The RV-7

This is the Van's RV-7, the model that we're building. It's a lot of work, somewhere above 1400 hours of building time, but it should be worth the effort! I spent over 2400 hours on my last project and it only does 85 MPH, so the bang for the buck is going to be a whole lot bigger with the RV-7.

In short, the RV-7 is an evolution of the RV-6. It's a little longer than the -6, resulting in a little more legroom, and there's a little more headroom. The -7 was designed from the start for the larger Lycoming engines of 180 - 200 (O-360/IO-360) horsepower. The fuselage is generally an RV-9 fuselage married to an RV-8 wing and tail which includes an increase in fuel capacity to 42 gallons. There has been a recent modification to improve spin recovery and an RV-9 rudder is now standard with the kit. The use of parts and assemblies from different models allows Van's to keep cost and development time down while keeping quality high. 

For more detailed information, see the Van's website at http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/rv-7int.htm. There's a lot of good information on this model as well as the other models and for additional RV information, one of the best builder sites around, which started out as the RV White Pages can be found at http://www.metronet.com/~dreeves/vaf.htm.  Very cool website with a lot of great information. 

Below are some of the nicer photos of the RV-7 prototype. Kind of slick lookin', huh?

Courtesy Van's Aircraft	Courtesy Van's Aircraft
Courtesy Unknown	Courtesy Doug Reeves	Courtesy Doug Reeves

Here's the basic physical measurements. Most folks want to know how big it is. Well, here's the numbers.....By the way, I borrowed the data directly from the Van's website. 

Here's the performance figures from Van's. The prototype RV-7 is still undergoing collection of flight test data, but here are the factory numbers.