Iceman wrote:

I am getting ready to order the kit for RV-9. I would enjoy hearing
from the ones that have built or worked on the RV line. I would like
to hear of the good traits and bad ones also.

If you're close to buying you've probably heard all the
glowing things about flying the airplanes, so I'll skip that,
although they're true.

Goods: Usually excellent support, well-founded and apparently
well-managed, stable company. Good support system. Huge builders'
network so if the company can't help, someone else probably can.

Well-known and understood airplanes without significant 'design
peculiarities' make them easy to certify and to find someone
to work on if the need arises.

Van's is continually improving the designs, and if you buy
partial kits as you progress you can often take advantage of the
improvements. Of course if they improve the section you just
finished you might not look at that as a positive g.

The company does pretty thorough test programs on the airplanes.

Designed by an engineer, not an artist :-)

Others: Anything less-than-good I might say about the kits
would be based on my 1991 RV-4 kit, and they've changed so much
since then that the problems I had are probably no longer valid.
The only other possibly negative thing I can think of is maybe
the price compared to other sort-of-similar kits, BUT! when you
consider what you get in the kit and what you end up with I think
it's well worth it.
And maybe for the tri-gear models: "Is that a Grumman?"

All in all if you want to build an airplane it's hard to find
fault with the RV series. In the end it's always a personal
decision, but they're really nice kits from a good company.

Dave 'Van's cans' Hyde

RV-4 (still) in flight test, EAA technical counselor