Flying The Velocity XL - Living My Dream! 

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Scott is right, I get 180kts on 10gph. Couldn't ask for a more rewarding experience than building and flying your own airplane...and there is never a quick fuel stop. The second you shut down at an airport, there are always questions. I love talking about our airplanes.

To me as a kid the Beechcraft Starship was the spaceship. Such a beautiful airplane that didn’t get enough love and attention. It’s very sad that there are only a few left. This a beautifully built Velocity. I’d prefer it with an LS engine though. But that interior is on point.

Such a great company and a great ride. Especially that low break over the Sebastian inlet. Did it twice in FG demo years ago.

Back when I was getting my Private, Scott (actually Dwayne) Swing were part owners of the airport I was learning at, Phillipsburg, 3I7. Scott was building Velocity's upstairs in the shop all by hand, with these big fiberglass strand weaving machines and stacks of Styrofoam. He invented the retractable gear up there, and I was lucky enough to help a couple times. We molded a hand grip out of foam that fit my hand- I think he actually used it on the airplane he was building. In fact, and Scott probably doesn't remember this, he was trying to figure out a better cooling duct for the nose and I helped come up with the NACA duct you see on the airplane today, which still doesn't work very well.... lol Scott is one of the friendliest people you will ever meet in your life. I'm so glad they decided to purchase Velocity and turn it into the company that it is today. Great video. I can't wait to see your build videos of the turbine twin I'm sure you are getting ready to start on. Tell Scott that he needs to pressurize it.... lol

Well so glad you shared with us. Thanks.

Excellent video; I still remember the Beech Starship that used to be hangered in Bartow, FL (KBOW). That plane was incredible to watch take-off and land.

My favorite experimental for traveling missions. Goes far and fast while looking absolutely amazing.

I always loved this plane.

In the early 90s when I was getting my license, I got to see the first Velocity built in Dayton, Oh. Great to see the develop over time.

Seen a Rutan Long - ez up and close while being built by a relative. Never seen this one before. Thank you for the video. Take care - be safe.

Really love the Velocity !!! What a cruiser

I flew one of these back in the 90's for a few hours. I remember it having a high landing Speed. But a very nice plane.

Super cool aircraft. Thanks.

Love this plane. I hope to fly one soon

Like you, I have been following this plane for over 20 years and is my dream plane. Doubt I'll ever own one but it's on my bucket list to fly one someday.

Very thankful to Scott for helping me build mine and continuing to maintain it

That’s awesome, I’d really be interested in the twin. It sure is a good looking aircraft

Be One Are Dees (B1RDs) and Gee You Elevens (GU-11s). Birds and Gulls. I learned something new today. Thank you :)

AWESOME!

Beautiful plane! Great video.

Great plane. Thank you!

Cool plane. Thanks for sharing! Stay Healthy!

What a very unique aircraft! Pretty cool! 👍

I remember back in late 80's I was driving golf balls @ Lunken Airport along the Ohio River I saw Velocity it was the cooliest thing I saw that day and unbelievable cool great video

Sweet ride and I love the red interior! It’s a (200 mph) video game!

Baron Pilot............THANK YOU For This Great Video. I Viewed It Twice.

It looks like a very sleek and awesome aircraft it’s amazing how it doesn’t use flaps to land!

Now that was an interesting episode!!

AMAZING AIRCRAFT ! Thank you very much .

Beautiful machine!

Fantastic airplane and great video production!

Wow, that's a gorgeous machine.

I've been in love with the Velocity twin since I first saw it...great plane. Thanks for taking me along with you two on your adventures!

Very good information. Thank you.

Was so good having you guys come by! V-Twin next time!!! (Video came out amazing!)

The ORIGINAL "spaceship" plane (aside form the SR-71/A-12) is actually the Beachcraft Starship but before that was Burt Rutan's VariEze and Long-EZ, both of which are canard planes that the Velocity is based off of.

That is one big control line plane! I really like it!

This airplane and the Berkut, love’em!!

This aircraft looks like so much fun to fly, its amazing! I wish I could fly one. I looked at their website and I have to say that I'm impressed that they are up front with and list their pricing right on the website. That was awesome. Maybe one day I will get the chance to see one up close, it would really make my day.

I love these aircraft

Seriously, it was a picture of a Velocity that finally motivated me enough to get my PPL! Awesome looking airplane, but I just don't have the patience to build one. Thanks for the vid!

Nice!!

Nice aircraft for sure

Very cool!!

Nice !!!

That was fun! And now I am mentally kicking myself because I did not realize Velocity is at Sebastian. Left the Space Coast just over a year ago, hopefully I get back there.

big disadvantage would be grass strip takeoffs dinging/pitting prop? No flaps: take off roll and landing roll longer?

I bought a set of Cozy Mk4 plans form Nat Puffer. Had some medical issues and never built. But I’ve always thought it was a great concept. Glad to it living on with Velocity.

Cool machine

My brother-in-law and I are planning on building one of these someday! Should be finishing off my PPL before the end of this year.

Perhaps my 2,879th time seeing this video... never gets old ✈️🛩️🇺🇸👍🏻ty keep rocking Velocity!!!👍🏻

Beautiful plane, beautiful day.

That interior tho! Cool video

Beautiful plane. Great cockpit. Nice overview. You got me to look at used Velocity for sale online. Pretty one in MA. for $98.k Tempting!, but I have a gyroplane coming… EAA and Experimental aircraft is the heart of American aviation and entrepreneurship.

Very nice video

I honestly wasn't expecting the retractable gear

watching this makes me really consider the XL over the RV-10, plus the lead times on the RVs now is making it a much longer process and I would rather be flying.

The twin version looks awesome, like a mini starship

Nice airplane!👌

love it some of us dream and some us do, Unfortunately when it comes to flying i can only dream looks amazing

The reference of Velocity XL looking like a spaceship is probably more a reference to the Beechcraft Starship, a Burt Rutan design. The Velocity Twin looks just like it. A truly beautiful airplane!

Sleek plane makes perfect sense to me.❤

Had to come back and post. Right after watching this video. I was outside and a twin pusher flew over my house at about 250 knots and thought it was a King Air but it just didn't sound right. After a quick search on FR24 it was a Piaggio Avanti P180. Never seen a twin pusher in person even tho it was at 4000 feet. We've had single's around here alot but never twins. Sounded like a weed wacker on steroids, LOL.

I knew a guy with a Velocity RG, N52BZ. It was an amazing plane. He told me the plane is so slick it won’t slow down, even with power at idle, so the rudders are designed so that if you push both pedals both deflect to act as an air brake.

That brought back memories with Scott going up with me in 321VE. I'm not saying that we did a roll, but I'm sure that they will roll nicely.

Thanks for the review. I'm very interested in the Twin-Velocity. If you could review that would be very much appreciated. Also, on takeoff and climb the the pilot's control inputs (especially during rotation) appear rapid and aggressive, and I'm wondering if that's required for the aircraft or individual pilot technique? I'm guessing it's more pilot style as his control inputs remind me of a friend who was originally leanred in Hiller Helicopters and was later F-4 Phantom driver.

My dream as well!

An advantage you didn't mention: a conventional airplane within normal C/G, the horizontal stabilator actually creates downforce - so negative lift, that the main wing has to overcome by creating more lift. Lift = drag, so this setup creates more drag (and is why, when you unload the horizontal stab by loading to aft C/G, your airplane flies faster). On the Velocity, the main wing AND the canard both produce lift, so less overall lift required for the same weight, less lift = less drag = more speed for less fuel burn. A few disadvantages: you need a lot more runway, both for takeoff and landing. The canard requires higher speeds for both - this is definitely not a STOL aircraft, so that can limit you to larger (paved) runways. Unimproved strips are also a no-go, as your main gear can throw debris up into your prop. Also, an accidental over-rotation means a prop strike, which can really ruin your day.

I built a Glasair II-S back in the 90s.. great performance.. Show winner.. but, very tight for a guy my size.. i fly pressurized, air conditioned, cabin class now.. however.. the velocity has always been in the back of my mind as a retirement go somewhere airplane.. the best of all worlds...

Sounded like he kept saying Go11's not Gu11's -- Awesome plane, unless something else catches my eye I think I went from interested in Mooney to thinking maybe I wanted something more STOL and off runway capable because it seemed like when you went with Mooney you lose a lot of characteristics, but this drew me back into the "Get there" style plane. I love the speed and fuel burn. Love the way it seems to stall. Love the way people talk about it after having their eye on it for years then getting to fly it. Sounds like a dream. Mooney owners said once I flew in one I would never go back, I only got to fly back seat but it made me think the Mooney was not really comfortable for 4 people either. Not sure but this looks like a dream - also seem to be affordable compared to anything in the same speed, size, or distance class! Love it! Thanks for the awesome video!

Great medium range planes, have a high landing speed, have to be good with speed management. At 02 levels they are blazing fast, can do 250 ktas at FL250. For shorter hops prefer the RV10.

Nice gift

I’m a current 58 Baron owner. My last plane was a Velocity that I enjoyed 14 years and 1400 hrs. It gave me many great trips and memories.

I'm impressed that you landed a Baron on the runway at Sebastian. That is a short one, isn't it?

I think Burt Rutan's Long EZ's were the first space ships. I'm sure Burt is happy that his design is still living today in the Velocity. Weren't there some salling issues in Las Vegas in 1992? I'm not clear if Danny or the Scott couple owned the Velocity at that time. I do know that soon after the stalling problem was fixed. Thank God it was fixed as it's such a beautiful aircraft. Not to mention (like most Canards...it's Fast as Hell for such a small home built plane.

That looks like way too much fun.............I'll take two....one for me and....one for...me...

Amazing aircraft looks sharp . What is the ceiling for it and top speed.

The main advantage of the canard is actually to replace the downward aerodynamic force of a conventional horizontal stabilizer at the rear of the plane with lift at the front of the plane. Planes are already fighting against gravity, so why add more downward force? The canard is more efficient and makes perfect sense. I also think they look pretty cool :)

Many thanks for all infos !!! Could you confirm that the canard system does not have negative portance of the traditional rear horizontal stabilizer which means that all square feet of the wings & canards are working together to keep the plane flying ??? Thanks again

I don’t understand why these don’t get more “airtime” and attention than they do. They’re not only beautiful but also objectively better performing in almost every way than any other piston single, experimental or certified. Save landing speed.

what a great airframe.. that turbine twin will be a beast..

Certainly hikes along the twin turbine would be a blurr nice looking aircraft too

I designed a plane for my aerodynamics class at university back in ‘89 which was nearly identical to the velocity. I’d love to have one now.

Was there any correlation whatsoever between the velocity and your Baron when traveling cross country? Would be so cool to see the two of you making that journey! Seems close to the same cruise speed & the cool factor of the velocity XLRG seems to be undisputed for sure!

opening intro music reminds me of "Miami Vice". I've been to three state fairs and two goat ropin's and I've never seen anything like the Velocity XL.

The V Twin version could be a game changer honestly. I'd like to know a bit more of the projected performance capabilities but I'm optimistic for it.

Good vid… really enjoyed the intro to the airplane. Very cool ✈️!

Amazing really cool bird! I'd love to hop in one of these. Cheers, #SeattleRingHunter

That is my next kit!! Oh, also with an LS-3 Aviated 300hp engine. 😁 Great video, it’s helping me sell this to my wife…🤣😂 And I also prefer center sticks.

Oh hell. I want one.

The dream would be to own one of these or a Berkut or LongEZ... such cool airplanes

[When flying low] "...you gotta watch out for B1RDs and G11s." I can't stop smiling :) :) :) Birds and Gulls :) :) :)

Cool plane. When are you buying on?

My dream airplane!

Beautiful aircraft, and I'm sure it handles wonderfully, but I can't help but wonder how much those canards affect your downward visibility.

CHRIS! CHRIS! CHRIS! CHRIS! COM-ON MAN! Wasn't that the MOST fun you have ever had FLYING!? Sorry, KIM! MY SISTA! talk to him? I was there at the Velocity hangers the week before Oshkosh and took the flight with Scott in that very same XL. Not only did I get some INCREDIBLE footage. It was hands down the most comfortable relaxing flight in my 32 years! For anyone who ever wanted to fly, to learn to fly, dreamt of flying this is the plane for you. I grew up wanting to fly the "StarShip" this is better than the next best thing. IT'S A VELOCITY!!!

That is a beautiful airplane for sure. I would definitely love to see the twin turbine version. That seems like it would be very cool to fly. But Kim would look real good flying one of these singles too. Maybe you can get her one for Christmas.

Living your dream. My dream is to fly in an Icon A5. Too bad it was such a hazy day, but I'm sure you had a wonderful time. Can you put AC on these? You need the V Twin.

I have been wondering for a while now what you use to record such clear voice and radio comms?