Velocity, Inc. is an American
kit 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 ...
manufacturer.
The company was founded in 1984 by Danny Maher, marketing a four-seat homebuilt aircraft based on the
Long-EZ
The Rutan Model 61 Long-EZ is a tandem 2-seater homebuilt aircraft designed by Burt Rutan's Rutan Aircraft Factory. The Long-EZ has a canard layout, a swept wing with wingtip rudders, and a pusher engine and propeller. The tricycle landing ge ...
design. The first prototype flew in 1985. The company was sold to Scott and Duane Swing in 1992. In 1995, the cockpit design was changed, adding a gull wing door design.
[
Velocity 173 Elite, ''Kitplanes Magazine'', December 1995, vol. 12, issue 12, pp. 6.]
In 2008, a power failure and crash of a Velocity undergoing initial testing at
North Las Vegas Airport
North Las Vegas Airport is a public-use airport northwest of downtown Las Vegas in North Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned by the Clark County Commission and operated by the Clark County Department of Aviation.
Known locally as Northtown, it is th ...
brought national attention to homebuilt aircraft testing. Banning of particular aircraft and flight operations at the airport afterward resulted in a power struggle over who has authority over airspace and access to public use airports.
![rocketplane](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Rocketplane.jpg)
In 2008 Velocity received an order for 20 of its XL-5 aircraft to participate in the
Rocket Racing League
The Rocket Racing League was a racing league that planned to use rocket-powered aircraft to race a closed-circuit air racetrack. Founded in 2005, the league made its first public flights in 2010 and was working to begin regular racing seasons. ...
.
[Velocity Aircraft Receives Purchase Order For 20 Velocity XL-5's]
''Space Fellowship
The Space Fellowship is an international news and information network dedicated to the development of the space industry.
The organisation works to report and communicate space news and information to its valued community. Offering a unique and ...
'', 2008-10-08, accessed 2010-12-11.
On April 14, 2008, the Racing Rocket Racing Composite Corporation, a subsidiary of the Rocket Racing League, acquired Velocity Aircraft. The RRL announced their goal was to "produce an airframe that will be consistent for all competing Rocket Racers."
[Rocket Racing Composite Corp. Acquires Velocity Aircraft]
''Parabolic Arc'', 2008-04-14, accessed 2010-12-05.
On May 26, 2010, Scott and Duane Swing bought back full ownership of Velocity Inc from the Rocket Racing League.
[ Swing Family Repurchase of Velocity Inc. from Rocket Racing League, Velocity Aircraft Listserve, text copy from tvbf.org archives, 2010-05-26. "For those of you wondering just what influence Rocket Racing has with Velocity, let me assure you that they have none. As I write this, the sole ownership of Velocity Inc. is now totally and completely in the hands of Scott Swing and myself. Through a stock exchange, Scott and I returned our Rocket Racing stock for 100% return of the stock they held in Velocity Inc. Rocket Racing now has 0% ownership in this company. ... Scott and Duane Swing"]
Aircraft
History
Danny Maher designed and built the first Velocity in 1985. First Flight was in October 1985. The plane was debuted at Sun-N-Fun in 1986. Danny's intention was to design a plane that was much like the Long-EZ with a larger, more comfortable interior.
In 1992, Velocity introduced the "173", also known as the long wing. This model had a longer wing, giving it a lower landing speed. The name was a play on the name of a popular model of Cessna, the
Cessna 172
The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company. , the idea being it is one better. Some flying Velocity planes experienced "deep stall" incidents, where the main wing stalled before the canard, causing an unrecoverable stall. After a lengthy investigation, Velocity found and solved the cause of these stalls. The 173 included airfoil modifications that prevented the deep stall. The original kit was also modified to prevent a deep stall, and was now known as the Standard model.
In 1995, Velocity introduced the gull-wing doors, calling the plane the Standard Elite (abbreviated to "SE").
[
In 1986, Scott and Duane Swing purchased a Velocity kit. They developed a retractable gear option for it, and began selling it as an add-on. When the Swings purchased Velocity from Danny in 1992, their retractable gear became a factory option to the kit.][
In March 1997, Velocity introduced the XL model, which features a larger cabin and space for a larger engine.
The XL-5, sometimes called a "dash five", was introduced in 2004. It reduced the size of the keel down the center of the cabin, giving more room in the back seat.
Velocity has developed a twin-engine model called the ]Velocity V-Twin
The Velocity V-Twin is an American twin engined, homebuilt aircraft, designed by Velocity AircraftBernard, Mary and Suzanne B. Bopp: ''Velocity: V-Twin'', Kitplanes, Volume 29, Number 12, December 2012, page 21. Belvoir Publications. and followi ...
. The prototype's first flight was on March 3, 2012 and the model was made available for sale in early 2013. A video is available on the official website.
Current models
References
{{Velocity
Homebuilt aircraft