Van's Air Force
The definitive Van's Aircraft support community! Buying, building or flying an RV? Join our exclusive family of mentors and enthusiasts!
Fuselage Guesses
- Thread starter Utah-Jay
- Start date
0830 Monday morning at OSH.
"What's New At Van's"
Forum Stage 7
That being said, I'm getting there early this year and plan on watching it roll up to the spot.
They will unveil an empty box emblazoned "Fuse Kit", and the masses will storm their booth with wads of cash in hand....glorious! Oh and the fuse kits will ship by the end of the year, ya know!
I thought the RV-15 wing kit box unveiling onstage in 2025 was a masterful piece of showmanship.
It had been sitting there for the entire presentation, with if I remember correctly, a Vans banner draped over it. And then unveiled with a flourish, and the stampede started
It had been sitting there for the entire presentation, with if I remember correctly, a Vans banner draped over it. And then unveiled with a flourish, and the stampede started
Actually it wasn't much of a stampede, the line began a couple hours prior. I waited about 90 minutes and got #26...
I don’t know exactly how long I was in line but I don’t remember standing for 90 minutes. I have kit #27.
Alphalpha
Well Known Member
What I would love to see is for them to park it next to a C-180 with a display board showing dimensions and performance specs of both.
Much as I would love to order one at Oshkosh I wouldn’t be surprised if they aren’t there yet. I also suspect that doing the big long line of ordering of subkits for those who are already confirmed buyers is not the greatest use of their in-person time at Oshkosh. They are there to hook in new buyers. And The tail kit roll out was pretty straightforward while sitting in my hangar vs 90 minutes in line.
Much as I would love to order one at Oshkosh I wouldn’t be surprised if they aren’t there yet. I also suspect that doing the big long line of ordering of subkits for those who are already confirmed buyers is not the greatest use of their in-person time at Oshkosh. They are there to hook in new buyers. And The tail kit roll out was pretty straightforward while sitting in my hangar vs 90 minutes in line.
I wonder if Vans provided an update on the fuselage design since the EAA webinar on 1/31/2026. That's the last update I've been tracking.
From that webinar, I got the following:
From that webinar, I got the following:
- The final door design is not done. There will be improved ventilation over the demonstrator aircraft (which lacked sufficient fresh airflow).
- The doors open more than on the Cessnas. This required the wing strut to be angled some which increases stress, but the design accounts for that.
- The doors will be removable. May be able to fly with the doors off. They must evaluate this further.
- The final fuselage design is not done. It may not need a support brace above the instrument panel. Sounds like there may be small surprises coming with the fuselage design. Maybe a more unique cargo door than was previously suggested by the vinyl cut-out seen at air shows.
Alphalpha
Well Known Member
I’m not sure if they have flown it with the IO-360 yet which may be cause to adjust firewall position so that both versions use the same fuselage and cowl with different engine mounts. I know they want it to be easily interchangeable (model-wise) for both engine systems, so I am guessing here. I would certainly want it flight tested and dialed in for both systems prior to sales and shipping.
I recall that when orders opened last year and the timeline was laid out, fuse kits were anticipated in August. My take on that timing is that there is some connection between the final fuselage design and the July 24 deadline for MOSAIC. That's not to say there would be any major to Van's that impact major engineering decisions, but it would make sense that they do not front run the policy that the airplane is designed around.
It would be awesome to see them show up with a new -15 in final form, but I'll be a little surprised if that's the case. Since we're guessing here, I'll say I expect them to have the design work done, maybe even have the fuselage built to show off either in-person or pics/video but it won't fly there.
I'd take 2:1 odds that when we see a flying airframe with the final fuselage design it has an SLSA AW cert. Seems like that could take at least a couple weeks following the final policy to allow it.
It would be awesome to see them show up with a new -15 in final form, but I'll be a little surprised if that's the case. Since we're guessing here, I'll say I expect them to have the design work done, maybe even have the fuselage built to show off either in-person or pics/video but it won't fly there.
I'd take 2:1 odds that when we see a flying airframe with the final fuselage design it has an SLSA AW cert. Seems like that could take at least a couple weeks following the final policy to allow it.
