Here is the story re a turbo kr2 from the 1997 January KITPLANES. Steven Trentman of Owasso, Okla?homa, is flying an unusual Rand-Robinson KR-2. It has a turbo?prop engine. "I chose the KR-2 because it had a proven history of being a fine airplane with good speed and range. The airplane has lots of character," Trentman said.
The result is his KR-2T (T for turboprop), his first (reworked) homebuilt; Trentman obtained the aircraft from Mike Ladigo of Tulsa, who had built it with a Porsche Type 4 "I had a couple of the Garrett 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 KR-2, and I went to work in my two-car garage converting the air?plane." Trentman not only installed the turboprop engine but carried out additional modifica?tions. He reconfigured the aircraft from tail to dragger to trigear, redid the instrument panel, changed the canopy latching system, and added a 36x11-inch electro-hydraulic belly board speedbrake that is activated by a switch on the control stick. Ladigo had originally widened the cockpit a few inches, so Trentman had additional crea?ture comfort in the area. Yet Trentman's new powerplant, which resulted in a nose 1 foot longer, needed a different engine mount and cowling, which Trentman fabricated. The engine develops 90 shp with a 36-inch, three-blade Ivoprop that turns 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 con?siderably 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 1200-1400 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. The article includes a couple pictures. The important one shows the engine to be long with what appears to be shaft extending toward the front. There is a good sized alternator beside this shaft. Bill Weir
