VisionAire has made major alterations to its ambitious Spirit VA-12B "personal jet" sports aircraft and has begun construction of a prototype at its Chesterfield site in Missouri.
"It should be flying within 18 months," says Tom Stark, senior vice-president of the company's Future Works advanced development division.
The major changes to the design, which was first unveiled at this year's Experimental Aircraft Association convention at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in late July/ early August relate to the decision to make the aircraft twin engined. The original single engined design had an asymmetric inlet and forward swept wings to compensate for the light weight of the Williams International FJX-2 engine.
"Our market research indicated a need for more performance than we originally intended, so it will be a twin," says Stark, who adds that the 700lb-thrust (3kN) FJX-2 "-will still probably be used".
The decision to double the engines means that predicted performance will increase, as will price. "The price rises from around $500,000 to $600,000, but the maximum cruise speed goes from 300kt [555km/h] to 400kt at 30,000ft [9,000m] and range goes from 1,500nm [2,800km] to 2,000nm," says Stark.
In addition to talking intensively with Williams about the Spirit, VisionAire says it remains open to other offers. "We have talked to Pratt & Whitney Canada and they're interested in what we're doing, and we hope to see AlliedSignal there too," says Stark. "Williams is obviously in the lead, but it is good to have competition," he adds.
The design retains the "huge" horizontal stabiliser of the first concept. The large tail compensates for the significant centre of gravity (cg) changes that could be caused by payload changes. The two seater is a lightweight aircraft with an empty weight of only 725kg (1,600lb) and a gross weight of 1,600kg.
"The drag effect is worth it because it gives more utility to the aircraft," says Stark. "The big effect on cg is not fuel in this aircraft, it is payload," he adds.
Other changes include a probable move to "D" shaped engine inlets rather than the ellipse of the previous single engine design.
VisionAire is also studying future Spirit derivatives, including a simplified single engined, fixed gear trainer, and a four-seat version equipped with a cabin, rather than the two-seat tandem cockpit of the initial model.
Source: Flight International
