Ben asks- >Does anyone have a KR2 with an 1835 engine (52x42 prop) and can tell me >any performance figures such as rate of climb, useful load etc.
I'm sure someone out there has, but I haven't seen any replies so I'll relate my experience with Paul Martin's KR2. Pictures at http://www.flysquirrel.net/ride.html . Paul's was a stock KR2 converted to trigear, clean but not fancy, and I believe it was average weight for a KR2 but nobody really builds them to the weight that Rand Robinson advertises. I don't know what the exact performance numbers were on it, but with Paul and I aboard (probably 300 lbs. total) it was at pattern altitude by the time we got to the end of the runway and felt in the air like a Triumph Spitfire would feel on the road. It had a fuel tank under the top deck pretty much as per standard practice in the plans. I seem to recall Paul saying that it cruised somewhere around 130-140 MPH. >Has anyone carried pilot and passenger weights totaling 290lbs? As I mentioned, Paul and I together probably were up there around 280-300 lbs. and I know he took his wife Linda up too. Linda weighed less than I do but the point is that I believe if you can stuff two people in the standard KR2 cockpit and still operate the controls, you will likely be OK on gross weight. The thing to watch for is with the fuel in the stock location and two people in the cockpit loading close to gross, the CG will shift aft as the fuel burns. Watch weight & balance very carefully. >I'm wondering if it can take me and the wife with a small overnight >dufflebag. Not sure where you'd put the dufflebag unless you were going to Palm Springs and only packed your bathing suit, toothbrush, and flip-flops ;o) But Paul very nearly took his KR2 from Oregon to Oshkosh and had it all packed and ready to go (solo), including food, duffle, and a backpacking tent. Weather spoiled his plans. Oscar Zuniga San Antonio, TX mailto: [email protected] website at http://www.flysquirrel.net
