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Four seat luxury
First Impressions: The RV-10 is a departure from other two-seat Van’s sport plane varieties while maintaining the same honest flight characteristics that make the RV line the most popular home-built aircraft manufacturer in the world. This plane is a luxury four-seater and a fast, efficient cross-country machine. Unlike some four-seat airplanes, the RV-10 is actually capable of carrying four FAA-sized adults, 60 gallons of fuel, and a reasonable amount of weekend luggage.
Background: Van’s Aircraft has built a solid reputation over the past 51 years with over 11,000 Van’s aircraft flying and thousands more under construction. 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the first RV-10 flight and, to date, more than 1,000 RV-10s have been built and flown. Needless to say, Van’s is doing something right - not just in their quality designs and kits, but also in covering many corners of the GA market. For those who love RV designs but want to share the joys of flying with more than one friend, the RV-10 was their long-awaited prize. Van’s has just about perfected kit-build planes with “matched hole” punching and pre-welded, powder-coated steel parts. Besides great factory support, the biggest advantage for Van’s builders is other Van’s builders – the best network of any kit plane in the world!
Design Characteristics: The RV-10 is a riveted aluminum monocoque low-wing, fixed gear, four-seat home-built plane with a composite cabin roof. While other RV products have aerobatic capabilities, this Vans product is purpose-built for cross-country flight. This certainly does not mean it’s not fun to fly! Dual control sticks, with a light feel and great visibility for everyone translates to fun for a weekend burger run or just sightseeing with friends! For longer trips, you can haul four adults with baggage at 160-170 knots and 10.5 to 11.5 gallons per hour. You’ll be hard-pressed to beat that economy in most four-wheeled land-hugging machines!
This gorgeous RV-10 was built by proud owner, Tal Halloran, a gregarious former Marine Corps naval aviator and retired airline captain. Of course, part of the beauty of a home-built aircraft is the ability to modify it as you see fit. Tal determined early that every build decision would be based first and foremost on his family’s safety and his workmanship shows true consideration to every detail. The luxury of his RV-10 extends to the instrument panel and includes two G3X Touch PFDs (Primary Flight Display), a GTN 650, a remote GTX-45R ADS-B transponder, a GMA-245 audio panel, and a G5 that serves as Standby Flight Display. Needless to say, this Garmin suite means all the instrumentation bases are covered and situational awareness is only limited by the stick monkey’s processing power. Speaking of power, electrical power comes from a 60-amp primary alternator and a backup 40-amp alternator and two 12-volt batteries. Considering that only 32 amps are required with everything on, it’s safe to say this RV-10 will never lack electrical power.
Ergonomics: One of the many selling points of the RV-10 is the size and easy access. Most noticeable are the gull-wing doors – a first for the RV line. The doors provide easy step-down access to the cabin and, more importantly, they look cool. The front seats slide forward to allow back seat passengers a clear path to step down onto the floorboard before taking a seat. According to Van’s Aircraft, pilots and passengers up to 6’4” will be comfortable in any of the four seats. Leg, shoulder, and head room are abundant for everyone and there is even a Big Gulp-sized cup holder in the back! Cabin ventilation is important in the summer once the doors are closed, so Tal installed four NACA-style vents to provide airflow to the front seats at knee level and overhead via an overhead plenum with eyeball vents.
Powerplant: A Lycoming IO-540 produces 260 horsepower to an 80-inch two-blade Hartzell constant-speed propeller. Sparks are provided by one Slick magneto and one Surefly solid state electronic ignition. Two wing tanks hold a total of 60 gallons and generally provide around five hours of flight time at a normal cruise power setting.
Taxi/Takeoff: After strapping in, reach up and grab the front of the gull-wing door to close it before cranking the engine. Taxiing the RV-10 requires some differential braking to get the castering nosewheel moving in the right direction. Once the nose is tracking straight, slide your heels down and use rudder only to avoid excessive brake wear and heating. After the runup is complete, line-up on centerline and feed in the power. As the six cylinders reach a growling crescendo, you’ll feel the rudder become very effective and differential braking will no longer be required. From throttling forward until take-off happens fast! If obstacles are an issue, use 85 knots before transitioning to 105 to 115 knots for the climb. Retract the flaps from 0 to a -3 degrees for cruise. This -3 degree “reflex” position allows the high-lift wing to maintain an optimal angle of attack for cruise. The secondary effect is it minimizes drag from down-elevator that would otherwise be required. On climb-out you can typically expect to see 1,000-1,200 feet per minute climb rate on a standard day, limited only by cylinder head cooling requirements.
Flight Characteristics: Somehow the RV-10 brings a perfect balance of agility and stability. The centered control sticks actuate the ailerons and elevator via smooth pushrod control and require little movement, making it a true joy to fly by hand. The three-axis GFC500 autopilot includes a yaw dampener and helps makes single pilot IFR easily manageable by the pilot and comfortable for the passengers.
Like all Vans aircraft, this airplane is aerodynamically slick, but that doesn’t mean it’s a runway hog when it’s time to land. The short field capability is quite impressive considering it’s top-end speed. The power-off stall speed with 30 degrees of flaps in the aircraft as tested is 58 KIAS and is truly a non-event that only results in a mild wings-level break. Also, with a Dynon Angle of Attack (AOA) system coupled to an aural warning, there is no lack of notice for an impending stall. After leveling off at cruising altitude, you will see about 165 to170 knots true airspeed on 11.5 gph with 70% power and 155 to 160 KTAS at 60% power.
Landing: This plane doesn’t like to slow down so plan your descent early enough to decelerate below the flap speed. The flaps can be selected to 0, 10, 20, and 30 degrees down with consecutive depressions of the electric flap switch. With flaps at 30 degrees, approach at 70 knots over the fence. For a short field landing, fly at 65 knots with full flaps and a little power on will still provide plenty of control and minimize time in the flare. Plenty of rudder control is available for crosswind landings and no shimmying of the castering nosewheel was observed.
Wrap-up: It’s hard to beat the efficiency of an RV-10 if your mission is cross-country travel for four people in a spacious cabin with all the luxury of a modern avionics suite and autopilot. Build or buy (good luck finding one) an RV-10 and it is a guarantee you and your passengers will not be disappointed in the comfort and performance!
