Velocity XL

The Velocity XL (XL: Extra Large) is an American amateur-built aircraft, produced by Velocity, Inc. It is an enlarged version of their Velocity SE canard pusher design.

Design and development


The Velocity XL is 310 mm longer and has a 510 mm greater span than the SE. The standard XL has a cruising range of 875 nmi and a 75% power cruising speed of 185 kn air speed.

The XL is available in both fixed gear (FG) and retractable gear (RG) form and can accommodate either three or four passengers plus a pilot. The five seat versions, the XL-5 and the TXL-RG-5, have a rear bench seat for three rather than the alternative separate pair of seats.

Engines available as kits from the manufacturer for all models are the Lycoming IO-360 of 180 to 200 hp, Lycoming IO-540 of 260 to 300 hp, Continental IO-550 of 310 to 350 hp and the Franklin 6A350C1 of 205 to 235 hp. Builders may use these manufacturer kits or design their own engine installations using a variety of other engines of similar power output.

Variants

 * Velocity XL-FG
 * Fixed landing gear version with a gross weight of 2700 lb. Forty had been completed and flown by December 2011.


 * Velocity XL-FG-5
 * Fixed landing gear version with a gross weight of 2900 lb. Twenty-one had been completed and flown by December 2011.


 * Velocity XL-RG
 * Retractable landing gear version, with a gross weight of 2700 lb. 150 had been completed and flown by December 2011.


 * Velocity TXL-RG-5
 * Retractable landing gear version, with gross weight of 2900 lb. Eighteen had been completed and flown by December 2011.


 * Velocity V-Twin
 * Twin engine prototype, three built, powered by two Superior IO-320-A engines.

Rocket Racers
The now-defunct Rocket Racing League utilized a highly modified Velocity XL FG airframe and an Armadillo Aerospace 2,500 pound thrust liquid oxygen (LOX) and ethanol rocket engine in both its Mark-II X-Racer and Mark-III X-Racer demonstration vehicles. The Mark-II utilized a standard fixed-gear Velocity XL airframe, modified for rocket propulsion. The Mark-III airframe was more extensively customized during manufacture, explicitly for rocket racing, with a canopy top, center seat and control stick and other enhancements, in addition to the rocket propulsion added to the Mark-II.