Van's RV-7 / RV-7A

Van's Aircraft started in 1972 when Dick VanGrunsven sold plans for the RV-3, a single-seat homebuilt with retract gear and a small Lycoming up front. By the mid-1990s the company had moved past plans to selling pre-cut kits, and the RV-6 became the breakthrough product. The RV-6 sold thousands of kits and proved out the design philosophy. Standard mission profiles, predictable performance, all-metal construction, and a build process accessible to a motivated amateur with a garage and a few thousand hours of free time.

The RV-7 was Van's response to the RV-6's limitations. The RV-6 had been designed around lighter engines and a smaller airframe. By the late 1990s, builders wanted to install larger engines, carry more fuel, and put more avionics in the panel. The RV-7 (and the nosewheel RV-7A) launched in 2001 with a slightly longer wing, larger fuel tanks (42 gallons usable up from 38), more interior room, and a redesigned canopy. Van's also moved to a side-mounted throttle and a more standard cockpit layout, which made the airplane easier for a typical certified-aircraft pilot to step into.

By the mid-2000s the RV-7 had passed the RV-6 in popularity. As of mid-2026, Van's reports over 2,000 RV-7s flying, with hundreds more in build. The kit-aircraft market is dominated by Van's, and the RV-7 is the volume leader within that. The closest competitors are other Van's models (RV-9 for cross-country, RV-14 for the modern build experience, RV-8 for tandem aerobatics) rather than other manufacturers.

Performance varies more than on certified airplanes because the engine and prop choices vary. The typical 180 hp O-360 with a Hartzell or Whirlwind constant-speed prop turns 180 to 185 KTAS at 8,500 ft on 8 to 9 gph. A 200 hp angle-valve IO-360 adds 5 to 8 knots of cruise speed at a similar fuel burn. The 215 hp IO-390 (most common in the RV-14, less so in the RV-7) climbs better at altitude but doesn't help cruise much.

Useful load is real for a kit airplane. A typical 180 hp RV-7 with a constant-speed prop has about 600 pounds of useful load. Full fuel (42 gallons, 252 lbs) leaves about 350 pounds for two people and bags. That's tighter than it sounds because two adults plus a small camping load can put you at or near gross. Range works out to about 800 nm with reserves at long-range cruise, or closer to 600 nm if you're chasing high-speed cruise.

The standard engine on an RV-7 is the Lycoming O-360 (carbureted) or IO-360 (fuel-injected), both at 180 hp. Lycoming's published TBO for the parallel-valve O-360 and IO-360 is 2,000 hours per Lycoming Service Instruction 1009 BE, but in experimental use that number is advisory. See the disclaimer below.

About 60% of completed RV-7s run an O-360 or IO-360 in the 180 hp range, per Van's Aircraft and the Vans Air Force forum surveys. Another 20% run a 200 hp angle-valve IO-360. The rest are split between older 150 hp O-320 installations (cheaper to overhaul, less performance) and 215 hp IO-390 setups (more performance at altitude, harder to source). The engine choice affects almost every cost number below, so if you're shopping used, the engine in the airplane matters more than the airframe.

Field overhaul of an O-360 or IO-360 at a name-brand shop runs $28,000 to $42,000 in 2026. Owner-assisted overhauls (legal in experimental and common in the RV community) can cut that by 30% to 40% in labor savings. Van's Air Force has decades of threads on doing this well. The Hartzell or Whirlwind constant-speed props that most RV-7s run cost $2,500 to $4,000 to overhaul, on a 2,400-hour/72-month cycle.

Owning an RV-7 is meaningfully cheaper than owning a 180 hp certified single, but the savings show up in different places depending on whether you built the airplane or bought it.

If you built it: you have the repairman certificate, you know the airplane intimately, and your hourly cost is dominated by fuel ($45 to $60 per hour at $5.50 to $7 per gallon and 8 to 9 gph) and reserves. Engine reserve is $14 to $21 per hour ($28,000 to $42,000 overhaul amortized across 2,000 hours, though experimental TBOs are advisory). Prop reserve is about $1 to $2 per hour. Airframe maintenance reserve is $5 to $15 per hour, well below certified equivalents because you're doing most of the work yourself. Plan on $90 to $130 per hour all-in at 100 hours a year, plus annual fixed costs of $3,000 to $6,000 (insurance, hangar, condition inspection if you outsource any of it).

If you bought it used: the math changes. You're paying an A&P to sign off the annual condition inspection ($500 to $1,200 typical), and you're paying for any work you can't or don't want to do yourself. Realistic all-in cost is $110 to $160 per hour at 100 hours a year. Insurance is higher than the original builder paid because underwriters give meaningful discounts to repairman-certificate holders.

Acquisition cost in mid-2026 runs about $80,000 for a high-time RV-7 with basic VFR avionics and original paint, up to $200,000 or more for a low-time IFR-equipped example with a glass panel and current paint. Most owner-flown airplanes in good condition trade in the $120,000 to $170,000 range. New from Van's, a complete RV-7 kit (Quick Build) plus engine, prop, avionics, and finishing costs typically runs $150,000 to $250,000 in 2026, with 1,500 to 3,000 hours of builder labor on top of that.