Kickstarter Campaign Underway To Get Prototype Airplane Flying

An entrepreneur has initiated a kickstarter campaign to bring back a classic Burt Rutan design. The airplane formerly known as the Varieze has been re-born as the Raptor RZ1, which entrepreneur Keith Murphy says on his Kickstarter page will be a "smaller, faster" airplane that will "cruise longer and be much easier and quicker to build."

Murphy says the frame has been engineered by a "highly experienced aeronautical engineer with decades of experience," and will use 4130 Chrome Moly steel. Murphy says that the kit will come with an assembled frame with the carbon fiber lower fuselage already bonded in place. The builder will then install interior components and the engine, and will build the wings and empennage.

Murphy is looking to the public through the crowdfunding site to help finance the prototype and get it flying. He said that there has already been $40,000 invested in the project, and the prototype is 75% complete. His Kickstarter goal for the project is $16,000.

(Image provided by Air Works)

FMI: www.kickstarter.com/projects/1849828828/raptor-rz1-personal-air-vehicle