Rand Robinson KR-1

Last updated
KR-1 and KR-2
Chris Gardiner's 1999 Rand KR-2S C-GKRZ photo 1.JPG
KR-2S
Role Homebuilt
National originUnited States
Manufacturer nVAero
DesignerKenneth Rand
First flightFebruary 1972
StatusIn production (2022)
A KR-2S showing the small size of the aircraft and the low frontal profile Chris Gardiner's 1999 Rand KR-2S C-GKRZ photo 2.JPG
A KR-2S showing the small size of the aircraft and the low frontal profile

The Rand Robinson KR-1 is a single-seat, single-engine sport aircraft designed in the United States in the early 1970s and marketed for homebuilding. [1] [2] [3] A two-seat version is marketed as the KR-2. [1] [2] [3] It is a low-wing cantilever monoplane of conventional design with an enclosed cockpit and tailwheel undercarriage. [3] [4] As originally designed, the main undercarriage units of the KR-1 and basic KR-2 were manually retractable, folding backwards into the wings, [1] while the KR-2T tandem-seat version had fixed tricycle undercarriage. [5] However, some builders choose fixed tailwheel or even fixed tricycle undercarriage for KR-1s and KR-2s. [1] [6]

Contents

Kits for the KR-1, KR-2 and KR-2S are supplied by nVAero of Mission Viejo, California/Corona, California, United States. [1] [7] [8]

Design and development

The KR-1's wings have a two-spar construction; the front spar of spruce, and the rear spar from spruce and plywood. [1] [4] The wing ribs are formed from polyurethane foam, [1] and the space around them filled with the same material before the entire wing structure is covered with fabric impregnated with epoxy resin. [4] Similar construction is used in the KR-2, with an RAF 48 airfoil cross-section (some later models have adapted the AS 5046 airfoil, for increased speed at the expense of poorer low-speed handling [1] ), and the wings are removable outboard the landing gear. [1] Similar construction is used in the empennage and control surfaces. [1]

The fuselage is built around a wooden framework, [1] the lower part skinned in plywood and the upper part built up of polystyrene foam covered in epoxy-coated fabric. [4] KR-1 builders have the choice of three different upper fuselage configurations: the "fastback" with a turtledeck behind the cockpit, the "pursuit" with a fighter-style bubble canopy, and the "sportsman" with an open cockpit and a small fairing behind it for rollover protection. [9]

The design has proved popular, with over 10,000 sets of plans sold, [1] including 6,000 sets of KR-1 plans and 4,500 sets of KR-2 plans sold by 1979. [2] From these, over 200 KR-1s [4] and 350 KR-2s [10] were flying by 1987. nVAero's founder Steve Glover reported in 2010 that over 2,000 KRs were flying, worldwide. [1]

Plans and kits were still available in 2022. [11]

Variants

Rand Robinson KR-1 on display RandRobinson-KR1.jpg
Rand Robinson KR-1 on display

Aircraft on display

Specifications (KR-2)

Data from nVAero [16]

General characteristics

Performance

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Grimstead, Bob "Flight Review: The Rand KR-2", September 13, 2010, Kitplanes, retrieved November 13, 2020
  2. 1 2 3 Taylor 1989, p.757
  3. 1 2 3 Markowski 1979, p.286
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1987–88, p.696
  5. ↑ Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1987–88, p.696–97
  6. ↑ Cox 1995, p.22
  7. 1 2 3 Vandermeullen, Richard: 2012 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide, Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 63. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851
  8. ↑ Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16, page 120. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ISSN   1368-485X
  9. ↑ Markowski 1979, p.288
  10. ↑ Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1987–88, p.697
  11. ↑ "Welcome to nV|Aero! The Exclusive Manufacturer of the KR Series Aircraft". nv-aero.com.
  12. ↑ Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 113. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
  13. ↑ "Rand Robinson KR-1 - N1436"
  14. ↑ Queensland Air Museum (23 August 2013). "Rand Robinson KR-2 VH-XXS The Beast C/N Q082" . Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  15. ↑ Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum. "Aircraft Exhibits". wingsmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  16. ↑ nVAero (2021). "KR-2 Aircraft". nvaero.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2022.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LWD Junak</span>

The LWD/WSK Junak was a Polish trainer aircraft, used from 1952 to 1961 by the Polish Air Force and until 1972 by Polish civilian operators. It was designed by the LWD bureau and produced by the WSK Warszawa-Okęcie factory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3Xtrim 3X55 Trener</span> Recreational and utility aircraft

The 3X55 Trener (Trainer) and 3X47 Ultra are a family of ultralight aircraft produced in Poland by the 3Xtrim Aircraft Factory. Both are two-seat, high-wing, strut-braced monoplanes with fixed tricycle undercarriage and available only as completed aircraft. There are also 450 Ultra and 495 Ultra Plus sub-variants of the 3X47 Ultra, with gross weights adjusted for national ultralight regulations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zlin Z-37 Čmelák</span> Czechoslovak agricultural aircraft

The Zlin Z-37 Čmelák, also known as LET Z-37 Čmelák is an agricultural aircraft which was manufactured in Czechoslovakia. It is powered by a Soviet-built Ivchenko reciprocating engine. The aircraft is used mainly as a cropduster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin T3M</span> Type of aircraft

The Martin T3M was an American torpedo bomber of the 1920s. A single-engined three-seat biplane, it became a standard torpedo bomber of the U.S. Navy, operating from both land bases and from aircraft carriers from 1926 to 1932.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ikarus 451</span> Type of aircraft

The Ikarus 451 is a family of research aircraft designs built in Yugoslavia in the 1950s, all sharing the same basic airframe, but differing in powerplants and cockpit arrangements. One member of the family Ikarus 451M became the first domestically-built jet aircraft to fly in Yugoslavia, on 25 October 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spartan C3</span> American 1920s three-seat utility biplane

The Spartan C3 is an American three-seat open-cockpit utility biplane from the late 1920s.

The Hongdu N-5,, originally known as the Nanchang N-5, is a Chinese agricultural aircraft. First flown in 1989, and entering into production in 1992, the N-5 is a single-engined low-wing monoplane, and is available in versions powered by a piston engine or a turboprop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tipsy S.2</span> Type of aircraft

The Tipsy S.2 was the production version of the Tipsy S, a single seat, low wing sports monoplane designed by Ernest Oscar Tips in Belgium in the mid-1930s. It was produced in both the Belgium and the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smith Miniplane</span> American homebuilt biplane

The Smith DSA-1 Miniplane is a single-seat, single-engine sport aircraft designed in the United States in the 1950s and marketed for home building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PWS-6</span> Type of aircraft

The PWS-6, was a Polish liaison aircraft, developed in 1930 by the PWS, that remained a prototype.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granville Gee Bee R-6</span> Type of aircraft

The Granville Gee Bee R-6 International Super Sportster, named "Q.E.D.", and later named "Conquistador del Cielo", was the last in a series of racing and touring monoplane aircraft from the Granville Brothers. The R-6H was dogged with bad luck throughout its career and never finished any race it entered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jora Jora</span> Type of aircraft

The Jora Jora is a high wing, T-tail, single-engine, two-seat ultralight designed in the Czech Republic in 1993. More than 160 had been sold by 2009.

The Akaflieg Darmstadt D-34 sailplanes were a series of experimental single seat sailplanes, designed at the University of Darmstadt in the 1950s and early 1960s to explore the structural and aerodynamic advantages of the then emerging plastics and composite materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kawasaki KAL-2</span> Type of aircraft

The Kawasaki KAL-2 is a Japanese four/five seat, single engine aircraft, designed for both military and civil markets in the mid-1950s. Only two were completed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jameson RJJ-1 Gipsy Hawk</span> Light aircraft design

The Jameson RJJ-1 Gipsy Hawk was a single-engine light aircraft intended to be homebuilt from plans. The prototype was designed and constructed in the U.S. by Richard Jameson in the late 1960s-early 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coupé-Aviation JC-01</span> Type of aircraft

The Coupé-Aviation JC-01 is the first of a series of very similar designs of two seat, single engine sports aircraft, amateur built from plans in France from 1976. These provided a range of engine sizes and undercarriage layouts, but total production was small.

The Stephens Akro is a single engine monoplane designed in the United States for aerobatic competitions. It first flew in 1967 and proved very successful, leading to several developments of which one won seven US Championships and one World Championship between 1975 and 1982. The Extra EA-230 and Extra EA-300 were also Akro developments with over two hundred built.

The Aviator Shershen' is a Russian two seat biplane, sold in kit form. It first flew in 2005 and several variants have been produced, with a choice of engines.

The Oškinis BRO-23KR Garnys (Stork) is a glassfibre primary glider, built in the USSR in the early 1980s. Only two were completed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granville Gee Bee Model A</span> 1929 American sport/training biplane

The Gee Bee Model A was an American two-seat open cockpit single-bay biplane developed by the Granville Brothers that first flew in 1929.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.