Soon after the RV-4 proved that a two seat RV was a practical and exciting airplane, prospective customers began asking for a side-by-side RV.

When the demand became too big to ignore, Van went back to the drafting board. Initially, he was reluctant, because he felt that a wider, and inevitably heavier, airplane would suffer in comparison to the sleek centerline seating airplanes. It wasn�t long before his quest for optimization surfaced again. Using what he�d learned from the RV-3 and RV-4, and striving in every way he knew to avoid losing performance, he designed the RV-6.

He made it 43 inches wide and gave it a generous baggage compartment behind the seats. The wing on the RV-4 worked so well that there was no point in changing it, so he didn�t. The canopy was a forward opening bubble that closed almost seamlessly and, like all RVs, the visibility was superb. The landing gear was the same tailwheel arrangement that had worked so well on the RV-3 and RV-4. Since a side-by-side airplane was more likely to be flown cross-country, the fuel capacity was increased.

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The RV-6 made its first flight in 1985. When all the flight testing was done, Van was delighted to find that despite the wide fuselage, it was only three miles per hour slower than the RV-4! The handling qualities and STOL characteristics were so close that a pilot who couldn�t see the altered visual picture caused by sitting off the centerline probably couldn�t tell the RV-4 and RV-6 apart.

One limit to RV sales had always been the fact that they were all tailwheel airplanes. They had no nasty habits and in many ways were easier to fly and land than many production tailwheel aircraft, but there was no denying that many prospective customers had never had the chance to even try a tailwheel and were reluctant to plunge into building one.

Installing a nose wheel solved the problem. The RV-6A featured a very simple tricycle gear, with steel rod main gear legs and a free castoring nosewheel. The nosegear leg was supported by the steel engine mount and required no complicated steering mechanisms or shock absorbers. The modification resulted in very little weight gain and almost negligible performance loss�in fact; it is not unusual for a given trigear RV-6A to be slightly lighter and faster than a specific RV-6. Landing and taxi became easier than ever.

After the RV-6A was flying, Van�s designed another major change. A sliding canopy became an option on both the RV-6 and RV-6A. This proved very popular in hot climates, where long taxis under a burning sun could become very uncomfortable. Sliding the canopy back and hanging an elbow over the rail made the pilot cool two ways! Because the tail and wings are identical on the RV-6 and RV-6A, a customer can build a great deal of the airplane before committing to a landing gear or canopy design.

The RV Grin Factor, added to the versatility and practicality of side-by-side seating, has made the RV-6/6A the most popular kit aircraft in the world, exceeding even the RV-4. Over 1000 examples have flown, and another 3000+ are under construction.