ARV Griffin

The ARV Griffin is a Canadian homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Dave Marsden of the University of Alberta and produced by Canada Air RV and later by AC Millennium Corp, both of Edmonton. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.

Both companies are out of business and production ended.

Design and development
The aircraft features a strut-braced high wing, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit accessed via doors, fixed tricycle landing gear, or, optionally conventional landing gear with wheel pants and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft is made from sheet aluminum. Its 35.50 ft span high aspect ratio wing employs a Marsden-designed IARV 419 airfoil, mounts flaps and has a wing area of 136.00 sqft. Winglets were a factory option to improve low speed handling, lateral control and STOL performance. The cabin width is 47 in and the wings detach for ground transportation or storage. The acceptable power range for the Griffin Mark III is 65 to 150 hp and the standard engines used are the 100 hp Continental O-200A, 80 hp Rotax 912, 74 hp Rotax 618 two-stroke or the 100 hp CAM 100 powerplants. Mounts were also available for the 130 hp Subaru EA81, 108 hp Lycoming O-235 and Suzuki engines.

The Griffin Mark III has a typical empty weight of 840 lb and a gross weight of 1500 lb, giving a useful load of 660 lb. With a full fuel load of 37 u.s.gal the payload for pilot, passenger and baggage is 438 lb. The seats are fully adjustable and removable.

The fitting of floats and skis was listed as being under development in 1998. The Mark III kit included all-aluminum parts cut and bent, with fuselage, wing and tail assemblies pre-jigged. The aircraft could be bought as four separate sub-kits. The manufacturer estimates the construction time from the supplied kit as 800 hours for the Mark III and 600 hours for the Mark IV.

Operational history
By 1998 the company reported that 18 kits had been sold and three aircraft were flying.

In December 2013 four were registered with Transport Canada and one in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Variants

 * Griffin
 * Initial version developed by Canada Air RV, with gross weight of 1500 lb and powered by a 100 hp Continental O-200A.


 * Griffin Mark III
 * Version produced by Canada Air RV and AC Millennium, with gross weight of 1500 lb and powered by a 100 hp Continental O-200A, 74 hp Rotax 618 two-stroke, 80 hp Rotax 912 or 100 hp CAM 100.


 * Griffin Mark IV
 * Version produced by AC Millennium, with gross weight of 1730 lb, a wing area of 115.5 sqft and powered by a 160 hp Lycoming O-320.