WA85
Well Known Member
During Phase 1, I did several stall series with pro-spin inputs, but never let the acft depart into a spin until such time as I had total faith in myself and my RV-8. After 135 hrs and about a year of flying it, I decided I was ready to start working my way into fully developed spins.
There are several excellent posts on VAF about RV spin techniques and in particular there have been some excellent posts about the unique characteristics of the RV-8. The British spin test of the RV-8 is an excellent resource on spinning the RV-8 in various CG configurations. Despite all this great information, I still had go spin test my RV-8, particularly in its as built configuration (IO-320, Catto FP Prop, 1028Lbs empty, Dynon SV). I built it light and it is light on the nose while flying solo, but it has excellent handling qualities, especially in pitch.
After reading all I could on VAF about RV-8 spin testing, I next went and attended a spinning training course with Catherine Cavegnaro at ACE Aerobatics in Sewanee TN. Catherine is an excellent instructor and will teach all you ever wanted to know about spins. She uses a C-152 Aerobat and we did all the spin entries from a full power on aggravated stall, which made for some nice and exciting spins and you get to do the full PARE recovery. After becoming comfortable with spins and various recovery techniques, I decided which one I would use for my first ever spin in my RV-8. I chose the idle power, neutral aileron, 1G wings level entry with full LH rudder applied at the break. I did check to see if the my original clean stall configuration produced the same results, which it did, just a wings level buffet and slight pitch down of the nose with an immediate recovery with fwd pitch.
For my first spin test, I set my CG at 80.56 and wt at 1485 lbs.
So for the first spin, I drank a bottle of liquid courage (Mountain Dew) and climbed to 7000 AGL in an approved area near a safe airport. My first spin entry was done by slowing to 65 KIAS in a slight pitch up and then briskly pulling the stick to the aft stop and applying full left rudder. As has been reported by others, as the acft started to depart off into a spin to the left, the acft pitch up and down 3 times for about 3/4 of rotation, then departed into a nice tight spin. Rotation didn't seem as fast as what I experienced in the C-152 will full power, but its fast enough. After two turns I applied opposite rudder and moved the stick to just under the cross bar, recovery was nearly immediate with an easy 2.5 G pull out. I lost about 800 feet, but my technique was not precise. I did a few more LH spins using variations of pitch and rudder inputs, to just relaxing the pro-spin inputs, which after 2 turns took about 1/2 turn to recover and about 1000 feet was lost with a 2 G pull out. Again, less altitude could be lost with better technique.
Overall what did I learn; The PARE technique seems to work just fine with a fwd CG. Prompt and simultaneous opposite rudder and fwd pitch was the quickest recovery. At FWD CG and idle power, my RV-8 does not seem to want enter into a spin unless you firmly apply and hold pro-spin inputs and allow the acft to depart. I could stop the spin entry in the first 1/2 turn by just releasing the aft pitch and relaxing the rudder input. I was a bit worried that my engine would quite due to my light Catto prop and extended idle power. I did not quit, but I did get a low oil pressure warning at 45 psi once during the spin entry from it getting close to around 400 RPM.
The only surprise I might note is that my Dynon Skyview ADAHRS took about 5-8 seconds to recover to a normal attitude once I had pulled out wings level. Not a knock on Dynon at all, they talk about this in their ops manual, but I had never seen it before.
I would encourage everyone who flies an RV to go out and get spin training and learn how your RV, as configured, behaves in a spin and how to recover from a spin to prolong the RV Grin.
In my first 135 hrs of flying my RV-8, I have come to appreciate just how efficient it is with an IO-320 and a Catto prop, excellent speed and maneuverability. Now that I am expanding the flight envelope beyond straight and level flight, I coming to appreciate just how great a design the RV aircraft are.
There are several excellent posts on VAF about RV spin techniques and in particular there have been some excellent posts about the unique characteristics of the RV-8. The British spin test of the RV-8 is an excellent resource on spinning the RV-8 in various CG configurations. Despite all this great information, I still had go spin test my RV-8, particularly in its as built configuration (IO-320, Catto FP Prop, 1028Lbs empty, Dynon SV). I built it light and it is light on the nose while flying solo, but it has excellent handling qualities, especially in pitch.
After reading all I could on VAF about RV-8 spin testing, I next went and attended a spinning training course with Catherine Cavegnaro at ACE Aerobatics in Sewanee TN. Catherine is an excellent instructor and will teach all you ever wanted to know about spins. She uses a C-152 Aerobat and we did all the spin entries from a full power on aggravated stall, which made for some nice and exciting spins and you get to do the full PARE recovery. After becoming comfortable with spins and various recovery techniques, I decided which one I would use for my first ever spin in my RV-8. I chose the idle power, neutral aileron, 1G wings level entry with full LH rudder applied at the break. I did check to see if the my original clean stall configuration produced the same results, which it did, just a wings level buffet and slight pitch down of the nose with an immediate recovery with fwd pitch.
For my first spin test, I set my CG at 80.56 and wt at 1485 lbs.
So for the first spin, I drank a bottle of liquid courage (Mountain Dew) and climbed to 7000 AGL in an approved area near a safe airport. My first spin entry was done by slowing to 65 KIAS in a slight pitch up and then briskly pulling the stick to the aft stop and applying full left rudder. As has been reported by others, as the acft started to depart off into a spin to the left, the acft pitch up and down 3 times for about 3/4 of rotation, then departed into a nice tight spin. Rotation didn't seem as fast as what I experienced in the C-152 will full power, but its fast enough. After two turns I applied opposite rudder and moved the stick to just under the cross bar, recovery was nearly immediate with an easy 2.5 G pull out. I lost about 800 feet, but my technique was not precise. I did a few more LH spins using variations of pitch and rudder inputs, to just relaxing the pro-spin inputs, which after 2 turns took about 1/2 turn to recover and about 1000 feet was lost with a 2 G pull out. Again, less altitude could be lost with better technique.
Overall what did I learn; The PARE technique seems to work just fine with a fwd CG. Prompt and simultaneous opposite rudder and fwd pitch was the quickest recovery. At FWD CG and idle power, my RV-8 does not seem to want enter into a spin unless you firmly apply and hold pro-spin inputs and allow the acft to depart. I could stop the spin entry in the first 1/2 turn by just releasing the aft pitch and relaxing the rudder input. I was a bit worried that my engine would quite due to my light Catto prop and extended idle power. I did not quit, but I did get a low oil pressure warning at 45 psi once during the spin entry from it getting close to around 400 RPM.
The only surprise I might note is that my Dynon Skyview ADAHRS took about 5-8 seconds to recover to a normal attitude once I had pulled out wings level. Not a knock on Dynon at all, they talk about this in their ops manual, but I had never seen it before.
I would encourage everyone who flies an RV to go out and get spin training and learn how your RV, as configured, behaves in a spin and how to recover from a spin to prolong the RV Grin.
In my first 135 hrs of flying my RV-8, I have come to appreciate just how efficient it is with an IO-320 and a Catto prop, excellent speed and maneuverability. Now that I am expanding the flight envelope beyond straight and level flight, I coming to appreciate just how great a design the RV aircraft are.