, check it out.
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The fuselage is a spruce, douglas fir or pine structure set up with 7 frames, 4 longerons and some diagonal struts. It is covered up with thin birch plywood.
Both tandem seats have full controls, with the exception of a flap actuation, which is only available in the front cockpit.
The instrument panel is in the front. If needed a tiny pod with the most essential instruments can be mounted in the rear. Some Ibis builders put essential instruments on the outside of the front cockpit panel, so that the rear occupant can observe these by looking over the shoulders of the front seat occupant. This saves weight and money, both always important, but you end up with a non-standard instrument layout in the front.
The canopy is a single piece of Lexan or Plexiglass, much like those of modern sailplanes. It opens to starboard, so you mount the ship on the port side.
This is where the term composite comes in. Basically, the structure is rather conventional, employing a wooden box spar and wooden ribs. Where it gets interesting is how foam is used to fill up the space between the ribs. Also, the 1 mm plywood wing covering is vacuumbagged while the glue/resin sets. This combination of vacuumbagged birch plywood covering, stiffened up by foam underneath, results in a very light and smooth wing skin structure.
The main wing is a single piece of structure, so finding a place to build it can be a bit awkward. Then again, the constant chord configuration - no wash-out, mind you - makes it simple to build.
As to the aerodynamics: the main wing sports a NASA/Langley LS-GA(W) section. I think it's the 0417 GA(W)-1, but I'll edit this sections as soon as I have verified this.
The canard wing is built similarly: wooden box spar, wooden ribs with the spaces in between filled with foam.
This structure is completely covered by 0.8 mm birch plywood using a vacuum bagging process. Light and strong! Hans Holsink (from The Netherlands) reports a weight of 7.5 kgs for his completed canard + elevator, sanded and primed as well - but without the paint job.
The canard uses a single slotted NACA 23012 section profile with a 25%c elevator.
The designer's website used to state that any engine from 60 - 80 HP with a maximum weight of up to 75 kgs may be mounted. Since then, his website has become a bit more specific (perhaps to bring it in tune with the building manual ?) and mentions only four or five approved engines.
The published performance figures were those of an IBIS that uses a fixed pitch prop mounted on a VW 1835 CC (60 HP) engine.
Come to think of it, did I mention that the engine is in the back?
The tricycle non-retractible landing gear has a steerable nosewheel carriage that is fabricated from steel tubes. The main gear is an arch laminated from solid wood (ash).
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