Transatlantic Crossing Now A Matter Of Record... Averaging 165kts, Using 42 Gallons(!)

An amazing flight has just been completed with a unique and highly refined sport aircraft with what appears to have an extremely high degree of efficiency.

Risen’s Andreas Venturini and Alberto Porto committed themselves to an extraordinary personal and aerodynamic test with the announcement of their “Challenge Flight” from Italy to Oshkosh several weeks ago and we had high hopes for its success... and those hopes have been exceeded. Of the stats we know of, thus far, the overwater portion of the trip took some 11 hours, truing out at 165 kts and burning some 42 gallons for their efforts (leaving them with 8 gallons remaining). We're not sure the average transatlantic airliner can run their APU from startup through taxi on 42 gallons... 

The numbers for this aircraft are incredibly impressive and the 915 powered versions are pushing 200 knots in a big way, but the sleek design offers so little drag that it doesn't take a whole lot of power to demonstrate some extraordinary performance. This airplane is one of the top five on Jim Campbell’s “Must-Fly” list for Oshkosh 2024 and we greatly look forward to flying it. If it flies as well as it looks, this could be a major player in the SportPlane industry’s future. 

In perusing over 1,000 variations of sport aircraft for the current SportPlane Resource Guide, a few designs definitely catch the eye. One of the most startling of these is the Risen that we mentioned above... this baby is an all-composite, V-Tail machine that appears to offer an extraordinarily low drag coefficient, along with a big bubble canopy and wide side-by-side seating. The Risen 915i SV has now been upgraded to the Risen 916i SV, and that's the bird that made the trip to the USA... and will shortly be on proud display at Wittman Field, Oshkosh... Jim can't wait to fly it -- we'll keep you updated. 

FMI: www.flyrisen.com