The Viking Dragonfly MKII
The first 2 seater lightweight composite aircraft being electrified in the Netherlands
The Dragonfly is a two-seater aircraft that features a tandem wing layout with a forward wing mounted low and the other behind the cockpit in a shoulder position, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, fixed landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration. The aircraft is constructed from composites, based on construction techniques pioneered by Burt Rutan at Rutan Aircraft Factory (RAF). The airframe design is visually similar to the RAF’s Quickie 2, which was developed independently, but the Dragonfly has larger airfoils and was designed for a smaller engine, resulting in a slower but more docile handling aircraft. Origionally 60 hp (45 kW) Volkswagen air-cooled and 85 hp (63 kW) Jabiru 2200 four-stroke powerplants were used with the Dragonfly. With a redesign to a battery-electric variant (project DragonFly) Inholland and partners want to demonstrate the viability of electrifying existing small aircraft for the general aviation.
% completion of activities
- Primary structure of the airplane 70%
- Primary Control Systems 75%
- Landing gear 85%
- Avionics design 60%
- Structural validation 10%
- Aerodynamics & Performance analysis 15%
- Airplane Digitalization by CAD activities 90%
- Proof of concept Mixed Reality application 80%
- Smart CAE simulation to speed up the design- and certification process 1%
- Electric propulsion design 1 50%
- Electric propulsion design 2 5%
Specification target for project DragonFly
| Geometry | ||||
| LENGTH | 5,8 | mtr | 19 | ft |
| HEIGHT | 1,3 | mtr | 4,2 | ft |
| WINGSPAN | 6,7 | mtr | 22 | ft |
| WING AREA | 9 | m2 | 97 | sq.ft |
| Electric propulsion | ||||
| CONTINUOUS POWER | 50 | kW | 67 | hp |
| BATTERY CAPACITY | 35 | kWh |
| Performance reference | ||||
| MTOW | 522 | kg | 1151 | lbs |
| EMPTY WEIGHT | 277 | kg | 611 | lbs |
| USEFUL LOAD | 245 | kg | 540 | lbs |
| GLIDE RATIO | 14,5 | :1 | ||
| CLIMB RATE | 4 | m/s | 787 | fpm |
| MAX SPEED | 280 | kph | 174 | mph |
| VNE | 311 | kph | 193 | mph |
| CRUISE SPEED | 260 | kph | 162 | mph |
| MINIMUM SPEED | 80 | kph | 48 | mph |
| STALL SPEED | 77 | kph | 50 | mph |
| CEILING | 5638 | mtr | 18500 | ft |
| TAKE OFF DISTANCE | 366 | mtr | 1200 | ft |
| LANDING DISTANCE | 610 | mtr | 2000 | ft |
This configuration is based on the Viking Dragonfly MK.II, an American amateur-built aircraft, designed by Bob Walters and produced by Viking Aircraft LLC of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. This aircraft was originally supplied as a kit for amateur construction. The Aviodrome in Lelystad got hold of a Dragonfly a long time ago as the original Dutch owner Mr. Thom Sijs agreed to store it at the museum, waiting for final assembly at a later stage. Now, many years later, it was decided that the Aeronautical Engineering faculty at the Inholland University of Applied Sciences would be a much better place to facilitate finalisation of the construction. With Inhollands ambition to play an active role in achieving sustainable aviation, the Aeronautical & Precision Engineering students, teachers, researchers and partners are looking forward to completing the build, fly emission-free, but more importantly, learn from this project and make sure the educational system will benefit greatly from the learnings.
