Rihn DR-109

The Rihn DR-109 is an American aerobatic homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Dan Rihn. The aircraft was supplied by Jim Kimball Enterprises of Zellwood, Florida and more recently by Ashcraft Aero Works of Aurora, Illinois in the form of plans. It was designed for competition aerobatics as well as a trainer for the Rihn DR-107 One Design.

Design and development
The DR-109 is a monoplane that features a cantilever low-wing, two seats in a tandem enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, fixed conventional landing gear with wheel pants and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft fuselage is made from welded 4130 steel tubing, covered in sheet aluminum. The tail surfaces feature steel tube spars, sheet aluminum ribs, are covered with doped aircraft fabric and are cable-braced. The 24.0 ft span wing is constructed in one piece and has Douglas fir spars with plywood ribs and covering. The wing employs a Wainfan 16% symmetrical airfoil and has a wing area of 114.00 sqft. The wing has almost full-span ailerons and no flaps. Other features include a 48 in wide cockpit.

The DR-109 can accept engines of 200 to 300 hp. The standard powerplant used is the 260 hp Lycoming AEIO-540-D4A5 six cylinder, air-cooled, four stroke aircraft engine.

The aircraft has an empty weight of 1495 lb and a gross weight of 2275 lb, giving a useful load of 780 lb. With full fuel of 46 u.s.gal the payload is 504 lb.

The designer estimates the construction time as 1300 hours.

Operational history
In November 2013 11 examples were registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, with another one previously registered and now removed.