Van's RV-15 Production Pushed to Late 2025

The high-wing, two-seat backcountry airplane is currently undergoing flight testing.

Marc Cook

Thursday, July 25, 2024 at 10:01 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Van’s Aircraft RV-15 [Credit: Matt Beaubien]

Key Takeaways:

Van's RV-15 bushplane is expected to move toward production by late next year, with flight testing intensifying as engineering staff dedicate full attention to the project.
The team is actively testing design variations, including a smaller wing (160 sq ft) to improve cruise speed and experimenting with various tail configurations, such as a conventional tail.
Future design updates will include a new fuselage moving the wing aft and a more raked windshield for a sleeker profile, alongside ergonomic tweaks to the instrument panel, while retaining the Lycoming IO-390 powerplant.

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OSHKOSH, Wisconsin—As part of its presentation Tuesday morning at EAA AirVenture, Van’s Aircraft offered an update on the high-wing RV-15, which is now expected to move toward production by late next year.

The bushplane 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 aircraft is expected to get the team’s full attention this summer.