Test driving a unique airplane

The Velocity is an experimental kit airplane generally based on Burt Rutan's Long EZ. The particular one we test drove today was a fixed-gear, fixed-pitch prop, 200HP version of the Velocity Elite. Gary, the owner, is based out of Sanford, NC and was kind enough to come up for lunch to show it off.

The first thing that is obvious about the plane is that its ramp appeal is through the roof. In just the short time it was on the ramp at JGG there were at least two groups of people that came by to ask about the plane and get a closer look.


Gary gave us a nice walk around of the airplane and then we hopped in for a quick demo flight. I sat up front in the right seat as John was exceedingly kind (as he always is) in taking the back seats. Here are some of things I learned through the time we spent with the plane:

• Each of the winglets is nearly vertical and has a rudder surface that only moves outward. Each rudder is operated independent of the other, so you can actually put both rudders out at the same time to act as an airbrake. It also has an electrically actuated speed brake on the bottom of the plane with is handy for shortening the roll out on landing.
  
• The rudder pedals are multiplexed (they perform multiple functions). As you push the first 1 inch or so of pedal travel, the appropriate rudder is moved. As you push further the corresponding wheel brake is then engaged. This means that when landing with a crosswind you need to be careful to not push in the pedal too much or you could land with one wheel brake active.
  
• The backseats have an excellent recline to them, which I really like, though head room leaves something to be desired.
  
• The front seats are a little cramped. There is a console separating the pilot/passenger which is nice, but I felt a little tight against the door. The headroom was better up front but not expansive.
  
• On landing you generally fly it onto the runway as opposed to stalling it down. This is because the canards in front will stall before the wing, making the nose wheel drop earlier than you’d want.
  
• Stalls were incredibly docile. Since the canards stall first, they drop, forcing a pitch down which immediately recovers from the stall. So this makes stalls feel like tiny repeating pitch oscillations – very forgiving. Plus it takes a lot of aft stick force to make it stall, so you’re unlikely to do one accidentally.
  
• It’s a slippery airplane. It cruises around 160 kts @ 10 G/hr fuel burn and reaches that cruise speed very quickly. It also climbed out quite well, even with the three of us on board.
  
• It’s responsive in roll. Only a small bit of side stick pressure gets you rolling. However, at slower speeds, such as 100 kts in the pattern the ailerons become much less effective. Stepping on a rudder will bring that wing down though to start a nice turn.
  
• It was very stable in flight. Trimming it up was easy.
  
• Gary gave us a nice soft landing – not sure if it was his skill, the airplane’s gear, or both contributing to that.
  
• It had a rather long takeoff and landing roll with us 3 guys on board – however it had no trouble getting off and on with room to spare on the 3200’ runway with a 50 degree F temperature.
  
• The visibility out the front of the plane was only minorly affected by the canards.
  
• Getting in and out of the gull wing doors was OK. If they were a little wider, or a little closer to the ground, they would be much easier. Getting out of the back is something of a gymnast challenge.
  

All in all, I really liked the airplane. My biggest concern is one of comfort. Since we are looking to buy another airplane for the purposes of traveling, I want to be able to sit in the plane for at least 2-3 hours without getting cramped up. I don’t know that this airplane could suit me for that. They also sell an XL version of the Velocity – sorry, they sell build plans for them (this is an experimental plane after all). I can see why they had demand for a larger cabin design.

The speed was great. I doubt much would beat that speed/fuel burn performance, except a retractable gear version – or a diesel. John and I have generally set 160 kts as the minimum cruise speed we want out of the next plane we share. Since the 172 we have now cruises around 105 that’s about a 50% speed boost we are looking for.

Even though Gary refused our offer to buy some fuel for him, he still treated us to a low pass when he was leaving. The airplane looks amazing in flight – like some kind of spaceship. When he was turning out from the pattern the profile of the airplane against the sky was unique and memorable. It must be pretty damn cool to be known around the airport as “that guy with the canard/pusher-prop airplane”.

There’s a slideshow from today and a video (sorry for the quality, or lack thereof - I used the still camera for the video):