The Altitude Radial Rocket is an American

amateur-built aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

, produced by the Altitude Group of Overland Park, Kansas. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.

Design and development

The aircraft features a cantilever low-wing, a two-seats-in- tandem enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

or retractable

tricycle landing gear 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 g ...

and a single

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

in tractor configuration. The aircraft is made from composites. The wing span and area as well as gross weight varies depending on the model. The Radial Rocket's recommended engine power range is and the standard engine used is the

Vedeneyev M-14P The Vedeneyev M14P is a Russian nine-cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled, petrol-powered radial engine. Producing , its design dates from the 1940s (Kotelnikov 2005), and is itself a development of the Ivchenko AI-14 engine. The engine has been ...

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

powerplant.

Operational history

, six examples had been registered in the United States 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 ...

Variants

;Radial Rocket RG :Retractable tricycle gear model. It has a span wing, a wing area of and a gross weight of . Construction time from the supplied kit is 2000 hours. Two were reported flying by the end of 2011. ;Radial Rocket TD :Fixed taildragger gear model. It has a span wing, a wing area of and a gross weight of . Construction time from the supplied kit is 1900 hours. Four were reported flying by the end of 2011.

Specifications (Radial Rocket RG)

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.radialrocket.com/ Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Altitude Group aircraft Low-wing aircraft 2000s United States sport aircraft