Soon after the RV-4 proved that a two seat RV was
a practical and exciting airplane, prospective customers began
asking for a side-by-side RV.
When the demand became too big to ignore, Van
went back to the drafting board. Initially, he was reluctant,
because he felt that a wider, and inevitably heavier, airplane would
suffer in comparison to the sleek centerline seating airplanes. It
wasn’t long before his quest for optimization surfaced again. Using
what he’d learned from the RV-3 and RV-4, and striving in every way
he knew to avoid losing performance, he designed the RV-6.
He made it 43 inches wide and gave it a generous
baggage compartment behind the seats. The wing on the RV-4 worked so
well that there was no point in changing it, so he didn’t. The
canopy was a forward opening bubble that closed almost seamlessly
and, like all RVs, the visibility was superb. The landing gear was
the same tailwheel arrangement that had worked so well on the RV-3
and RV-4. Since a side-by-side airplane was more likely to be flown
cross-country, the fuel capacity was increased.
The RV-6 made its first flight in 1985. When all
the flight testing was done, Van was delighted to find that despite
the wide fuselage, it was only three miles per hour slower than the
RV-4! The handling qualities and STOL characteristics were so close
that a pilot who couldn’t see the altered visual picture caused by
sitting off the centerline probably couldn’t tell the RV-4 and RV-6
apart.
One limit to RV sales had always been the fact
that they were all tailwheel airplanes. They had no nasty habits and
in many ways were easier to fly and land than many production
tailwheel aircraft, but there was no denying that many prospective
customers had never had the chance to even try a tailwheel and were
reluctant to plunge into building one.
Installing a nose wheel solved the problem. The
RV-6A featured a very simple tricycle gear, with steel rod main gear
legs and a free castoring nosewheel. The nosegear leg was supported
by the steel engine mount and required no complicated steering
mechanisms or shock absorbers. The modification resulted in very
little weight gain and almost negligible performance loss…in fact;
it is not unusual for a given trigear RV-6A to be slightly lighter
and faster than a specific RV-6. Landing and taxi became easier than
ever.
After the RV-6A was flying, Van’s designed
another major change. A sliding canopy became an option on both the
RV-6 and RV-6A. This proved very popular in hot climates, where long
taxis under a burning sun could become very uncomfortable. Sliding
the canopy back and hanging an elbow over the rail made the pilot
cool two ways! Because the tail and wings are identical on the RV-6
and RV-6A, a customer can build a great deal of the airplane before
committing to a landing gear or canopy design.
