Stratos VLJ Undergoes Wind Tunnel Testing

Pia Bergqvist

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 08:28 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Stratos Aircraft completed initial wind tunnel tests for its Stratos 714 very light personal jet, which verified novel design areas like the scalloped forward fuselage but identified the need for adjustments to wing-body fairings and further testing.
The Stratos 714 is a single-engine jet designed for 4-5 people, targeting ambitious performance figures of over 400 knots speed and a 1,500-nm range, with a projected price of approximately $2 million.
The company is currently seeking investors and accepting fully refundable $10,000 deposits to fund the program, with the goal of flying two prototypes within the next two years if fundraising is successful.

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Five days of wind tunnel testing for the Stratos 714 very light personal jet (VLPJ) have been completed at the University of Washington Aeronautical Laboratory (UWAL) in Seattle, Washington. More than 90 tests were conducted on a one-fifth-scale aluminum, polycarbonate and composite model of the single-engine jet design.** **

Engineers are still analyzing the data collected from the wind tunnel tests, but a news release stated: “Initial results show the tests verified the novel areas of the design; the scalloped forward fuselage in particular. ” The tests did, however, conclude that the wing-body fairings need to be adjusted and additional wind tunnel work will be required to finalize their design.