Open Cockpit-N584RV

[Snowflake]

About 5 years ago, I took one of the three-angle-views of the Sportster and mated it with the three-angle view of the RV-8... I took the RV-8 canopy and mated it to the Sportster fuselage. Then I emailed the image to Warner and said "why not try this?"

Good to see they looked at it, but the results aren't that encouraging. That two-person canopy doesn't really fit the lines of the airplane like an RV-8 shaped canopy would. But I think the Warner needs a larger canopy, I think it's a longer cockpit than the -8, so it might not be an easy mod in any case.

[rodrv6]

Originally Posted by pierre smith

....and who says you can't fly a -6 with an open cockpit?

I know of one guy who did, albeit for just a short "hop",

Regards,

How did that work out? I was toying with the idea of making a combination headrest fairing/cover that would install in place of the sliding portion of my canopy on my -6 for tooling around on pretty summer days. Might be fun?

[Sam C]

Dan-
If you give me your e-mail add, I'll send a bunch of my project pics. Don't want to over-use this site.
Also Note the posting by D.J. "Phrycooler" on the Warner Rocket; it's amazing how close that is to what I did. AND Note Randy Pflanger "f1rocket"'s posting about the absence of a roll bar. The conversion up in Mohave I mentioned retained the roll bar, but I decided to go without it; may not be too smart. Sam samcern@sbcglobal.net

[LifeisGood]

Hey Sam,

Sent ya a PM.

[rwarre]

My tail number is 845RV. RV7A closed cockpit

[pierre smith]

Originally Posted by rodrv6

How did that work out? I was toying with the idea of making a combination headrest fairing/cover that would install in place of the sliding portion of my canopy on my -6 for tooling around on pretty summer days. Might be fun?

...that ended up airborne for a short time and then an immediate landing. The guy needed a roll of toilet paper thereafter

Regards,

[Bill Dicus]

It was suggested that open cockpit might not be good over 100 mph. I think that depends on the design. Years ago flew in a Pitts S-2E, an open cockpit homebuilt version of the S-2A, but with a short deck 180 and fixed pitch prop. Great airplane and so much fun in the summer. We got to 200 mph indicated on down lines and the cockpit comfort was superb!

[PRIME]

I would love to see some more pics of this RV, even on the ground. It looks great!

I feel that you could incorporate the stock roll bar pretty easily and keep the good looks. Maybe even make a fiberglass fairing for the bottom part of it with a pad attached so it looks like a headrest (sort of like what this open cockpit -4 already has for the backseat).

I love open cockpit aviating, and being able to have the ability to choose makes this a tremendously fun airplane.

[Sam C]

Travis- Let me have your e-mail address and I'll be happy to provide addt'l pix. Sam C samcern@sbcglobal.net

[PRIME]

Originally Posted by Sam C

Travis- Let me have your e-mail address and I'll be happy to provide addt'l pix. Sam C samcern@sbcglobal.net

Sam,

I sent you an email. Thanks!

-Travis