The Comp Air Jet is an American eight-seat,
low-wing
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
,
pressurized
{{Wiktionary
Pressurization or pressurisation is the application of pressure in a given situation or environment.
Industrial
Industrial equipment is often maintained at pressures above or below atmospheric.
Atmospheric
This is the process by ...
,
tricycle undercarriage
Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle ge ...
,
turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
-powered civil utility aircraft marketed by
Comp Air
Comp Air Inc, formerly known as Aerocomp Inc, is an aircraft manufacturer based in Merritt Island, Florida, owned by Ron Lueck.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', pages 97-100. BAI Communications, 1998. Downey, Julia: '' ...
for
amateur construction.
[Downey, Julia: ''2008 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 24, Number 12, December 2007, page 47. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851]
The company website does not list it as being in production in 2022.
Design and development
In 2002 the co-owners of Aerocomp, which is now known as Comp Air, Steve Young and Ron Lueck announced the Comp Air Jet project. The jet is constructed from a "proprietary carbon-fiber hybrid sandwich" and powered by a Ukrainian
Ivchenko AI-25
The Ivchenko AI-25 is a family of military and civilian twin-shaft medium bypass turbofan engines developed by Ivchenko OKB of the Soviet Union. It was the first bypass engine ever used on short haul aircraft in the USSR.
The engine is still p ...
engine. Alternative engines planned for included the
Pratt & Whitney JT12-8 or
CJ610
The General Electric CJ610 is a non-afterburning turbojet engine derived from the military J85, and is used on a number of civilian business jets. The model has logged over 16.5 million hours of operation. Civilian versions have powered busines ...
or projected future
Williams International
Williams International is an American manufacturer of small gas turbine engines based in Pontiac, Michigan, United States. It produces jet engines for cruise missiles and small jet aircraft.
History
Dr. Sam B. Williams worked at Chrysler on th ...
or Agilis engines.
On July 10, 2004 the Comp Air Jet flew for the first time from
Merritt Island Airport. Though the gear was not retracted during the flight, the aircraft still reached speeds of . The jet landed after 37 minutes with the landing taking about 2000 feet.
On January 11, 2005 Aerocomp flew the prototype back to the Merritt Island Airport for further development work after more than 30 hours of flight testing at
Space Coast Regional Airport
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...
,
Titusville, Florida
Titusville is a city in eastern Florida and the county seat of Brevard County, Florida, United States. The city's population was 43,761 as of the 2010 United States Census.
Titusville is located along the Indian River (Florida), Indian River, west ...
.
Operational history
As of April 2011 the prototype remained the sole example registered with the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
.
Specifications (Comp Air Jet)
See also
References
External links
Official website archiveson
Archive.org
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
{{Comp Air
Jet
Homebuilt aircraft
2000s United States civil utility aircraft
Very light jets
Single-engined jet aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 2004