?Newbie Question?

Today I sat in a beautiful RV7. The idea was/is to buy in as a partner. But I would prefer to own a plane outright which puts me in the RV6 price range. My question is what is the difference between a -6 and a -7?

Is the rudder on the -6 enough to keep it from ?wagging??

Plumbmaster said:

Today I sat in a beautiful RV7. The idea was/is to buy in as a partner. But I would prefer to own a plane outright which puts me in the RV6 price range. My question is what is the difference between a -6 and a -7?

Is the rudder on the -6 enough to keep it from “wagging”?

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Weight (empty, aerobatic, and gross) is going to be the big difference, all other things being equal. Some will say -7s are likely to be built more consistently.


I've flown both, with the vast majority of my time in a small-tail -6. Honestly the differences were minuscule--the -7 seemed to float just a tiny bit more on landing, and the rudder seemed a little more effective on rollout--I wasn't dancing as much on the pedals.

Edit: I've never noticed "wagging" in the -6

If the 6 is what you can afford, then go for it. The 7 has a lot of improvements that affect everything from building (more matched holes, much easier spar attach, etc) and some improvements in flight characteristics (bigger tail, higher weights, etc). I would not talk you out of a 6. Just get a good prebuy on it as the 6 has more opportunity for building mistakes due to the generation of the kit (non matched hole). You will have lots of fun with it, it is a great all-around cross-country and aerobatic airplane! There's LOTS of them flying.

Vic

6 vs 7

I love my -6.

But there is more to the story.
There is a big difference between a:
45K rv-6 meaning 150hp, wood prop, 6pk panel and bad or no paint or bad paint.
vs
a 75K -6 with 180hp CS prop with nice panel/ap and great paint.

They both would fly great and the 150hp wood prop one should be lighter and more nimble but they would be completely different airplanes.

The -6 is a wonderful airplane.

Plumbmaster said:

Today I sat in a beautiful RV7. The idea was/is to buy in as a partner. But I would prefer to own a plane outright which puts me in the RV6 price range. My question is what is the difference between a -6 and a -7?

Is the rudder on the -6 enough to keep it from ?wagging??

Click to expand...

I've been flying my RV-6 since 1999. The wagging you are referring to is a slight amount of Dutch roll that is present in turbulence if the pilot doesn't damp it with feet on the rudder pedals. This isn't a problem, just a characteristic of small-tail RVs, and one to which you would quickly acclimate. It certainly is no reason to eliminate a good RV-6 from your search.

Bob Martin said:

I love my -6.

But there is more to the story.
There is a big difference between a:
45K rv-6 meaning 150hp, wood prop, 6pk panel and bad or no paint or bad paint.
vs
a 75K -6 with 180hp CS prop with nice panel/ap and great paint.

They both would fly great and the 150hp wood prop one should be lighter and more nimble but they would be completely different airplanes.

The -6 is a wonderful airplane.

Click to expand...

Deals are out there. I got my rv-6 with a new IO-360 angle valve with 70 hours and a new hartzell CS BA prop full IFR with steam gauges for ~$40K. I've since dropped $20k into the panel for full garmin glass and gtn. A similarly equipped -7 would be over $100k. I can deal with the nuances for that. Of course I also did all the work on the panel saving all of the labor costs.

With all that said if I was building, at this point the extra cost is worth a -7 kit (new or used) vs the price of a cheap -6 kit from an individual. Something to be said about the prepunched kits.

I find the tail wag in turbulence is just part of the personality of my airplane. It is a non issue.
There are some smoking hot deals on 6's to be had out there. I have flown most RV models and wouldn't trade my 6 for what I use my airplane for. This was the last non-CAD model and owes much of its beauty to that fact. I might be a bit biased
The short tail is part of that beauty and I have never been limited by it. I even spin tested mine (not recommended) but it did fine, it just isn't consistent. You can't just stop on a heading like other airplanes I have spun. Again, a non issue but don't spin it. There is no need.