Van's Aircraft, Inc. is an American

kit 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 ...

manufacturer founded by

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 com ...

in 1973. The Van's RV series aircraft are all-

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

, low-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

s of

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

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 Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. The company filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

protection in December 2023.

History

The company was founded by 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 RV-7 built in

Martinsburg, West Virginia Martinsburg is a city in Berkeley County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 18,773 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making Martinsburg the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia a ...

. As of November 2019, about 10,600 RV kits had been completed and flown, and thousands more are under construction. Completion rates currently average about 1.5 per day, making the series the most numerous of all

homebuilt Homebuilt machines are machines built outside of specialised workshops or factories. This can include different things such as kit cars or homebuilt computers, but normally it pertains to homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or ...

aircraft.Kitplanes Staff: ''2008 Kit Aircraft Directory'', page 77-78, Kitplanes Magazine December 2007 Volume 24, Number 12, Belvior Publications, Aviation Publishing Group LLC. After announcing financial difficulties in October 2023, on December 4 2023 Van's filed for

protection. Factors leading to the reorganization included corrosion issues (a "multi million" dollar problem), laser-cutting instead of punched parts (affecting 1800 kits), and kit pricing under the cost of production and shipping.

Regulatory status

RVs are deemed ''Experimental Amateur Built (EAB) aircraft'' by the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

in the United States and are accepted under the corresponding category by the aviation authorities in many other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. A modified version of the RV-6 was sold to the Nigerian government as a kit-assembled military trainer. The RV-12iS is available as an experimental light sport aircraft (ELSA) or special

light-sport aircraft A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictions on weigh ...

(SLSA), which allows for commercial use for purposes like rental and flight training.

RV aircraft series

* RV-3: single-seat kit aircraft, aerobatic, debuted in 1972; genesis design for rest of the RV series * RV-4: two-seat kit aircraft, tandem seating, aerobatic,

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; so ...

* RV-6: two-seat, side-by-side seating aircraft, aerobatic; the most-built model of the RV series and likely the most popular kitplane ever produced * RV-7: modernized kit with similarity to the RV-6, with longer wingspan and larger rudder, aerobatic; replaced the RV-6 model * RV-8: two-seat tandem seating, aerobatic aircraft, with larger cockpit and greater overall size than the RV-4 * RV-9: two seat, side-by-side aircraft; non-aerobatic, with larger wing and more docile handling qualities than others in the RV line * RV-10: largest of the RV fleet with four seats, non-aerobatic,

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 th ...

only * RV-12: two-seat, side-by-side light-sport aircraft, updated to RV-12iS variant in 2017 * RV-14: two-seat, side-by-side aerobatic aircraft, considered similar to the RV-7 in design but larger and roomier * RV-15: future high-wing, back-country capable aircraft Four of the designations missing from this sequence — RV-1, RV-2, RV-5, and RV-11 — apply to projects by Richard VanGrunsven that were never produced or marketed by Van's Aircraft (or even completed in the case of the RV-2 and RV-11).

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 300,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapters worldwide. ...

video, 2022:
"AirVenture, Theater in the Woods - Van's 50th Anniversary"
eaa.org The RV-13 designation was not used at all.

Timeline

Gallery

File:Van'sRV1tail.jpg, RV-1 Image:VansRV-301.jpg, RV-3 File:Vans RV-4 N64JW.jpg, RV-4 File:Vans Aircraft RV-5 N5RV.jpg, RV-5 File:Vans RV-6 N65TD.jpg, RV-6 File:Vans RV-6A N434RV.jpg, RV-6A Image:VansRV-7.jpg, RV-7 Image:vans.rv-7a.g-jfrv.arp.jpg, RV-7A File:Vans RV-8 N188PD.jpg, RV-8 Image:Vans RV-8A N98VR Hondo TX 2007 Jun 02.jpg, RV-8A File:Vans RV-9 N6179P.jpg, RV-9A File:Van's RV-10 Victoria Vabre.jpg, RV-10 Image:Vans RV-12 N412RV Oshkosh WI 2008 AUG 02 3527.jpg, RV-12 File:VansRV-14.jpg, RV-14A File:Van's RV-15 engineering prototype N7357.jpg, RV-15

References

External links

* {{VansAircraft Aircraft manufacturers of the United States Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 Companies based in Marion County, Oregon Aurora, Oregon Manufacturing companies established in 1973 Privately held companies based in Oregon 1973 establishments in Oregon