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Second Airplane?

Fifth?

Well since our second and third airplanes are RV?s, and the fourth is the ?lumbering beast? (Tundra), I needed something unique for the fifth....

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Yeah, its as fun as it looks (and burns WAY more fuel than an RV-10....)

Paul
 
Pop rivets or flush?

Well since our second and third airplanes are RV’s, and the fourth is the “lumbering beast” (Tundra), I needed something unique for the fifth....

Yeah, its as fun as it looks (and burns WAY more fuel than an RV-10....)

Paul

The art work is gorgeous!

Just curious if that is a pop rivet jet (in keeping with Sonex prodigy)
or did you use your flush riveting RV background?
 
The art work is gorgeous!

Just curious if that is a pop rivet jet (in keeping with Sonex prodigy)
or did you use your flush riveting RV background?

It?s all pop riveted - the kit only comes as a quick build, so there?s non option to solid rivet anything.
 
That's a great picture!

Hard to tell what your hands are doing / how the controls are.

Is George flying, or is there a yoke? What do the controls look like?
 
Yeah, its as fun as it looks (and burns WAY more fuel than an RV-10....)

Paul

Did you do a review of your Phase 1 in Kitplanes? If so I must of missed that issue. Curious how well the pitch/yaw axis feel with such a close coupled V-tail, especially at higher AoA near stall. I am guessing the low wing and high mounted V-tail help.
 
That's a great picture!

Hard to tell what your hands are doing / how the controls are.

Is George flying, or is there a yoke? What do the controls look like?

Right hand side stick, left hand throttle - no autopilot


Did you do a review of your Phase 1 in Kitplanes? If so I must of missed that issue. Curious how well the pitch/yaw axis feel with such a close coupled V-tail, especially at higher AoA near stall. I am guessing the low wing and high mounted V-tail help.

About two hours left in Phase 1, and we?ll have a series in the magazine starting later this year on the building and flying project! The airplane is quite sensitive in pitch and yaw, not so much in roll, but yes, the V-Tail is a very different animal than what most folks are used to. It?s fine...just different.
 
Well since our second and third airplanes are RV?s, and the fourth is the ?lumbering beast? (Tundra), I needed something unique for the fifth....

Yeah, its as fun as it looks (and burns WAY more fuel than an RV-10....)

Paul

Now that is a badass little jet!

But, fuel burn... do tell? Our latest acquisition might have you beat on big fuel burns...

Reference my post from 4 years ago regarding "my" other airplane, a 1/5 share in a T-28A;
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=946095&postcount=149

So yeah, our owner group went for a little upgrade; the 800hp A model just wasn't cutting it and we needed more smash, so, enter the T-28F Fennec. The R-1820 burns more than several RV-10s, but what a hoot this thing is to fly. On the cockpit pic, disregard the low fuel quantity; I had lots more gas but the gauge was acting kinda wonky.

BTW, anyone need a coupla old Argus displays to use as boat anchors or wheel chocks? This thing has 2 mounted...

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Be nice to own a second plane but down under that's a big luxury for most of us working class drivers due operating costs! "IF" I could afford another airframe I'd get another Citabria, the best fun plane I've ever owned, just didn't cover the ground fast enuf as my missions have changed latter in life.

I fly a high perf jet for a living but it's just a job, there's no 'fun' in it.

My 8 is the best trade off, for me👍
 
Well since our second and third airplanes are RV?s, and the fourth is the ?lumbering beast? (Tundra), I needed something unique for the fifth....

Yeah, its as fun as it looks (and burns WAY more fuel than an RV-10....)

Paul

Paul,

I hope we can see this beauty at Osh19! What an unforgettable birthday gift!

Carl
..
 
I have a C195. Adding an RV8 as my second aircraft. Come see me at OSH vintage parking with all the other 195s. Hopefully the -8 will be ready for OSH 2020.
 
Highlander

The Highlander makes a really good second plane if you like versatility & low and slow. The Highlander shares a hangar with our RV10

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Gary
 
@ Vlad and Mark... I've got a buddy who first flew his RV-8 somewhere around 2001. He's now 80 years old, still flies the RV-8, still spends at least 4 hours every day at his hangar... and just started building a Pietenpol. I, too, think it's a pretty cool airplane.

As for me, I've owned my RV-3 for about 2-1/2 years. During that time, I had a Citabria for about a year. It was fun, but too slow. Once I got a taste for speed and performance with the RV-3, I just couldn't go 110mph at full cruise.

About 9 months ago, my RV-3 got a stepbrother: a really nice Glasair 1RG. It's fast and is filling a 2-place void until I finish my F1 Rocket (or save up enough money to by a B36TC).

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Edited to add:

I'll throw this in just to show how completely fantastic RVs are. A neighbor of mine has the following aircraft: A C-172, C-185, a C-414. Fuji LM-1, Sia Marchetti S211 jet, a DC-3, an Enstrom 280FX helicopter, and an RV-8. All of those are beautiful and in flying status. He also has an L13 project. He tells me over and over that the plane he'd be most disappointed to lose is his RV-8. That's saying something.
 
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My other girl. 1959 piper pa22-150 tri pacer. Bought it to teach my daughter to fly in someday. Dirt cheap, easy to fly and hauls 3 of us to $100 hamburgers at about 10% of the cost of an rv10. I am amazed at the compliments i get on the old girl everywhere we go.
 

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The trouble with RVs....

Is that they don’t fly without a lot of work. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy building, and have passed on flying on nice days (albeit rarely) to build instead of fly, but until my RV-8 is done, I had to have something to slip the surly bonds.

My RV-8 shares space in the hangar with a 172 (and a lathe, milling machine, 3’ shear, box and pan brake, tool chests, a refrigerator, and a bunch of stuff that I’ve collected along the way). It’s a tight fit but it works. The plan was to sell the 172 when the RV-8 was complete and build more of a low and slow bush plane, but I think my wife has become attached to our ugly brown and gold 172. If I had my way, and a lot more money, it’d be an RV-8 and a Stearman.
 
What would you build or own if you could have a second airplane to share your hanger with your RV.

Or, What do you already have to complement your RV? And how do you use both airplanes?.

Any parameters to that question? Looking for a second plane in the same cost range as the first? Or is this fantasy time?

I'm building an RV-10 to serve as a family hauler and weekend getaway machine. So, how do I complement that?

- If money is no object, within some normal realm of reason, I would buy a PC-12. Big enough to haul the skis, bikes, dog, and kids, and get there fast but can still land on short and dirty strips. A family hauler-plus, which improves on the idea of the RV-10, but probably isn't really a complement to it. If I actually had the money to buy and maintain a PC-12, the RV-10 might be up for sale.

- So I guess I need something acro and single seat to offset the sensibility of the -10. Again, if money is no object, I would get a P-51 or F-4U. That would be something. Maintenance would break the bank, but it would be fun as anything. Barring that, an acro plane in the realm of affordability, maybe a Pitts?
 
My newly completed RV-8 shared hangar with my bought RV-3 for a few mos. until I sold the -3 last summer. The -8 now shares the hangar with a Pitts S1S rebuild project I just started working on. But the -8 does not have to worry, it is a keeper.
 
C72R Cutlass II RG

In 2017, after moving the RV-8 project to its new home, and wishing to go for the first time to Air Venture with 2 friends, I started to look for a rental 4 seater for 5-7 days. Very expensive and complicated as most renters (read flight schools) did not want to "lose" a plane for that long and most refused to rent internationnally.

At the time, I rented hangar space and my hangar neighbour just bought a nice low time '82 C72R Cutlass II RG. I approached him with the plan to "borrow" his plane for a 20 hour block, to get checked-out and fly the 14 hours to KOSH and back.
He immediately replied "why don't you buy half of it??"...
Since, I've been the happy owner of half a Cutlass, went to KOSH twice with it and enjoy flying it on short and long trips.
Both the Cutlass and the RV-8 fit nicely in my hangar.

Cruise is 132kts TAS with a O-360. It's slower than a RV but it's faster than a 172 with a O-320.
I plan to sell my share when the 8 is flying, sadly the cost to insure it increased 30% these last 2 years. It's outrageously expensive now...
 
Second Airplane Wish List

Still working on the first airplane, but one can dream eh?

RV8 is a great sport plane, but it's no family hauler. A Piper Navajo Panther conversion would be a great family hauler. I would want one of the smaller short body PA-31-310s or 325s converted to the big engines. Basically a twin where the other engine isn't there just to take you to the scene of the crash. I want enough power to actually fly to a runway. Stepping it up a notch, the King Air F90 would also fit the bill. Buckets of power in a small airframe. Full motion simulators are also available to ensure the pilot is proficient in all the nuances and dangers of powerful twin flying. But with Canadian regulations, that airplane needs a private operator certificate, with a boat load of paperwork and regulatory headaches. One can dream though.

A nice early model 180 on floats. The theme here seems to be small airframe big engine. The early model 180s have the same cabin as the 170, but instead of 145hp, it has a bigger wing, bigger tail and 230hp. The late model 180s have a stretched cabin with the same 230hp and become under powered again, especially on floats. There's so many lakes around here. One can just hop in and go fishing or camping on a lake nobody has ever been before.

A nice Pitts S1S. That one is self explanatory.
 
No WAY Mark! That was a great machine!


Vlad, too many seats in the Pietenpol....and less chance of losing sunglasses in flight.
 
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@ Vlad and Mark... I've got a buddy who first flew his RV-8 somewhere around 2001. He's now 80 years old, still flies the RV-8, still spends at least 4 hours every day at his hangar... and just started building a Pietenpol. I, too, think it's a pretty cool airplane.

As for me, I've owned my RV-3 for about 2-1/2 years. During that time, I had a Citabria for about a year. It was fun, but too slow. Once I got a taste for speed and performance with the RV-3, I just couldn't go 110mph at full cruise.

About 9 months ago, my RV-3 got a stepbrother: a really nice Glasair 1RG. It's fast and is filling a 2-place void until I finish my F1 Rocket (or save up enough money to by a B36TC).

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Edited to add:

I'll throw this in just to show how completely fantastic RVs are. A neighbor of mine has the following aircraft: A C-172, C-185, a C-414. Fuji LM-1, Sia Marchetti S211 jet, a DC-3, an Enstrom 280FX helicopter, and an RV-8. All of those are beautiful and in flying status. He also has an L13 project. He tells me over and over that the plane he'd be most disappointed to lose is his RV-8. That's saying something.

Rod, I feel like your neighbor. I just listed my Rans S-7 for sale. Beautiful, great flying, economical, fun airplane, but with a -6 and a -3, I just never fly it.
 
after completion of my RV7 i started to build an hummel ultracruiser. same basic technology but complete different mission for much lower costs.
 
Velocity!

I love my 9A and it is a great plane to learn to fly and maintain as a first kit plane. The 12 may have been easier to build and learn, but the 9 is fast and actually can carry 2 people and some crapola on a trip.

Several years ago I was at OSH and saw he Velocity for the first time. It was the prettiest plane I have ever seen. I dont think I have enough flying years left in me to build one, but I keep my eyes open for a good deal on one now! After landing the 9A at such a slow speed, the Velocity landing is a bit higher but not significantly. I should probably get a ride in one but the speed, load carrying, no stalling, and fixed gear option to keep insurance reasonable is very inviting!
 

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