Canard Homebuilt Airplane Summary

This type of airplane was made popular by the designer Burt Rutan who for a time made plans available for several types including the most popular Long-Ez.

These homebuilt airplanes are made from composite materials which include fiberglass cloth over various types of foam cores with slow curing epoxy resins.

Picture of the LongEz design:

Long-Ez design by Burt Rutan

The Long-Ez canard design has a safety feature where the front wing or canard will loose lift first and prevent the main wing from losing lift which makes it stall proof. A stall is where all wing lift is suddenly lost which can result in a unsafe and unwanted loss of altitude. The Long-Ez has two seats in tandem with the passender seated in the rear seat. There are other designs based on the Long-Ez that have side by side seating, the Cozy, Velocity and E-Racer are examples of this.

Performance Summary with the Lycoming O-235 108 or 115 HP engine:

Max speed: 193 mph

Cruise speed: 183 mph at 75% power.

Stall speed (canard): 68 mph

Rate of climb: 1750 ft per minute (solo).

Takeoff distance, ground roll: 830 ft.

Landing distance, ground roll: 680 ft.

Service ceiling: 22000 ft.

Empty weight: 750 lbs

Engine: O-235 108 HP or some with a O-320 150 HP

More LongEz information here: http://www.aryjglantz.com/2013/03/the-long-ez.html

E-Racer design by Shirl Dickey.

This design has 2 seats side by side with the landing gear fully retractable.

Picture of the E-Racer design:

Performance Summary with Lycoming O-320 150 HP engine:

Max speed: 222 mph

Cruise speed: 210 mph at 75% power.

Stall speed (canard): 70 mph

Rate of climb: 1600 ft per minute (solo).

Takeoff distance, ground roll: 1400 ft.

Landing distance, ground roll: 1500 ft.

Service ceiling: 22000 ft. Empty weight: 1100 lbs

Engine: O-320 150 HP or O-320 160 HP

More E-Racer information here: http://www.eraceraircraft.com/Pages/default.aspx

Cozy MK-IV design by Nat Puffer.

This design has four seats and is slightly larger with a Lycoming O-360 180 HP engine.

Picture of the Cozy IV design, note: Like the Long-Ez it is parked with the nose wheel retracted.

Performance Summary with a Lycoming O-360 180 HP engine:

Max speed: 222 mph

Cruise speed: 220 mph at 75% power.

Stall speed (canard): 70 mph

Rate of climb: 1600 ft per minute (solo).

Takeoff distance, ground roll: 1200 ft.

Landing distance, ground roll: 1000 ft.

Service ceiling: 20000 ft.

Empty weight: 1050 lbs

Engine: O-360 180 HP or IO-360 180 HP

More Cozy MK IV information here: http://www.cozyaircraft.com/

Velocity design by Velocity Aircraft. This original design is notable for its much roomier cabin with 4 seats and 2 doors. The Velocity is available as a kit form in several types with various engines and fixed and retractable landing gear.

Picture of the Velocity design:

Performance Summary with a Lycoming IO-320 160 HP engine:

Max speed: 230 MPH

Cruise speed: 178 MPH at 75% power.

Stall speed (canard): 57 MPH

Rate of climb: 900 ft per minute (solo).

Takeoff distance, ground roll: 1500 ft.

Landing distance, ground roll: 1500 ft.

Service ceiling: 16000 ft.

Empty weight: 1300 lbs

Engine: IO-320 160 HP.

More Velocity information here: http://www.velocityaircraft.com/index.html

Berkut 360 design by Dave H. Ronneberg

This original design features roomier seating with 2 tandem seats and independent opening canopies. The Berkut was available as a kit. This was a high performance version with various larger engines and fully retractable landing gear.

Picture of the Berkut design:

Performance Summary with a Lycoming IO-360 200 HP engine:

Max speed: 248 mph

Cruise speed: 220 mph at 75% power.

Stall speed (canard): 70 mph

Rate of climb: 2000 ft per minute (solo).

Takeoff distance, ground roll: 1200 ft.

Landing distance, ground roll: 1000 ft.

Service ceiling: 32000 ft.

Empty weight: 1035 lbs

Engine: O-360 180 HP or IO-360 180 HP

More Berkut information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkut_360#Specifications