Turbine Toucan Start & Take Off Roll

[64wing]

this Toucan has an unCANny margin of power at its disposal...right? right? ah ha...haha...give me a break it's 2am here lol

[dkervinen]

Great sense of humor, thanks for sharing!! :)

[64wing]

@dkervinen lol my pleasure! I would love to get my hands on that bird! Are you in cahoots with the developers?

[dkervinen]

I am the developer/builder & owner :) David

[planegaper]

now you've gone an done it,, the toucan is an elevator reconfigured into something resembling an aircraft..

[TheCraig1998]

how's the gas mileage on that beast lol.

[EltonFarina]

But how many meters the airplane took off?

(200 feet ?)

[dkervinen]

It was in the air in a little over 100ft. In a three point attitude, we can take off in something less then 50ft.

[illeagl]

Unbelievable. Awesome.

[AGrandt]

Why did he even bother driving to the runway? ;)

[worldtravel101]

shes a chinook driver? hooah! 101!

[leviterande]

gonna fly on of these soon

[JonWalterAviation]

Haha, wow, can't beat fun!!

[hoppy123456798]

I think I'll subscribe :D

[dkervinen]

Test flying is complete, not it is in the "creative hands" of Mr. Ken Erickson, who is Sean Tucker's chief pilot. He is amazing in just about all facets of his life. Can't want to be able to share. She's sticking local for now, if your ever in the area, we'd be happy to give you a private tour of the plane:) David

[EstorilEm]

Absolutely incredible, what happened to this project though? :(

[dkervinen]

Thanks for your post!

Well, to start off, it isn't really a project. This aircraft was specifically designed to capture one of the largest "at venue" attended audiences in North America, as a entertainment marketing platform for Fortune 500 companies.

As you know, the market took a MAJOR dive being the largest recession in US history. We have been patiently waiting out the storm. No sense campaigning the airplane (for ego) just to take away the thunder of a potential Title sponsor.

[EstorilEm]

@dkervinen I understand, you're pretty much done with flight testing though? The last time I talked to you all, your ramp was being torn up haha - a few years ago I think. So she's going to be sticking to the SFO area for the nearby future? Gr this area (Northern VA) is so crappy for aviation (well, minus the air and space museums and IAD haha)

[holmesseth]

What an awesome plane! A true monster!

[JManGuitar5150]

I want one

They should manufacture these... Maybe without the bright yellow paint and the Toucan decal, though.

[jimvss]

Could do without the commentary, but still ME WANT TOUCAN. I dig that Christen Eagle, too.

[josephtan1818]

I hope you guys give a shock to Tom Aberle's Phantom one day

[wheelingdude12]

I'm sorry but that is not a plane, that a beast with wings, love those kinds of birds

[EasternMerchant]

HAHA it has so much power that is flies like an RC plane!

[EasternMerchant]

I wish my hanglider had that engine!

[coryboy345]

I would die a happy person to fly this aircraft.

[dkervinen]

Basically, any ACE hardware or Home Depot should be able to help;)

[camden199]

where can i get that engine

[CarAudioGuy21]

my god the rate of climb is insane i bet it can go straight up with out even blinking..

that was one short take of too.. wow its the perfect blend :)

[777BACAPTAIN]

Amazing. Better than a Pitts

[epx141]

Heh if my brother-in-law (a commercial pilot) had a chance to do some maneuvers on a beast like this... I won't show this URL to him, my sister would never forgive me! :)

[Rohhaut]

Great video! This airplane takes off like a helicopter... Amazing!

[dkervinen]

Thanks! That was with 800lb of fuel on board as well. 750shp, 3300lb of thrust and the plane weighs 1650.00 :) Cheers.

[scavenom2008]

unbelievable performance can I try it?

[kewlmynd99]

Amazing! Thanks for posting... by the way, how much shp are we talking 'bout here? Is this using a PT6~ turbine?

[dkervinen]

With a 1.5:1 thrust to weight ratio you don't need much ground roll to take off. About 50-75 and you can go pure vertical. We've done it a lot. No tricky camera angles, what you see is what is actually happening. It's what makes this plane so special. Cheers.

[ambientflier]

How is that even possible? It looks like he was barely rolling when he took off...strong headwind?

[dkervinen]

Little wind that day. The potential of this aircraft is staggering really. We have a bunch of maneuvers which have never been seen before based on the high thrust to weight ratio. Thanks for checking us out!

[ambientflier]

Yeah, but how does the high thrust help with takeoffs when the plane is barely moving? Or is the camera angle deceiving in terms of ground speed?

[julieg2y]

@ambientflier

Ever seen a rocket or helicopter? Thrust provides lift in addition to aerodynamic lift. In this case, I'd guess it's more thrust based than aero.

[dkervinen]

Virtually unloaded wings at 80º climb out.

[9sectionwhip]

sub:)  What's the P:W ratio on that firebreather?

[moss197]

Greater than 1:1!! From their website, it is capable to do full 3D aerobatics. How cool is that?!

[9sectionwhip]

that's nuts....hopefully I'll see that bird sometime;)

[dkervinen]

It is 1.5:1 :)

[dkervinen]

It can climb out of the hover!!

[grimeuphoria]

Can it climb out vertically from a hover?

[eynorvor]

I am sorry but that is not a plane, it's a hell of a beast.

[BMXStatus302]

wow, thats things almost as powerful as sean's old turbine craft the he used to perform in!

[dkervinen]

Sean never flew a turbine aerobatic aircraft. You might be thinking of Wayne Handley and the Turbine Raven. The performance of both aircraft are very similar.

[Spayne007]

holy smokes that thing climbs better than franklins old ship with the j85 strapped to it

[dkervinen]

Thanks for the complement! This was with full fuel. At airshow weight we'd only have 25% of what we had in this clip or 70 gallons less.

I have to give it up for Jimmy Franklin, he was one hell of a pilot and an innovator/showman. I am hopeful that his son Kyle will follow the family tradition, he is a showman as well. Cheers. David

[Spayne007]

This is a great project...hope to see it at oshkosh eventually. good luck and fair winds.

[dkervinen]

You know, we never really try to compare the Toucan with Jimmy Franklin's Jet Waco. That was one unique bird and an absolute hoot to watch. We don't generate the kind of noise people like to hear from Jimmy's plane. Considering we're a single engine and his technically a twin, I'd say we're doing OK.

Jimmy really made magic happen and our entire team really miss him and his show. I think Kyle is doing a marvelous job, check him out when you can.

[ytmachx]

That plane doesn't need much runway!!

[540touring]

Take off roll? Jumpstart :-)

Amazing performance ! Really nice to watch !

[dkervinen]

Sean is a good friend of Team Turbine Toucan. He was just up at San Carlos a week ago, spent about a half hour with him. He's one of the few that really does it right in the air show space! The plane is not only kept at San Carlos, it was also built there!

[hawker445]

what airport is this?

[dkervinen]

This is at King City. We went to visit our friends at Sean Tuckers place.

[hawker445]

heha thats cool! sean tucker flys his aircraft into san carlos! and ive met him 2! . i belive the turbo tucan is kept at san carlos now

[dkervinen]

Actually, the Turbo Raven and the Turbine Toucan have very little in common but THANK YOU for the complements!

[scrfce123]

The fuselage looks identical to the Oracle Turbo Raven... The Turbine Toucan is a much nicer plane though.

[54spiritedwill54]

Now that's impressive!

[JonND11]

What's the hp in that engine?! That's a ridiculous deck angle...

[dkervinen]

The HP is 750 w/1850 foot pounds of torque. The plane was totally full of fuel for a long cross country. Imagine what it would do at airshow fuel/weight. I've flown the plane pure vertical from take off and it climbs out at better then 60kts straight up. It is fun. Thanks for your comments.

[jelly123456789876543]

please make this plane rc

[iflyc77]

lmfao

wow

[joetoorivers]

I was just about gonna scream at the guy that started up the other bi-plane when the turbo was taxiing. I was at an air show in Sarnia On. a couple of years ago when a P51 Mustang was taking off. Just as he took off 2 Tomcats strafed the field with a cacophony of jet noise that totally drowned out the sound of the Merlin powered Mustang. Needless to say I was quite disappointed.

[PICLex]

Lmao

Vx to the head.

[gaugen06]

whats that for al plane?

[ATLRCFlyer]

I am still amazed by the raw power of the PT6.

When will you post more videos?

I'd really like to see more of this incredible aircraft.

[dkervinen]

We'd like to get more video's up when we secure sponsorship. We want the sponsor to get the benefit of the buzz. The TT does some incredible stuff including amazing vertical aerobatics.

[rhgrsh]

Amazing !! i want one ! what price ?

[N9361Q]

I believe that Christen Eagle right there is actually a Super Eagle. 300hp instead of the normal 200hp.

[dkervinen]

You would be correct, it is a super eagle. Built by one of the best Eagle Builders out there, Butch Pfeifer. It really is a beautiful plane.

[HellaJDM]

it would make a good bush plane lol. so how does the ratings work for experimental turbine aircraft. Do you still need a type rating?

[dkervinen]

Hello,

You do not need a type rating as the plane is less than 12,500 lb. Now, that doesn't mean you don't need turbine time. It isn't an FAA issue, it is an insurance issue.

[Ryan130376]

Did the plane come with the turboprop or is this a conversion?

[dkervinen]

This is a one-off, custom designed aircraft specifically designed for a turboprop. Hope that helps.

[Ryan130376]

Thanks.

It sure is a nice plane...

I am actually looking for an R/C-version of it...I saw you flying one..

[LEBATO]

and airplane like no other impressive and cool paint job by the way!

[mww88]

ohhh my gosh!!!! what an awesome airplane. most likely it will hover! haha that is an amazing takeoff.

[20144628]

Didn't even take long to take off,that's cool man.Also very powerful.

[Nick0172]

Holy.

That thing needs like <100ft or rwy?

[Nick0172]

Like the christen eagle next to it =D

Nice plane, looks like the body of a extra 300 with the wings of a eagle, or pitts or something.

[JGMagoo]

PERFECT for those 200-foot-long, 6,000-foot-wide runways! Wow! What a hot rod!

[dkervinen]

Best Comment Yet!!!!

[MostLikelyDan]

Agreed.

[muz06]

Haha! Maybe even better 4 those short taxiways (especially when doing a STOL) or lauchpads! Is that a plane or a rocket? Lol.

[eagledw13b]

Shure would be nice to see the High Speed pass!

[LEBATO]

sweeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEtttt!

[ilangsfs]

Now that's impressive! What's the story behind this plane?

[PICLex]

Holy smokes!

[dinoborelli]

This is an outrageously cool aircraft, keep the vids coming, love 'em :-)

[dkervinen]

We're now down for about six weeks with a panel upgrade and a fresh annual. When we return the aircraft we'll be doing a lot more filming. Happy Holidays!

[5113wh]

Will it be doing air shows in '08 ? Schedule posted any where ?

[comradeboris]

damn! thats a friggin rocket!