The ARV Griffin is a Canadian

homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

that was designed by Dave Marsden of the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

and produced by Canada Air RV and later by AC Millennium Corp, both of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 135. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. Downey, Julia: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 40. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Downey, Julia: ''2002 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 18, Number 12, December 2001, page 15. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851Newby-Gonzalez, Tori: ''2004 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 20, Number 12, December 2003, page 36. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851 Both companies are out of business and production ended.

Design and development

The aircraft features a strut-braced high wing, a two-seats-in- side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit accessed via doors, fixed

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

, or, optionally conventional landing gear with

wheel pants An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher co ...

. The aircraft is made from sheet

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

. Its span high aspect ratio wing employs a Marsden-designed IARV 419 airfoil, mounts flaps and has a wing area of .

Winglet Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...

s were a factory option to improve low speed handling, lateral control and STOL performance. The cabin width is and the wings detach for ground transportation or storage. The acceptable power range for the Griffin Mark III is and the standard engines used are the Continental O-200A, Rotax 912,

Rotax 618 The Rotax 618 is a two-stroke, two-cylinder, liquid cooled, gear reduction-drive engine that was formerly manufactured by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It was designed for use on ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catalog'', pages 6-105. ...

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

or the CAM 100 powerplants. Mounts were also available for the Subaru EA81,

Lycoming O-235 The Lycoming O-235 is a family of four-cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally opposed piston aircraft engines that produce , derived from the earlier O-233 engine.Textron Lycoming: ''Operator's Manual, Textron Lycoming Aircraft Engines, Series O-23 ...

and Suzuki engines. The Griffin Mark III has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With a full fuel load of the payload for pilot, passenger and baggage is . The seats are fully adjustable and removable. The fitting of floats and skis was listed as being under development in 1998. The Mark III kit included all-aluminum parts cut and bent, with

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...

, wing and tail assemblies pre-jigged. The aircraft could be bought as four separate sub-kits. The manufacturer estimates the construction time from the supplied kit as 800 hours for the Mark III and 600 hours for the Mark IV.

Operational history

By 1998 the company reported that 18 kits had been sold and three aircraft were flying. In December 2013 four were registered with

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transporta ...

and one in the United States with the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

Variants

;Griffin :Initial version developed by Canada Air RV, with gross weight of and powered by a Continental O-200A. ;Griffin Mark III :Version produced by Canada Air RV and AC Millennium, with gross weight of and powered by a Continental O-200A,

, Rotax 912 or CAM 100. ;Griffin Mark IV :Version produced by AC Millennium, with gross weight of , a wing area of and powered by a

Lycoming O-320 The Lycoming O-320 is a large family of naturally aspirated, air-cooled, four-cylinder, direct-drive engines produced by Lycoming Engines. They are commonly used on light aircraft such as the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee. Different variants ...

Specifications (Griffin Mark III)

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Company website archives
on

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Photo of a Griffin Mark IV
Griffin Griffin 1990s Canadian sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft