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Great job Greg! Vans EAA presentation
- Thread starter Gash
- Start date
Me Too!
PilotjohnS
Well Known Member
I guess i should reserve my tent spot on the lawn outside of the Van’s factory. Maybe make a party out of it. Or a trip to Mecca to meet the airplane Gods and pick up a gift.
The flap handle was still of the Rube Goldberg variety, by their own admission, but the plan is to have the handle below the floor and route the rods through the b pillar, which is moving back four inches from current.
So if I remember a few of details right, they’ve pretty much made the RV-10 tail cone fit, but may change the rake of the rudder and vertical stabilizer to square things up a bit and make it look more “bush plane.” Just couldn’t get the stabilator to work well enough.
The made significant changes to the ailerons’ leading edges, adjusted the hinge brackets for optimal control feel (“flying down a winding river should not be tiring”), added vortex generators to the back of the flaps (looked like they would tuck under the wings in normal flight, not sure if that permanent), decreased the wing surface area from 172 sqft to 160, and made various improvements to improve the overall aerodynamics to get them to the 140 knot target. They said the exterior of the airframe was now pretty much complete and the focus was on interior stuff.
The tanks will be behind the newly designed spar, with a fuel cap that is placed for easy access when you’re on floats, 30 gal each side. And finally the cabin is for sure now the 2 + lots of cargo configuration. From the pictures we all saw that led to discussion around safety, they will raise the panel one inch, move it forward 2 inches, move the wings back 4 inches, which will give more head space, and widen the cabin to 48 inches, one wider than a C182. Looks like really good changes—they showed a picture with a 6’7” in the seat with lots of pillows on it and plenty of head room.
Overall it really looked like it was coming together very well. They showed a brief video with some very benign stall behavior, almost no deviation in an uncoordinated stall—nice. So lots of these little usability and performance improvements. No word on the kit parts beyond empennage and wings, but that’s a great start.
PilotjohnS
Well Known Member
Seems like they may have really engineered the plane well for the backcountry mission. Not sure it still fits my mission though. I think i would like a more cessna 150 mission: smaller, simple , cheap utility. But wider cockpit high wing, large flaps to optimize wing area for high cruise speed so flaps could be used for slower approach speed. But that is just me. Their version really looks like a winner. Good luck Van’s
One thing I noted Rian saying during the questions at the end of the presentation is that the final-sized pre-punched holes will be 1/8" for pulled rivets. He mentioned that a builder could use solid rivets, but bucking 1/8" solid rivets could be a challenge for some.
Perhaps the Sonex High Wing will be an alternative for you? They also participated in the EAA webinars to provide an update on the prototype and kit. I too would like to build a Van's high wing, but the RV-15 expected kit cost and recommended engine and prop will likely be out of reach, just too much bush aeroplane for me! The ideal would have been a RV-9A high wing with the option of a Rotax engine.
PilotjohnS
Well Known Member
Goodpoint, i really wonder how a rv9 type wing would do if it. Is thinned out for a strut-brace high wing design? Would it still have its high speed cruise, and high altitude capability, w docile handling? Maybe thr RV9’s excellent characteristics are not airfoil related, but just other things like span loading, wetted area, etc?Perhaps the Sonex High Wing will be an alternative for you? They also participated in the EAA webinars to provide an update on the prototype and kit. I too would like to build a Van's high wing, but the RV-15 expected kit cost and recommended engine and prop will likely be out of reach, just too much bush aeroplane for me! The ideal would have been a RV-9A high wing with the option of a Rotax engine.
Do you have a link to link to the presentation? Some of us were busy flying, checking out great backcountry camping spots. 
Take a look at the Sonex Highwing,
You can find it here: EAA WebinarsDo you have a link to link to the presentation? Some of us were busy flying, checking out great backcountry camping spots.
You'll need an EAA member login to view it.
Interestingly, they also mentioned that they will be targeting flight schools after MOSAIC and optionally adding a nose wheel. That could make this interesting for a lot more people on both ends of the spectrum: those that are just getting started and those that no longer enjoy climbing over a wing to get in. It feels like this will be the start of a whole platform, probably not unlike what Cub Crafters is doing. Since on this one wings and tail cone are derived from the RV-10, maybe the RV-16 could be based on the 12? That would be quite interesting.
