In article ,
Peter Holm wrote:

As you concede yourself, when it comes to aerobatic airplanes there
exists a source of financing which generallty doesn´t exist for
private airplanes: Sponsoring. Therefore, the cost argument in itself
can only explain the relative scarcity of turboprop engines in private
aircraft, but not the near absence of turboprop engines in aerobatic
aircraft.

Airshow aerobatics have sponsorships. Competition aerobatics don't have
as much in the way of sponsorships except at the highest levels. Even
with sponsorships, there is a big difference between a $50K Lycoming
and a $500K+ PT-6.

The Turbo Raven was just a show plane, in the same category as the
jet powered Waco. Fun to watch, but totally ridiculous.

Well now, this jet powered Whacko is nothing but a piston biplane
with a turbojet strapped to its belly. And this turbojet engine has a
bent exhaust pipe - kind of like a turboprop. As long as I haven´t
seen more data on this plane or seen it fly, I won´t believe that this
setup has much more than decorative value.

I've seen it fly, and it does some pretty impressive vertical climbs.

Some stats on the plane are available at:
http://www.franklinairshow.com/jetstats.htm

There is also video on that site, doesn't show much of the vertical
though.

John
--
John Clear - http://www.panix.com/~jac