The Velocity XL (XL: Extra Large) 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

Velocity, Inc. Velocity, Inc. is an American kit aircraft manufacturer. The company was founded in 1984 by Danny Maher, marketing a four-seat homebuilt aircraft based on the Long-EZ design. The first prototype flew in 1985. The company was sold to Scott and ...

It is an enlarged version of their

Velocity SE The Velocity Model 173 SE (Standard Elite) is an entry level canard pusher aircraft from Velocity Aircraft.canard pusher design.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 75. Belvoir Publications. Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 125. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011.

Design and development

The Velocity XL is longer and has a greater span than the SE. The standard XL has a cruising range of and a 75% power cruising speed of air speed. The XL is available in both fixed gear (FG) and retractable gear (RG) form and can accommodate either three or four passengers plus a pilot. The five seat versions, the XL-5 and the TXL-RG-5, have a rear bench seat for three rather than the alternative separate pair of seats. Engines available as kits from the manufacturer for all models are the

Lycoming IO-360 The Lycoming O-360 is a family of four-cylinder, direct-drive, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, piston aircraft engines. Engines in the O-360 series produce between 145 and 225 horsepower (109 to 168 kW), with the basic O-360 producing ...

of ,

Lycoming IO-540 The Lycoming O-540 is a family of air-cooled six-cylinder, horizontally opposed fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter engines of displacement, manufactured by Lycoming Engines. The engine is a six-cylinder version of the four-cylinder Lycoming ...

of ,

Continental IO-550 The Continental IO-550 engine is a large family of 9 liter fuel injected six-cylinder, horizontally opposed, air-cooled aircraft engines that were developed for use in light aircraft by Teledyne Continental Motors. The first IO-550 was deliver ...

of and the Franklin 6A350C1 of . Builders may use these manufacturer kits or design their own engine installations using a variety of other engines of similar power output.

Variants

;Velocity XL-FG :Fixed

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

version with a gross weight of . Forty had been completed and flown by December 2011. ;Velocity XL-FG-5 :Fixed landing gear version with a gross weight of . Twenty-one had been completed and flown by December 2011. ;Velocity XL-RG :Retractable landing gear version, with a gross weight of . 150 had been completed and flown by December 2011. ;Velocity TXL-RG-5 :Retractable landing gear version, with gross weight of . Eighteen had been completed and flown by December 2011. ;

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 ...

:Twin engine prototype, three built, powered by two

Superior IO-320-A Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

engines.

Rocket Racers

The now-defunct

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. ...

utilized a highly modified Velocity XL FG airframe and an

Armadillo Aerospace Armadillo Aerospace was an aerospace startup company based in Mesquite, Texas. Its initial goal was to build a crewed suborbital spacecraft capable of space tourism, and it had also stated long-term ambitions of orbital spaceflight. The company wa ...

2,500 pound thrust

liquid oxygen Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an applica ...

(LOX) and

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...

rocket engine A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants as the reaction mass for forming a high-speed propulsive jet of fluid, usually high-temperature gas. Rocket engines are reaction engines, producing thrust by ejecting mass rearward, in accordanc ...

in both its Mark-II X-Racer and Mark-III X-Racer demonstration vehicles. The Mark-II utilized a standard fixed-gear Velocity XL airframe, modified for rocket propulsion. The Mark-III airframe was more extensively customized during manufacture, explicitly for rocket racing, with a canopy top, center seat and control stick and other enhancements, in addition to the rocket propulsion added to the Mark-II.Rocket Racing League Announces Milestone Development in X-Racer
, press release, 2010-03-10, accessed 2010-05-03.

Specifications (XL-RG)

References

External links

*
Building Ferrell Velocity N44VF
{{Velocity 1990s United States civil utility aircraft Canard aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Mid-wing aircraft