Van’s Aircraft Announces High-Wing RV-15

July 28, 2021 – For the first time, Van’s Aircraft will be manufacturing a high-wing, total performance, RV-15.

“We’re pretty excited that here at AirVenture, we’ve opened the curtain to the Van’s skunkworks, and let the community know that the RV-15 will be a high-wing, backcountry-capable, total-performance, all-metal airplane,” said Van’s Aircraft Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Greg Hughes.

Greg said it is very important to Van’s to include the community in what the company is doing.

“There’s been a lot of talk over the last couple years from the community — ‘Here’s what we hope Van’s does; here’s what we think Van’s should do’ — and we wanted to be able to share with our community what we’re doing and the direction we’re going in.”

While there currently aren’t any more details available on the highly anticipated aircraft, Greg said the community is welcome to share their input with the team.

“While the design is fairly well along its way, there’s still a few decisions that we might be able to make, and just hearing people’s input is very valuable to us,” Greg said. “We still have design refinements that our engineering team is working on, and when you change one thing on an airplane, a lot of other things can change, so we don’t want to promise anything to the public. The Van’s engineering methodology is total performance, and takes the time that it takes to get it just right, so when people ask, ‘When is it going to be done?’ When it’s done.”

Greg said that he and the rest of the team are enthusiastic for the future of aviation with the RV-15.

“I’m excited about it; I certainly intend on building one myself,” Greg said.

You can visit Van’s Aircraft at its booth located in the homebuilt aircraft display area.