Even in the early days it was obvious that a certain portion of RV builders had little interest in aerobatics. While they enjoyed the responsive handling, their primary interest was weekend flying or touring.

The RV-9A is the newest addition to the RV family, and it is an RV unlike any before it. The traditional RV wing, which does so many things well, was changed to optimize efficiency and economy at the expensive of a quick roll rate and lightening response. A new airfoil was chosen and both wing area and aspect ratio were increased. The increased span allowed larger slotted flaps. The fuselage was borrowed from the proven RV-6A, but a new, easier to build tail was developed.

The factory prototype flew in late 1997. Van deliberately equipped it with a small 118 hp engine to prove a point� a properly designed airplane could deliver very useable touring performance on modest power and very economical fuel consumption.

Although the RV-9A, with the small engine, didn�t deliver the "shove you in the back and fling you into the sky" performance of the other RVs, the big wing did get it into the air at lower speeds, so takeoff distances were quite short. Landings were even shorter�with the efficient wing and big flaps, the airplane could be flown and landed very slowly indeed. In fact, the first pilots to fly it all commented on the landing speeds. "It�s eerie," said one. "You feel like you could get out and run alongside when it touches down."

In other ways, the airplane was much as expected. It was easy to fly. Handling was docile and precise, but not as quick as the other RVs. Speeds were surprisingly good. The RV-9A could achieve 175 miles per hour, and cruise at almost 170 using the same engine as and burning the same fuel as a Cessna 152 or Piper Tomahawk. The mileage was the same as a good economy car but at three times the speed�and the view was much better!

Designed to take engines from 108 to 160 horsepower, Van�s expects the RV-9A will fill the needs of the weekend pilot almost perfectly.

The kit promises to be the best yet. Everything that Van�s has learned in twenty-seven years of building kits has gone into the RV-9A. The empennage was made available in the fall of 1999. Wing kits are expected in the early spring of 2000, followed by the fuselage/finishing kits during the summer. A QuickBuild version will likely be available by late 2000.

Note: You might notice both an RV-9 and RV-9A designation. There currently is only a tricycle gear version, and this is correctly called the RV-9A. The designation RV-9 was used initially, but was changed to RV-9A to maintain naming convention consistency with the other RV models