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- Van's Aircraft RV-8
Comparison
| Van's Aircraft RV-8These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ. | |
|---|---|
| What it is | |
| Seats | 2 |
| Landing gear | tailwheel |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Lycoming O-360 (150-215 hp approved) |
| Horsepower | 180 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | 1996 |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
| Performance | |
| Cruise speed | 176 KTAS |
| Range | 686 nm |
| Service ceiling | 20,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,650 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 50 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
| Load and fuel | |
| Seats | 2 |
| Useful load | 680 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,800 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,120 lb |
| Usable fuel | 42 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
| Cost of ownership | |
| Price, low | $49,700 |
| Price, high | $74,200 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
| The fleet and its record | |
| Registered, all time | 1,325 |
| Active fleet | 1,200 |
| Median year built | 2009.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 54 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 11 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years1 | 45 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active2 | 42.5 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 210 |
| Transfers per 100 active3 | 17.5 |
| Airworthiness directives | 12 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
| Peer scores | |
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
| Accident record4 | 3.1 of 10 |
| Severity5 | 3 of 10 |
| Access6 | 2.1 of 10 |
| Support7 | 9.7 of 10 |
| Liquidity8 | 3.8 of 10 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown)9 | 21.7 out of 50 |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 1,200 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 1,200 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 1,200 active.
- Accident record: class median 31.56 · 197 models in class.
- Severity: class median 10.
- Access: class median 1,000.75.
- Support: class median 89.
- Liquidity: class median 19.74.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.