Rihn DR-107 One Design

The Rihn DR-107 One Design is an American aerobatic homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Dan Rihn and first flown in 1993. The aircraft is supplied by Aircraft Spruce & Specialty of Corona, California in the form of plans and a materials kit for amateur construction.

The DR-107 was designed as a low-cost one design aircraft for competition and sport basic to advanced aerobatics, including International Aerobatic Club Class One competitions. For this role it is stressed to +/-10g.

Design and development
The DR-107 is a monoplane that features a cantilever low-wing, a single-seat enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, fixed conventional landing gear with wheel pants and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft is predominantly made from wood, with some steel parts and doped aircraft fabric. Its 19.50 ft span wing employs a Wainfan 16% symmetrical airfoil and has a wing area of 75.55 sqft. The wing has almost full-span ailerons that produce rolls of 360° per second. The wing has no flaps. Other features include a low-mounted cable-braced tailplane and a 24 in wide cockpit.

The DR-107 can accept engines of 160 to 180 hp. The standard engines used are the 180 hp Lycoming O-360, modified with high compression pistons, an inverted oil system and fuel injection or the 160 hp Lycoming AEIO-320 powerplant.

The aircraft has an empty weight of 740 lb and a gross weight of 1150 lb, giving a useful load of 410 lb. With full fuel of 19 u.s.gal the payload is 296 lb.

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 in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, with another 11 previously registered and now removed. Also in November 2013 there were two registered with Transport Canada and ten in the United Kingdom with the Civil Aviation Authority.