Name of a plane ?

J

JohnWF

Pre-takeoff checklist
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John at Salida
I am searching for the name of an experimental aircraft that:
- was egg-shaped and very small
- had retractable gears
- tip-up canopy
- fast
- somewhat narrow landing gear (seemingly)
- doubt kits are still being sold
- side-by-side seating for two people max
- somewhat of a 'twitchy' plane - as some reported
 
Good series. Can be bought on DVD...if you're old school like me.:)

 
That does sound like a Questair Venture and yes I have one. Kits are no longer being sold but there are a few guys that are trying to restart it or at least help support the existing fleet. They are celebrating the Venture at Oshkosh this year so I hope there is a good turnout. Our Annual flyin will be in Louisville KY this year first weekend in October.

I will add that it is not twitchy at all. In fact it flies like a much larger airplane with firm control pressure and high wing loading. Short of managing the speed it's one of the easiest flying planes I have been in. Flew from Winston Salem NC area 8A7 to St. Louis KALN two weekends ago in 2 hours. Trues out to 237 knts at 13 ghp at 11,000 ft. At that altitude and speed you have to start your decent 80 miles from your destination to not shock cool the engine or blow past your destination.
 
Took this on my way back. 11,500 ft 10 degree Celsius lean of peak 40 knt tailwind. 1:50 trip time from St. Louis to Winston Salem.
 
Sounds like something Mork from Ork was flying

1411501383657_wps_49_image003_png.jpg
 
Grum.Man said:
That does sound like a Questair Venture and yes I have one. Kits are no longer being sold but there are a few guys that are trying to restart it or at least help support the existing fleet. They are celebrating the Venture at Oshkosh this year so I hope there is a good turnout. Our Annual flyin will be in Louisville KY this year first weekend in October.

I will add that it is not twitchy at all. In fact it flies like a much larger airplane with firm control pressure and high wing loading. Short of managing the speed it's one of the easiest flying planes I have been in. Flew from Winston Salem NC area 8A7 to St. Louis KALN two weekends ago in 2 hours. Trues out to 237 knts at 13 ghp at 11,000 ft. At that altitude and speed you have to start your decent 80 miles from your destination to not shock cool the engine or blow past your destination.
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Coolest homebuilt, bar none.
 
Hangar neighbor (who used to have a Mooney a long long time ago) has been building one for years. He says the typical accident is that people get tipsy on the narrow gear with improper crosswind control and the higher landing speed means those control problems turn into something painful very quickly. Flown (er, landed) right, they're wicked fast.
 
Maybe it was a BD-xx. Jim Bede had several designs, the most reknowned probably being the BD-5.
 
paflyer said:
Coolest homebuilt, bar none.
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Well, let's not get carried away. The VK30, White Lightning, Berkut, Legend, Prescott Pusher, and others are pretty awesome. They just didn't catch on for the masses. Even the Lancair IVP or Velocity XL have the performance of a Questair but will haul 4 people.

We won't even go into the BD-11 and Viper Jet because they're on an entirely different plane.
 
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Velocity173 said:
Well, let's not get carried away. The VK30, White Lightning, Berkut, Legend, Prescott Pusher, and others are pretty awesome. They just didn't catch on for the masses. Even the Lancair IVP or Velocity XL have the performance of a Questair but will haul 4 people.

We won't even go into the BD-11 and Viper Jet because they're on an entirely different plane.
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Actually, I think the Berkut is the coolest to me, now that you mention it. A shame it never reached kit production, I really wanted one. Velocity is nice as well; what is the status of the twin?
 
paflyer said:
Actually, I think the Berkut is the coolest to me, now that you mention it. A shame it never reached kit production, I really wanted one. Velocity is nice as well; what is the status of the twin?
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Don't they've sold many. I saw the first one being built when I went down to get my condition inspection done. The first customer built one has had a couple of incidents. Everything I've read about the V-twin has been positive, there just aren't many people willing to take on a project like that. Originally the owners wanted investors to try and get the thing part23 certified but I think they've given up on that route.

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2015/11/velocity-v-twin-n360vt-accidents.html?m=1
 
paflyer said:
Actually, I think the Berkut is the coolest to me, now that you mention it. A shame it never reached kit production, I really wanted one.
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They did sell a few kits; there are 22 Berkuts on the active FAA registry and another seven on the deregistrated list.

Ron Wanttaja
 
I don't think it's the coolest as it definitely isn't a sexy design. It is however still one of the most efficient designs out there. Other airplanes will go as fast, but few will do it on 13 gph or less. To get most Lancair/Glasair equivalents to the same speed you are burning 1-2 more gph.
 
Grum.Man said:
I don't think it's the coolest as it definitely isn't a sexy design. It is however still one of the most efficient designs out there. Other airplanes will go as fast, but few will do it on 13 gph or less. To get most Lancair/Glasair equivalents to the same speed you are burning 1-2 more gph.
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I agree, it's hard to go faster than a Questair on that much HP.

I flew in a White Lightning once and we were truing out at 215 kts on only 210 HP. Don't remember the burn burn rate but that's pretty darn efficient.

http://www.studiomoonart.com/whitelightning.htm
 
KyleT said:
Maybe a swearingen sx300?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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The guys I have talked to with one claim 230-240 but at 15 gph. I can run rich of peak and get 240 but that is at 14-15 gph. The venture only has a 285 HP Continental where the Swearingen/Lancair/Glasair have 300 HP.
 
Grum.Man said:
That does sound like a Questair Venture and yes I have one. Kits are no longer being sold but there are a few guys that are trying to restart it or at least help support the existing fleet. They are celebrating the Venture at Oshkosh this year so I hope there is a good turnout. Our Annual flyin will be in Louisville KY this year first weekend in October.

I will add that it is not twitchy at all. In fact it flies like a much larger airplane with firm control pressure and high wing loading. Short of managing the speed it's one of the easiest flying planes I have been in. Flew from Winston Salem NC area 8A7 to St. Louis KALN two weekends ago in 2 hours. Trues out to 237 knts at 13 ghp at 11,000 ft. At that altitude and speed you have to start your decent 80 miles from your destination to not shock cool the engine or blow past your destination.
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It looks like if you put a fat guy in there you'd pop a wheely:
upload_2017-2-17_14-40-14.png
 
I take it from the lack of response from the OP that the Questair was it??? :D
 
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