RV-14 51% FAA NKET EVAL

DeltaRomeo said:

"On June 29th, 2016, the FAA National Kit Evaluation Team officially approved the construction of the RV-14 and RV-14A kit airplanes as compliant to the experimental aircraft kit "51% Rule."​

Here at Van's Aircraft, 49% goes a long way.​

We laid out every component of the RV-14, from Quickbuild to slow build, from taildragger to tri-gear, from spinner to tail light, with an philosophy that says 'anybody can do this', and invited the FAA to come take a look.​

- Longerons, ribs and all other structural components are supplied pre-bent and with pre-punched holes.​

- Van's matched hole technology, now with holes punched to final size, ensures that every hole in the skins will line up for easy clecoing and riveting to the understructure. There is no need for jigs.​

- All weldments come pre-assembled and powdercoated.​

- The canopy is pre-trimmed to fit to a painstakingly engineered, matched hole aluminum frame.​

- EFIS choice is up to the builder, but common wiring harnesses are available for installation at every phase of the build, saving hundreds of hours worth of electrical design work.​

- The RV-14 Powerplant kit supplies all components necessary to install an IO-390 or IO-360 Lycoming engine.​

- Cowl baffles come pre-trimmed to fit inside the cowling, with pre-cut matching baffle seals.​

Even with all those improvements, the FAA agrees that the RV-14 kit still meets the 51% rule requirements! For the remaining 51%, Van's was determined to provide an airplane kit that anyone could build - From beginner to expert.​

Optional Quick Build kits for the Wing and Fuselage further simplify the building process. These major airframe components save hundreds of hours of build time. Quickbuilders will still complete the Empennage, Finish Kit and Firewall Forward kits, but there is even more help available.​

Processes that were once taken for granted as part of the 'tribal knowledge' of kitplane construction have been thoroughly documented. Assembly instructions come with a vast array of exquisitely illustrated images that clearly and concisely illustrate and explain every step of the assembly process.​

Additional tools, such as supplemental instructional videos, interactive photos documenting the entirety of the firewall forward area, the experienced personnel manning the Van's tech support hotline, and the thousands of builders and pilots active every day on the VansAirForce.com forums round out the experience.​

Building your RV-14 is a journey - and look, you're halfway there already!"​

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Just keep in mind that this is not official until the new "list" comes out.
The current list is dated 21 March 2016 and does not include the RV-14.
We all knew it would pass, but until the new list comes out, all builders must fill out the checklist to show compliance.

Best Kit Airplane EVER

The RV-14 is high on my list should I ever choose to move beyond my current attachment to my fantastic, crazy aerobatic, RV-4! Van's has truly set a new standard here and, once all the kinks are worked out (thank you trailblazers) I'm sure it will be the very best kit airplane on the market!

Great News

As an RV-12 "assembler," I wonder if those who construct and RV-14 will also be nicknamed "assembler". Hmmm

E. D. Eliot said:

As an RV-12 "assembler," I wonder if those who construct and RV-14 will also be nicknamed "assembler". Hmmm

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Having just finished the fuel tanks, flaps, and ailerons, I can assure you there's still plenty of good old fashioned construction left to be done on the -14. There are many great improvements, but the larger, more complicated airframe isn't going together any faster than my -8A did 15 years ago...

Assembly Time Guesstimate?

My girlfriend, probably fiancee before too long, and I were thinking this may be a good project. Instead of having kids, I think we'll make a RV-14 instead (cheaper, less messy and travels better). We both work full time, so a QB would probably be just the trick for first time builders who want the challenge and pride of building with the sooner-rather-than-later reward of an aircraft that I can fly for the rest of my days in the air; hopefully another 40 years.

If you had to take a guess, do you think a couple of first time builders could assemble the RV-14 QB kit in under 1,000 hours provided we stick to the Vans script on avionics, etc? This kit seems way less intimidating than some of the others and the RV14 looks capable of making it from North Texas to my family in Northern Indiana on one hop.

51%

Yes, I was totally shocked when all those skins dimpled themselves right out of the box and the 20,000 rivets just seem to buck themselves. That being said, Van's did a phenomenal job with the fitting of the parts and the instructions. Kudos to them for a great product. Having flown several trips of at least 1 1/2 hours, it flies great, very stable.

Anyone know how close the -14 baffle design is to the existing -7 and -9 design?

Cowl baffles come pre-trimmed to fit inside the cowling, with pre-cut matching baffle seals.

Will these pre-cut baffle seals fit the previous model baffles?

az_gila said:

Will these pre-cut baffle seals fit the previous model baffles?

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Some of the parts might work ok but, but I know some of it wont at all.