The Velocity is a canard pusher aircraft produced as a kit by Velocity Aircraft.
Design and development The prototype Velocity, first flown in July 1985, was a four-seat composite kit aircraft based on the Rutan Long-EZ. The aircraft was initially offered only with fixed landing gear, but an option for retractable gear was introduced in 1990. An optional larger wing was introduced in 1992, which gave the aircraft similar flight characteristics to the Cessna 172. Aircraft fitted with this new wing were initially referred to as the "Model 173".
An enlarged variant of the Velocity was introduced in 1997 as the Velocity XL.
Variants
Velocity Prototype and early production variant. Introduced in 1985. A retractable-gear variant was introduced in 1990 as the Velocity RG, and the original fixed-gear variant became the Velocity FG. Velocity 173 Variant fitted with an enlarged wing to improve performance. Offered in fixed-gear 173 FG and retractable-gear 173 RG variants. Later known as the Velocity LW.
Velocity 173 Elite Improved Velocity 173 with gull-wing doors, a full-length center console, adjustable bucket seats, and an enlarged windshield. Offered in retractable-gear 173 RG Elite and fixed-gear 173 FG Elite variants. The Elite eventually replaced the original Velocity as the standard variant. By the second quarter of 2000, "small wing" variants of the Elite were also available. Velocity SUV "Sport Utility Velocity", low-cost variant with a single gull-wing door, dual-yoke controls, and only offered with fixed landing gear. The prototype was powered by a fuel-injected Lycoming O-320-B1A engine driving an MT-Propeller constant-speed propeller. Production aircraft were intended to be powered by a Lycoming engine, though or Lycoming engines and a Franklin engine were also certified. Velocity SE "Standard Elite", replaced the SUV as the entry-level variant in 2002. The SE differs from the SUV primarily in that it has two doors, can be fitted with either a center-mounted control stick of a dual-control yoke, and is offered in both fixed-gear (as Velocity SE-FG) and retractable-gear (as Velocity SE-RG) variants. Intended to be powered by either a Lycoming IO-320 or a Lycoming IO-360 engine.Velocity SE , Velocity Aircraft website, 2008, accessed 2010-12-11. A total of 88 SE-FGs and 180 SE-RGs had been completed and flown by December 2011.Vandermeullen, Richard: 2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide, Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 75. Belvoir Publications. Velocity SE-2 Improved SE with a wider cabin, increased fuel capacity, dual control sticks, and optional EFIS. In development as of 2022. Velocity UAV Unmanned aerial vehicle variant developed by Proxy Aviation Systems. Three aircraft had been built by 2010.
Rocket Racer The Mark-I X-Racer, a rocketplane design for the Rocket Racing League built on a Velocity SE airframe. It was built by XCOR Aerospace with an XCOR XR-4K14 thrust rocket engine fuelled by LOX and kerosene. This rocket-powered aircraft flew several demonstration flights at the 2008 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show.XCOR X-Racer, by Nancy Atkinson, Universe Today, 2009-08-06, accessed 2010-04-26.
Specifications (Velocity SE-RG IO-360)
See also
References
External links
Velocity aircraft