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Van's Aircraft
Van's Aircraft, Inc. is an American Homebuilt aircraft, kit aircraft manufacturer founded by Richard VanGrunsven in 1973. The Van's RV series aircraft are all-aluminum, low-wing monoplanes of monocoque construction. In 2023, over 11,000 Van's aircraft were flying worldwide, making up one third of the USA's experimental aircraft fleet. The Van's Aircraft factory is located at Aurora State Airport, Oregon. The company filed for Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code, Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2023. History The company was founded by Richard VanGrunsven, Richard "Dick" VanGrunsven in 1973. In 2013, the company announced it would begin selling assembled RV-12 model aircraft as well on a limited basis. In December 2017, the company reported that its 10,000th aircraft had flown, an Van's Aircraft RV-7, RV-7 built in Martinsburg, West Virginia. As of November 2019, about 10,600 RV kits had been completed and flown, and thousands more are under construction. Com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Richard VanGrunsven
Richard E. "Dick" VanGrunsven (born 1939) is an American aircraft designer and Homebuilt aircraft, kit plane manufacturer. The number of VanGrunsven-designed homebuilt aircraft produced each year in North America exceeds the production of all commercial general aviation companies combined. In 1973 VanGrunsven founded the aircraft manufacturing company Van's Aircraft, and in 2012 became the founding president of the Aircraft Kit Industry Association (AKIA), an American aviation advocacy association.Bernard, Mary and Suzanne B. Bopp: ''Q&A with AKIA President Dick VanGrunsven'', Kitplanes, Volume 29, Number 12, December 2012, page 28-29. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851 Life and career Richard VanGrunsven grew up on a farm near Cornelius, Oregon and is the son of a Portland, Oregon, Portland area farmer. He has seven brothers and sisters. His father had taken flying lessons prior to getting married and his stories inspired Richard and his older brother Jerry to acquire an ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Van's Aircraft RV-6
The Van's RV-6 and RV-6A are two-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt aircraft, homebuilt airplanes sold in kit form by Van's Aircraft. The RV-6 is the conventional landing gear, tail-wheel equipped version while the RV-6A features a tricycle landing gear, nose-wheel. The RV-6 was the first aircraft in the popular Van's RV series to feature side-by-side seating and the first to offer a nosewheel option. It was first flown in 1985. Over 2700 kits have been completed and flown. The RV-6 and RV-6A were replaced by the similar, but improved, Van's Aircraft RV-7, RV-7 in 2001. Kit components are still available to allow builders to complete RV-6s under construction, but no new complete kits are available. Development Van's Aircraft designer, Richard VanGrunsven, designed the RV-6 series as a two-seat side-by-side development of the Van's Aircraft RV-4, RV-4, which was itself a development of the single seat Van's Aircraft RV-3, RV-3. Market demand motivated VanGrunsven to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
VanGrunsven RV-1
The RV-1 is a Stits Playboy that was constructed with modifications by Richard VanGrunsven. The aircraft was the first of a series of Van's aircraft that became the most popular homebuilt aircraft produced. Design and development The first RV-1 was a Stits SA-3A completed on 3 October 1965. The Playboy is a single-place, strut-braced, low-wing aircraft with conventional landing gear. The aircraft engine was upgraded from the normally fitted powerplant to a Lycoming O-290G. The resulting aircraft had good performance, but a high landing speed. On 16 August 1965, the aircraft was registered as an RV-1. Modifications included a new aluminum wing with flaps, Horner wing tips, and a bubble canopy. The fuselage uses welded steel tube construction in contrast to the RV series that followed which uses all-aluminum fuselage construction. The flaps reduced the stall speed to . A second series of modifications included a streamlined cowling, wheel pants and modified horizontal tail su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Van's Aircraft RV-15
The Van's Aircraft RV-15 is an American amateur-built aircraft that is under development by Van's Aircraft of Aurora, Oregon. It was first publicly shown at the AirVenture airshow in July 2022. The aircraft is intended to be supplied as a kit for amateur construction, but as of July 2022 the company was not yet accepting deposits for delivery positions. Development The RV-15 will be the first high-wing design for the manufacturer, a company known for its low-wing aircraft. The design was developed based on input from customers. Development was started with a "pine pigeon" wooden mock-up. The aircraft was designed by a 12-person engineering team starting in 2019. The design team included Van's chief engineer and current president Rian Johnson; Rob Heap, formerly of Scaled Composites and also Cessna; Brian Hickman formerly of Glasair Aviation and Axel Alvarez, a civilian graduate of the United States Naval Test Pilot School. The prototype was constructed from computer assisted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Van's Aircraft RV-14
The Van's Aircraft RV-14 is an American aerobatic kit aircraft designed by Richard VanGrunsven and produced by Van's Aircraft. It was introduced at AirVenture in July 2012. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Bernard, Mary and Suzanne B. Bopp: ''Van's Aircraft: RV-14'', Kitplanes, Volume 29, Number 12, December 2012, page 19-21. Belvoir Publications. As of November 2022, 207 RV-14s have been completed and flown. Design and development Derived from the four-seat RV-10, RV-14 design work was commenced several years before its 2012 debut. It is an aerobatic two-seater designed to accommodate large pilots and offer greater baggage space, to comply with the US experimental amateur-built aircraft rules. The design goals included improved visibility, a wider cabin, a low landing speed achieved by larger and more effective flaps, good rate-of-climb and glide ratio, landing gear that meets FAR Part 23 certification standards and an airframe designed to accomm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Van's Aircraft RV-12
The Van's RV-12 is an American two-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt aircraft, homebuilt airplane eligible for the Light-sport Aircraft, U.S. E-LSA category, sold in kit form and as a complete ready-to-fly aircraft by Van's Aircraft of Aurora, Oregon.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 75. Belvoir Publications. Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015–16'', page 86. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. The RV-12 had its first flight on November 9, 2006. Deliveries of partial kits commenced in April 2008 and, as of July 2023, 792 aircraft have been completed and flown. Design and development The architect of the line of Van's aircraft, Richard VanGrunsven, designed the RV-12 with several specific goals in mind. These include: * Flying qualities equal to or better than the standard set by the Van's Aircraft RV-9, RV-9A * payload – to carry a projected load o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Tricycle Landing Gear
Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle gear aircraft are the easiest for takeoff, landing and taxiing, and consequently the configuration is now the most widely used on aircraft.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 524. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Aviation Publishers Co. Limited, ''From the Ground Up'', page 11 (27th revised edition) History Several early aircraft had primitive tricycle gear, notably very early Antoinette planes and the Curtiss Pushers of the pre-World War I Pioneer Era of aviation. Waldo Waterman's 1929 tailless '' Whatsit'' was one of the first to have a steerable nose wheel. In 1956, Cessna introduced sprung-steel tricycle landing gear on the Cessna 172. Their marketing depart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Van's Aircraft RV-10
The Van's Aircraft RV-10 is a four-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt airplane sold in kit form by Van's Aircraft. It is the first four-seat airplane in the popular RV series.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 74. Belvoir Publications. The RV-10 first flew on 29 May 2003, and the first kit parts were delivered to a customer in September 2003. As of November 2022, 1,010 RV-10s have been completed and flown. Design and development The architect of the line of Van's aircraft, Richard VanGrunsven, designed the RV-10 to satisfy a market demand for a four-seat version of the popular RV series aircraft. The RV-10 was designed from the start as a touring aircraft and as such it forgoes the aerobatic capabilities and the lighter handling common to the aircraft in the RV line from the RV-3 to RV-8. Instead the RV-10 design focuses on greater stability and payload.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Van's Aircraft RV-9
The Van's RV-9 and RV-9A are American two-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt aircraft, homebuilt airplanes sold in kit form by Van's Aircraft of Aurora, Oregon. The RV-9 is the conventional landing gear, tail-wheel equipped version while the RV-9A features a tricycle landing gear, nose-wheel.Downey, Julia: ''2008 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 24, Number 12, December 2007, page 78. Primedia Publications. Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 74. Belvoir Publications. Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011–12'', page 125. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. The RV-9 was built around a newly designed high aspect ratio wing, featuring a John Roncz, Roncz airfoil. It is similar in size and weight to the Van's Aircraft RV-6, RV-6 and is externally similar to the RV-6 and the Van's Aircraft RV-7, RV-7. Development The architect of the line of Van's a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Van's Aircraft RV-8
The Van's RV-8 is a tandem two-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt aircraft sold in kit form by Van's Aircraft. The RV-8 is equipped with conventional landing gear, while the RV-8A version features tricycle landing gear. The design is similar to the earlier Van's Aircraft RV-4, RV-4, although it is larger than that earlier model..Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Vol. 28, No. 12, December 2011, p. 74. Belvoir Publications. Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011–12'', p. 125. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. Development Richard VanGrunsven designed the RV-8 series as an updated, larger tandem aircraft based on the RV-4 design concept. The RV-8 first flew in 1995 and was first shown publicly at Oshkosh that year. The RV-8 incorporated changes as a result of lessons learned in producing the popular RV-4 design. The RV-8 airframe accepts larger engines from , including the Lycoming IO-390. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Bubble Canopy
A bubble canopy is an aircraft canopy constructed without bracing, for the purpose of providing a wider unobstructed field of view to the pilot, often providing 360° all-round visibility. The designs of bubble canopies can vary drastically; some, such as on later versions of the F4U Corsair, are built into the upper rear fuselage, while others, like the canopy of the P-51D Mustang and most modern combat aircraft, are built flush with the fuselage, providing unobstructed rear visibility. Although experimented with as early as the First World War, the bubble canopy was brought into widespread use during the Second World War, being used by a number of American, British, and Japanese aircraft, commonly fighters. During the postwar era, the bubble canopy became a common feature of jet-powered fighter aircraft. Outside of combat aircraft, such canopies have also been adopted by several helicopters and general aviation aircraft, often for roles that benefit from a high level of exte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Van's Aircraft RV-4
The Van's RV-4 is an American light homebuilt aircraft supplied in kit form by Van's Aircraft of Aurora, Oregon. It seats two people in a tandem seating configuration with the pilot accommodated in the front seat.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 74. Belvoir Publications. The Van's RV series has become the most popular kit-built aircraft in the world. , the RV-4 is the fourth most popular RV model. As of November 2022, 1446 RV-4s had been completed and flown worldwide. Development Richard VanGrunsven designed the RV-4 in the mid 1970s as a two-seat development of the single-seat RV-3. The RV-4 prototype first flew in August 1979. The RV-4 is a new design based upon the concepts proven in the RV-3 and is not merely a stretched RV-3. The RV-4 airframe will accept a range of engines up to , including the Lycoming O-360. The RV-4 has a new wing, with increased wingspan and wing area over the RV ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
