Young Eagles
April 2006
June 2003
Yahoo Group
EAA Chapter 515 members only
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photos by Dean Hall more photos below |
One of our members, Jerrold Jorritsma has been building for the past 6 years an exceptional airplane, with workmanship to match. He chose to build a jet powered Berkut. The Berkut is a derivative of the Long-Eze designed to be a slightly larger airplane to accommodate a bigger engine and be faster than the other fiberglass canards. The jet of course promises something extra in the way of performance. I happened to be at FNL recently and along with Walt Ellwood observed a high speed run after which Jerrold was kind enough to allow me to study the airplane a bit, photograph it, and get some information. Jerrold was in the back seat during the run. His friend Dan Hardefty who flies a Long-Eze and has a commercial license was doing the honors in the front seat.
They had accelerated it to 70+ knots at which point the front wheel was lifted clear, and the wings responded by being rocked back and forth. There was no intent to fly it, and so it probably never lifted off the ground, officially at least. (Note that the paper work has been applied for, but has not yet come.)
It appears that they were satisfied with its performance and responses to that point. Dan reported that the rudders became effective at 40 indicated which is about the same as for the Long-Eze. Braking was slower because of the increased weight. The airplane doesn't look all that much different from the standard Berkut even with the propeller missing. There is a definite jet noise when running. The canopies are of course totally different from what we are used to seeing in the Long-Eze.
Empty wgt. is 1150 lbs. It holds 95 g. of jet A @6.7 lbs./g. Gross is 2100 lbs. The performance figures including fuel burn will have to wait until more experience is gained. Apparently this is not the first jet powered Berkut. He has been told that 100k indicated is a good pattern speed and that touchdown is in the area of 80k indicated.
Obviously this is an extraordinary project. Jerrold is approaching it in an orderly and professional manner. We are impressed with it, and we will all be interested in following its progress. Just another example of the outstanding projects coming out of our chapter.
-Dean Hall
Randy Treadwell's Note: I have seen this airplane and the workmanship is outstanding. Every detail is so well though out and finished.
photos by Dean Hall
