Foreword:

So the recent cockpit and fuselage slicing updates with SP (and me finally finishing and earning my Private Pilot's License) have brought me out of retirement after over a year of inactivity and I decided to tackle a new design that I've had burning in my head for way too long and I just had to finally build it. I'm beyond blown away by the new updates that makes it soooooo much easier to create high-quality builds if you know how to take full advantage of fuselage slicing. What once required pain-staking, high-part-count paneling to create a high-quality detailed aircraft with interiors has now been greatly simplified with fewer parts required and far less time consuming to build, which is largely why I came back because of that time savings. Anyways, with my comeback, I'll be largely focusing on general aviation unlike previously where I almost exclusively made military designs (and no distractions this time like silly trucks and forklifts :P). I'd say my passion for general aviation and experimental/homebuilt aviation has absolutely exploded ever since I started flying for real, and so has my burning desire to come up with a multitude of designs for general aviation. I still may do some military stuff as I still have some ideas and designs in mind for that, but I really want to focus on general aviation and I guess bring more attention to it and inspire others to make more creative and original general aviation designs, from kitplanes to corporate aircraft.

Without further ado, here is a teaser and introduction for my first project I've been working on ever since coming back, and a project that will take full advantage of the latest updates. I actually don't have a name for it yet (although Eloquence has a nice ring to it), but to summarize, this is a single-engine 6-seat, Y-tail, pusher-turboprop designed to go farther, fly faster, burn less fuel, and achieve far lower operating costs and be more economical than the competition, largely the Daher TBM and slew of Very Light Jets. It's largely inspired by the Learfan which unfortunately didn't make it into production and in general takes styling ques from the Learjet family. Although it does incorporate features found on other designs, such as a more squared-off cabin found on the King Air series of turboprops, while incorporating a very similar wing design as the Daher TBM where flaps take up almost the whole wing to lower the landing speeds as much as possible, with small outboard ailerons and spoilerons for roll-control. The pusher turboprop will be designed largely around the Honeywell TPE-331 (aka "Garrett") series of turbines, but options for the Pratt & Whitney PT6A will be available in the future after the initial (and better performing) Garrett-powered base models. 2 models will be released first, both Garrett-powered, the first being optimized for pinnacle operating efficiency and low operating costs, utilizing the widely available and popular 940HP TPE331-10, while the 2nd model will be a 1,400-1,650HP monster powered by the TPE331-14 variant, optimized for jet-like cruise speeds and performance while still retaining long range with the addition of tip-tanks. This 2nd model will eat the TBM for breakfast and absolutely obliterate the VLJ market. 1st model competes with operating economics while the 2nd model does it with raw performance. This design will blur the lines between jet and turboprop and showcase just how competitive turboprops can be compared to small private jets. I hope to have the 1st model done by November 15th for the VRBuild Challenge, but for now here are some WIP teaser shots of this new exciting design.