The VisionAire VA-10 Vantage is a prototype single-engined light business-jet (or "

very light jet A very light jet (VLJ), entry-level jet or personal jet, previously known as a microjet, is a category of small business jets seating four to eight people. VLJs are considered the lightest business jets and are approved for single-pilot operati ...

") designed and developed by the American company VisionAire Jets Corporation. Originally planned for production in the late 1990s, the original VisionAire Corporation failed in 2003. The project was acquired by

Eviation Jets The Eviation Alice is an electric aircraft designed to accommodate nine passengers and two crew members. Currently under development, its construction incorporates 95% composite material, is powered by two electric motors, and has a T-tail. The ...

, which planned to produce it as the redesigned EV-20 Vantage Jet. Eviation also failed, and in 2012 the design was relaunched by a revived VisionAire under its original design.

Design and development

The Vantage is currently being developed by VisionAire Jets, LLC, a successor company to VisionAire Corporation, founded in 1988, to fill a perceived gap in the light aircraft market between high performance

piston-engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...

d aircraft and twin-engined

executive jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pub ...

s. The Vantage differed from contemporary executive jets in that it was powered by a single engine, a

Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D The Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D is a small turbofan engine built by Pratt & Whitney Canada. It was introduced in 1971 at thrust, and has since undergone a series of upgrades to just over thrust in the latest versions. It is the primary powerp ...

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 ...

buried in the rear fuselage, fed by twin air-inlets above the fuselage. It was of all-

composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials ...

construction, and its wing was forward swept to reduce drag and to allow an unobstructed cabin by mounting the

wing spar In a fixed-wing aircraft, the spar is often the main structural member of the wing, running spanwise at right angles (or thereabouts depending on wing sweep) to the fuselage. The spar carries flight loads and the weight of the wings while on t ...

behind the cabin. It was planned to sell the Vantage for $1.65 million, compared with $3.3 million for the

Cessna CitationJet The Cessna CitationJet/CJ/M2 (also known as the Model 525) are a series of light business jets built by Cessna, and are part of the Citation family. Launched in October 1989, the first flight of the Model 525 was on April 29, 1991. Federal A ...

.Jackson 2003, pp. 749–750
"Very Light Jet - VLJ", ''Global Security''. Retrieved January 9, 2010Warwick 1997, pp. 54–55 The first prototype, a proof-of-concept aircraft intended to confirm the design's handling, was designed and built by

Burt Rutan Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (; born June 17, 1943) is a retired American aerospace engineer and entrepreneur noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, and energy-efficient air and space craft. He designed the record- ...

Scaled Composites Scaled Composites (often called simply Scaled) is an American aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman. It is located at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, United States. Founded to develo ...

Mojave, California Mojave (formerly Mohave) is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield, and north of Los Angeles, at an elevation of . The town is ...

.''Flight International'' November 20–26, 1996, p. 6 It made its maiden flight on November 16, 1996. Flight testing revealed several handling and aerodynamic problems, which resulted in a redesign of the aircraft in December 1998.Higdon, "FBO Light Jet Review" Delays to the program continued, while costs mounted, and in January 2003, with the company having already spent $110 million, requiring another $125 million to complete certification and owing $35 million, a federal judge ordered VisionAire liquidated to pay its debts.''Aerospace Online'' March 28, 2003''AIN Online'', March 1, 2003 The Vantage design was purchased by Eviation, for use as a basis for the twin-engined EV-20 Vantage Jet design.''Flight International'' November 11–17, 2003 The Vantage Proof-of-Concept (POC) aircraft is currently located at the VisionAire Jets facility at the Hickory Airport, Hickory North Carolina.

Eviation EV-20 Vantage Jet

Following the purchase of the Vantage by

, the proposed EV-20 was envisioned as a twin-engine design with two Williams FJ44-1AP

engines, with a projected cruise speed of at with an approximate range of . In the executive configuration it would have provided room for eight passengers, or ten commuter passengers. It would incorporate Garmin

G1000 The Garmin G1000 is an electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) typically composed of two display units, one serving as a primary flight display, and one as a multi-function display. Manufactured by Garmin Aviation, it serves as a replacem ...

avionics, and would be made entirely from composite materials. kBky 2006, initial review of the EV-20 design were completed and construction of a prototype aircraft was expected to begin, utilizing an outside fabricator for construction of the prototype.

Return to VisionAire

The redesign of the Vantage from a single- to a twin-engine design proved troublesome; the company failed to progress with the development of the type, and in 2012 the EV-20 was repurchased by VisionAire; the aircraft's design was returned to a single-engined configuration, and VisionAire stated in early 2013 that they planned to construct the Vantage in a factory in

Newton, North Carolina Newton is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 12,968. It is the county seat of Catawba County. Newton is part of the Hickory– Lenoir– Morganton Metropolitan Statistical ...

, with the prototype scheduled to fly in 2014. However, at the end of 2015 no further progress has been announced; latest update on the company's website is dated March 2013.
"News from VisionAire Jets". Accessed December 6, 2015

Specifications (VisionAire Vantage)

Notes

References

* Higdon, Dave
"FBO Light Jet Review"
''Wings Over Kansas''. Retrieved January 9, 2011 *Jackson, Paul. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004''. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group, 2003.

''Flight International'', November 11–17, 2003. p. 4

''Flight International'', November 20–26, 1996. p. 6
"VisionAire lured dreamers and investors"
''Aerospace Online'', March 28, 2003. Retrieved January 9, 2011
Visionaire Vantage VA-10"
''AINonline'', March 1, 2003. Retrieved January 9, 2011 *Warwick, James

''

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...

'', May 14–20, 1997. pp. 54–55

External links

* {{Scaled Composites Vantage 1990s United States business aircraft Forward-swept-wing aircraft Single-engined jet aircraft Very light jets Aircraft first flown in 1996