Over the years, we have learned that you don’t want to be first in anything except performance. Our initial course of action is to use the best of proven technology. While we have the capability to manufacture any part on our aircraft, we are not here to reinvent the wheel. Often, the smartest thing to do is rely on the latest proven technology to reduce cost and risk when creating an aircraft that is first in class.
Our President, Carsten Sundin, led the Engineering Department through the development of the 716. His gifted team of engineers has been a part of creating the aircraft manufacturing center that is Central Oregon. Starting at Lancair and Epic, he helped design numerous aircraft types, from 2-seat sport planes to 10-seat turboprops. In 2017 they brought the 400-knot, single-engine, 714 Proof of Concept Aircraft to Oshkosh. In 2021 the Stratos 716X was on public display for the first time at Oshkosh.
The Stratos flight test team is led by Chief Pilot Peter Stiles. Hundreds of hours of flight testing are captured by the Stratos Aircraft developed FDMS, Flight Data Management System. The 716 has been tested at speeds up to Mach 0.73 and 41,000 ft.
The Stratos 716 is being developed using modern Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software along with empirical processes. All driven by decades of experience. Developing an aircraft capable of flying at business jet speeds but with excellent handling qualities at 80 knots was a tough challenge. But by using this rapid prototyping software we were able to test and evolve models at a far greater rate and achieve successful wind tunnel tests much earlier in the process.
