AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2022 - 39

DAVID TULIS
INDUSTRY NEWS /
Van's debuts RV-15
Prototype visits OSH but it's not for sale...yet
BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN
THE VAN'S AIRCR AFT RV-15 is bigger and
taller in person than you might expect from
seeing it in videos. Even on relatively small
6.00 by 6 tires, the leading edge of the wings
is tall enough for most adults to step under
without ducking. The fuselage is as wide
as a Cessna 182 Skylane, and its constantchord
wings have a roughly 36-foot span,
also the same as a Skylane.
This first example-N7357 (squint hard
at the registration number and you'll see
the word " test " )-is an engineering prototype,
yet it's remarkably well-finished and
finely crafted. The sheet-metal work on the
unpainted exterior is mirror smooth. The
unfinished interior is Spartan, with only a
pilot's seat and a fuel tank where the right
seat should be.
Unlike the four-seat Van's Aircraft
RV-10, the RV-15 fuselage tapers sharply
from the wide front seats, leaving relatively
little seat room behind them. There's
enough space for two mountain bikes, or a
third seat, or a bench seat that can accommodate
two tiny people, but the RV-15 just isn't large enough
for four adults.
The RV-15 has many visually appealing features. The prototype has a pair of transparent, fronthinged,
side doors for exceptional downward visibility, and two skylights that make the cockpit
bright and airy. Van's designers say those are likely to remain in the final version.
The main gear contain four internal oil/nitrogen shock absorbers
meant to cushion the impact of landing on rough surfaces,
dampen bounces, and improve directional control on the ground.
The tailwheel also has a dedicated pneumatic shock absorber for
the same reasons. The constant-chord wing with pushrod controls
is consistent with other Van's Aircraft designs, and it's a compromise.
A constant chord isn't as aerodynamically efficient as a
tapered wing, but it's far less complicated for builders to produce
because all the ribs are identical. The company made the same calculation
on the RV-15 wing as its other designs and, unsurprisingly,
reached the same conclusion.
Fowler flaps cover about two-thirds of the wingspan and
deploy to an astoundingly draggy 50 degrees on the prototype. (A
late-model Cessna 182, by comparison, has a maximum 30 degrees
of flap travel.)
The tail is perhaps the most unusual aspect of the airplane
because the proportions just look aesthetically wrong. The vertical
stabilizer is huge, and so is the mass-balanced rudder. Perhaps
because these surfaces are so large, the stabilator seems too small
by comparison. The big tail hints at a future floatplane version, and
Van's officials say that's definitely in the works.
Van's officials are tight-lipped about RV-15 performance figures,
but said they set ambitious design goals and they expect the
new airplane to meet them. For example, they wanted the RV-15
to take off and land in 400 feet or less and have a top speed in level
flight of at least 140 knots. They wouldn't reveal its stall speed,
but they must be satisfied with it because they haven't taken any
dramatic steps to lower it. The RV-15 prototype doesn't have vortex
generators, for example, or wing slats to reduce stall speeds.
Van's began working on the RV-15 in 2019 and built the prototype
at the company's Oregon factory in 2021. The first flight took
place in June. But don't expect the RV-15 to start showing up at
your home airport anytime soon.
" The testing continues, the engineering process continues, and
the refinement and development of the airplane will go on for the
next several months, " said Greg Hughes, Van's chief operating officer.
" We don't know exactly how long that process will take, or
when we'll start selling kits-but it's not now, and it won't be this
year. " dave.hirschman@aopa.org
vansaircraft.com
AOPA PILOT / October 2022
39

http://www.vansaircraft.com

AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2022

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