Description
The Rutan VariViggen
is a homebuilt aircraft designed by Burt Rutan. The Rutan VariViggen is a tandem two-seater of primarily wooden construction with a delta wing and a canard foreplane. The VariViggen is powered by a 150 hp Lycoming O-320 aero engine in pusher configuration. The prototype was designated Model 27, and the production version was Model 32.
The Rutan VariViggen was named after the Swedish fighter plane, the Saab 37 Viggen. This and the XB-70 Valkyrie inspired the design. Rutan became interested in aircraft which resisted stalls and spins, and the VariViggen was his first full scale design.
The Rutan Aircraft Factory sold 600 plan sets for the VariViggen to homebuilders, and eventually about 20 of the aircraft were built.
The revolutionary Model 27 VariViggen (whose name and concept were inspired by the famous Swedish Viggen fighter) was Burt Rutan’s very first design under his own name. It was a two-seat delta wing canard with a pusher propeller which he began to design while he was still a student at Cal Poly in 1963. The construction of the VariViggen in the garage of his Lancaster, CA home required nearly four years, having begun in 1968 after extensive wind tunnel tests and model experiments dating back to 1963. Burt performed model experiments by suspending a true, one fifth scale model on a specially built test rig attached to the luggage rack on top of his station wagon. The rig allowed measurement of air speed, angle of attack, lift, drag, sideslip, side force, roll moment, elevator-aileron-rudder positions, and an extra data channel which permitted measurement of hinge moment or structural load.
In designing the prototype, Burt decided against going for optimum high speed. Instead, he wanted plenty of wing area for safe, docile, low speed flying qualities. Burt settled for a slab-sided fuselage and flat-bottomed wings for ease of jigging and building. The main structure was made of plywood and was easy to build using normal techniques. Spruce was used for spars and longerons, and aircraft plywood for the formers, ribs, and skin. The plywood skin was covered with lightweight Ceconite and finished with dope followed by polyurethane. The prototype had a roomy cockpit for two pilots in tandem which incorporated modern fighter-cockpit layout and afforded really terrific visibility from both seats. The fully retractable landing gear was operated electrically as were the trim bungee and the wing reflex. The VariViggen was powered by a 150 hp four cylinder Lycoming engine.
Burt began testing his VariViggen in April of 1972 and spent nine weeks test flying the prototype, improving the engine operation, gathering stability and performance data, and adding a new cowling and spinner. By the time the Vari-Viggen landed at the convention in Oshkosh in 1972 the prototype had logged 75 hours. Burt used the VariViggen as his personal airplane, logging over 150 hours in the prototype. He flew the airplane on a five day vacation to the west coast, a trip that totaled about 3,000 miles with stops at 16 airports. The VariViggen also had a rather eventful trip to Idaho which required an emergency landing in an Idaho field shortly after takeoff due to Burt’s unfamiliarity of flying in cold weather conditions.
Model 32 Vari-Viggen SP was rather similar to the Model 27. Offered on the market in 1973, this variant featured added higher aspect ratio composite wings, an increased wingspan. Winglets were also added.
Specifications Rutan VariViggen
- Crew: 1
- Capacity: 1 passenger
- Length: 19 ft 0 in (5.79 m)
- Wingspan: 19 ft 0 in (5.79 m)
- Wing area: 119 sq ft (11.1 m2)
- Aspect ratio: 3.03
- Empty weight: 950 lb (431 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 1,700 lb (771 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 30 US gal (25 imp gal; 110 L) (Note: 5 US Gal Reserve).
- Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-320-A2A air-cooled flat-four, 150 hp (110 kW)
- Propellers: 2-bladed Hegy wooden fixed-pitch, 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) diameter
- Maximum speed: 163 mph (262 km/h, 142 kn)
- Cruise speed: 150 mph (240 km/h, 130 kn) 125mph (econ cruise at 7,000 ft (2,100 m))
- Never exceed speed: 180 mph (290 km/h, 160 kn)
- Range: 300–440 mi (480–710 km, 260–380 nmi) (max fuel, 30 minutes reserve).
- Service ceiling: 14,000 ft (4,300 m)
- Rate of climb: 800 ft/min (4.1 m/s)
- Take-off run to 50 ft (15 m): 950 ft (290 m)
- Landing run from 50 ft (15 m): 600 ft (180 m)
