• Source: Bellanca Skyrocket II

The Bellanca 19-25 Skyrocket II was a prototype light airplane built in the United States in the 1970s. Despite its advanced design and exceptionally good performance, it never achieved certification or entered production.




Development


The aircraft was the result of Giuseppe Bellanca's son, August Thomas Bellanca. Bellanca formed the Bellanca Aircraft Engineering Inc. company in Scott Depot, West Virginia to develop a new design conceived in 1957. The Skyrocket II was a six-seat, low-wing cantilever monoplane of conventional layout with retractable tricycle landing gear. It was made of composite materials, an advanced feature for its time, and test flying proved it to be fast. In 1975, within months of its first flight, the prototype claimed five world airspeed records for piston aircraft in its class. Three still stand in 2022:
Class C-1c (takeoff weight 1000 to 1750 kg): average 296 miles/hour on a 500-km circuit
Class C-1d (weight 1750 to 3000 kg): average 326 mph on a 500-km circuit and 314 mph on a 1000-km circuit
The aircraft attracted the attention of NASA, which conducted an aerodynamic analysis of the design, investigating natural laminar flow as a factor of its high performance.
Plans to produce the aircraft commercially were scrapped due to the downturn in the civil aviation market in the United States in the early 1980s. In the mid-1990s, the design was developed into a kit and sold as the Skyrocket III to help fund a new certification programme. The Skyrocket III features greater speed, payload and range and was re-engineered for modular construction. By 1998 eleven kits had been delivered, but it is uncertain if any were completed and flown.




Surviving aircraft


The prototype Skyrocket II was displayed at the Delaware Aviation Museum in Georgetown, Delaware, but later moved to the Bellanca Airfield Museum in New Castle, Delaware.




Specifications (Skyrocket II)


Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976–77.General characteristics
Crew: one
Capacity: five passengers
Length: 27 ft 5.6 in (8.372 m) Tip of spinner to tail
Wingspan: 34 ft 10.7 in (10.635 m)
Height: 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m)
Wing area: 182.6 sq ft (16.96 m2)
Aspect ratio: 6.667
Airfoil: NACA 632215
Empty weight: 2,300 lb (1,043 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 4,100 lb (1,860 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Continental GTSIO-520-F air-cooled flat-six, 435 hp (324 kW)
Propellers: 3-bladed
Performance

Maximum speed: 331 mph (533 km/h, 288 kn) at 29,000 ft (8,800 m)
Cruise speed: 255 mph (410 km/h, 222 kn) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m), 65% power
Stall speed: 65 mph (105 km/h, 56 kn) flaps down
Range: 1,465 mi (2,358 km, 1,273 nmi)
Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,100 m)
Rate of climb: 1,900 ft/min (9.7 m/s)
Wing loading: 24.45 lb/sq ft (119.4 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.106




References



Taylor, John W. R., ed. (1976). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976–77. London: Jane's Yearbooks. ISBN 0-354-00538-3.
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 152.
"Bellanca SkyRocket back on launch pad" Flight International April 12, 1996.
Wynbrandt, James. "AviaBellanca SkyRocket gets Orenda power" General Aviation News August 7, 1998.
manufacturer's website[usurped]
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale records page for this aircraft
Summary of NASA test programme

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Bellanca Skyrocket II
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• Bellanca 31-40
• Bellanca Airfield Museum
• Continental IO-520
• AviaBellanca Aircraft
• List of civil aircraft
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• List of aircraft (B–Be)
• List of aircraft of World War II