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Hershey bar wings

T

travalab

Member
I love the rv-8 the only thing that I hate about it (purely from a visual standpoint) is the wing. I know it functions as advertised but it seems to ruin the look of the planes... 4, 3, 8 and the 7. does anyone else agree? Am I being too "shallow" and thinking of looks alone? I dunno, I have been seriously looking into buying/building a plane and for some reason when it comes the the RV's I can't get passed that wing.
 
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Yes.

The plane rocks. Its fast. Its highly maneuverable. Its a fashion statement too.
You'll love all the aspects. Just keep staring.
 
With the amount of RV's being completed, the Hersey wings are slowly becoming the standard. You'll get used to them.:D
 
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Standard as it may be.. I find them ugly. I may get used to it... I hope I do. The rocket is too expensive as is the radial rocket (my first choice for a build). I looked into Yaks but they do not offer the X-country capability. The more I look at the build logs and pictures the more I like the idea of a brand new, built to my specs plane. Plus I'm sick of flying Warriors lol.
 
travalab said:
Standard as it may be.. I find them ugly. I may get used to it... I hope I do. The rocket is too expensive as is the radial rocket (my first choice for a build). I looked into Yaks but they do not offer the X-country capability. The more I look at the build logs and pictures the more I like the idea of a brand new, built to my specs plane. Plus I'm sick of flying Warriors lol.
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Never flew a warrier, but my former plane was it's cousin, the cherokee.
An RV doesn't even come close to either one.:D
 
Seriously I do agree, not the best looking wing on the planet, but man o man RV's sure fly nice. You will love flying the 8!
 
Since you don't like the RV wing (strike 1), and you feel that it's ugly (strike 2), and you can't get past it (strike 3)....I'd say you are Oh-you-tee. The RV is not the airplane for you.

The best thing to do IMO is move on, lot's of airplanes out there.

Option? - The wing on the little Mustang II is kinda' cute and they're good little fliers and may be within your budget :).

Best of luck where ever you end up!





travalab said:
Standard as it may be.. I find them ugly. I may get used to it... I hope I do. The rocket is too expensive as is the radial rocket (my first choice for a build). I looked into Yaks but they do not offer the X-country capability. The more I look at the build logs and pictures the more I like the idea of a brand new, built to my specs plane. Plus I'm sick of flying Warriors lol.
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Maybe its an "eye of the beholder" thing. If you look only at the shape of the wing, and lose sight of the fact that this airplane can probably do a far wider variety of things really well (performance-wise) than most any other (perhaps any other) airplane in its class, the beauty might start to grow on ya. Here's a couple of pics to inundate you with the shape (but in this context, they look pretty cool to me!)

VAF%2520post%2520diamond.jpg


XMAS%25201.jpg


If that geometric beauty doesn't get ya, then you could always paint them with a scheme that makes them look like elliptical wings from a distance (actually that does sound kinda cool).

But if you want to go fast or go slow, go "on- or off-road", and most everything in between...love the wing for its "iron-man" like versatility!

Until someone comes up with a better design anyway! ;)

Have ya flown one yet? The addiction quickly gets you over hershey bar disdain! :D

Cheers,
Bob
 
The best view of that hershey bar wing on the RV's is in flight from the pilot seat.

GOPR5154.JPG


Looks good from here! :D
 
szicree said:
Constant chord, stressed skin = Easy to build, strong as heck.
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And nice stall at the root first on a FANTASTIC flying airplane.

Boy with all these features, it is the most BEAUTIFUL wing one can have on an airplane that you built yourself.

If you like the look of a Tapper wing, there are other homebuilts out there that have it but NONE fly as nice as an RV.

I do not know who said it but "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
 
Hershey Bar wing

travalab said:
I love the rv-8 the only thing that I hate about it (purely from a visual standpoint) is the wing. I know it functions as advertised but it seems to ruin the look of the planes... 4, 3, 8 and the 7. does anyone else agree? Am I being too "shallow" and thinking of looks alone? I dunno, I have been seriously looking into buying/building a plane and for some reason when it comes the the RV's I can't get passed that wing.
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I used to own a Piper Cherokee to haul the family. Many people know the Cherokee started the, "Hershey Bar" wing name. Later years went to the tapered wing that was much more attractive. I used to hear the term, Hershey Bar, often with the Cherokee, which was a great benign airplane.

With RV's I have not heard the Hershy Bar term used respectively. People like the RV's so much that it is not an issue. Once you fly one and feel its envelope, you will see what everyone is talking about. My RV7 wing look much better than my Cherokee wing did. See below.
RV7_013.44142007_large.JPG
 
As someone said earlier camouflage with paint. Here is one of the schemes I designed early on.

 
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There's an RV-6 in Ontario with a tapered wing... If memory serves, I believe an ex deHavilland engineer designed it. I have no performance data, I just know it exists and has flown.

I can't fault the design or the performance of the square wing... It's certainly cheaper and easier to build than a taper. But I still think a tapered wing option at slightly higher cost would sell quite well to a smaller group. If I ever get the spare time, I'd probably design my own. The hard part would be making it interchangeable with the existing wing.
 
Form Follows Function

When I fist saw pictures of the P-51 Mustang I thought it was a little boxy and ugly compared to the P-39, the spitfire and other fighters of the time. Then along came the the F-86, my goodness those swept wings are ugly, I preferred the looks of the F-84. After I got out of the Air Force I went to work on the F-101 which I thought was a beauty right away while the company was developing the F4H Phantom II which I thought was ugly. I went through that kind of initial reaction to several new designs based on preconceived ideas of beauty only to appreciate their excellence of functional design and beauty as the airplanes proved superior to anything that ever came before.

A few hit me as beauties on first seeing them. I was really high on the Lancair 320 and I sat in on a session at Camarillo where Lance Neibauer was discussing the the Lancair IV that they planed to finish and fly to Oshkosh later that year. I didn't care for the Cessna 210 type maing gear retraction but after his coverage it looked elegent. Very stimulating indeed.

BUT! when I walked the ramp afterward I saw this little red and orange airplane that had won a top award at the show. Every thing about it looked perfect - not for me personally but as an airplane. It was a RV-4 and it was the first RV I ever heard of.

I wanted to build an experimental so I could maintain it myself, do the annual inspections and afford to fly after retirement. One thing that meant more to me than anything else was my life companion and I wanted her beside me always, no tandum seating for me. Enter the RV-6. Perfect, and together we bought and built a RV-6A.

If you look closely at the details of design you will see that it does not compromise in the favor of simplicity of construction like you see in others. It definitly is not a harware store airplane "with some assembly required." The function, performance of this personal airplane are outstanding and this experienced eye appreciates every line and shape as beautiful.

Bob Axsom
 
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Plus one for the idea of using paint strategically to address things about the design you would prefer to alter visually. It really can be effective and it is completely driven by your tastes. Curves at the tips and flaps, long lines, spanwise lengths of colors, all sorts of things...

Jeremy
(On my way to the paint shop now to finalize the scheme on the bottom...color goes on this week!)
 
Paint wings

Steve,
the dark yellow on my RV7 is a military determined best visibility color in daylight, with a top or bottom varied natural background.

This color described above is actually a yellow with orange mixed to make the actual determined highest visibility dark yellow. Piper adopted this concept for military training aircraft prior to WWII. Information is from my late grandfather that was taught by US military to fly J-3 primary aircraft, I think he said, in 1939-1943. Training aircraft were painted this best visibility yellow color. His first date with my late Grandmother was in a J-3 as a flight to the horse track in SoCal. There may be more to the color story, but this is what I have.

PM sent.
 
Judging by the wildly differing paint schemes people choose for their RVs I would say that beauty is most definitely in the eye of the beholder.

As for me, when I hear that distinctive sound of an RV scooting overhead and look up and see those constant-chord wings I still smile each and every time. I like 'em.
 
Beauty is in performance.

Jamie said:
Judging by the wildly differing paint schemes people choose for their RVs I would say that beauty is most definitely in the eye of the beholder.

As for me, when I hear that distinctive sound of an RV scooting overhead and look up and see those constant-chord wings I still smile each and every time. I like 'em.
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I am with Jamie. Beauty is in performance.

My old RV6 paint never made me feel like I was sporting my old Cherokee Hershey Bar Wings. Even from the bottom!
RV6_Edge.50142032_large.jpg
 
travalab said:
Standard as it may be.. I find them ugly. I may get used to it... I hope I do. The rocket is too expensive as is the radial rocket (my first choice for a build). I looked into Yaks but they do not offer the X-country capability.
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I would rather be flying an RV wonder how to make the wings look less boxy then flying something else and wonder how to get performance.
 
I remember seeing Van's little (1/16 page) ad's in Sport Aviation and other publications 20 years ago. My initial thoughts were that they were crude looking and I wasn't interested at all.

But I'm an engineer and my objective side won out. The RV's are a great value if you want a relatively inexpensive, great flying 1, 2, or 4 seat airplane. The rectangular wing planform works, whether you're considering the planform from the perspective of ease of build or flying characteristics.
 
travalab said:
......Am I being too "shallow" and thinking of looks alone?
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Absolutely, yes. This endeavor is not a beauty contest, it's about building and flying the best total performance airplane on the planet.

travalab said:
....I dunno, I have been seriously looking into buying/building a plane and for some reason when it comes the the RV's I can't get passed that wing.
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That is a problem. If the looks are all that matters, best solution is to move on. You will never be happy with an RV convinced the wing is ugly.
 
Yep

....and Jenny and I enjoyed the 32 minute flight in our Hershey-bar -10, from Beaufort, S.C. yesterday, truing 202 and turning a 2 1/2 hour drive into a 32 minute trip:)

Hershey lives!
 
I have never seen nor heard anyone walk up to an RV and say "oh my what an ugly wing"

Get over it or move on.
 
GEEZ!

Hey Fellas:

Does the phrase "Lighten up, Francis!" mean anything to ya? C'mon, the guy was only saying that the wing is not the best looking. The paint tricks mentioned on this thread seem to agree with that assessment.

While the visual opinion may or may not be applicable in your case, it is a very easy wing to build, especially if you don't want to go to the expen$e of setting up jigs to get the twist just so...

In addition, the square wing is far less expensive (parts commonality). A tapered wing would add probably 25-30% to the kit cost, which would have probably stopped the amazing production numbers of the Vans products before they ever got started.

As for performance (speed), have a look around. If the square wing was the best, it would be on every aircraft. It isn't. The RV wing DOES handle very well.

I think Van came up with an amazing combination, but every design is a compromise. Ease of assembly was apparently fairly high on the list, and a tapered wing simply does not fit into that line of thinking.

Mr Travalab may or may not pick an RV as his project, but some of you fellas are not what I would call a good welcoming committee. I wonder if that might skew his thoughts AWAY from the well-proven design you all seem to think he should have?

Personally, I don't care if he decides on a Breezy or a Pietenpol, or a full scale P-38 - he's building what he wants, and I'm OK with that. Now, if he wants to put swept wings and retracts on his Breezy, I might recommend re-thinking his original choice....

Carry on!
Mark
 
Each to their own

My ladies I prefer long and slender. As for my rocket wings I like them short, chubby and stubby!:D
 
They do look short, fat, and remind me of a squatting dog position from some angles.:D

IMO, they don't look as streamlined as a Lancair, when viewed from underneath. I live under an airport pattern.

They're not graceful and sleek, with lines like the Concorde....

But they still sound rather good, look quite fast in a pattern, and I always look up, when I think I hear one.

Note: There are some better angles, to photograph from the ground. :)

L.Adamson
 
I dream of 'scratch building' my own airplane some day. It would have tapered or elliptcal wings....
My RV-8 is in final assembly at the airport.
Guess which one comes first ;)
 
Is this better Mark

travalab said:
I love the rv-8 the only thing that I hate about it (purely from a visual standpoint) is the wing. I know it functions as advertised but it seems to ruin the look of the planes... 4, 3, 8 and the 7. does anyone else agree? Am I being too "shallow" and thinking of looks alone? I dunno, I have been seriously looking into buying/building a plane and for some reason when it comes the the RV's I can't get passed that wing.
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I'm glad you love the RV-8. I'm sorry you don't like the looks of the wing from a visual stand point. I'm glad you did not include the 6 in the list of RVs with looks ruined by the wing. I don't agree with your view but you do have to find what is right for you and not compromise your standards - it is a big deal from the stand points of time and money. You do not want to go through all those compromises to build your own airplane and end up with something that you don't feel proud about. You are not being too shallow, just being honest. It appears that you have made you decision with respect to RVs so it is time to study the other available designs until you find one to your liking. You probably saw Tom Martin's EVO Rocket (AKA the fastest Rocket in the known universe - Race #109) in this thread. They are not available as kits right now but for the right money I'm sure you can buy one. If you don't need a metal airplane you could study the Lancair products or Legends.

Have a nice day.

Bob Axsom
 
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RV wing efficiency

pierre smith said:
....and Jenny and I enjoyed the 32 minute flight in our Hershey-bar -10, from Beaufort, S.C. yesterday, truing 202 and turning a 2 1/2 hour drive into a 32 minute trip:)

Hershey lives!
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The point Pierre made is appreciated by me also.
My mother has stage 4 cancer and to visit her is a slow 4 hour drive each way over the Cascade Mountain range. RV flies, as the crow flies, in a straight line.

In the RV7 the trip is made in 40 minutes. RV wing appreciated!
 
I think I am dumping all my fear of commitment to a relatively large project on the looks of the wing, because I cant find anything else to talk me out of jumping into the project. I do like the EVO and I understand Mark is looking to get a limited production going with the carbon wing. For me though common sense prevails and I don't want to go "plane broke" right out of the gate just trying to afford the kit, although I have not completely written that possibility off yet. Everyones input is appreciated, as blunt as some of it may be.
 
An idea

This discussion gave me the thought that it would be interesting to have an option on wing design for the 7 and 8. It would be a way to spice up the product line to offer two wing choices where one would be faster. Would probably have to give up something else. So when we get board with such a perfect airplane we could build a new wing and have a new adventure.
 
An even better choice for having several wings - is the RV12. One could have wings for any purpose, takes only a couple of minutes to change them from the "weekday" wings to the "Sunday" wings.
 
Changeable wings

Don, if you change the wings out to something significantly different, wouldn't you also need to change the rear wings too?
 
Changing wings

Different wings:

I have mentioned on another thread that higher aspect wings could be made to change performance, of the RV12, to motorglider specs.

One plane with different performance options. Also, as mentioned prior, I am sure Van's has discussed this idea before.
 
Evolution....stalled?

Love the look of Tom's F1 rocket, I think that's aesthetically nearly perfect.
The Mustang II wing is nice, too bad the canopy lines ruin it ( some guys have customized that of course!)
The real shame is that most of the reasons for the Hershey wing are now gone!....parts commonality and simplicity aren't a big factor when parts are made by the thousands, and CAD/Cam machines don't care if all the ribs are the same size!..or that the ailerons have to taper!
 
flyboy1963 said:
The real shame is that most of the reasons for the Hershey wing are now gone!....parts commonality and simplicity aren't a big factor when parts are made by the thousands, and CAD/Cam machines don't care if all the ribs are the same size!..or that the ailerons have to taper!
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Good point there Perry. However, the main reason I like the present wing is that it greatly assists me getting my fat keester back to the ground safely. I LOVE FLYING RVs; but I've got a wonderful home life too.

Doug Rosendal can tell us something about being able to fly slowly when things go wrong. I don't recall where I read his article; but it made a lasting impression on me. Doug had a bad experience with an aerial hotrod (a Cassutt maybe??) that made him thoroughly examine the survival aspect of flying. As you know, the man has some experience with different aircraft. He be liking the RV wing that allows for a slower stall & a more controlled crash, if you will.

Just my two centavos.

Cheers & safe fun flying to all.
 
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