Baracudda

The Jeffair Barracuda is a high-performance sporting monoplane that was developed in the United States in the 1970s and is marketed for home building. Designed and built by Geoffrey Siers, the prototype won the prize for "Most Outstanding New Design" at the EAA Fly-in in 1976.  It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane of wooden construction with retractable tricycle undercarriage and side-by-side seating for two. Around 150 sets of plans had sold by 1977.

Development

Geoffrey Siers was a former RAF pilot and engineer for Boeing in 1967. He set out to design an aircraft that was fast, aerobatic, two place, and had range to fly long cross-country flights. The aircraft was refined after a full size cockpit mockup was made. The lightweight construction of the plywood-covered wooden de Havilland Mosquito was the inspiration for the materials choice. 

Operational history

Test flights were performed in 1975. The aircraft takes off at 70 mph (113 km/h) and climbs at 2000 feet per minute (10.2 m/s). Full flap stalls were recorded as low as 54 mph (87 km/h).^[3]

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: one pilot
• Capacity: one passenger
• Length: 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
• Wingspan: 24 ft 9 in (7.54 m)
• Wing area: 120 ft² (11,15 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,495 lb (678 kg)
• Gross weight: 2,300 lb (1,043 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-540, 250 hp 

Performance

• Maximum speed: 218 mph (351 km/h)
• Range: 450 miles (724 km)
• Rate of climb: 2,200 ft/min (11.2 m/s)