RV-1 history question

[stevemcgirr]

I saw the "Friends of the RV1" photo today. I was wondering then about the provenance of this plane:

http://www.rvuk.co.uk/rvuk/rv1.htm

Currently this airplane is flying out of Cresswell airport in Oregon.

I'll do more research, but any insights are appreciated

[Mike S]

Not necessarily an insight, but a bit of deductive reasoning/rambling.

If two folks are claiming to have the first of something, at least one of them must be wrong. Could even be both wrong-----

The front page article says that Van himself is supporting the one in Texas.

My guess is that Van is probably the most qualified person on this planet to judge which plane is which.

As Stein would say-------------my $.02

[JonJay]

Originally Posted by Mike S

Not necessarily an insight, but a bit of deductive reasoning/rambling.

If two folks are claiming to have the first of something, at least one of them must be wrong. Could even be both wrong-----

The front page article says that Van himself is supporting the one in Texas.

My guess is that Van is probably the most qualified person on this planet to judge which plane is which.

As Stein would say-------------my $.02

I agree with you Mike, but it does not really say Van is supporting it, it just says "with his support,..." no matter...
My understanding is the original airplane that Van started experimenting with was the modified S**** Playboy, i.e. fabric fuselage. The Creswell Airplane fits that bill. However that may not be the first airplane that Van actually fabricated with intent to produce them and start his company, an all metal RV, like the Texas one. So it might be that both have some provenance.
I wish this thread had popped up yesterday. Both Stan and Jerry V. where at our annual EAA105 meeting at the airpark and I could have asked them.

[John Clark]

A search of the FAA data shows the yellow aircraft, N5827N registered as a "Vangrunsven RV1" and the blue and white airplane, N1583, registered as a "Stit's Playboy." Like Mike, I'll go with what Van says.

John Clark ATP, CFI
FAAST Team Representative
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

[Neal@F14]

Originally Posted by John Clark

A search of the FAA data shows the yellow aircraft, N5827N registered as a "Vangrunsven RV1" and the blue and white airplane, N1583, registered as a "Stit's Playboy." Like Mike, I'll go with what Van says.

So... would that actually make N1583 more like an RV-0.5

[jrs14855]

My recollection is that Van flew the stock Stits Playboy for a while and realized he could do better. The RV1 has a Stits fuselage frame and empennage-not much else is left. Cowl, canopy and wing are all similar to RV3. The Stits Playboy was a pretty sorry flying airplane. The wing struts on top of the wing caused a lot of drag and the wing was not very efficient. Van transformed it into an airplane that performed almost as well as the RV3. First I ever heard of the airplane in TX. MAYBE it was someone else that built and "RV1" on their own.

[Special Delivery]

Hummm… which one is the REAL RV-1? Sounds like a job for TSA… “please pull your pants down so I can examine your log books”. Paul Dye is credited with writing the VAF announcement, and while he’s not a TSA employee he does work for the Government… so I’m guessing that he has examined the log books. Guess we’ll just have to wait for Paul to chime in before we’ll have clarification. In the meantime, additional research may be in order.

[rvmills]

Found an old VAF post with a short story on the plane by Paul here, with his extra pictures here.

Kinda cool!

Cheers,
Bob

[rvbuilder2002]

The one in TX is the real one originally built by Dick VanGrunsven (though it was fully rebuild/restored sometime in the early 90's)

The one in Oregon was built by someone else after Van had built his. I believe he has said that the builder consulted with him on many of the construction details, but that it was not an exact copy of the first RV-1.

[Mike S]

Originally Posted by rvbuilder2002

The one in TX is the real one originally built by Dick VanGrunsven (though it was fully rebuild/restored sometime in the early 90's)

The one in Oregon was built by someone else after Van had built his. I believe he has said that the builder consulted with him on many of the construction details, but that it was not an exact copy of the first RV-1.

And that friends and neighbors is that.

Thanks Scott.