Windstar YF-80

The Windstar YF-80 is an American single seat homebuilt replica of the Lockheed F-80.[1]

YF-80
Role Homebuilt aircraft
National origin United States
Manufacturer Windstar

Design and development
A Lockheed F-80, which the YF-80 fuselage is modeled after

The YF-80 is a two-thirds scale replica of a Lockheed F-80 or T-33. The aircraft is a composite construction, single engine, low wing design with retractable tricycle landing gear. The tip tanks are removable for aerobatic flight.[2] The aircraft is powered by a Chevy 350 V-8 turbocharged engine driving a turbine thrust section. The thrust section is driven by belts with high gear ratios to drive the turbine closer to the rotational speed it was originally designed for.[3]

The aircraft project was intended to showcase the Davis engine technology with a static prototype displayed in 1977. Burt Rutan was approached to build the composite fuselage, but the US$240,000 cost estimate was declined. Davis attempted to produce a production prototype fuselage for US$80,000. By 1987 the project was not complete, resulting in a court case between investors. The prototype was re-engined with a Turbomeca Marboré II turbine engine as the Stargate YT-33.[4]

Variants
Windstar YF-80
1977 Davis cold-jet prototype
Stargate YT-33 (MT-33)
Turbine powered prototype[5]

Specifications (YF-80)

Data from Flight International

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Powerplant: 1 × Davis Cold Jet Hybrid Piston turbine, 220 lbf (0.98 kN) thrust

Performance

  • Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6,100 m)

References
  1. Flying Magazine: 133. November 1977. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. Popular Mechanics: 116. January 1978. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. Flight International. 22 August 1977. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. F. Marc de Piolenc & George E. Wright Jr. Ducted Fan Design, Volume 1 (Revised). p. 92.
  5. "Stargate MT33". Retrieved 1 December 2013.
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