Schweizer RU-38 Twin Condor

what is it?

The Schweizer RU-38 Twin Condor is a two or three-seat, fixed gear, low wing, twin boom covert reconnaissance aircraft. RU-38 is the US military designation for the aircraft, indicating Utility, Reconnaissance. The Schweizer company model number is Schweizer SA 2-38A Condor and, in its three-seat configuration, Schweizer SA 3-38A Condor Based on the Schweizer SGM 2-37 motor glider, a total of five RU-38s were produced between 1995 and 2005.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 engines · 25.6 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 312 km/htop speed
• size 3,265 kgmax take-off weight
• built 38made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 31 years ago, in 1995.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 25.6 m: about 6 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.0× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

spec sheet

first flight

1995-05-31

introduced

1997

status

in production

number built

38

role

covert reconnaissance aircraft

origin

🇺🇸 United States

engines

2× Rolls-Royce Allison 250-B17F

length

10.7 m

wingspan

25.6 m

max take-off weight

3,265 kg

top speed

312 km/h

cruise speed

155 km/h

range

—

ceiling

9,144 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.