Cobalt Valkyrie - Best New Design in Personal Aircraft

On Thu, 28 Jul 2016 15:24:32 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Cobalt’s mission is to transform the private aircraft experience with a new category of planes that are design-centric, stunningly sleek, modern, as well as super fast, safe and easy to fly. Cobalt’s founder and CEO, David Loury, an aerospace engineer, French entrepreneur and designer, had the vision to improve the flying experience 10 years ago when he founded Cobalt. Cobalt’s first plane, the Co50 Valkyrie, debuted in San Francisco and is now available for U.S. pre-orders.

http://www.cobalt-aircraft.com/co50-valkyrie/

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That's one sexy new aircraft.

At first, I was suspicious that this might be a scam aircraft, like the BD-5 of
the '70s, because Cobalt omitted the Co50 Valkyrie's performance specifications
from their slick web site. But performance is apparently reasonable:

http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/cobalt-50-valkyrie-aircraft/.
Co50 Valkyrie aircraft performance
The aircraft can reach a maximum speed of 260kt and offers a cruise range
of 1,050nm with NBAA IFR reserves. It can carry a maximum payload of 378kg.
It has a takeoff obstacle of 1,900ft, a landing roll of 1,100ft and a climb
rate of 1,500ft/min.

http://www.flyingmag.com/aircraft/pistons/cobalt-unveils-co50-valkyrie
Loury expects the full fuel payload to come out around 1,200 lbs.

Aside from the ~$600k price tag (likely to be closer to $1-million with
accessories and taxes), the only red flag that jumps out at me is the payload,
but without more specific information, I'll reserve judgment.

This is the sort of aircraft that would have appealed to John Kennedy Jr.
Flashy, idiot-proof, and extravagant beyond even the average flyer of the past.
However, the future will see fewer, much wealthier airmen, as the current trend
continues to price the average citizen out of the GA market. Too bad it
doesn't come with a healthy dose of wisdom and judgment.

I am happy to see a new design (first flew in 2012) entering the market, and
wish Cobalt’s founder and CEO David Loury great success with the Co50 Valkyrie.
I'm just apprehensive about greenhouse effect of that "sweeping one-piece glass
canopy that offers its occupants 320 degrees of view, which Loury calls the
largest in the world," And having experienced difficulty operating avionics
with knobs in turbulent conditions, I am curious how the touch-screen human
interface will work out when the ride gets rough. Perhaps a voice control
interface will be offered in the future. :-)