Coming Soon! A Tribute to a Long-Range Legend!

[VSKYLABS Newsletter] issued 22th January 2026

A Tribute to a Long-Range Legend

Hello VSKYLABS Test-Pilots!

Soon, VSKYLABS will introduce a MAJOR UPDATE RELEASE and EVOLUTION of the 'Test-Pilot': LongEZ Project: The v5.0 'ER' (Extended Range) Variant, which will be added as a secondary aircraft in the product.

This update is a tribute to one of the most famous homebuilt aircraft in history: Dick Rutan’s personally-built Long-EZ, 'Old Blue' (N169SH).

In 1997, Dick Rutan in his 'Old Blue', teamed his friend Mike Melvill in his Long-EZ (N26MS) and flew over 30,000 nautical miles east on the Spirit of EAA Friendship World Tour, often flying legs of over 14 hours.

The upcoming 'ER' variant in v5.0 was engineered to capture the specific mission-profile of the legendary N169SH aircraft, focusing on the aircraft configuration which was required for true global endurance.

To support maximum endurance missions, the 'ER' variant features a high-capacity fuel infrastructure comprising additional aerodynamic wing-mounted slipper tanks, and a removable internal ferry bladder-tank located in the rear seat compartment. This multi-source system is incorporated into the Long-EZ fuel system with dedicated and detailed transfer pump logic, allowing the pilot to manage fuel weight and CG while significantly extending the aircraft's range for transcontinental operations.

The v5.0 'ER' variant pushes the Long-EZ into a new weight class, featuring a total fuel capacity of 139 gallons (approx. 834 lbs). This includes 52 gallons in the strakes, 38 gallons in the aerodynamic slipper tanks, and a 49-gallon internal ferry bladder. With a modified Max Gross Weight of 2,000 lbs, this setup is designed for the extreme endurance required to replicate 'Old Blue's' record-breaking mission profiles.

During the 1997 Spirit of EAA Friendship World Tour, Dick Rutan and Mike Melvill exceeded high altitude flying, up to 21,000 feet. Flying at 15,000 - 17,500 feet was often required for catching tail-winds, avoiding lower-level tropical turbulence, crossing demanding terrain and weather conditions.

To support operations up to FL170 - FL210, the 'ER' variant features the High-Elevation Respiratory Equipment system. This mission-spec system includes an authentic 680-liter AL-638 cylinder internally integrated into a fully functional, converted A-14 Diluter regulator, optimized for high-altitude endurance, where Oxygen is plausibly supplied via a virtual cannula.

The upcoming VSKYLABS 'Test-Pilot': Rutan LongEZ v5.0 update is in many aspects a whole new project rendition which falls in line with the latest X-Plane 12 generation and standards. The update covers all project assets, new sounds, almost entirely re-modeled aircraft, enhanced systems and interactions and more.

Detailed showcasing will be provided with the product release.

The v5.0 update/upgrade will be free of charge to all exisitng customers of the VSKYLABS 'Test-Pilot': LongEZ Project.

Exciting days ahead! Stay tuned!

VSKYLABS

Heinkel He-162 Poor Interception Capabilities at High Altitude

[VSKYLABS Test-Pilot Notes] issued 22th September 2020

The main deal with the He-162 is (was) that actual high-altitude interception seems to be more of a wishful thinking...

Old school guns-interception of a target which is flying quite high, say above 20,000 and for sure at about 30,000 is a geometric and energy management challenge even for 5th generation jet fighters (intercepting a target which is flying with the same relative speed and altitude of the He-162 and the targets in the WWII area, and with guns as the selected weapon).

While a modern jet fighter has a thrust to weight ratio of over 1:1 and vertical interception path is possible even for guns...chasing the target is also an option. The He-162 could not do that. High altitude interception seems to be non-relevant, as any increase of turn rate got the He-162 back down into a descent, without any option to chase the target.

He-162 high altitude "Interception" seems to be a one-shot/chance shooting effort, in relative paths aspects which are close and for sure greater than 90 degrees (between 90 degrees and head-on). In such aspects, aiming for guns is almost impossible...and after passing the target, circling back to chase it was irrelevant.

The He-162 had poor handling and energy management while flying at altitudes of 8km...executing a 180 turn while maintaining flying altitude and speed was a challenge. Now imagine that you need to close on a flying target...the turn should be so wide (accompanied with excessive loss of altitude to maintain  maneuvering speed) so that you won't lose energy, making any kind of high altitude *interception* very short and lacking...

So the He-162 was capable of flying at 30,000 feet, however fighting in these heights was non-practical.

A more realistic interception profile may be considered of targets which are flying at around 20,000 feet, maybe a bit higher, or...flying high at about 25,000 feet, above lower-altitude targets and then intercepting the targets from above.

In these profiles, the on-board Oxygen would have been sufficient as well.

JMH

In the video: 
Calibrating the guns-sight and downing an AI aircraft in X-Plane 11.30. It was not a high altitude interception, yet the restricted energy of the He-162 during the turn is noticeable.

Heinkel He-162 High Altitude Pilot Notes (X-Plane 11)

[VSKYLABS Test-Pilot Notes] issued 21th September 2020

High Altitude Operations Pilot Notes (X-Plane 11):

Following an Oxygen system 'maintenance' updates, the following high-altitude profile was tested. It may be useful to who ever is interested to test this.

*Maintenance included: Oxygen regulator mode adjustments, which were previously set to supply 100% when the valve is opened, and now the regulator is set to deliver more Oxygen with increasing altitude (should be 1.0 liter/min per 10,000 of pressure altitude up to about 34,000 feet).

The following setup and flight profile have been verified:

*This is not a checklist. For actual operation checklists use the advised checklist to be found in the manual.

1. Fully loaded fuel-tanks.
2. Normal takeoff/JATO assisted takeoff, Nozzle in "S" position.
3. Climbed as advised (practical climbing speeds should vary between 350-400 km/h).
4. When crossing 4 km, Oxygen supply switched to ON.
5. Climbed as advised to 8 km (practical climbing speed may vary but should not get below 400 km/m).
6. Leveled off at 8km, set nozzle to "H" position.
7. Accelerated to 420 km/h.
8. Set climbing angle to maintain 400 km/h up to 10 km.
9. Once 10 km was exceeded, throttle went down to maintain 6000 rpm (flight idle).
10. Rapid descent within airspeed limitations (there are marking on the airspeed indicator which are helpful).
11. Got back to 4 km with a bit of Oxygen reserve.
12. Got back to base.

Pilot notes:

• In such profile, flight endurance is higher than the 20-30 minutes of low-altitude operations. This is due to the lower fuel consumption at high altitude, and also because the long descent is in low rpm (6000) setting.
• The He-162 is having a low thrust to weight ratio, and high wing loading. As altitude goes up, indicated airspeed reading gets lower for a given true airspeed (due to air density decrease). In modern aircraft, climbing to high altitude is done with climbing profiles that are following Mach number (which is not changing during the climb). The He-162 climb to 10 km can become a challenge, if a too-low airspeed is being maintained during the climb.
• From ~8 km, never let your indicated airspeed to get below 400 km/h, or else the aircraft will hit a climbing ceiling. Mach number during high-altitude climb should not get below 0.5 (in the He-162). There is no Mach number indicator in the aircraft, and keeping above 400 km/m will set you around the lower-safe side.
• The real He-162 did not have enough actual operational experience in such profiles, as it did not complete its development by the end of WWII. Testing this in X-Plane can give some fascinating insights.
• The He-162 (real and VSL) is not pressurized, meaning that above a certain flying altitude, breathing 100% Oxygen may not be sufficient to avoid other physiological concerns. (Oxygen carrying capacity of our blood reduces with the reduction of pressure). This can be a real operational limitation in an un-pressurized fighter jet designed to intercept high-altitude bombers.
• Rapid descent (or normal descent) may also become a challenge. Beware of exceeding airframe limitations!

JMH