Timber Tiger Aircraft, who made the classic shape of the Ryan ST accessible to the homebuilding world, has reached farther back in time to make the Curtiss Jenny and the sound of wind through wire bracing available to homebuilders. They have purchased the rights to sell Dennis Wiley’s Early Bird Jenny design as a kit, but with a twist. While Wiley’s Early Bird Jenny was a 67% scale replica, the kitted Jenny from Timber Tiger will be 75% scale.
Nick Pfannenstiel, Timber Tiger Aircraft President, said the basic kit is a welded steel fuselage with blueprints for the remainder of the airframe. Recognizing that a growing number of builders wish to do less work, additional kits will be offered to reduce build time and each builder can effectively build their kit à la carte, selecting the add-on kits they want without being forced to purchase items they don’t. “We’re trying to bring back a community of Early Bird Jenny builders. In addition to having a slightly larger fuselage, our kits will have CNC-machined components and improved hardware. To differentiate between the original plans-built version and our kit we are calling ours Gen 2.
Engineering and a structural analysis for the increased gross weight are complete and, while no factory prototype will be built before kits will ship, Pfannenestiel said there are no significant changes necessary to the existing, proven design. “I am going to build one for myself. My wife is just now hearing that. That’s my level of interest in it.”
Pfannenstiel estimates kits will start shipping in October.
