Rutan VariViggen

Infobox Aircraft
name=Rutan VariViggen
type=Light Prop
manufacturer=Rutan Aircraft Factory


caption=
designer=Burt Rutan
first flight=April, 1972
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user=Private Owners
more users=
produced=
number built=
unit cost=
variants with their own articles=VariEze

The Rutan VariViggen is an airplane designed by Burt Rutan. He named it after the Swedish fighter plane, the Saab 37 Viggen, which had partially inspired his design. The aircraft is a two-seat (tandem arrangement), wood and fiberglass canard utilizing a 150 hp Lycoming O-320 piston engine in pusher configuration. The prototype was designated Model 27, and the production version was Model 32.

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. The Model 32, also known as the VariViggen SP, utilized a slightly longer fuselage, larger span and winglets in order to increase efficiency. Rutan also began work on an all-aluminum variant, the MiniViggen, but later abandoned the project and focused his efforts on the VariEze.

The Rutan Aircraft Factory sold over 600 plan sets for the VariViggen to homebuilders, and eventually about 20 of the aircraft were built. Fewer than five are currently still flying following the crash of one in New Brunswick, Canada in September 2006. The prototype aircraft, N27VV, was donated to the EAA AirVenture Museum in 1988.

A Rutan VariViggen was used in the 1975 film "Death Race 2000".

pecifications

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=Plane
jet or prop?=Prop
crew=2
length main=16 ft 10 in
length alt=5.12m
span main=19 ft 0 in
span alt=5.79 m
area main=123 ft²
area alt=37.4 9m²
empty weight main=1020 lb
empty weight alt=463.6 kg
max takeoff weight main=1700 lb
max takeoff weight alt=772.7 kg
engine (prop)=Lycoming O-320
type of prop=
number of props=1
power main=150 hp

max speed main=165 mph
max speed alt=265.5 km/h
cruise speed main=150 mph
cruise speed alt=242 km/h
stall speed main=48 mph
stall speed alt=77.25 km/h
range main=400 mi
range alt=645 km
climb rate main=800 ft/min
climb rate alt=4 m/s

ources and references

* [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]
* [http://www.airventuremuseum.org/collection/aircraft/Rutan%20VariViggen.asp AirVenture Museum]
* [http://aerofiles.com/_rutan.html Aerofiles VariViggen information]