A Jodel DR1054 Joins Our Flight Test Fleet

A new aircraft has recently joined the E-Props test fleet: a beautiful Jodel DR1054, equipped with a Lycoming O-320 150hp engine.

Designed by the famous French aircraft designer Jean Délémontez, the DR1054 belongs to the iconic Jodel family. These wooden aircraft are well known for their distinctive cranked wings, excellent efficiency, and delightful handling in the air.

This particular aircraft is a nice example of homebuilt construction, a category that offers greater flexibility for flight testing. This makes it much easier for us to conduct flight tests with prototype propellers, which is essential during the development and validation phases.

We acquired this aircraft to expand our propeller testing capabilities, particularly for our ASCALON propeller range on the Lycoming O-320 platform. Having dedicated aircraft allows us to perform detailed flight tests in real operating conditions.

The first test flights have already begun. For this campaign, we are using our ELIAS DAU (Data Acquisition Unit) to record precise flight and engine data during the tests.

This aircraft strengthens our growing E-Props flight test fleet, which also includes a PENA Bilouis powered by a Lycoming O-360 (180 hp) and a Skyranger equipped with a Rotax 912S (100 hp).

Flight testing remains at the heart of propeller development. As the French aviation pioneer Captain Ferdinand Ferber wrote more than a century ago: “To design a flying machine is nothing; to build it is something; to test it is everything.”

The same philosophy applies perfectly to propellers. That is why the E-Props team relies on dedicated aircraft, advanced instrumentation, and extensive flight testing to develop propellers that deliver performance, efficiency, and high reliability for our customers.