Rutan VariViggen
{{Short description|Homebuilt aircraft designed by Burt Rutan}}
{{Refimprove|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name=Rutan VariViggen
|image=variviggen.jpg
|caption=
|type=Homebuilt light aircraft
|manufacturer=Rutan Aircraft Factory (plans supplier)
|designer=Burt Rutan
|first_flight=April, 1972
|introduction=
|retired=
|status= < 5 flying
|primary_user= private owners
|produced=
|number_built= ~20
|unit cost=
|variants=VariEze
}}
The Rutan VariViggen is a homebuilt aircraft designed by Burt Rutan. The aircraft is a tandem two-seater of primarily wooden construction with a delta wing and a canard foreplane. The VariViggen is powered by a 150 hp Lycoming O-320 aero engine in pusher configuration. The prototype was designated Model 27, and the production version was Model 32.
Design and development
The VariViggen was named after the Swedish fighter plane, the Saab 37 Viggen. This and the XB-70 Valkyrie inspired the design. Rutan became interested in aircraft which resisted stalls and spins, and the VariViggen was his first full scale design. He began working with the design as a student at Cal Poly in the early 1960s, and started building the prototype in his garage in 1968. After four years of work, the aircraft made its first flight in April, 1972. In order to increase efficiency, the Model 32 (also known as the VariViggen SP) had a slightly longer fuselage, a larger wingspan and winglets.
The Rutan Aircraft Factory sold 600 plan sets for the VariViggen to homebuilders, and eventually about 20 of the aircraft were built. Following the crash of one in New Brunswick, Canada in September 2006 due to wing tank fuel contamination,{{Citation | date= September 17, 2006 | url = http://www.bst-tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/2006/a06a0092/a06a0092.asp | publisher = Transportation Safety Board of Canada | title = Aviation Investigation Report A06A0092}} fewer than five are currently still flying. The prototype aircraft, N27VV, can be seen in the 1975 movie Death Race 2000 and was eventually donated to the EAA AirVenture Museum in 1988.
Rutan also began work on an all-aluminum variant, the MiniViggen, but later abandoned the project and focused his efforts on the VariEze.
VariViggen Model 27 Specifications (Standard Wing)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1976–77{{Harvnb|Taylor|1976|p=530}}
|prime units?=imp
|genhide=
|crew=1
|capacity=1 passenger
|length m=
|length ft=19
|length in=0
|length note=
|span m=
|span ft=19
|span in=0
|span note=
|height m=
|height ft=
|height in=
|height note=
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=119
|wing area note=
|volume m3=
|volume ft3=
|volume note=
|aspect ratio=3.03
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=950
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=1700
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity={{convert|30|USgal|impgal L|abbr=on}}
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Lycoming O-320-A2A
|eng1 type=air-cooled flat-four
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=150
|eng1 note=
|prop blade number=2
|prop name=Hegy wooden fixed-pitch
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=5
|prop dia in=10
|prop dia note=
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=163
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=
|max speed mach=
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=150
|cruise speed kts=
|cruise speed note=125mph (econ cruise at {{convert|7000|ft|m|abbr=on}})
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed mph=
|stall speed kts=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=180
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|range km=
|range miles=300-440
|range nmi=
|range note=(max fuel, 30 minutes reserve).
|endurance=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=14000
|ceiling note=
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=800
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|more performance=*Take-off run to 50 ft (15 m): {{convert|950|ft|m|abbr=on}}
- Landing run from 50 ft (15 m): {{convert|600|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|avionics=
|fuel capacity note=(Note: 5 US Gal Reserve).}}
References
{{reflist}}
- {{cite magazine |last=Ord-Hume |first=Arthur |title=VariViggen |magazine=Aeroplane Monthly |date=May 1974 |volume=2 |issue=5 |pages=650–653}}
- {{cite book |editor-last=Taylor |editor-first=John W. R. |editor-link=John W. R. Taylor |title=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1976–1977 |year=1976 |publisher=Jane's Yearbooks |location=London |isbn=0-354-00538-3 }}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [http://www.kiwiaircraftimages.com/rutanvv.html NZ website on the VariViggen]
- [http://www.sun-n-fun.org/content/interior.asp?section=museum&body=planes/variviggen Sun 'n Fun Air Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012153954/http://www.sun-n-fun.org/content/interior.asp?section=museum&body=planes%2Fvariviggen |date=2007-10-12 }}
- [http://www.airventuremuseum.org/collection/aircraft/Rutan%20VariViggen.asp AirVenture Museum]
- [http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/rutan-model-27-variviggen Museum of Flight VariViggen website]
- [http://aerofiles.com/_rutan.html Aerofiles VariViggen information]
- [http://stargazer2006.online.fr/aircraft/pages/variviggen.htm Stargazer Website on VariViggen (models 27 & 32 information)]
- [http://stargazer2006.online.fr/derivatives/pages/microstar.htm Stargazer Website on Twin Turbojet powered VariViggen]
- [http://stargazer2006.online.fr/derivatives/pages/viggenite.htm Stargazer Website on all metal VariViggen variant]
- [http://variviggen.mywebcommunity.org/VariViggen_History.htm VariViggen History (Link Fixed 031921)]{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{Scaled Composites}}
Category:Aircraft first flown in 1972