Van's Aircraft RV-9A

OVER 10,000 KITS sold. More than 2,600 examples completed and flown with one new example flying every thirty hours somewhere in the world. With figures like these, it's certainly no exaggeration to say that Van's Aircraft Inc of Oregon, in the north-west United States, is arguably the most successful kit aircraft company in the world.

Since the introduction of the single-seat RV-3 back in 1972, Van's Aircraft has grown steadily and now offers a range of seven RV aircraft which, besides the RV-3, includes the two-seat tandem RV-4 (reviewed in the March 2000 Pilot), the two-seat, side-by-side RV-6 and -6A, the two-seat tandem RV-8 and -8A, and the RV-9A, their latest design.

Van's airplanes are variations on a simple theme. The low wing is short (23 feet for all the two-seat designs) with a wide chord and no twist or washout. This has proved to be an excellent formula for the designer's avowed purpose: a sport airplane that, while it may not be the absolute best at any one thing, can do many things very well.

RV airframes are conventional, flush-riveted, aluminium monocoque. Power is provided by Lycoming engines between 125 and 200 hp, and the fixed landing-gear is a simple, tapered, steel rod with a wheel on the end. As old-fashioned as this formula seems in an age of space age composites, it works extremely well.

All Van's designs exhibit exemplary handling qualities, with low stall speeds, high cruise speeds and a feel that brings smiles to the faces of pilots. Construction, while perhaps more time consuming than some of the very light airplane kits, is not particularly difficult, as the number of completions attest. Add to that the fact that Van's prices are among the lowest in the industry, and you have a very successful combination indeed.

For those familiar with the progression of Van's designs, the RV-9A is something of a surprise. It may not exactly break the mould, but it certainly stretches it a bit. At first glance, it is easily mistaken for its very successful sibling, the RV-6A, Van's other side-by-side, tricycle-gear airplane. The family resemblance is unmistakable, but the RV-9A is quite a different idea. The factory joke is that, except for the different wing, different tail and different fuselage, they are the same airplane!

The first question that comes to mind is, given the success of all of Van's previous designs, why change? "All our previous airplanes were designed, among other things, for sport aerobatics," says VanGrunsven. "They are quite good for that purpose. The short wing and relatively big ailerons give an excellent roll rate with virtually no adverse yaw. But after a thousand or fifteen hundred of our airplanes had been completed, we noticed a trend. Many builders were simply not interested in getting upside down. They regarded their airplanes as fast touring machines and flew them that way. We decided that we could design an airplane that did that job better than our previous designs while still maintaining the handling qualities that our aircraft are known for."

In Van's vocabulary, a good travelling airplane has to do more than simply provide a few creature comforts and go fast. It has to be fun to fly: "There's already too many mediocre airplanes in the world." It must be able to get in and out of short fields in out-of-the-way places: "That's where the fun is." And it must be economical, both to build and to operate--"Nobody can fly if they're broke." So, the RV-9A was designed to do all these.

The biggest and most obvious difference is the wing. All Van's previous designs used the time-honoured NACA 23000 series airfoil, Frise ailerons and simple, hinged flaps. The RV-9A wing is still a straight 'Hershey bar' with no taper or washout, but the span is a full 28 inches l