RV-15 Progress And A New Avionics Shop

In Parts I and II we recapped the progress made by Van’s Aircraft in 2024 following their successful emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the restructuring of the company’s processes and business operations. Now we look ahead to see what Van’s has planned for 2025.

Van’s will continue to focus on what it calls Total Performance across all aspects of business operations. This means from kit production and aircraft design to customer service and engagement with the Van’s community, and everything in between. The company is happy with the progress made in 2024 but is not content and will to continue building on that progress to ensure that all current and future Van’s builders will enjoy building and flying their RVs.

The company is very excited about the progress being made on the RV-15, which it says is shaping up to be a ‘gamechanger’ in backcountry flying.

 Flight testing has proceeded to yield data valuable for refining the design. Some of those refinements include:

• The stabilator has been replaced with a conventional tail on a longer tailcone, which has excellent flight stability and ground performance throughout the entire cg range
• Pitch and roll are now harmonized to deliver the signature “RV feel,” with control forces tailored for the RV-15’s backcountry mission
• Detail design work is progressing on the wing and empennage, with expanded fuel tanks for longer range
• Refinements have been incorporated into a new fuselage design, with detail work to follow testing of the wing and empennage

Van’s will form a new avionics department in 2025 as a strategic expansion to offer integrated avionics and wiring harness solutions for the RV-15 and potentially future MOSAIC aircraft.

For those builders not using a favored third-party panel supplier for custom work, the goal is to provide future RV-15 builders high-quality wiring harnesses and instrument panels that will dramatically reduce build time and remove the uncertainty and anxiety that often comes with this part of the project.

This initiative is part of the company’s commitment to enhance the builder experience while still preserving the signature customization and flexibility that define Van’s Aircraft kits.

FMI:  www.vansaircraft.com/