Builder
John Michie

Aircraft type
Van’s RV6A

Registration
G-TJDM

Specification
The Van’s series of aircraft are of all metal, flush riveted, monocoque construction, with glass fibre cowlings, wheel spats, leg fairings, wing tips, and empennage tips. The 3, 4, 6, and 8 are aerobatic.

Span 23’ 6”
Length 20’ 11”

Empty Weight 1060 lbs
Max Weight 1650 lbs
Max Baggage 100 lbs

Fuel 38 USG / 144 L
Endurance 4 ½ hours

Vne 183 kts
Cruise 145 – 155 kts typical
Stall speed (max wt) 48 kts

Engine Lycoming IO 320-B1A 160 hp
Prop Warnke wooden fixed pitch

Equipment
Dynon D10A EFIS
ACS Engine Monitor
Skymap 3C GPS
Microair radio
XCom intercom
Trig transponder
AOA angle of attack
G meter
Main and Standby alternators, no vacuum system

Modifications
RV7 wingtips
James Aircraft cowling and cooling plenum

About the builder
I’d been building and flying model aircraft since I was about eight, progressing through rubber powered, to control line, to single channel radio, and on to multi channel radio. My main interest was scale models and I’d always wanted to build one big enough to sit in and fly.

About 1996 a friend let me fly his Robin 200 and I slowly got back into GA. With retirement approaching I looked for a full-size project, and after a flight in an RV6A decided that was the one for me. After visiting Van’s factory in Oregon to order the kit I did a two-day metalwork course nearby, and thankfully found I could set rivets satisfactorily (there are roughly 11,000 of them).

I started in January 1999 and did the first flight on 27th October 2008. The actual build time was about five years but I had long breaks. With help from many friends, especially Nicholas Skyrme, I did all the work except the exterior paint.