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]
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]
KR-2 - two-seat, side-by-side version, 1900 completed by 2011.[1][7]
KR-2S - 16-inch-stretched-fuselage version of the KR-2, with 2.5 feet greater wingspan,[1] made with composite sandwich construction, using the supercritical AS5045 airfoil. Standard engines include the 85hp (63kW)Jabiru 2200, 120hp (89kW)Jabiru 3300 and the 76 to 100hp (57 to 75kW)Volkswagen air-cooled engine.[12] The model includes a 3-inch higher canopy.[1] 100 completed and flown by 2011.[7]
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