The Van's RV-7 and RV-7A are two-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt airplanes sold in kit form by

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 a ...

. The RV-7 is the tail-wheel equipped version, while the RV-7A features a nose-wheel.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 74. Belvoir Publications. The RV-7 was the replacement of the RV-6, replacing the RV-6 in 2001. It is externally similar to the earlier model, with longer wings, larger fuel tanks and a larger rudder to improve

spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

recovery characteristics.

Development

Van's aircraft designer

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 ...

designed the RV-7 to replace the RV-6, which was a two-seat side-by-side development of the RV-4. In turn, this was a two-seat tandem version of the single seat RV-3.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011–12'', page 125. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. The RV-7 incorporated many changes resulting from the lessons learned in producing over 2,000 RV-6 kits. The RV-7 airframe will accept larger engines, including the

Lycoming IO-390 The Lycoming IO-390 engine is a Flat engine, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder aircraft engine, manufactured by Lycoming Engines. There is no carburetor, carburetted version of the engine, which would have been designated O-390 and therefore ...

, up to . The RV-7 also has increased wingspan and wing area over the RV-6, as well as more headroom, legroom and an increased useful load. The RV-7 carries a total of 42 US gallons (159 litres) of fuel, up from 38 US gallons (144 litres) on the RV-6. The RV-7 shares many common parts with the RV-8 and RV-9, which reduces production costs. The RV-7 has a computer-assisted design with pre-punched rivet holes, helping to keep assembly time to about 1500 hours for the average builder.Kitplanes Staff: ''2008 Kit Aircraft Directory'', page 77, Kitplanes Magazine December 2007 Volume 24, Number 12, Belvior Publications, Aviation Publishing Group LLC. The RV-7A version features a hardened, solid steel nose-wheel strut that fits into a tube welded to the engine mount. As in all nose-wheel equipped RV aircraft, the nose-wheel is free castering and the aircraft is steered with differential braking, or rudder at higher taxi speeds. The brakes are conventional toe brakes. As of November 2022, 1,909 RV-7s and RV-7As had been flown.

Specifications (RV-7)

Specifications are given for 200 hp, IO-360 configuration with a

Hartzell Hartzell is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Andy Hartzell, American cartoonist * C. C. Hartzell, American confectioner * Carl Hartzell (born 1967), Swedish diplomat *Curt Hartzell (1891–1975), Swedish gymnast * Eric Hartzell ...

constant speed propeller

References

External links

Van's AircraftReview in Kitplanes
{{VansAircraft Homebuilt aircraft 1990s United States civil utility aircraft RV-07 Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 2001 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft

Development

Specifications (RV-7)

See also

References

External links