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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1077.PDF
FLIGHT, 21 August 1953 IMPRESSIONS OF THE JODEL BEBE A French Ultra-light in Club Service By H. BEST-DEVEREUX A GOOD deal of interest has been shown in this country in the little French low-wing monoplane, the Jodel Bebe, particularly since the recent arrival — at the Women's Junior Air Corps Display at White Waltham — of two examples for an all-too-brief visit. These two Jodels came from the Aeroclub of Beauvais and were flown by Georges Crucifix and Andre Rubichon, respectively chief instructor and secretary. Both aircraft were built in Beauvais from drawings supplied by the parent manufacturers, Avions Jodel of Beaune, Cote d'Or. On a recent visit to France it was possible to visit the club at Beauvais in order to examine and fly these two well-made little aeroplanes. The Jodel Bebe is basically an ultra-light single-seater monoplane widi a cantilever low wing having noticeably turned- up wing tips and a smallish looking rudder without an attendant fin. Many examples are fitted with an adapted Volkswagen car engine, an attractive and neat litde flat four air-cooled unit giving some 27 b.h.p. at 2,600-odd r.p.m. Any engine of between 25 and 50 b.h.p. may be fitted, such as the Poinsard, A.B.C. Scorpion, or (as seen at the Paris Salon) the 44 b.h.p. Lutetia four-cylinder two-stroke engine, which is an upright vee four with port and starboard cylinder banks of air-cooled unit construction. Simplicity has obviously been the aim of die designers while at the same time the result is of quite pleasing appearance. A deep rear decking is fitted from aft of the cockpit to the tailplane, giving the aircraft a somewhat hunched-back appearance which is accen tuated by die small rudder. The parallel-chord wing is a simple single-spar structure widi The Jodel Bebe is available either as an open single-seate or as the enclosed sidt-by-side two-seater seen here. a ply-covered leading edge to retain the aerofoil section. The spar is an unusual box-structure of rectangular cross-section, the width of the spar being constant throughout the span. The whole wing is fabric-covered, and the aileron gaps are sealed with fabric. The empennage consists of a cantilever ply-covered tailplane attached by four vertical bolts to the fuselage top longerons. The square-cut rudder (slighdy tapered towards its crown) is horn balanced, the leading edge being ply-covered. There is no fin except a miniscule fairing covering an elevator cable running over the top of the tailplane. In its fuselage structure die Jodel Bebe is completely conven tional. Two slab sides are boxed to form a four-longeron structure with vertical stiffeners, the whole being topped by a rear decking of semi-elliptical section widi die minor axis lying across die top longerons. The fuselage is ply-covered and the bay aft of the pilot forms a luggage locker. The fuselage is recessed at die base of the cockpit to provide a snug housing for the main plane, which has no root fillets. Sailplane-type flying controls are installed, with harmonium-type rudder pedals and a simple control column mounted on a fore-and-aft rotating tube for aileron actuation. The fuel tank, of approximately 25 litres capacity, is mounted under the front decking forward of the instrument panel. That die undercarriage is a sound job is proved by the record of the Beauvais Club, who have had no trouble at all during some thing over two thousand landings by pilots of varying abilities. The main member is a streamlined tube attached to the wing spar by two heavy gauge horizontal plates, one above and one below the spar, tiiese plates being welded to the main tube. A round-section tube with the axle welded to the base slides in shaped bushes fitted to the outer tube and uses rubber blocks in compression for shock absorption. Wheels are of Dunlop 16in x 4in wheelbarrow type and are not fitted with brakes. A reasonable solution to the power problem seems to have (Left) Installation of the 25 h.p. Volkswagen engine in the single- seater sampled by the author, and which is seen at left, below. The cock pit picture shows the simple panel, carrying basic V.F.R. instruments plus a ball-type slip indicator.
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