DR 107
The Rihn DR-107 One Design — Dan Rihn's homebuilt aerobatic monoplane that gave IAC competition pilots a same-spec class to compete on pure skill — captured as a sport-scale RC model.
About
The Rihn DR-107 One Design is the work of Dan Rihn, an American aerobatic pilot and designer who set out to create a new IAC competition class in which all entrants would be flying airframes built to identical specifications — putting performance differences aside and making the contest one of pure pilot skill. The DR-107 prototype was assembled and shown at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 1993, made its first flight in August of that year, and was prominently demonstrated at the 1994 U.S. National Aerobatic Championships, where it recorded a roll rate of 420 degrees per second — a number that surpassed the contemporary Pitts S-1S biplane and signaled the type's competitive intent.
The DR-107's construction is unusual for a high-performance aerobatic airframe in modern times: predominantly wood, with steel parts and doped aircraft fabric, in a deliberately simple-to-build kit format. The 19.5-foot-span cantilever low wing employs a Wainfan 16% symmetrical airfoil. The airframe is stressed for ±10g, has a single enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, and is built around a single tractor-mounted engine. Aircraft Spruce & Specialty of Corona, California supplies plans and a materials kit for amateur construction; over 600 plans sets had been sold worldwide by 2018, with finished aircraft built in fourteen countries.
In recognition of the DR-107's contribution to aerobatic competition, Dan Rihn received the IAC's Curtis Pitts Trophy in 2018, marking the type's twenty-fifth anniversary. The 2017 IAC season alone saw twelve pilots flying DR-107s place in the top three in their respective categories at one or more events, demonstrating the airframe's continuing competitive viability across IAC Sportsman through Unlimited categories.
In the simulator
A serious aerobatic mount with the kind of immediate response and high roll authority that the real DR-107 was built for. The +/-10g airframe character translates to demanding handling — small wings, big control surfaces, narrow margins. Use it for serious aerobatic-box flying: vertical lines, knife-edge passes, slow rolls, and tight competition figures. Pairs well with grass strips and competition aerobatic-box landscapes. A natural sibling to the CAP232 White and Edge 540 line in this pack — three different design philosophies for the same competition mission.
