Van's RV-15 (Next thing coming?)

[rv7charlie]

Mel,

I don't follow your logic. The Bushby Mustang II has a tapered wing, and even the old non-prepunched kit wings were no worse to build than the old -4/-6 wings. And they've been available prepunched for quite a while. It's still a flat wrap wing. CNC makes many perceived problems disappear.

Charlie

[Mike S]

Pascal, welcome to VAF

Have you thought about a Rocket with the Evo wing?

http://www.teamrocketaircraft.com/f1...fications.html

[Captain Bravo]

Originally Posted by Mike S

Pascal, welcome to VAF

Have you thought about a Rocket with the Evo wing?

http://www.teamrocketaircraft.com/f1...fications.html

Hi Mike, thanks for welcoming me here. The Rocket might be too much airplane for me.

In my quest for the next airplane, I am looking to solve four shortcomings of my current airplane which are limited range and speed, certified prices for everything (especially avionics), and a very small community of owners for an aircraft which is out of production but still supported by its manufacturer.

I have been reading the forums here for a while. I’m thinking an IO-320 or IO-360 with a fixed pitch propeller to keep the complexity, weight and price down. Apart from the occasional aileron roll and looping, I am not planning on any serious aerobatics. The mission calls for an aircraft that can reliably give me 500 nautical miles plus reserve, on a 20 knots headwind.

I don’t know much about airplane building but I have designed, scratch built and flown several RC airplanes.

Let’s say I want to build a wing that would be similar to the RV8’s wing, but two feet wider and tapered. Could I build the wing upside down on a flat surface? The resulting wing when turned upright would be horizontal and the taper would provide some dihydral on the underside?

[smokyray]

Originally Posted by Captain Bravo

I have been reading the forums here for a while. I’m thinking an IO-320 or IO-360 with a fixed pitch propeller to keep the complexity, weight and price down. Apart from the occasional aileron roll and looping, I am not planning on any serious aerobatics. The mission calls for an aircraft that can reliably give me 500 nautical miles plus reserve, on a 20 knots headwind.

Pascal,
Not to further hijack the RV15 thread but your question is valid and response-worthy.
Based on your requirements, Range/Speed, the distaste of the Hershey Bar Wing and you don't have time to build, consider a Mustang II. The Mustang is faster at top end for equal HP but the RV will takeoff and land slower. Another Mustang II advantage is cost. They can be purchased flying for less $$$, especially compared to newer RV's. Additionally Mustang Aero makes kits and they aren't far from you...www.mustangaero.com

All that said I still prefer the RV for my own requirements which include operating from 400M' (1200') runways. For me, utility outweighs pure aesthetics every time. Any stock RV will also match your speed/range requirements flown properly or modified like mine with ER tanks. www.hotelwhiskeyaviation.com The RV's NACA23012/3 airfoil is shared by the Bonanza, Taylorcraft, King Air, Baron, T-34 and others. There is a reason that all-star list of aircraft is so successful. They all have awesome flight characteristics across the board, including aerobatics. You don't need to re-invent the wheel building a one-off tapered wing to have that...

Here is an AOPA comparison article between the RV7 and the Mustang 2.
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/...-vs-mustang-ii

Bonne Chance..
Smokey

PS: I have been blessed to fly everything from Commercial Jets to the F16 and Sport Aircraft for 40 years. What do I own? A highly modified RV...