Textron AirLand LLC is making good progress on its Scorpion tactical jet project. After more than 50 hours of flight-testing, the light attack airplane has shown promising performance numbers and the pilots describe the airplane as nimble and agile with plenty of power yet stable in the landing configuration.
The test pilots have brought the Scorpion as high as 30,000 feet to speeds up to 430 knots true airspeed. G forces of +3.7 G and -0.5 G have been imposed on the airframe and the stall speed has been shown to be below 90 knots calibrated airspeed. In addition, the test pilots have done engine shutdowns and restarts in flight and have demonstrated a low-speed aircraft interception with a Cessna 182, which can be seen in the accompanying video.
