In 1955 the Sportlight Aircraft company prepared to enter it's second plane into the Unlimited Class Air Race. The plane they had been testing was the XR-2, a beefed up version of their previous XR-1 race plane. The XR-2 was nicknamed Icarus, and featured a unique swept forward wingtip and two powerful Rolls Royce Merlin Engines. The plane promised to be one of the fastest the unltimited class had ever seen to date, but the plane met an early end when a malfunction during a test flight caused the plane to lose control, colliding with the main hangar, and killing Test Pilot James Rathe.
Rex Chambers, the president of Sportlight Aircraft, took the loss of his long time friend hard. As a result, Sportlight Aircraft did not enter another aircraft into the races until 1960, when Rex's son Jerald took over the racing division of the company.
Hope you enjoy this fictional air racer.
Happy Flying!
Specifications
General Characteristics
- Successors 2 airplane(s)
- Created On Windows
- Wingspan 50.9ft (15.5m)
- Length 34.5ft (10.5m)
- Height 10.0ft (3.1m)
- Empty Weight 4,899lbs (2,222kg)
- Loaded Weight 8,085lbs (3,667kg)
Performance
- Horse Power/Weight Ratio 0.742
- Wing Loading 22.1lbs/ft2 (107.7kg/m2)
- Wing Area 366.4ft2 (34.0m2)
- Drag Points 8201
Parts
- Number of Parts 80
- Control Surfaces 8
- Performance Cost 416
@PhilipTarpley Hey thanks! Glad you like it!
Favorite for sure. Looks great, contra rotating props, forward swept wingtips, and flies really well.
Great job.
Great build!
Looks amazing.
Nice looks pretty cool also
Ahhhh I love merlin engines lol
@Delphinus Thanks for the Upvote!
@FlOu Thanks!
Damn what a great design. I love the look