4,995+ RVs Completed and Flown

[Brantel]

Looks like Van's hobbs is coming up on 5K planes completed. Wow!

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

I'd love to know how many kits have been sold too!

[rv7boy]

Would there be enough interest in a little contest to guess which model of Van's (-3,-4,-6,-7,-8,-9,or -10) will be No. 5000? Doug would have to rely on the factory to tell him which model (and possibly the name of the builder) for No. 5000. We wouldn't make a distinction between nose-draggers and taildraggers. Sounds like fun. Whaddya think? No prizes...just for kicks.
Don

[osxuser]

Originally Posted by rv7boy

Would there be enough interest in a little contest to guess which model of Van's (-3,-4,-6,-7,-8,-9,or -10) will be No. 5000? Doug would have to rely on the factory to tell him which model (and possibly the name of the builder) for No. 5000. We wouldn't make a distinction between nose-draggers and taildraggers. Sounds like fun. Whaddya think? No prizes...just for kicks.
Don

I think we should just concentrate on whether it's a nose or taildragger, not what 'model' it is... ;p

[sprucemoose]

...but not really doable. I talked to Ken @ Van's about this when my 6 flew. I was very close to being #3500, but with the number of submissions they get per day, several flying on one day, late entries, etc. it is more or less impossible to nail it down exactly.

There are many well known certified airplanes that came nowhere near 5000 units during their production run. That is an impressive figure.

[Geico266]

We are watching aviation history being made. Homebuilders making 5,000 flying aircraft in basement's, garages, hangers, shops, barns, ect. all across the world. It is simply amazing.

I talked to Vans years ago about how many kits have been sold and he said (if I remember right) It's hard to know cause there are many more empanage kits out than say finish kits. Guys start the tails and never finish. Having said that, I believe he said there were over 10,000 kits out and that was 2 years ago.

It was a great conversation I had with Van. He was looking at which engine to spec. in the -12 and we were heavy into the Rotax 912s. (a great engine BTW) During the conversation I asked him where did you come up with the design of the RV? He kinda laughed and said, "There is nothing special about the RV design, actually it is pretty simple. A blend of several designs not being noteable in anyone feature. What makes the RV series unique is we put it into a kit form just about everyone can assemble and fly at a cheap price, and we support our customers with extensive support from parts to tech advice." That alone makes the RV special.

It was inspiring to talk with a man that loves aviation as much as he does. Dedicated his life to aviation, and the world is a much better place with the RV flying in it.

5K flying aircraft is an amazing accomplishment. Keep pounding those rivits!

[Mel]

Remember Van's doesn't always get notification for ALL Rvs, so the 5000th probably won't be an accurate number. Actually, I'm sure that there are already more than 5000 flying because there are a lot of RVs that aren't registered as RVs.

[brianwallis]

I say the 5000th rv that we know about will be a rv-7(a) simply because of what is being bought. I'd say the 6a has a great chance.. who knows... it might actually be an rv-3! However it seems that the people who buy the -10 are super serious and kick butt on construction time.... dunno
Best Brian

[WSBuilder]

Why not make the contest the date the 5000th flies? Doesn't matter which model, A or B, or who exactly gets it (if multiple people fly on the same day)?

[DeltaRomeo]

Counter updated on home site www.VansAircraft.com

Rollover certainly this week.

Congratulations Van!