AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2020 - 62

THE RV-10 wingspan is 6 feet, 7 inches less

than its rival, but wing area is nearly identical.
The RV-10 has a rectangular, constant-chord
wing to simplify construction, and the SR22
has a two-panel, stall-resistant shape.

Van's
RV-10

Cirrus
SR22

8 feet,
8 inches

9 feet,
2.4 inches

Cirrus SR22
38 feet, 4 inches

Van's RV-10
31 feet, 9 inches

Cirrus SR22
26 feet

Van's RV-10
24 feet,
5 inches

62 | AOPA PILOT June 2020

The RV-10 is metal; the SR22 is
composite.
The RV-10 has a constant-chord
"Hershey bar" wing; the SR22 has a cuffed,
two-panel tapered wing.
The RV-10 has floor-mounted control
sticks; the SR22 is flown via side yokes that
resemble side sticks.
The RV-10 has pushrod elevator and
aileron connections; the SR22 uses cableoperated control linkages and a spring
centering system.
The RV-10 has a traditional power
quadrant with throttle and propeller rpm
levers; the SR22 has a single power lever
that controls both throttle (manifold) and
engine/propeller rpm.
Most RV-10s are powered by a Lycoming
IO-540 (260 horsepower); SR22s have a
Continental IO-550 (310 horsepower).
The SR22 has an airframe parachute.
The designers of the RV-10 and SR22 also
have fundamentally divergent philosophies
and serve vastly different markets. RV-10s are
designed for cost-conscious amateur builders, and prices for finished airplanes rarely

exceed $250,000. New SR22s are aimed at
"lifestyle" customers and have a base price
of $655,000 while fully optioned, highly customized models can approach $1 million.
Richard VanGrunsven, founder of Van's
Aircraft, is a minimalist at heart. He emphasizes "total performance," a term he coined
for aircraft meant for a variety of sometimes
contradictory purposes: cross-country
travel, maneuverability, and short-field performance. Van's Aircraft models from the
single-seat RV-3 (introduced in 1971) to the
four-seat RV-10 are mechanically simple,
relatively light in weight, and highly versatile. They emphasize control harmony,
visibility, and economy. Van's Aircraft has
become the world's largest maker of experimental/amateur-built kit airplanes with
more than 10,700 completed, registered,
and flown, including about 1,100 RV-10s.
Alan and Dale Klapmeier, two brothers
who founded Cirrus in 1984, set out to build
the world's most technologically advanced
and safest single-engine piston aircraft with
their SR20 and subsequent SR22 models.
A cuffed wing for spin resistance, a single

STEVE KARP

It's regularly mistaken for an SR22-
and that error is understandable. The Van's
Aircraft RV-10 is about the same size as the
much more numerous Cirrus model, and
its gleaming new paint job accentuates the
lines that both airplanes share.
Since form really does follow function,
the fact that both airplanes are four-seat,
long-distance IFR travelers introduced
about the same time (2001 and 2003 for the
SR22 and RV-10, respectively) dictates that
they should have a great deal in common.
And they do.
They're low-wing, fixed tricycle-gear
airframes with upward-opening doors,
castering nosewheels, six-cylinder engines,
constant-speed propellers, and an electric
trim system (no manual trim wheels).
And they both dominate their categories. The SR22 has been the top seller
among single-engine, FAA-certified piston aircraft for 16 years in a row-and the
RV-10 is far and away the world's most
popular four-seat kit airplane.
But the RV-10 and SR22 have major differences, too.
AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2020
