Raptor Aircraft, Vaporware?

TBO is between 700 and 2300 hrs depending on which engine you're talking about. Something in this power range with turbos and gear drive is in the 700-1600 hr range. How long the engine actually lasts depends on operation, maintenance, and luck.

I’m not interested in the TBO or problems which develop slowly and which can be caught in time.

My question was after how many hours, in average, you think a catastrophic failure can be expected with a Lycoming or Continental aircraft engine?

I believe I heard numbers of around 20,000 hours. This would be about 10 times the hours of what I experienced with series production Diesel vehicles and what seemed pretty much the standard, compared to colleagues and friends.
All the catastrophic failures were caused by some kind of electronic problems, the only mechanical problems I remember were failed turbochargers and a failed high pressure pump, these were however rather slowly developing issues.

I am talking about
a.) humming along, fat, dumb and happy and the engine going dead from one second to the next
and
b.) on top of that, humming along, fat, dumb and happy and the engine going to fail-safe mode, reducing the available power to maybe 10 - 15%

If a.) would happen every 2000 hours and b.) every 800 or so hours in an airplane, I would guess that most pilots would quit flying.

ECUs, sensors, electric injectors all tend to crap out without any warning but are essential for the operation of a modern Diesel.

Just think about the enormous investments which already went into the development of the aircraft diesel engines. Well funded companies went bankrupt over this, even though they also used proven car engines as a basis. To turn a car Diesel engine into a reliable aircraft engine, which can also be operated with Jet fuel, is not even remotely as simple as it looks.

Personally, I might fly behind a converted car gasoline engine, if it is well executed, because of its lower complexity and because components which are prone to failure and critical for the operation of the engine can more easily be made redundant.
A converted Diesel – no, thank you, unless serious efforts went into the improvement of its reliability and the redundancy of critical components.
 
IF this design gets off the ground, it won't be with either of the engines mentioned. Maybe the SMA engine from the 182 would be a good option


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IF this design gets off the ground, it won't be with either of the engines mentioned. Maybe the SMA engine from the 182 would be a good option


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That's probably not powerful enough. The EPS diesels look like they might be a better fit.
 
Apparently they leased an office/development facility though....

If all the deposits are "in escrow" I have to wonder - how is this funded...?


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Looks like they've got a model now that they've been working with:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clab804ncDw

Also they hired a feller named Jeff Kerlo who essentially created the Velocity line of kits (which is the inspiration for the raptor).. Seems to get a little more promising every day?
 
Looks like they've got a model now that they've been working with:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clab804ncDw

Also they hired a feller named Jeff Kerlo who essentially created the Velocity line of kits (which is the inspiration for the raptor).. Seems to get a little more promising every day?

The XL yes. The Velocity line was created by Dan Maher over 30 years ago.
 
Looks like they've got a model now that they've been working with:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clab804ncDw

Also they hired a feller named Jeff Kerlo who essentially created the Velocity line of kits (which is the inspiration for the raptor).. Seems to get a little more promising every day?

Wonder if that "drone' pilot is registered and has a commercial pilots license?:lol:
 
I don't understand what they are expecting to achieve with the model. We already know the canards will fly (thanks Burt!), and this model just looks like a bloated LongEZ.

I'll believe it as soon as they start testing a full size prototype.
 
I don't understand what they are expecting to achieve with the model.

That's a valid point. From their videos, they said they are spending 1 business day out of the week (so 20% of their time) on the model.. Maybe it'll be for marketing purposes later on or something along those lines? For trade show purposes?
 
That's a valid point. From their videos, they said they are spending 1 business day out of the week (so 20% of their time) on the model.. Maybe it'll be for marketing purposes later on or something along those lines? For trade show purposes?
Prototype the design and work out the bugs in the aerodynamics. As was said in the video, make some improvements like on the winglets to help with stability, move the CG more forward to help with takeoff. Even the Wright brothers made models. It's not new.
 
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If they can pull it off at the numbers listed, they'll quickly take over a huge portion of the GA market.

It's a big "if" though.
 
Wish they would have made the back windows bigger. Passengers aren't going to like that. Pressurized they might not have had a choice.
 
Is anybody going to Peter's presentation at OSH this week, it would be nice to post up anything new you learn. Might not be anything new for those that watch the videos he puts out twice a week already.
 
And...more videos of making molds. :mad:
 
Every time he pronounces a hard C or a K...he's got that spit click goin' on.
 
And still working on the doors. 6 years of development and still not even close to first flight. Amazing.

While I hope that everything will come to fruition with the Raptor aircraft, I can’t help but wonder how the heck he can fund this venture for this long. He’s got 3-5 people working in the shop (Jeff full time) and his own cost of living to manage.

Hopefully the VW/Audi 3.0 TDI engine will work out. He’s spending a lot of time perfecting that configuration as well.

Still... I watch and see how things progress. Hopefully the aircraft will see the light of day this year.
 
I give this guy mad props for the consistent work and updates. In the world of vaporware and VCs jerking each other off this is refreshing. Just good old fashion vision and hard work
 
When I first saw the web site I dismissed it as someone's idle fantasy. I am happy (and a little surprised) to see that they're actually building an airplane... and I know that takes a LOT of time, so the progress actually doesn't look bad.

I do think his projection of cost once they're done is nothing short of a deranged fantasy. The history of the airplane business is littered with the corpses of companies started by airplane guys who have no idea how to manage finances or run a business, but the fact that he'd even think those numbers are worth stating kind of makes me question his grip on reality.
 
Lancair, Glasair, Vans and Velocity all had flying prototypes in 1-3 years and kits shipping soon after. Dan Maher had the Velocity prototype done in 8 months. Heck, it took Rutan only 3 years to design, build and fly the Voyager!

It’s ridiculous to take 5+ years to produce a prototype and they’re still not even close to first flight. I’ve been watching molds for 4 years now. Been watching the construction of a door for over a year. At this rate, if I’m number 1000 in the deposit line, I’ll be long dead before my aircraft is ready for final assembly.
 
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after watching their videos, i want nothing to do with a high performance aircraft that uses PVC water pipe in it for anything!
bob
 
after watching their videos, i want nothing to do with a high performance aircraft that uses PVC water pipe in it for anything!
bob

What are those PVC pipe bundles for?
 
People still talking about this necro-farce? Must be a slow day at POA. Real-world equivalent of trolling is what this is. Some people are born to be swindled I suppose. 6 years for a piston conceptual? LOL We cleaned up WWII in 4, and we we went from flying ford pintos (P40s) to Chevy ZR1s (P51) in half that time. You guys gotta up the trolling ante, at least the titlwing guy made a millenial-friendly iThingy styled YT video for his snake oil. :D

ETA: PVC? LOL Hey, what do yo get after you buy a Raptor kit and 6 years? Answer: a complete plumbing and tub bathroom set for your guest bath. :D
 
Running wire down the length of the fuselage, presumably to the engine, wings, gear.

I counted 8 of them in two sets of 4 when I went back to look at the vid a second time. Seems a lot of extra weight for that purpose.
 
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