Seth Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Cessna is creating the scorpion multi platform aircraft to conduct turboprop missions at jet speeds. Neat idea. http://www.scorpionjet.com/ Their intercept function shows that it can fly at 100 knots - the question is that a Mooney it's intercepting? It looks like a Mooney M20C. That's the "100 knot bogey" - should say 140+ knot bogey! If they wanted a 100 knot bogy they could have put up a piper cub - at least they decided to go with the cool looking "bad guy." I also think they didn't want to put their own C-172 as the "bogey" Quote
kerry Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 It's definitely a Mooney and I think its leaking brake fluid. 2 Quote
carusoam Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Wow, That's not very nice. The C guys must be disappointed with our door humor... The image of the pre 1965 looking windows with a dihedral to match is not accidental... Best regards, -a- Quote
BigTex Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Had to pick on a pre-1965 vintage plane because it's likely not able to catch up with a new Acclaim! 1 Quote
John Pleisse Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Its an afront to our very being. Funny, 90% of the time, it is usually Cessnas that drift into airspace and TFR's, is it not? Quote
carusoam Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 What is the twin jet Scorpion going to do when it catches the intruder? Write down its tail number? ( how's my spelling today? Its not it's...?) Or nudge him out of the sky? That would be a tough sell. Potentially killing off the customer that your trying to protect. Write your "I'm disappointed" letters to...just be nice when you do it..... MEDIA CONTACT Dave Sylvestre Director, Corporate Communications Textron Inc. T: (401) 457-2362 dsylvestre@textron.com SALES CONTACT George Sanchez V.P. Business Development Textron Inc. T: (202) 637-3831 M: (202) 770-6636 gsanchez@cessna.textron.com Quote
John Pleisse Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Oh wait... I didn't notice before. So Cessna designs a clean sheet fighter-type jet and STILL found a way to put the damn wing on the top. 1 Quote
Dave Marten Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Hey look on the bright side Cessna now has something smaller than a business jet that can actually catch a Mooney! Kudos to Cessna for stepping out on their own and developing this jet. I think they've got a winner with Scorpion. I say congrats! Great job! 2 Quote
M016576 Posted February 13, 2014 Report Posted February 13, 2014 Hey look on the bright side Cessna now has something smaller than a business jet that can actually catch a Mooney! Kudos to Cessna for stepping out on their own and developing this jet. I think they've got a winner with Scorpion. I say congrats! Great job! I say "boooooo!"!!! Looks like cessna is trying to replace the guard's F-16's and F-15's with their toy jet... I'd rather keep my Mach 2+ eagle.... Ps- that thing is Waaaaaay underpowered for an interceptor: only 8000lbs of thrust for a 20000 lb loaded aircraft.... On the plus side, though, I bet it turns better than the JSF.... Quote
orionflt Posted February 13, 2014 Report Posted February 13, 2014 It's definitely a Mooney and I think its leaking brake fluid. No, they pulled power back to slow to 100kts and are streaming colored smoke so the Cessna can can find it. Quote
M016576 Posted February 13, 2014 Report Posted February 13, 2014 Cessna is creating the scorpion multi platform aircraft to conduct turboprop missions at jet speeds. Neat idea. http://www.scorpionjet.com/ Their intercept function shows that it can fly at 100 knots - the question is that a Mooney it's intercepting? It looks like a Mooney M20C. That's the "100 knot bogey" - should say 140+ knot bogey! If they wanted a 100 knot bogy they could have put up a piper cub - at least they decided to go with the cool looking "bad guy." I also think they didn't want to put their own C-172 as the "bogey" It looks like the ill-fated love child of a F/A-18 and OV-10. Quote
Dave Marten Posted February 13, 2014 Report Posted February 13, 2014 I say "boooooo!"!!! Looks like cessna is trying to replace the guard's F-16's and F-15's with their toy jet... I'd rather keep my Mach 2+ eagle.... Ps- that thing is Waaaaaay underpowered for an interceptor: only 8000lbs of thrust for a 20000 lb loaded aircraft.... On the plus side, though, I bet it turns better than the JSF.... Its not a fighter, but an ISR/light interdiction bird. Read up on the program its not the 'interceptor' that you're thinking of. Yes, think OV-10 or T-37B or perhaps a better solution than an AT-6. 5hr loiter with a sensor suite, internal bay, and hardpoints. Don't worry this little bird won't take your Eagle away. Totally different mission. Besides, I don't know a Guard or Reserve unit/pilot on the planet who would not jump at the chance to fly Scorpions vs be converted to the Predator/Reaper! Who knows, if we can replace/augment those MC-12s with some of these you'd have a comparable/better ISR capability with potentially some offensive punch. If things go south the crew at least has an ejection seat. We've lost 2 MC-12 crews in theater this year. I'm excited about any new American aircraft with the potential to make a difference. 1 Quote
M016576 Posted February 13, 2014 Report Posted February 13, 2014 Its not a fighter, but an ISR/light interdiction bird. Read up on the program its not the 'interceptor' that you're thinking of. Yes, think OV-10 or T-37B or perhaps a better solution than an AT-6. 5hr loiter with a sensor suite, internal bay, and hardpoints. Don't worry this little bird won't take your Eagle away. Totally different mission. Besides, I don't know a Guard or Reserve unit/pilot on the planet who would not jump at the chance to fly Scorpions vs be converted to the Predator/Reaper! Who knows, if we can replace/augment those MC-12s with some of these you'd have a comparable/better ISR capability with potentially some offensive punch. If things go south the crew at least has an ejection seat. We've lost 2 MC-12 crews in theater this year. I'm excited about any new American aircraft with the potential to make a difference. I think, based on the website alone, that cessna is looking to take a little of the Super Tocano / AT-6 market, and also hoping to weasel their way into the aging guard market (hence the slow mover interceptor / ISR capability / maritime interdiction they are advertising- all huge guard missions). Really, whoever is buying, they are selling to, as they don't have any contracts in place. As for the guard: I think that a state would rather have that than lose a mission: but you'd lose pilots when you switch from a front line fighter or attack aircraft to an underpowered ISR bird with a mixed mission. More like a multi-role ISR aircraft that's supposed to loiter for 5 hours at a time and voyuer. A DSG or Technician doesn't have to stay if they don't want to: it's not like the active duty. But I'm sure some people would want to stay and would switch missions. Doesn't really matter- it would take a huge commitment from the guard to move to something like that across multiple states... But with the A-10's all being retired in 2014/2015 and the B-1's, F-15's and F-16's all getting older and older... And the JSF continues to underwhelm while costing more and more.... Perhaps Cessna is making a smart gamble. I don't see this plane taking the role of a MC-12. It's hard to beat the MC-12's efficiency, capability (and arguably most important) supportability in the permissive threat environment. Any environment with a light (low)surface threat could benefit from something like this for limited ISR... But a Super T would still be my first choice for that battlefield. I guess that's just the old FAC(A) in me coming out: I like the guns. 2 Quote
1964-M20E Posted February 14, 2014 Report Posted February 14, 2014 Sign me up to fly it. I’ll do border patrols. Especially if they let me use it on weekends to go to ORL. I already volunteer my time to fly as TFO in the sheriff’s helicopter. Quote
aviatoreb Posted February 14, 2014 Report Posted February 14, 2014 Sign me up to fly it. I’ll do border patrols. Especially if they let me use it on weekends to go to ORL. I already volunteer my time to fly as TFO in the sheriff’s helicopter. What is a TFO? Quote
KSMooniac Posted February 14, 2014 Report Posted February 14, 2014 I think they have built a good platform that is better suited to many of today's missions (at least on paper) and especially suited to today's budgets! And this is a 100% gamble on Textron's part... they're doing this completely on their own and hoping it finds a market, much like they have to do in the civilian world. I believe military contractors used to do this way back when, but certainly not in modern times. As a taxpayer, I certainly hope they succeed and reduce the recurring costs to us for these sorts of missions. 1 Quote
DaV8or Posted February 15, 2014 Report Posted February 15, 2014 Basically, they are trying to sell a better aerial police car. Cessna learned a long time ago that the way to survive in the small aircraft business is to sell to the government. They are trying to fill a niche that I'm not sure the government is aware exists yet. I'm sure they're looking for foreign contracts as well. It has merit IMO, but a slow put-put jet may be a tough sell. It really needs a better promotional campaign. Maybe when they're done with all the flight testing, they can really show us what makes it special. 1 Quote
M016576 Posted February 15, 2014 Report Posted February 15, 2014 Basically, they are trying to sell a better aerial police car. Cessna learned a long time ago that the way to survive in the small aircraft business is to sell to the government. They are trying to fill a niche that I'm not sure the government is aware exists yet. I'm sure they're looking for foreign contracts as well. It has merit IMO, but a slow put-put jet may be a tough sell. It really needs a better promotional campaign. Maybe when they're done with all the flight testing, they can really show us what makes it special. Part of the gamble is competition with beechcraft's AT6-II (which is probably the reason behind the secrecy). It's just very difficult to sell 100kts of extra speed over a turboprop for something like this at the expense of the massive amounts of extra fuel over time. That speed isn't "seen" by the bean counters... But the fuel bill sure is. Also, a turbo prop generally accelerates and handles better at slow speeds than a jet. Obviously I haven't flown that scorpion, but I wonder if it suffers the same slow speed handling qualities as most other small jets. I also wonder if it has digital fly by wire flight controls... Quote
DaV8or Posted February 15, 2014 Report Posted February 15, 2014 Also, a turbo prop generally accelerates and handles better at slow speeds than a jet. Obviously I haven't flown that scorpion, but I wonder if it suffers the same slow speed handling qualities as most other small jets. I also wonder if it has digital fly by wire flight controls... Based on the mission requirements from the get go and the fact that it has a straight wing rather than a a swept back wing, I bet low speed handling is just fine. The question is, is it really fast enough to catch the terrorist in the Piper Cherokee (has to be a Piper, or some other brand because I'm sure the Scorpion will have a weapons lock on any other Cessna product! ) that is going to blow up the president (An idea that the government seems to really obsess about), or the drug smugglers in the Mooney as shown? Quote
1964-M20E Posted February 17, 2014 Report Posted February 17, 2014 What is a TFO? Technical Flight officer Essentially I am an observer. I operate the IR and video cameras as well a the search light. Waiting for our high speed OJ pursuit. Quote
Seth Posted February 20, 2014 Author Report Posted February 20, 2014 Cessna purchased Beechcraft, so they'll soon control the King Air (C-12/MC-12), Texan II and Scorpion. Low budget air force? -Seth Quote
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