...this was posted somewhere else and was such a good read I copied it to here for the archives. dr
(from Rob 'Smokey' Ray)
[snip] Concerning additional baggage, I hinged my upper baggage area door to allow access to the aft fuselage. Last year I stretched a nylon net from Wal Mart between the rear fuselage upper longerons attaching with tie wraps, forming a shelf. I put my travel guitar back there and light stuff such as sleeping bags. My buddy Dale modified his RV4 baggage area by removing the "shelf" (F428). Instead, he built a small box over the elevator bellcrank and floored everything else level with the bottom of the fuselage back to the bulkhead then put a vertical panel over the bulkhead. This almost doubled his baggage area.
I hinged the door over my battery box. I used an Odyssey PC680 battery and mounted it on the firewall, leaving the battery area as a forward baggage compartment. I easily have the same baggage area as an RV8 now. I recommend you not build a center console and put all your instruments/radios on the upper panel as I did. This is very easy now with the Dynon EFIS and engine monitors.
With all these mods you can carry as much as you "need" within CG limits. Moving my battery out front and putting my tool box, canopy cover, chocks, tiedowns and spare oil bottle all in the forward baggage, I now have ALOT of room in my 2 back baggage areas for bulky light stuff and no CG worries. You also can hinge the panels on either side of the stickwell creating small pockets for maps and tools. I have seen 2 RV4's with hinged panels under the back seat creating small glove compartments.Wingtips have also been made into storage with removable doors. My rear seat cushion has a small LPU stuffed inside.
The possibilities are endless...Good Luck!
Rob Ray
(from Rob 'Smokey' Ray)
[snip] Concerning additional baggage, I hinged my upper baggage area door to allow access to the aft fuselage. Last year I stretched a nylon net from Wal Mart between the rear fuselage upper longerons attaching with tie wraps, forming a shelf. I put my travel guitar back there and light stuff such as sleeping bags. My buddy Dale modified his RV4 baggage area by removing the "shelf" (F428). Instead, he built a small box over the elevator bellcrank and floored everything else level with the bottom of the fuselage back to the bulkhead then put a vertical panel over the bulkhead. This almost doubled his baggage area.
I hinged the door over my battery box. I used an Odyssey PC680 battery and mounted it on the firewall, leaving the battery area as a forward baggage compartment. I easily have the same baggage area as an RV8 now. I recommend you not build a center console and put all your instruments/radios on the upper panel as I did. This is very easy now with the Dynon EFIS and engine monitors.
With all these mods you can carry as much as you "need" within CG limits. Moving my battery out front and putting my tool box, canopy cover, chocks, tiedowns and spare oil bottle all in the forward baggage, I now have ALOT of room in my 2 back baggage areas for bulky light stuff and no CG worries. You also can hinge the panels on either side of the stickwell creating small pockets for maps and tools. I have seen 2 RV4's with hinged panels under the back seat creating small glove compartments.Wingtips have also been made into storage with removable doors. My rear seat cushion has a small LPU stuffed inside.
The possibilities are endless...Good Luck!
Rob Ray
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