Richard VanGrunsven built his first homebuilt, a Stits SA-3 Playboy. Later modifying the fuselage and adding a metal wing, it became the RV-1. There was tremendous interest in his third design, the RV-3 after it won the Best Aerodynamic Detailing award at Oshkosh in 1972. Van's Aircraft was founded in 1973 to produce kits. The RV-5 was a one-off design to evaluate several concepts including light weight and fuel economy. It was never intended for production.