Van’s Aircraft Celebrates 10,000-Plus RVs Built and Flying
By Ti Windisch, EAA Staff Writer
July 21, 2018 - Van’s Aircraft’s presence can be found throughout general aviation, and EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2018 is no exception as Van’s celebrates more than 10,000 RVs built and flying.
In addition to the Van’s Aircraft booth found in the Homebuilts area and the various RVs found all over Oshkosh, Van’s impact can be felt across the grounds. A special parking group including several different types of RVs, and the 10,000th itself, can be found near Boeing Plaza.
“We have a special parking area out in front of Boeing Plaza where we have 10 aircraft that we’re parking,” said Sterling Langrell, EAA 790930, and technical support at Van’s Aircraft. “We didn’t quite get one of each model, but we have a 3, 4, and 6 all represented, those are sort of the legacy models. The 10,000th was an RV-7, he’s there. We have an RV-8, an RV-10, one 12, and two 14s. And I think there’s going to be a second RV-7.”
Sterling said many of those RVs will move to Boeing Plaza tomorrow, and join others to form a group featuring one of every type of RV. Many models are also shown at the main Van’s booth, where staff are on hand to answer questions from builders, prospective builders, and anyone else who might have them.
“We’ve got most of the models represented here in the booth, and we’re just here to talk to people, get them the information they’re looking for, introduce them to the airplanes and get them seated in it so they can see if it’s the airplane they want,” Sterling said.
The Van’s Aircraft prototype department is in Oshkosh for AirVenture, but unlike some of their colleagues they won’t be found in the company booth. Instead, they’ll be helping thousands of AirVenture attendees assemble an RV-12iS, the 2018 One Week Wonder airplane.
“Basically our entire prototype department will be here, not in our booth but over helping to build the One Week Wonder,” Sterling said. “They’ll be doing all the organizing and telling everybody what exactly needs to be done.”
The Van’s Aircraft booth can be found in the North Aircraft Display, across Booths 631, 632, and 633 on Wittman Road.
