lonewolfmcq
Member
P85 completes Phase I flight testing
I saw this article this morning and looked into it deeper than I probably should.
I'm going to start with this. This airplane looks cool. I also think the Radial Rocket looks cool.
But then I consider the "intent" of the aircraft and it doesn't seem that exciting.
It claims 252 mph high speed cruise. Now this seems fairly impressive except when you compare it to similar aircraft.
The F1 rocket with an evo wing goes if I recall 265 mph on around 350 hp
The Glassair II FG goes 228 mph on 180 hp
The Cirrus SR22T goes the same speed as the P85 on 315 hp with tricycle gear
The Cessna TTX or whatever it is called now goes around 270 mph on 310 hp with tricycle gear
I'm sure there are others I missed. It seems like the radial Rocket has similar shortfalls when it is compared against "similar" aircraft.
Noticing things I would love to get you guys thinking with some questions.
1. Is there a place for this airplane in it's "category and class"? Will this design stick around? Does it deserve to stick around? and similar questions along those lines
2. What in this design is making this aircraft slower than similar aircraft on more horsepower?
To me this aircrafts roll is to be a speed demon fun machine that you can take to reno and SARL races. It just doesn't look that competitive in that category. Either way it takes a lot of work to gat any aircraft to this speed and I will give the guys props for that. Anyway let me know what you guys think.
I saw this article this morning and looked into it deeper than I probably should.
I'm going to start with this. This airplane looks cool. I also think the Radial Rocket looks cool.
But then I consider the "intent" of the aircraft and it doesn't seem that exciting.
It claims 252 mph high speed cruise. Now this seems fairly impressive except when you compare it to similar aircraft.
The F1 rocket with an evo wing goes if I recall 265 mph on around 350 hp
The Glassair II FG goes 228 mph on 180 hp
The Cirrus SR22T goes the same speed as the P85 on 315 hp with tricycle gear
The Cessna TTX or whatever it is called now goes around 270 mph on 310 hp with tricycle gear
I'm sure there are others I missed. It seems like the radial Rocket has similar shortfalls when it is compared against "similar" aircraft.
Noticing things I would love to get you guys thinking with some questions.
1. Is there a place for this airplane in it's "category and class"? Will this design stick around? Does it deserve to stick around? and similar questions along those lines
2. What in this design is making this aircraft slower than similar aircraft on more horsepower?
To me this aircrafts roll is to be a speed demon fun machine that you can take to reno and SARL races. It just doesn't look that competitive in that category. Either way it takes a lot of work to gat any aircraft to this speed and I will give the guys props for that. Anyway let me know what you guys think.
