Battson
Well-Known Member
Just an interesting thought I've been mulling over, I guess these would be the commonly built racers for Joe public (when he can afford it) - some wild one-off design isn't really relevent to this post. But I am talking about cruise speed, rather than Vne.
Some designs that come to mind: I think the important characteristics are the speed and the power plant, as it's not hard just to use a bigger engine to get more speed. Also the altitude which they measure speeds at is relevant
Sharp - Nemesis NXT, Cruise about 300kts with IO-540-K (big block), excess of 320kts at MSL with IO-720
Lancair - Legacy, Cruise about 240kts for the longer winged version with IO-550 @8000ft.
Questair - Venture, Cruise about 240kts with IO-550-G, albeit a reasonable different looking aircraft in terms of dimensions.
Stoddard-Hamilton - Glasair III, Cruise about 240kts with IO-540-K, much more affordable than the aircraft above.
What else is out there?
I am aware of other composite designs like the Falco/Furio, the Harmon Rocket, RV-8, etc etc which come in under 200kts with various engines, but they are not compariable to the above in terms of straight line speed in a x-country cruise.
Some designs that come to mind: I think the important characteristics are the speed and the power plant, as it's not hard just to use a bigger engine to get more speed. Also the altitude which they measure speeds at is relevant
Sharp - Nemesis NXT, Cruise about 300kts with IO-540-K (big block), excess of 320kts at MSL with IO-720
Lancair - Legacy, Cruise about 240kts for the longer winged version with IO-550 @8000ft.
Questair - Venture, Cruise about 240kts with IO-550-G, albeit a reasonable different looking aircraft in terms of dimensions.
Stoddard-Hamilton - Glasair III, Cruise about 240kts with IO-540-K, much more affordable than the aircraft above.
What else is out there?
I am aware of other composite designs like the Falco/Furio, the Harmon Rocket, RV-8, etc etc which come in under 200kts with various engines, but they are not compariable to the above in terms of straight line speed in a x-country cruise.