Grassroots Movement Propels Synergy Aircraft

Bethany Whitfield

Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 10:43 PM ET

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Synergy

Key Takeaways:

Aircraft designer John McGinnis is developing Synergy, an ambitious aircraft design featuring a double box tail and rear-mounted diesel propfan, which aims to be 10 times more fuel-efficient and affordable than a small jet.
A full-scale five-seat prototype is currently under development, building on a successful 25-percent scale model that first flew in 2007.
The project is being crowdfunded on Kickstarter, having surpassed its initial fundraising goals to fund preliminary stages and get the prototype "on the wheels and powered up" with the ultimate aim of flying it to Oshkosh.

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Burgeoning aircraft designer John McGinnis is searching for support for an aircraft design with quite an ambitious goal: To provide the fuel efficiency of a small jet 10 times over while cutting the price tag by the same measure.

That design, known as Synergy, was unveiled last year at the CAFÉ Electric Aircraft Symposium in Santa Rosa, California, and features a double box tail shape and a diesel-powered propfan located behind the fuselage.