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 Aircraft anticipates the RV-15 bushplane will move toward production by late next year (late 2025), with ongoing flight testing for the engineering prototype.
The development team plans to test various configurations, including a smaller wing (160 sq ft) to potentially trade some low-speed capability for increased cruise speed.
Significant design revisions are underway for the RV-15, encompassing tweaks to the tail feathers (e.g., conventional tail, stabilator), a new fuselage to reposition the wing and add a more raked windshield, and ergonomic adjustments to the instrument panel.

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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.