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Cirrus VK-30

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"VK30" redirects here. For the German tank project, see VK 30 series.
VK-30
Cirrus VK-30 outside the Florida Air Museum in 2006
General information
TypeAmateur-built airplane
National originUnited States
ManufacturerCirrus Design
Designer
Number builtCirca 13
History
Manufactured1988–1993
Introduction date1987[1]
First flight11 February 1988

The Cirrus VK-30 is a single-engine pusher-propeller homebuilt aircraft originally sold as a kit by Cirrus Design (now Cirrus Aircraft), and was the company's first model, introduced in 1987.[2]

As a kit aircraft, the VK-30 is a relatively obscure design with few completed aircraft flying. Its most important legacy is that the work done on developing and marketing the aircraft convinced the designers, the Klapmeier brothers, that the best way to proceed in the future was with a more conventional layout and with a certified production aircraft. Thus the lessons of the VK-30 were directly responsible for the design of the Cirrus SR20 and SR22, which have been the best-selling general aviation airplanes in the world every year since 2003.[3][4][5][6] The VK-30 also served as a significant inspiration for the creation of the company's latest aircraft, the Cirrus Vision Jet,[7][8] which in 2018 won the Collier Trophy for becoming the first single-engine personal jet with a whole-plane parachute recovery system.[9]

Design and development

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Cirrus Design VK-30 on ramp at the Baraboo–Wisconsin Dells Airport in Baraboo, Wisconsin, c. 1988

The VK-30 design was conceived in the early 1980s as a kit plane project by three Wisconsin college students: Alan Klapmeier and Jeff Viken from Ripon College, and Alan's brother, Dale Klapmeier, who was attending the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. Together after college, in the Klapmeier brothers' parents' dairy barn in rural Sauk County, Wisconsin,[10] they formed Cirrus Design in 1984 as the company to produce the VK-30 ("VK" standing for Viken-Klapmeier).[1] Jeff's wife, Sally Viken, designed the aircraft's flap system. During the kit's early developmental phase, the Klapmeiers and Vikens sought frequent help and advice from homebuilt innovator Molt Taylor, who specialized in pusher configurations dating back to the 1940s.[2]

The aircraft has an all-composite construction and was designed to achieve natural laminar flow over the fuselage, wing and tail surfaces to provide for very low drag—using a NASA NLF(1)-0414F airfoil designed by Jeff Viken.[11] The original prototype incorporated scrapped parts from production aircraft out of junkyards the Klapmeier brothers visited in order to reduce cost, including both a control system and nose landing gear from a Piper Cherokee (welding parts onto it to convert it to a retractable gear), as well as an O-540 (290 hp) engine off a wrecked de Havilland Heron.[1] The VK-30 was designed to be a five-seat aircraft from the start, which made it considerably larger than most other amateur-built aircraft of its day. It incorporated a mid-engine design, driving a three-bladed pusher propeller behind the tail through an extension shaft. The powerplant in later models was a Continental IO-550-G piston engine developing 300 hp (224 kW).[2][11]

The VK-30 was introduced by the Klapmeiers at the 1987 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and first flew on 11 February 1988 at the Baraboo–Wisconsin Dells Airport. Kit deliveries commenced shortly thereafter.[1][2]

In the late 1980s, the Klapmeier brothers approached jet engine manufacturer Williams International about the possibility of installing a small, single Williams FJ44 turbofan engine on the VK-30. The idea never materialized at that time, however, it significantly inspired the original design concept of the Vision Jet in the mid-2000s.[8]

Cirrus discontinued production of the aircraft in 1993, and in 1996, announced plans to develop a stronger replacement wing for about 28 VK-30s supplied to past customers.[12]

Operational history

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Cirrus delivered about 40 kits, and built four additional factory prototypes.[1][13] The company estimated that there were 13 customer VK-30s completed. As of 11 February 2018, four were still registered with the Federal Aviation Administration in the US, although at one time a total of 12 had been registered.[2][14]

Variants

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Cirrus-Israviation ST50 at the Paris Air Show in 1997
Cirrus/Israviation ST50

The VK-30 was the predecessor of the Cirrus ST50, which had an almost-identical configuration to the VK-30, but included a larger ventral fin on the tail of the aircraft, a slightly larger fuselage, and was powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-135 turboprop engine in place of the piston engine used in the VK-30. Cirrus designed and initially developed the aircraft under contract to an Israeli aircraft manufacturer named Israviation, and first flew it in Duluth, Minnesota in 1994. Isravation attempted to certify and market the ST50 in the proceeding years but it never entered production by the company.[7][8][13][15]

Accidents

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Between 1990 and 2020, seven US-registered VK-30s crashed, with a total of ten fatalities.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]

On 22 March 1996, retired astronaut Robert F. Overmyer died at age 59 in the crash of an Allison turbine-powered VK-30. He was testing the aircraft for stall recovery characteristics at aft center of gravity limits when the aircraft departed controlled flight.[12][16]

Aircraft on display

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VK-30 on display at the Air Zoo in 2019

Specifications (VK-30)

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Data from EAA AirVenture Museum[26]

General characteristics

  • Crew: One (pilot)
  • Capacity: Four passengers
  • Length: 26 ft (7.9 m)
  • Wingspan: 39 ft 8 in (12.09 m)
  • Height: 10 ft 8 in (3.25 m)
  • Wing area: 126 sq ft (11.7 m2)
  • Empty weight: 2,400 lb (1,089 kg)
  • Gross weight: 3,600 lb (1,633 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 3,600 lb (1,633 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Continental IO-550-G horizontally opposed piston engine, 300 hp (220 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 247 mph (398 km/h, 215 kn) at sea level
  • Range: 1,300 mi (2,100 km, 1,100 nmi)
  • Rate of climb: 1,500 ft/min (7.6 m/s)
  • Wing loading: 28.6 lb/sq ft (140 kg/m2)

See also

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Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Gustafson, David. "The Klapmeier Brothers - Homebuilts to Factory Builts" (PDF). Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f EAA Aviation Center (n.d.). "Cirrus Design Corporation VK-30 – N33VK". Retrieved 10 February 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  3. ^ Flying Staff (26 August 2013). "Rare Airplanes in Flight". Flying Magazine. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  4. ^ Durden, Rick (21 February 2014). "2013: A Good Year for Cirrus". AVweb. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  5. ^ Cirrus Aircraft News (11 February 2015). "Cirrus Aircraft Deliveries in 2014 Drive Strongest Performance in Six Years". Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  6. ^ "2016 General Aviation Statistical Databook & Industry Outlook" (PDF). General Aviation Manufacturers Association. 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  7. ^ a b Huber, Mark (August 2016). "Cirrus's Vision SF50". Business Jet Traveler. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  8. ^ a b c Huber, Mark (September 2016). "The $2 Million Personal Jet". Barron's. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  9. ^ Grady, Mary (4 April 2018). "Collier Trophy Goes To Cirrus Jet". AVweb. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  10. ^ Airport Journals Staff (January 2007). "Cirrus Design's Alan and Dale Klapmeier: "Dumb Enough to Start and Smart Enough to Finish"". Airport Journals. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  11. ^ a b Lednicer, David (October 2007). "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
  12. ^ a b Warwick, Graham (April 1996). "Former astronaut killed in Cirrus VK30 test crash". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  13. ^ a b Aerofiles: Aircraft Ca to Ci Retrieved 24 July 2011
  14. ^ Federal Aviation Administration (12 February 2018). "Make / Model Inquiry Results". Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  15. ^ "Cirrus ST50 First Flight". eaa1000.av.org. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  16. ^ a b National Transportation Safety Board (March 1996). "NTSB Identification: CHI96FA116". Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  17. ^ Panzar, Javier (11 February 2018). "Pilot and his family, including 9-year-old granddaughter, killed when small plane crashes near Agua Dulce". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  18. ^ National Transportation Safety Board. "Aviation Accident Final Report". app.ntsb.gov. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  19. ^ National Transportation Safety Board. "Aviation Accident Final Report". app.ntsb.gov. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  20. ^ National Transportation Safety Board. "Aviation Accident Final Report". app.ntsb.gov. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  21. ^ National Transportation Safety Board. "Aviation Accident Final Report". app.ntsb.gov. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  22. ^ National Transportation Safety Board. "Aviation Accident Final Report". app.ntsb.gov. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  23. ^ Air Zoo (12 May 2017). "The newest addition to the Air Zoo collection landed today!". Facebook. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  24. ^ "AirZoom Backgrounds – Air-Zoom from our cockpits!". Air Zoo. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  25. ^ Steen Aero Lab (April 2006). "Event Reports - Sun 'N Fun 2006". Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  26. ^ EAA Aviation Center (n.d.). "Cirrus VK-30 Specifications". Retrieved 10 February 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
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