RP-4 Airplane?

J

JasonM

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JM
Anyone have any more information on this airplane? I ran across this thread somehow and thought his airplane looked pretty interesting.

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/43-off-topic-discussions/96841-what-happens-when-you-cross-airplane-cuisinart.html

RP4-1.jpg


RP4-2.jpg


RP4-3.jpg
 
Two V8s, a gearbox and a pilot all held up by a couple of tiny, thin wings. Sounds like flirting with death. Bet it sounds awesome.

Dan
 
At least it's not a taildragger, should be a piece of cake to land :rolleyes:
 
Nice find. I've never seen anything on this one before. I found a little more information online but nothing seems recent. Most of it is from 2007. http://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/14lmsl/does_anyone_know_what_the_latest_is_on_david_rose/
This post claims the the engines are 598 cubic inch 2700-hp Dart V8 drag racing engines and that the propellers are not geared down and that the exhaust stacks alone create 300 pounds of thrust.

Dave-Rose-RP4.jpg

This was a quote I found. "The RP-4 is being built to either kill Dave Rose or catapult him into aviation glory for the fastest piston-power aircraft (something around 529mph)"

I think it needs a spinner.
 
topgun260 said:
This post claims the the engines are 598 cubic inch 2700-hp Dart V8 drag racing engines and that the propellers are not geared down and that the exhaust stacks alone create 300 pounds of thrust.
Click to expand...

I'm sure they considered that drag racing engines have a lifespan of seconds at full power, 'cause that thing looks like a really bad glider.
 
Don't think you'd have to worry about bird strikes because no bird on Earth is gonna make it through those props ;)
 
topgun260 said:
Nice find. I've never seen anything on this one before. I found a little more information online but nothing seems recent. Most of it is from 2007. http://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/14lmsl/does_anyone_know_what_the_latest_is_on_david_rose/
This post claims the the engines are 598 cubic inch 2700-hp Dart V8 drag racing engines and that the propellers are not geared down and that the exhaust stacks alone create 300 pounds of thrust.

Dave-Rose-RP4.jpg

This was a quote I found. "The RP-4 is being built to either kill Dave Rose or catapult him into aviation glory for the fastest piston-power aircraft (something around 529mph)"

I think it needs a spinner.
Click to expand...


Thanks for that info. Wish someone had a video of this bad boy. :D
 
Looks like the canopy could double as a parachute. 529 MPH with fixed gear? YeeHaw
 
Hey.... It's got V-8 auto engines in it.... What could possibly go wrong.:confused:..:D
 
That looks to be about as viable of a flying machine as the Bat-mobile would be as a daily driver.
 
That horizontal stab looks like it's more than capable to the task. :D Not to mention it's gonna require about 529 MPH just to get enough lift on the wing to get airborne.
 
That's the first thing I saw... the dinky horizontal stab.

Doesn't look like it will have much ground clearance for the needed big-azz props.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
...Doesn't look like it will have much ground clearance for the needed big-azz props.
Click to expand...

The description said the props were run direct-drive, not through a gearbox. Given the RPM at which racing engines make their peak power, prop diameter would be very limited.

Also, 2500 HP out of 529 cubic inches is about half the HP/displacement the elite NHRA Top Fuel guys are making, so TBR is likely much longer than a few seconds. The plane could probably make quite a few record attempts before the engines were spent.
 
Looks very useful.... as long as you're trying to make the world's largest Daiquiri.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
Doesn't look like it will have much ground clearance for the needed big-azz props.
Click to expand...
But they're not "big azz." Given the props are turning at the engine speed which given these things are ungeared dragster we're probably talking over 8000 RPM, they're the little cuisinart blades shown in the first picture.

What's amazing to me is how far back you have to place the pilot to balance out the weight of those engines.

As for dinky horizontal stab, downforce is drag there. You decide to suffer some stability if all you care about is flat out speed. Just add more after CG.
 
Challenging W&B, I'd bet.
 
Is this real? Where are the radiators for those liquid cooled engines that produce so much heat (HP)?
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Is this real? Where are the radiators for those liquid cooled engines that produce so much heat (HP)?
Click to expand...
It is all in the links. There is a system to route the hot coolant through the crankcase to heat up the oil on cold start, pilot controlled to direct the coolant to the wings when flying and also a radiator back in the tail for taxi ops.

I can not find any reference to answer if it has flown yet. -Skip
 
Give me an ejection seat and I'll fly that Renegade for him. :D
 
flyingron said:
Here's an EAA article on the Renegade: https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-chap...03-the-rest-of-the-story-david-roses-renegade

There's the story of him blowing the engine in a biplane at Reno here:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a7278/why-the-reno-air-races-are-so-dangerous-6449580/

Some of his other creations killed the pilot: http://www.theunion.com/news/crash-kills-pilot-at-reno-air-races/
Click to expand...

little harsh on the wording there. the airplane did not kill the pilot. read the report, it was a simple stall trying to turn towards a runway at low altitude with an engine out. dave was a top qualifier in that airplane for years.

bob
 
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