Christen Industries Eagle II
These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ.
The Eagle II is Frank Christensen's tandem two-seat aerobatic biplane, launched as a kit at Oshkosh in 1977, sold by Aviat since the 1990s and now also by a revived Christen Industries, with a 200 hp aerobatic Lycoming AEIO-360 and a constant-speed Hartzell. It cruises at 143 knots, climbs at 2,100 fpm, carries 24 usable gallons for about 330 nm and is stressed to +6/-4 g at a 1,578 lb gross weight.
The Christen kit was known for its 26-volume manuals, and that documentation makes Eagles more alike than most amateur-built aircraft; even so, each one was covered, rigged, wired and painted by its builder, and an Eagle's fabric condition, rigging and the quality of its aerobatic fuel and oil installation are the buyer's concern, not the type's. It is a competition-capable aeroplane: 200 hp in a small biplane, a roll rate around 190 to 200 degrees a second, a pilot in the rear seat where the only prop, mixture and trim controls are, and a short-coupled tailwheel landed from a three-point attitude with limited forward view, so transition training in a Pitts S-2 or an Eagle is the normal route. Twenty-four gallons is about two hours; this is not a tourer. At exactly 200 hp it falls just outside the high-performance endorsement, which begins at more than 200. The owner may maintain it and an A&P, or the builder-repairman, signs the annual condition inspection.
Variants of the Christen Eagle II
- Eagle II · 1977 · 189 active · this page
Also consider
- Aviat Aircraft Pitts S-2BScore 18.4/50 · 2 seats · 152 kt
- Diamond Aircraft DA20-C1Score 38.9/50 · 2 seats · 138 kt
- Thorp T-18 TigerScore 18.6/50 · 2 seats · 152 kt
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What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tailwheel |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Lycoming AEIO-360-A1D |
| Horsepower | 200 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | 1977 |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 143 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 330 nm |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | 2,100 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 50 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 553 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,578 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,025 lb |
| Usable fuel | 24 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 344 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 189 |
| Median year built | 1986.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 10.581 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 10.582 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 37 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 19.583 |
| Airworthiness directives | 5 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 189 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 189 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 189 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 4.6 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 1.3 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 3.3 of 103 |
| Support | 7.3 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 4.8 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 21.3 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 31.56 · 197 models in class.
- Severity: class median 10.
- Access: class median 1,000.75.
- Support: class median 89.
- Liquidity: class median 19.74.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 6 · scores Sep 30