Forest River introduces Aviator at RV trade show

By Chris Dougherty

Certified RV Technician

Many manufacturers at the recent National RV Trade Show in Louisville had interesting new RVs on display, but the Aviator Touring Edition by Forest River was so intriguing, it warranted a second visit.

The Aviator is a new composite-built high-end trailer from Forest River, and just about everything about this RV is unique and interesting.

From the outside, the trailer.. and yes, it's a travel trailer (although it seems hard to call it that) looks like a Space Shuttle replacement. The front end is absolutely unique in design and construction. A travel trailer first, this unit has a full size, two piece, tinted glass windshield, epoxied into place. With its aerodynamic shape, it makes for a very interesting front dinette. The sides of the coach are contoured slightly and with the full paint and tinted surface mounted thermo-pane windows give this coach an amazing look . Next to the front door is a full size built-in entertainment center... but more about that later.

The Aviator is available in two floor plans. The 'Wright Flyer', which was displayed at the National RV Trade Show, has one living room slideout which holds the couch, with a front dinette and rear bedroom. The 'Spirit of St.Louis' is a front bedroom unit with two slideouts in the livingroom and a rear wall mounted entertainment center. Both floorplans feature a fireplace as well.

The trailer features a powder coated frame, one-piece fiberglass roof with aluminum truss rafters, a one-piece laminated composite floor, Celtec (foamed PVC) cabinetry with aluminum facing, heated and enclosed underbelly with Ultra-Heat equipped holding tanks. All the lighting inside and outside the coach is LED. The Aviator is equipped with a 57 gallon fresh water tank, 94 gallon gray water tank, and 47 gallon black tank.

Of particular note is the fully integrated Sony entertainment systems.. yes, systems. The systems consist of the outside 32" LCD HDTV, and DVD stereo, the living room 32" LCD HDTV, Blueray home theater system and fireplace, and the bedroom 32" LED HDTV and are all linked by a central router and a Sony 16GB tablet computer. All the A/V equipment and the fireplace are controlled by the tablet from anywhere around the coach. Besides being pre-programmed for easy swipe and tap control of all the components, plus full control of the electric fireplace, the tablet has the entire set of owner's manuals on there too. An interesting educational add are the videos on how to operate various parts of the coach, which are loaded on the tablet, but viewable on any or all of the TVs as well.

The interior of the 'Wright Flyer' is well appointed with plenty of headroom. The front dinette allows for an amazing view, and great seating for family and guests. A hydraulically controlled table drops down to make a dinette, although the table was extremely wobbly and needs work. A 'dashboard' behind the dinette has room for knickknacks. The kitchen cabinets have a very lightweight feel to them due to their unique lightweight construction of aluminum clad Celtec, but are attractive nonetheless. The nine cubic foot Dometic refrigerator with icemaker is a nice touch for a travel trailer but its location in the middle of the hallway across from the bathroom seems a bit out of the way. The kitchen has a stainless steel convection microwave oven by Frigidaire, a stainless LPG cooktop by Atwood, solid surface counters, under-mounted sink, pull out pantry and garbage can.

The bathroom has adequate space. It consists of a one-piece fiberglass shower, solid surface counter with under-mounted lavatory sink, and an Aqua-Magic ceramic toilet.

As mentioned previously, all lighting in the Aviator is LED, with some with dimmers. High-end wall mounted rocker switches are a nice touch, and the livingroom entertainment system sounds good and is visible from most of the seating positions. A Fantastic Vent is on the living room ceiling, a great feature. However, it cannot be controlled from the Sony system, nor can the furnace, air conditioning, awning or lighting.

With this level of technological sophistication, it would make sense that the Aviator was built to be RV-C compliant, but it isn't. RV-C is a communications standard being developed by the RV industry to allow technicians a single point of connection for electronic diagnostics, similar to what is found in modern cars. A number of component manufacturers are working to develop the standard, and some components have been released, but Forest River was not willing to bet on it yet.

Built as an all-season RV, the thermo-pane windows should work well to enhance cold weather comfort. They are covered on the inside with daylight shades, with the exception of the windshield which, unfortunately, has no shades at all.

Storage in this unit is plentiful, and includes a sliding storage tray with spare tire carrier. The nose compartment holds the LP gas bottles and the dual battery system. The lower part of the nose is a door that lifts like the hood of a motorhome. We found however that this didn't work particularly well and needed adjustment. There is also storage under the dinette, which is accessible from outside via slam latch doors, and there is more storage under the 60" x 80" queen bed. Inside is a closet and two wards, which should be adequate for a trailer this size.

With its estimated $60,000 price tag, the Aviator is positioned as a first class RV. While not for everyone it is certainly in a league of its own from a standpoint of design and technology, and offers a look at the RVs to come.