KITPLANES January/February 2024

In the last quarter of 2023, pretty much all the homebuilt-aircraft world could talk about was trouble at Van’s Aircraft. The unquestionable leader in kit sales and number of aircraft flying, Van’s confessed to cash flow problems in October and then, in early December, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As Christmas neared, builders who had placed deposits on kits were informed of increased kit costs and provided an option: agree to the increase, on average about 32%, or decline and have their purchase agreements canceled, their deposits likely to be repaid but only over a period of time. As much as five years. It was an awful place to put your customers. And yet within 24 hours of Van’s notifying the first 500 (out of about 1500) customers with…

You’re hearing a lot more about angle of attack (AoA) flying these days and that is no accident (pardon the pun). From AOPA to EAA—not to mention a number of prominent flight schools and universities—flying by angle of attack is getting promoted as a way to stay away from accidental stalls in demanding flight maneuvers. Angle of attack indicators are becoming more common—especially in the Experimental aircraft world—because most EFIS manufacturers have the technology incorporated in their hardware and software, making it simple for all pilots to have the capability by just adding the appropriate pitot tube (which they might even already have) and doing some calibration work. We know this is probably a change to the way many pilots have learned to fly—or have been flying for their entire…

Despite the fact that all pilots are taught about the speed at which a wing stalls—it doesn’t! A wing stalls at a specific angle of attack. Lift is a mathematical product of speed, lift coefficient and some magical constants. We talk of a “stall speed” because for a given amount of lift (which equals weight times load factor), there will be a speed at which the wing is at an angle of attack that stalls. The stall angle of attack is a constant number for a specific airfoil. Vary the “weight” (actual weight times load factor) and the speed varies. The angle of attack at which the wing stalls is always the same, so an indicator that shows you AoA will always show where you are in relation to the…

It’s a common misconception that the only engine for Van’s RVs is a Lycoming—or a Lycoming clone. It’s true that’s the most common choice but not the only one. Van’s has, in fact, considered other engines—it flew the RV-10 behind a 210-hp Continental sixcylinder IO-360 but never offered the firewall-forward kit because builders indicated they wanted the most horsepower available. And then almost two decades ago, Van’s embraced the Rotax 912 for its then-new RV-12. In the intervening years, many LSA RVs have soldiered on with the dependable little powerplant—originally the carbureted 912 ULS and more recently the injected, computer-controlled 912 iS. The engines have proven perfect for the job and many have wondered if that same technology couldn’t be used on larger (and faster) RVs. The problem was power.…

If you compare the dry weight of a Rotax to the dry weight of a Lycoming, you quickly see one reason why the product of Austrian design is so attractive to aircraft designers—the Rotax is much lighter! Rotax says the 915’s dry weight is 181 pounds (including electronics and turbocharger) while your average Lycoming O-320 weighs around 250 pounds. That’s why, of course, you need to have an extended nose—the lack of weight up front needs to be taken into account when doing the weight and balance for the design. So how does the Rotax-powered RV-9A do? We took a peek at Lockwood’s W&B sheet to find out. Van’s lists the empty weight of a Lycoming-powered airplane as 1028–1075 pounds. Since Van’s factory airplanes are known to be built very…

Everyone flying—except birds and glider pilots—needs an engine. Whether you’re building a new kit or overhauling a flying airplane, inevitably you’ll need to decide which engine to use. Helping you with that decision is the point of this buyer’s guide. State of the Market Supply chain issues have been the main narrative around aircraft engines since COVID, but that story is winding down. Yes, supply remains tight on complete engines, cylinders and other parts, but enough parts are now available that demand is no longer running away from supply. Patience and ordering well ahead are still required (a year in advance remains a smart policy), but new engines and parts are being built. Taking on increasing importance is cost. Inflation has definitely taken its toll, and aircraft engine prices—silly expensive…