Italian car enthusiasts will recognise the name ‘SuperVeloce’ – Super Fast – and Alfa Romeo in particular have made use of the title. Now Italian aircraft maker Risen is borrowing the phrase, for the latest version of its 600kg microlight fitted with the 141hp Rotax 915iS engine.
Now the Risen was already the fastest microlight when fitted with the 115hp Rotax 914 turbo, passing 400km/h (249mph) ona 15km straight course.
So imagine what it’s going to be like with an extra 26hp…
But the extra power isn’t the whole story. Alberto Porto, whose Porto Aviation Group produces the Risen, said:
“At Porto Aviation, we don’t believe you can just install a 40% more powerful engine in the same airframe. Either your 100hp powered version is underpowered, or the 141hp 915iS will be overpowered. This is just physics.
“Exceptions are of course STOL or other draggy designs that will see only a relative small increase of cruise speed due to drag. Let’s not forget, the needed additional HP needed is cubic vs drag.
“Risen has the lowest drag ratio in the industry, so adding 40% more power is a lot for the already fast aircraft. Remember that the 115hp Risen 914T outperforms any of the other already flying low wing ULs with the much stronger 915iS. Where these other designs claim speeds up to 200kt at high to very high altitudes, the Risen 914T outperforms these.”
Porto was helped in the design by a recent changed in the certification standard for 600kg microlight which raises the stall speed limit to 80km/h (50mph).
Porto decided to leverage the real by fitting a set of shorter wings (shorter by 0.8m or 2.6ft) and the vee-tail has also been downsized for perfect balance.
Result is a microlight that can cruise at 400km/h (250mph). That’s just incredible.
