Service Stop at Tulip City Airport
Kim’s RV6 recently received a compression check at Tulip City Airport.
“The aircraft took me approximately seven years to build in my basement,” stated Kim.“The RV6 has been one of the most popular kits. It’s nice to have Tulip City Air Service to help with service needs.”
RV History
In 1973, Richard (Van) VanGrunsven began manufacturing partial kits for the RV-3, working in a small shop behind his house. Now located in Aurora, Oregon the company produces several hundred complete aircraft kits a year, shipping them all over the world.
In the early to mid 1980s, the homebuilt market began to shift toward efficient touring, rather than pure sport airplanes. In response, Van’s developed the side-by-side RV-6. Careful design and attention to aerodynamic details resulted in a new airplane that retained the delightful handling and short field qualities of the RV-4.
RV Design
RV Aircraft are low-wing monoplanes of traditional aluminum construction. They use simple steel rod or leaf fixed landing gear. Aileron and elevators are controlled by a between-the-knees stick driving the surfaces through pushrods and ball bearings. The rudder is controlled by stainless steel cables. Fuel is contained in two sealed, removable, portions of the leading edge, and routed through a selector valve in the cockpit to the engine driven fuel pump. An electric fuel pump is installed in the system as a backup.
RV structures are “monocoque” or “stressed skin” designs. This means that the skins provide much of the airframe’s strength. The primary bending loads of the wing are carried by the single main spar. Wing torsional and drag loads are carried by the wing skins and rear spar. The same is true of the tail surfaces. The fuselage skins, whose shape is maintained by formed aluminum bulkheads, provide torsional and bending strength. Aluminum angle longerons in the fuselage provide stiffening for the skin and greater strength at localized points of attachment.
RVs are excellent cross-country airplanes, with low speed characteristics and short-field capabilities; a rare combination. Most are capable of delightful sport aerobatics and fun to fly. vansaircraft.com