USA
Since early 1960s has marketed Vecto Geronimo, an uprated-engine and refined airframe/equipment version of standard Piper Apache. About 31 conversions completed by spring 1965; after death of Vecto’s owner later that year, assets purchased by Geronimo.
Post WW2
Varga Aircraft Corp
In 1965 this company acquired from Shinn Engineering Inc full manufacturing rights, tooling and spares for Shinn Model 2150A. Put into production by Varga in 1977 as Model 2150A Kachina. Design originated from Morrisey Nifty of 1957, built by a former Douglas test pilot.
Van White Whirlwind
A Van White, Lubbock TX., in 1959, built the two place cabin, high wing monoplane “Whirlwind”.
First flown on 25 June 1959, the aircraft was registered N126V.
Engine: Lycoming O-235-C1, 108hp
Wing span: 20′ 0″
Length: 20′ 0″
Max speed: 160 mph
Cruise speed: 140 mph
Stall: 60 mph
Range: 400 mi
Seats: 2
Vantuil Flying Dutchman
In 1948 Ibbs “Dutch” Vantuil built a single place cabin, low wing monoplane midget racer registered N7E. Originally named Jezebel, it appeared at Cleveland in 1948 but did not fly.
Engine: Continental C-85, 85hp
Wingspan: 21’4″
Seats: 1
Vans RV-5 Swinger
The RV-5 Swinger was a very small, metal single-seater cabin, high-wing monoplane, designed by Van and built by a group of friends from a local EAA chapter. First flown in May 1976, it flew quite successfully with a small two-stroke engine, only one was ever built. It is still in Van’s hangar and one of Van’s engineers recently surveyed it with an eye toward restoration…it may fly again.
Engine: VW, 32hp
Wingspan: 20’0″
Length: 16’5″
Useful load: 275 lb
Max speed: 95 mph
Cruise speed: 85 mph
Stall: 45 mph
Range: 300 mi
Seats: 1
Vans RV-3
The Stits SA-3A Playboy served as a catalyst for Richard VanGrunsven, who, after modifying and improving the Playboy in 1965 (and calling it an RV-1), was further inspired to build an airplane of his own design — the RV-3.
Richard VanGrunsven’s all-metal, single seat monoplane won the “Best Aerodynamic Detailing” award at the 1972 EAA Fly-in. The wings are built around a single I-beam spar and a lighter rear spar. The fuselage and tail unit are built of light alloy, and the engine is covered with a fiberglass cowling. The landing gear is the nonretractable tailwheel type with Cleveland brakes and fiberglass wheel fairings.
New sales of the RV-3 were suspended in 1996. However, in response to popular demand, the RV-3B with a new wing spar design is now back on the market. The empennage, fuselage, and finishing kits are essentially unchanged, however, the wing kits are new, and are available in two types: new and retro-fit. Builders also will have a choice between standard and QuickBuild wings, regardless if for a new project or retrofitting to an existing plane.
The difference between new and retro-fit spars is that some holes are left un-drilled in the retro-fit version so they may be matched to holes in the existing structure. Retro-fitting will mean removing the current fuselage center section and replacing it with the new one. While this may sound like major surgery, it is actually easier than trying to drill a spar accurately to a center section in an existing airplane.
The new RV-3B spars use four-piece construction, are gold anodized, and come completely assembled. New RV-3B wings have standard 15 gallon per side wing tanks, attached to the spar with screws and bolts so they may be removed for repair without taking a wing off the fuselage. Standard kit wing skins are not pre-punched. Bellcranks and tiedowns are now simple units that bolt on to holes already in the spar.
The RV-3B QuickBuild wings are similar in form to the RV-8/8A QuickBuild wings. They arrive with flaps and ailerons complete, tanks sealed and tested, leaving the builder only to add aileron brackets, flap braces, wing tips, and one outboard skin to complete the wing.
NOTICE: In order to operate RV-3/3A aircraft with pre-RV-3B wing designs in the aerobatic category, the owner must either complete appropriate spar Change Notices (materials provided at no charge) or purchase new wing kits. Until implementation of the appropriate spar Change Notice, kit/aircraft owners should comply with Van’s Aircraft’s previously published March 1996 flight recommendations:
“RECOMMENDATION: Until the spar modification is performed, we recommend that the RV-3 pilots immediately limit their flight G loads to a maximum 4.4 G’s; utility category. Based on our test results of an ultimate load of 7.3 G’s, a 50% over-strength margin would permit a flight limit load of 4.9 G’s at a gross weight of 1050 lbs. Since the 4.9 G’s is below the 6 G specification for the aerobatic category, no aerobatic maneuvers should be performed. Dropping back farther to utility category flight will offer an additional margin of safety.”
A logbook entry should be made prohibiting aerobatics until one of the Change Notice spar modifications is accomplished
More than 3,300 RVs were reportedly completed and flying by mid-2003.
Engine: Lycoming 125 hp
Prop: fixed pitch wood
Span: 19 ft 11 in
Length: 19 ft
Height: 5 ft
Wing Area: 90 sq ft
Empty Weight wo electrics: 703 lbs
Empty Weight with electrics: 750 lbs
Gross Weight: 1100 lbs
Wing Loading: 12.22 lbs/sq ft
Power Loading: 11.0 – 6.9 lb/hp
Fuel Capacity: 30 US gal
Baggage: 30 lbs
Top Speed: 195 mph
Cruise 75% @ 8000′: 185 mph
Cruise 55% @ 8000′: 166 mph
Stall Speed: 51 mph
Takeoff Distance: 350 ft
Landing Distance: 350 ft
Rate of Climb: 1,700 fpm
Ceiling: 20,500 ft
Range 75% @ 8000′: 640 sm
Range 55% @ 8000′: 770 sm
Speed Ratio: 3.82:1
Engine: Lycoming 150 hp
Prop: fixed pitch wood
Span: 19 ft 11 in
Length: 19 ft
Height: 5 ft
Wing Area: 90 sq ft
Empty Weight wo electrics: 703 lbs
Empty Weight with electrics: 750 lbs
Gross Weight: 1100 lbs
Wing Loading: 12.22 lbs/sq ft
Power Loading: 11.0 – 6.9 lb/hp
Top Speed: 207 mph
Cruise 75% @ 8000′: 196 mph
Cruise 55% @ 8000′: 176 mph
Stall Speed: 51 mph
Takeoff Distance: 300 ft
Landing Distance: 350 ft
Rate of Climb: 2,050 fpm
Ceiling: 23,500 ft
Range 75% @ 8000′: 595 sm
Range 55% @ 8000′: 715 sm
Speed Ratio: 4.06:1
Vans RV-1
One Stits SA-3A Playboy builders eventually sold his project to a young aviator who rebuilt the wing, getting rid of the struts and converting it from a fabric covered wooden frame to an aluminum wing in 1965 (and calling it an RV-1). The rebuilder was Dick VanGrunsven and his first airplane has been rebuilt and will be donated to the EAA museum this summer.
VanGrunsven was further inspired to build an airplane of his own design — the RV-3.
Vans
Richard (Van) Van Grunsven’s Van’s Aircraft, Inc. began in 1973 with partial kits for the RV-3. These were manufactured by Van himself, working in a small shop behind his house in Reedville, Oregon. Later the company moved to North Plains, Oregon, a small town about 25 miles west of Portland. After twenty years and several expansions, Van’s had exhausted the available opportunities in North Plains, so in 2000 the company moved to a new 60,000 square foot facility on the Aurora, Oregon airport. The company employed 70 people (and hundreds more in sub-contract roles) and keeps them busy producing several hundred complete aircraft kits a year and shipping them all over the world.
The RV-3’s performance gained an enthusiastic following, and naturally, many pilots wanted to share the experience with a friend. Van resisted for a while, reasoning that a bigger, heavier airplane just couldn’t perform as well as a light single-seater, but eventually he recognized the depth of the demand and began developing a two-place airplane. Tandem seating was chosen for the RV-4 because of the lower drag, superior centerline visibility, lighter weight, and overall fighter-like sportiness. It was a combination well suited to the market it entered in 1981. With performance nearly that of the RV-3 and an extra seat as well, the RV-4 became an immediate favorite and soon surpassed the RV-3 in popularity.
In the early to mid 1980s, the homebuilt market began to shift toward efficient touring, rather than pure sport airplanes. In response, Van’s developed the side-by-side RV-6. Careful design and attention to aerodynamic details resulted in a new airplane that retained the delightful handling and short field qualities of the RV-4, and despite the wider fuselage, had a top speed only 3 mph less. The trigear RV-6A was developed from the RV-6 to better fill the needs of the modern pilot. The addition of the nosewheel reduces the top speed only 2 mph.
In 1995, Van’s revisited the tandem concept and came up with the RV-8, a new design incorporating improvements learned from years of experience with the RV-4 and RV-6/6A. With a wider cockpit than the RV-4, two baggage compartments and increased instrument panel space, the RV-8 offers greater cross-country comfort without compromising the fighter-like sportiness of centerline seating. The RV-8 was designed to handle engines of 150-200 hp, and with the 200 hp IO-360 Lycoming, it sustains cruise speeds of 212 mph. Top speed is 222 mph. The RV-8A made its first flight in April 1998 and kits were available soon after.
1996-7: PO Box 160, North Plains, OR 97133, USA.
The RV-9A, a side-by-side tricycle-gear design, was first flown in December 1997. A completely new wing with a higher aspect ratio and new airfoil gave excellent low speed flying qualities and very efficient cruise. Similar in size and weight to the RV-6, it cruises at about the same speeds, but stalls several miles per hour slower. This wing permits the use of lower-powered engines, providing an alternative for those who don’t feel the need for a “bigger, faster, more powerful” airplane. Somewhat later, the RV-9 tailwheel version was developed.
In the spring of 2001 the 2-seat side by side RV-7/7A was introduced, replacing the RV-6/6A. The RV-7/7A has slightly more leg and headroom than the RV-6/6A, carries more fuel, and has a higher allowable gross weight. It will accept all 4-cylinder Lycoming engines from the 150 hp O-320 to the 200 hp IO-360. The kit incorporates all of the advanced technology that Van’s learned designing and producing the RV-8/8A and the RV-9/9A.
In 2003, Van’s ventured into a whole new world and offered the RV-10, our first four-place airplane. Designed as a true four-person airplane (the ability to carry four people is different than having four seats) the RV-10 will carry four full-sized adults, sixty gallons of fuel and baggage. Speeds and performance are comparable to the two seat RVs, and better than most four-place production airplanes.
In 2005, about 4,000 RV kits (an average of almost 130 per year for the history of the company) have been completed and flown, and thousands more are under construction. Completion rates have exceeded one per day for the last few years. RVs are flying in at least 26 different countries and are under construction in more than fifty.
The RV-2 was a wooden flying-wing sailplane. Van started construction in the early 70s but the airplane was never finished or flown. Parts of it still hang on his hangar wall. The RV-5 was a very small metal single-seater, designed by Van and built by a group of friends from a local EAA chapter. Although it flew quite successfully with a small two-stroke engine, only one was ever built. It is still in Van’s hangar and one of Van’s engineers recently surveyed it with an eye toward restoration…it may fly again.
Van Lith VI
A one-off French-built light civil utility aircraft of the late 1950s, the Van Lith VI was a two/three seat light high-wing cabin monoplane of conventional wooden construction. The wing was a two-spar structure with plywood and fabric covering. The fuselage was of rectangular section with plywood cladding. The main undercarriage with fixed legs, wheels, brakes and tailwheel were adapted from those of the Stampe SV.4. The pilot and passengers were seated in tandem with an access door on each side hinging upward for entry and exit. The slotted ailerons could be drooped together to function as flaps. Designed and built by Jean Van Lith it was initially flown with a single fin, but this was replaced with twin fins.
One example of the design was completed. In original form the Model VI had the main wheels and wing struts of a Stampe (Nord) SV-4 biplane, one 125 hp Lycoming O-290-3 engine and a small third central fin. In this configuration the aircraft flew on 30 August 1958, registered as F-WINX. It completed it test flight program at Toussusle-Nobel on October 6, 1959, and was subsequently reregistered F-PINX.
The aircraft was later re-engined with one 150 hp Lycoming O-320, and also received with a steel sprung cantilever undercarriage, while the central fin was removed. The aircraft remained active well into the 1980s and later went to the RSA Museum, but was destroyed in an accident. This one-of-a-kind aircraft was also nicknamed the Bébé Broussard, because of the external resemblance to the Holste Broussard.
It was flown by the constructor from airfields at Toussus-le-Noble and Guyancourt near Paris. It was still registered to Jean Van Lith in 1964, but is no longer extant.
Engine: 1 × Lycoming O-290-3, 135 hp (101 kW)
Capacity: 1 or 2 passengers
Length: 20 ft 0 in (6.10 m)
Wingspan: 35 ft 5 in (10.80 m)
Height: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Wing area: 140 sq ft (13 sq.m)
Empty weight: 1,285 lb (583 kg)
Gross weight: 2,127 lb (965 kg)
Maximum speed: 124 mph (200 km/h; 108 kn)
Cruise speed: 106 mph (92 kn; 171 km/h)
Service ceiling: 13,780 ft (4,200 m)
Rate of climb: 785 ft/min (3.99 m/s)
Endurance: 6 hr
Crew: 1
Vanguard 2 Omniplane
The Vanguard Omniplane was an American approach to vertical operation and high cruise speed. The ducts contained vertical thrust propellers that could be closed by venetian blind shutters to form small wings in forward flight. In forward flight, covers above the rotors and louvers below sealed the wing for aerodynamic lift.
The design, apparently not registered, used a 25-ft long Ercoupe light plane fuselage and weighed 2,600 lb. The round wings each housed a 6 ft diameter three-bladed propeller that was mechanically driven for vertical flight by a 265 hp Lycoming O-540-A1A six cylinder piston engine.
Thrust was produced by a 5′ shrouded prop in the tail, elevator and rudder behind the rear fan-controlled pitch and yaw, while differential propeller blade pitch affected roll in hover.
Ground tests, starting in Aug 1959 and including tethered hover trials, were followed by NASA full-scale wind tunnel testing.
Modifications in 1961, including a 860hp Lycoming YT53-L-1 turboshaft, improved control system, and 5′ nose extension to house a third lifting prop, led to the redesignation 2D. The nose prop improved control in pitch, as well as in yaw through the use of movable exit vanes. 2D completed tethered hover tests, but was damaged by a mechanical failure and discontinued in early 1962.
Engine: Lycoming O-540-A1A, 265hp
Wingspan: 22’0″
Length: 25’6″
Useful load: 500 lb
Max speed: 190 mph
Range: 150 mi
Seats: 2
All Aero 