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The RV-11 is a motorglider. Will most likely never see production as a kit.
 
If you are interested in more info, change the setting at the bottom (after you first click on the RV-11 forum) at the bottom to show threads from the beginning (instead of just the past month).
 
RV5

Thanks guys!!!!

Chris,
Many years ago (when building RV's required you to drill alot more holes) I flew my RV4 to the annual RV fly-in in North Plains (old factory location, Van's backyard) Van took a couple of us over to his garage/hangar and in the rafters was a small airplane not unlike my Sonerai 2. I asked what is was and Van said "The RV5". It was Van's answer to a low cost, VW powered RV anybody could afford. It too, never went into production as a kit.
My guess is Van's sport-plane marketplace savvy (as Mel so intuitively pointed out), ruled out production for the same reason as the RV11. Not enough demand.

The Xenos motorglider kit however by Sonex is probably the closest thing to the RV11 vision out there...
http://www.sonexaircraft.com/aircraft/xenos.html

V/R
Smokey

On a another cool note, my RV4 turns 20 this week...
 
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As I recall, the 11 was to use a Rotax engine, and a set of production glider wings......you built the fuse and tail.
 
Chris,
Many years ago (when building RV's required you to drill alot more holes) I flew my RV4 to the annual RV fly-in in North Plains (old factory location, Van's backyard) Van took a couple of us over to his garage/hangar and in the rafters was a small airplane not unlike my Sonerai 2. I asked what is was and Van said "The RV5". It was Van's answer to a low cost, VW powered RV anybody could afford. It too, never went into production as a kit.
My guess is Van's sport-plane marketplace savvy (as Mel so intuitively pointed out), ruled out production for the same reason as the RV11. Not enough demand.

The Xenos motorglider kit however by Sonex is probably the closest thing to the RV11 vision out there...

Since you brought up the RV-5......

https://newsline.kitplanes.com/2017/07/06/vans-new-secret-project/
 
Why do I think that trip had more to do with the suspiciously engine-less RV-12 sitting behind it? I'll pretend I didn't see the 3-blade prop hanging on the wall.
 
Chris,
Many years ago (when building RV's required you to drill alot more holes) I flew my RV4 to the annual RV fly-in in North Plains (old factory location, Van's backyard) Van took a couple of us over to his garage/hangar and in the rafters was a small airplane not unlike my Sonerai 2. I asked what is was and Van said "The RV5". It was Van's answer to a low cost, VW powered RV anybody could afford. It too, never went into production as a kit.
My guess is Van's sport-plane marketplace savvy (as Mel so intuitively pointed out), ruled out production for the same reason as the RV11. Not enough demand.

The Xenos motorglider kit however by Sonex is probably the closest thing to the RV11 vision out there...
http://www.sonexaircraft.com/aircraft/xenos.html

V/R
Smokey

On a another cool note, my RV4 turns 20 this week...

The RV-5 was never designed to be put into production as a for sale kit.
In fact (from my understanding) the drawings were never much beyond napkin sketches.
It was designed to be a flight test platform for a 1/2 VW engine that an acquaintance of Van was working on. The build of the airplane was taken on as a EAA Chapter project, with Van consulting.
The 1/2 VW proved to be not viable (lower than expected power and rather rough, from what I have heard).
Rather than just discard the airplane it was re-engined with a 447 Rotax. From what I have been told it was an amazing performer in that configuration.... even though it is only 40 HP performance can be impressive with an airplane empty weight of under 350 lbs.
Van's niece and nephew (brother Jerry's son and daughter) put a lot of hours on it building time for their commercial tickets.
It will hopefully fly again if we can find all of the parts needed to refurb the engine (rather scarce now adays).
 
Let it fly!

Hope that you all can get it flying again - maybe with a more contemporary engine. I think that you will be surprised by the demand for a kit 'if' you are able to find the right engine. I'd love to see this airplane fly.
 
Contemporary, not so much...

ED,
I too would like to see the RV-5 fly insomuch as it's similar in cost, size and weight to The Sonerai I and II, a favorite of mine. Your desire for it to sport a more contemporary engine is an interesting thought. So what is contemporary?
There hasn't been a "contemporary certified aircraft" engine in that HP range since the Continental A-40 in the 1930's which weighs nearly 170lbs installed. The Rotax 447 was designed first for snowmobiles then for ultralights. The R682 was designed primarily for the same and is also 2-stroke. The UL Power, Jabiru, and Sauer designs hold promise but along with modern Rotax 9-series are expensive (and heavy) in comparison. The relatively new Pegasus DP-1 (0-100) offers promise but is yet to be proven in large numbers.

This is the same dilemma in the Sonerai world as the venerable VW is still hard to beat in cost, weight and HP. The 143lb 1835CC blueprinted VW in my S-2 produces 60HP at 3.5 GPH at a cost of $4000. That's alot of bang for the weight, and bucks. The 1/2 VW is well, half of that.
The 1/2VW still enjoys success in the Hummel-Bird designs and others. Scott Casler at Hummel engines is backlogged thanks to a rebirth of low cost aviators building VW powered designs. Additionally, Aerovee, Revmaster and Great Plains offer low cost, reliable alternatives for budget flyers.
https://www.hummelengines.com/

Until someone designs a better power to weight, lower cost, aircraft capable power-plant in the 40-80HP range, Ferdinand Porsche's venerable "Boxer Engine" will soldier on...

V/R
Smokey
 
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