By Mike Davenport, Langley, British Columbia

Back when the earth was still flat, a brilliant aircraft designer came up with the idea of an all-metal aircraft that most could build in a home shop or garage. Richard VanGrunsven received a positive response when he demonstrated the capabilities of what was to become the first in a line of aircraft — from the single-seat RV-3 through to today’s high-wing RV-15.

My personal experience with an RV-6 goes back to a demo flight in November 1986 with Richard in Serial No. 1, N66RV, and I logged .3 dual. Later in ‘91 and ‘92, I had a further 12 hours in a friend’s RV-6.

Today, somewhere north of 11,000 kits have been completed and flown. This brief commentary is to show that even a small regional airport can have a half dozen of the species.

Here are just a few RVs photographed at my local airport.