Holcomb Perigee
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| Perigee | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Sport aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Jerry Holcomb |
| Number built | 1 |
The Holcomb Perigee was a prototype sportsplane built in the United States in 1987 by Jerry Holcomb.[citation needed] Originally known as the Ultra-IMP, it was a refinement of the Aerocar Micro-IMP and attempted to overcome the major shortcoming of that design - a lack of power - by replacing the adapted automobile engine that had been used in its predecessor with an engine designed to power ultralights.[citation needed]
Development and design
[edit | edit source]In 1972, Moulton Taylor, designer of the Aerocar flying car and the Coot home-built flying boat, began work on a new two-seat Pusher configuration light aircraft intended for easy homebuilding, the Aerocar IMP, but delays in obtaining the intended engine resulted in priority being switched to a smaller, single-seat derivative, the Aerocar Mini-IMP, which was sucessfully flying by early 1976, with plans available for sale later that year.[1] In 1978, Taylor began work on the Micro-IMP, a derivative of the Mini-IMP built using Taylor Paper Glass (TPG), a fibreglass-reinforced paper, consisting of a paper core with metal inlays covered with glassfibre in a matrix of polyester resin and covered with Dacron fabric.[2][3] The Micro-IMP first flew in 1981, but while the novel construction material proved to be a success, the aircraft was underpowered.[2]
Work began on a new single-seat home-built design of TPG construction, the Ultra-IMP, in December 1983,[4] but the programme was taken over by Jerry Holcomb in 1984, after Taylor suffered a stroke,[5] and renamed the Holcome Perigee.[4]
The Perigee is a shoulder-wing pusher monoplane, with the strut braced wings having an aluminium alloy and TPG mainspar, a spruce and TPG rear spar, and wooden ribs. The wings could be removed for easy storage and transport. The streamlined semi-monocoque fuselage had spruce longerons, but was otherwise of largely TPG construction, and housed an enclosed cockpit for the pilot. The aircraft had a fixed tailwheel landing gear and a Y-shaped tail, with the tailwheel attached to the ventral fin. The prototype Perigee is powered by a 35 hp (26 kW) Cuyuna 430 two-stroke engine located immediately behind the cockpit driving a two-bladed ground-adjustable propeller via a long propshaft.[3][4] Rotax engines were proposed for amateur builders.[4]
Holcomb began construction of the prototype began in February 1984,[4] and it made its first flight in 4 April 1987.[6] A total of 22 sets of plans had been sold by February 1988.[6]
Specifications
[edit | edit source]Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1987–88[4]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m)
- Wingspan: 28 ft 0 in (8.53 m)
- Height: 4 ft 10 in (1.47 m)
- Wing area: 81.0 sq ft (7.53 m2)
- Aspect ratio: 9.3:1
- Airfoil: GA(PC)-1 modified
- Empty weight: 350 lb (159 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 650 lb (295 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 7 US gal (5.8 imp gal; 26 L)
- Powerplant: 1 × Cuyuna 430 two-cylinder, two-stoke engine, 35 hp (26 kW)
- Propellers: 2-bladed
Performance
- Maximum speed: 120 mph (190 km/h, 100 kn)
- Cruise speed: 100 mph (160 km/h, 87 kn)
- Stall speed: 40 mph (64 km/h, 35 kn)
- Never exceed speed: 160 mph (260 km/h, 140 kn)
- Range: 250 mi (400 km, 220 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 12,500 ft (3,800 m)
- g limits: +6, -4
- Rate of climb: 850 ft/min (4.3 m/s)
See also
[edit | edit source]Related development
References
[edit | edit source]Citations
[edit | edit source]- ^ Taylor 1976, pp. 490–491.
- ^ a b Taylor 1987, p. 629.
- ^ a b Chant 1990, p. 123.
- ^ a b c d e f Taylor 1987, p. 670.
- ^ Taylor 1987, p. 628.
- ^ a b Taylor 1989, p. 576.
Bibliography
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