Back to Squawk list
  • 37

The Mysterious And Potentially Revolutionary Celera 500L Aircraft May Fly Soon

Enviado
 
New photos of the unusual, yet still rather unknown aircraft first sighted at the Victorville Southern California Logistics Airport has emerged. As to what this design and what purpose this aircraft serves is still unclear, it is believed that the Celera 500L, built by Otto Aviation may make its maiden flight soon. Not much is known about the aircraft for the manufacturer, but they have been operating in secret for at least a decade. (www.thedrive.com) Más...

Sort type: [Top] [Newest]


phurford
Paul Hurford 6
Almost all respondents are Skeptics. Right - and two guys who owned a bicycle shop couldn't invent the first (maybe second) heavier than air craft.

I wish these guys a lot of luck and hope their dreams come true - so many don't, but that's just life. There have to be a few winners and I hope this is one of them.
lynx318
lynx318 1
Haven't skepticised (is that a word? tis now.) anything yet. Waiting to see if the proof is in the pudding, it does look like a pudding.
phurford
Paul Hurford 1
Agreed. It looks as if they've put a ton of work into making this a reality, not to mention the development funding.

stansdds
Reminds me of a Piaggio Avanti, but with only 1 engine.
chalet
chalet 4
Whenever I see a "new aerodynamics aircraft" I take it with a pound of salt. Of the numerous Rutan contraptions what is left after some 100-200? were built. The road to the boneyard is paved with several car-airplane and other strange looking things that made their creators several millions of dollars poorer. Too bad.
chalet
chalet 1
On second thought, this strange looking aircraft seems to be designed for electronic survelliance at high altitude and long hours or perhaps days, both manned and UAV.
feote
Ken Jackson 2
It doesn’t seem to have enough ground clearance to survive a hard landing.
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 2
ATRs have a similar landing gear and low clearance yet land on dirt runways in Northern Canada.
lynx318
lynx318 2
Not exactly a lot of room in the wings for fuel tanks so in the fuselage then plus cabin space for pilot and passengers plus luggage, severely doubt it's twin engine. Going by the RED website it seems to have 3 turbos, one either side and one in front relevant to engine bay. With those engine covers off I can't see any evidence of the heat exchanger mentioned, or how one would work with the turbo layout. Looks like the offspring of the Spruce Goose and an A300-600 Beluga.
steerts
I'd hate like hell to over-rotate that ugly S.O.B.
Viperguy46
Jesse Carroll 1
Thats why it has a tail skid!
cdinvb
cdinvb 4
Oh please. Lear Fan with some peculiar metabolic disorder that caused it to retain fluids.
steerts
What new technology can we expect? How about a biplane which is controlled by an operator lying prone on the middle of the lower wing.
lynx318
lynx318 1
Thanks Orville
Viperguy46
Jesse Carroll 1
Wonder if the DOOR holder is standard or a option? Think it's FAA approved? Also, hope the tail skid has a hook in it. That way it could land on carriers!...Just saying!
ssobol
Stefan Sobol 1
Lear Fan died in part due to a lot of problems with the prop drive and transmission.
cdinvb
cdinvb 1
Oh yeah. Sorta sad under-engineering. One sees it in so many airplane designs. Some stuff looks like you just have to work it out after your best shot on paper. - And I'm not an engineer, nor do I play one. - Side note is that when the fuselage mock-up came through Denver, I went and had a look. Pretty airplane, what portion was there. Had a chance to talk shop with "Torch" Lewis of BCA.
VBRivero
Non-pilot but interested aviation novice here. What would be the purpose of something like this? I see one suggestion for high-alt surveillance or non-manned long flight. Any more commercial uses?

And could this technology be scaled larger? Seems pretty small for anything but purpose-built.
Viperguy46
Jesse Carroll 1
Sorry, but that is one butt ugly bird! Just saying. Someone said years ago that if you put enough horsepower on a brick, it could fly! LOL
ljcotnoir
Leo Cotnoir 1
It looks quirky but hardly revolutionary.

[This poster has been suspended.]

shenghaohan
Shenghao Han 1
Looks like a modern Cessna Caravan to me..
rkpeck
Roger Peck 1
Not really for an unimproved runway surface...
TimDyck
Tim Dyck 1
Why not? I land on dirt runways in Northern Canada and would like to know why you say this.
ah6oy
Jim DeTour -1
No real visibility. Nose doesn't have much if any room for radar. I'd guess seeing the tail arrangement with skid bar hanging down that if anything it's an attempt to sell it as an engine test bed or surveillance or tax write off with items going into personal possession.
siriusloon
siriusloon 5
I think there's a lot more visibility than "no real visibility". The pilot's position is forward and high relative to the windscreen.


A surveillance aircraft is unlikely to need a cabin anywhere near that size and there are easier ways to make a testbed for engines.

Rather than dismissing it as a fraud, how about the possibility that it's a proof-of-concept prototype, perhaps sub-scale?
icenole
David Carley 0
Um, no thanks.
dasilvadantasf
BOA TARDE, ÓTIMAS FOTOS ADOREI VOCÊS ESTÃO DE PARABÉNS.....
MUITO OBRIGADOOOOOOO.....

FRANCISCO DANTAS.

Entrar

¿No tienes cuenta? ¡Regístrate ahora (gratis) para acceder a prestaciones personalizadas, alertas de vuelos y mucho más!
¿Sabías que el rastreo de vuelos de FlightAware se sostiene gracias a los anuncios?
Puedes ayudarnos a que FlightAware siga siendo gratuito permitiendo que aparezcan los anuncios de FlightAware.com. Trabajamos arduamente para que nuestros anuncios sean discretos y de interés para el rubro a fin de crear una experiencia positiva. Es rápido y fácil whitelist ads en FlightAware o por favor considera acceder a nuestras cuentas premium.
Descartar