Differences between DE and CE

[DRFlyer]

Hi all,

Sorry if this seems like a stupid question, I'm a bit new to the LE design. I've been looking to build an inexpensive 2-seater that I can fly out of my local airport and have been bouncing between a Double Eagle or a Sonerai (very different planes, but both are fairly cheap to build and use a VW engine).

I picked up a set of plans for the DE, but then discovered the Cabin Eagle shortly after which has folding wings (something the Sonerai has as well, which would certainly  be nice to have in case I need to keep it at home).

Reading the specs on the CE, it looks like the estimated empty weight is about 100lbs more than the DE. Is this all from the cabin structure or wing attachments? Are there other significant differences between the design that contribute to the additional weight?

I'm hoping to build as light as possible, with no starter or electrics, minimal instruments and minimal covering, so I was just curious if it would be better to modify the DE plans to change the wing attach strategy or modify the CE plans to leave off the doors and much of the cabin covering to get the weight down.

[Tom H]

DR, I don't know much about the differences between the DE and the CE, so not much help there. 

However, your approach to build as light as possible is a noble one regarding either plane.

We built our DE and it got heavy.  It has a full featured engine, a bunch of instruments and doors.  But, it does fly well, but a passenger needs to be on the light side.

Don't know where you live.  Ours is in Louisville, Ky, and we have winters here.  So, the doors were put on to allow year-round flying in relative comfort, as compared to open cockpit.  Actually, the doors make longer flights more enjoyable, less fatiguing.

Hope that helps some.

[Richfroh]

The CE fuselage is wider at the top to accommodate the folding wing feature, which adds weight in additional tubing. There is the wing fold mechanism adding weight. The ailerons on the CE are controlled by a 7/8" dia. steel torque tube while the DE is controlled by cables. The ailerons are built slightly different due to the difference in control type. The CE doors add some more weight as does the wider windshield. The DE wing struts are parallel with two fuselage mounting points, while the CE struts join together at the rear fuselage mount point. Not sure if that makes any difference with weight. I don't have my plans in front of me, but I believe the rest of the fuselage and wings are very similar to each other.

[MrG]

I built a DE and now modding it to a cabin, I'm using same wings (not going to have folding) bit basically rebuilt everything from the back of fuse back
and squared out the cabin, if I knew about this I would have done this from scratch, its 26 in longer which helps with like TomH  said with the full engine
up front - https://www.eaglersnest.com/forum/index.php?topic=1509.30 pretty much like this 

If i built another i would also do the same

[DRFlyer]

Thanks for all the info, I guess I can see all those changes adding up quickly. I'm thinking more and more that a Cabin Eagle would fit my mission a bit better, plus it looks a little easier to get in due to the single strut. I'm guessing there is a cruise speed difference between the two due to the larger frontal area of the cabin?

I'm based near Detroit, MI, so winters are defiantly a consideration. I'm thinking that it would just be stored in the winter, since the weather tends to be marginal VFR in addition to being cold. Having removable or even zipper doors might be a nice option though..

[MrG]

@DRF
i did 2 years ago a 2.5 hr nav each way to an airshow @6000ft pretty much for whole flight between -2 to 3 deg C, even with some pretty serious gear on to stay
warm, by the time i landed with little feeling in hands and none in feet - this is 60 to 70% of why i'm doing the mods - the rest is to stop the wind in the std DE config
my wife loves going in it, but refuses now because it takes two days to get hair straight again, you can always do 1/2 doors for summer, full doors and least you can 
do a heater
Funny thing thou, mate gave me his plane to fly till i'm back in the air,  a murphy renegade "now that's cold"

[rfeenstra]

DRFlyer, you're welcome to come across state and take a peek at my highly modified DE.

[DRFlyer]

DRFlyer, you're welcome to come across state and take a peek at my highly modified DE.

I may have to do that