Low Performance Ultralight, self explanatory controls

Lore

TRV-8 was the brainchild of Cornish civil engineer Roger E Calvins who, after seeing the market for kitplanes, decided he could do a better job. The aircraft was constructed entirely in his garage in Truro, with the wings being built seperately. The construction drew interest from local newspapers, but larger papers dismissed the story. Calvins claimed that ‘Travis’ stood for ‘TRuro AViation Inquisitive Science’, though it is unclear if the name was made up on the spot.
Calvins' main design philosophy with TRV-8 was pure minimalism: the cockpit only had instruments that he deemed 'necessary'. This, unfortunately, limited TRV-8 to low-level VFR flying. Additionally, the wind protection could be considered crude. Finally, Calvin's omitted a tailwheel in favor of a non steering skid, meaning that once on the ground, TRV-8 could not steer.

Although the aircraft flew in late 2006 and was easily handled, Calvins’ plans to sell it in kit form never materialised, as the Civil Aviation Authority would only give the type an experimental permit to fly, presumably due to Calvins' cost cutting measures. He instead tried to sell the design to numerous companies including Stockport Aviation, to no avail. When his civil engineering firm went under in 2008, Calvins could no longer support TRV-8 and abandoned the project . The sole TRV-8 was rescued from scrap by a salvage collector, and eventually made its way into the hands of a rich Scottish collector, who maintains the plane in flying condition today.