As part of its presentation this morning, Van’s Aircraft offered an update on the high-wing RV-15, which is now expected to move toward production by late next year. It was not at AirVenture in part because the flight testing is still ongoing. Van’s engineering staff, which was recently split into development and quality-assurance arms, has focused on other projects but has been back to flying the engineering prototype RV-15 since April. The bushplane is expected to get the team’s full attention this summer.
Right now, the team is planning to test a number of different configurations on the existing airframe, including a smaller wing of about 160 square feet—the current wing is 172 square feet. Because the existing airplane has very good low-speed capabilities, the goal is to trade some of that for a bit of cruise speed, though Rian Johnson, Van’s head of development engineering, says they’re happy with the speed they have now. Of course, reducing wing span, which is how they intend to make the change, will require balancing aileron and flap areas and may call for other control-system changes to maintain the handling balance they now have (and like).
The engineers have been tweaking the tail feathers, including changes to the stabilator’s anti-servo tab gearing and other details. One of the current tests involves a mechanism that doesn’t fit inside the tailcone so it’s outside as a proof of concept; Van’s didn’t necessarily want to show it off in this configuration. Johnson noted that they plan to test a conventional tail as well, one that’s close to but not exactly like an RV-10’s.
As previously mentioned, a new fuselage will be built that moves the wing aft 4 inches and subtly tweaks the relationship of seat/wing/engine. The windshield will have more rake, giving the RV-15 a sleeker profile. Johnson also said that there will be changes to the instrument panel, which was originally placed to help ensure good over-the-nose visibility. He noted that the current RV-15 has better viz than even some nose wheel RVs, so the panel can get some ergonomic tweaks and not lose that view. It’s not expected that they’ll change powerplants, which is currently a Lycoming IO-390.
