Among the treasures I have accumulated over the past 54 years is a complete set of Kitplanes magazines except I’ve lost 2005 August and @010 December. So the other day a friend gave a bundle of Kitplanes he was throwing out. I riffled through them but what I wanted wasn’t there but in the 1997 January was story by Howard Levy describing Steven Trentman’s KR-2 with a Garrret JFS-100 turban. He is Levey’s story copied.
“Steven Trentman of Owasso. Oklahoma. is flying an unusual Rand_Robinson KR-2. It has a turbo- engine and had logged some 200 hours on it. "I had a couple of the Garett JFS-100 free-turbine-shaft engines that had previously been used as air starters in the LTV A-7 Navy attack aircraft," Trentman commented., “Mike took one in exchange for the KR2, and I went to work 1y my two-car garage converting the airp1ane." Trentman not only installed the turboprop engine bur carried out additional modilications. He reconfigured the aircraft from tail-dragger to trigear. redid the instrument panel. Changed the canopy latching system, added a 36xl I-inch elecrro_hydraulic bellv board speedbrake that is activated by a switch on the control stick. Ladigo had originally widened the cockpit a flew inches. so Trentman had additional creature comfort in the area. yet Trentman’s new powerplant, which resulted in a nose 1 foot longer, needed a different engine mount and a cowling, which Trentman fabricated. The engine develops 90 shp with a 36_inch three blade Ivoprop rhat runs at 3000 rpm at full power. The total weight of the engine with its prop drive and accessories is 120 pounds. The airplane carries 27 gallons of fuel - 6 per wing and 15 gallons in a header tank. The rework took Trentman a year, and he flew his new airplane for the first time on May 5,1996. Empty weight is now 710 pounds and maximum gross is 1200 pounds, which is considerably more than the numbers published for a 76-hp, VW-powered KR-2. With two aboard his KR-2T Trentman reports a takeoff distance of 1200 - I 400 feet with liftoff at 90 mph. Cruise speed is 140 mph on 75-80% power (2600 prop rpm) and 8-12 gph fuel consumption. Downwind is flown at 90 mph, slowing to 70 mph on base and 60-65 mph on short final. touching down at 45 mph.” Trentman said. Cost of the project is estimated to be $15,000-$20,000. "But it's worth $100.000 as far as I'm concerned," Trentman said. He likes it. Kp”. I copied the pictures into ‘my pictures’ but I don’t have the ability to put them in a form to attach a lead to them. Have to wait for grandchildren from Toronto.O _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change options. To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@list.krnet.org
