Considering an RV

Hello Folks!

I posted this in the Midwest but thought I might get more traction in the General forum. Please see below.

I just sold my V35A Bonanza and I am considering purchasing an RV. I have been trolling the this sight for a while and would like your input.

My mission includes:
- speed. would love to cruise at 200 mph ( a little slower would be OK)
- seating for my wife and I and some baggage. I am 6' tall and 230 lbs, wife is 155 but I could make her lose weight if I have too.
- I would prefer tandem seating like to RV8 but the wife wants to sit next to me.
- cross country. we fly from MI to Florida a couple time per year.
- ifr
- I would like to stay around $100K

A couple other questions:

1. What limitations if any to Experimental AC have vs. certified?
2. There are a lot of options for experimental AC ie. Glasair, Lancair etc.
What in your opinion would fit my mission the best?

Thanks for your help!

Welcome to VAF (and nice knowing you if your wife reads that post)!

Sounds like you want an RV-14 with IFR capabilities.

No limitations on experimental aircraft per-se, but there are limitations on the light sport aircraft like the RV-12.

However, just like certified aircraft if you want IFR you have to install certified IFR gear (i.e, Garmin GTN-6xx).

$100K won't get you an IFR equipped RV-14, looking at closer to $130K-$140K if building, probably towards $170K if buying.

Are you building or shopping to buy? There aren't many RV-14's for sale, owners seem to be keeping them and it is a newer model, an RV-10 would be your next best bet.

Clark,

The RVs will met your mission goals and $100K should get you a nice IFR two seat plane.

So decide:
- Tandem or not
- Tail dragger or not

Go fly in an 8 and 8a, then have the owner take your bride up as well. If the bride says I want to be up front, then tandem it is.

Considering the cost, a well equipped RV-14(A) would be out of your price range. Just as a data point, I'm building and RV-8 (third RV project) and my cost tracking sheet to compete this slow build is at $114K - just for parts and material.

Carl

You could likely find some 9A's in that price range, though as pointed out the 14 is going to be a little higher. The 9A cabin is just a slight bit smaller than the 14 but performance is comparable.

As far as Lancairs and Glassairs go, they are great traveling machines, but typically aren't as fun to fly as an RV.

I used to own a Lancair 320 and it would cruise at 190-200 KNOTS on 8gph. It came over the fence at 90 kts and my personal minimum runway length was 3000' paved, which limited some of my cross country destinations. I would never take a Lancair on grass due to concerns about the nosegear (purely caution, nothing wrong with the design, or a trend of collapses).

Never did aerobatics in the Lancair as it was recommended for utility category and I hated the way it landed. Very sensitive in pitch in the flare and the nose would come up and block the entire view of the runway, and the visibility out the sides wasn't as good as a tailwheel RV.

Bottom line, the fast glass will get you there quicker, but if you want a true multi-mission airplane, that admittedly compromises some XC speed, I would go with the RV, which is why I'm now out of the Lancair and looking for an RV-8.

I love the 9 as much as the next guy loves his 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 or 12. One of the criteria mentioned is to cruise at 200 mph. Not sure exactly what speed measurement this is referring to though. Is that Indicated, True, Ground? If ground speed then any of the RV's can get to that point occasionally. However, most will be dependent on winds to do it. If true or indicated air speed then in reality there are only certain RV's that could potentially reliably cruise at that speed time after time. A hopped up 6, 7, 8 or 14 may do it. A 10 could do it. The 9, nope. 12, is out of contention.

Any of the RV's that may cruise at that True or Indicated speed, with the exception of perhaps the 10, will be wrapped out to get you that speed as a consistent steady cruise speed. (Of course there is always DanH and his 8, or perhaps some others as exceptions). Regardless of other exceptional individual planes that may also be able to do so, all of them will definitely have higher fuel burn than what is typically reported by most owners for cruise fuel burn.

Truthfully though, regardless of which ones may be able to get to that speed, I cannot think of any RV that would cruise at that speed that one could buy for =< $100K.

Perhaps you should think about a Rocket. They most surely can meet that speed criteria. Ah, but then again, they will blast past that =<$100K limit also.

Of course, if you adjust this speed requirement just a tad I think any of the RVs can meet your other criteria quite nicely. There are a great many positives all RVs offer over other experimental aircraft that make them so worth while. There is a reason Vans aircraft moniker is TOTAL PERFORMANCE.

Actual cruise speed performance is dependent on a number of different factors.
One important one is the altitude you are flying at, and you didn't specify anything specific in your original post......
The RV-7(A) or RV-8(A) (if built with the largest recommended engine) will both easily (not what I would call totally wrapped out) cruise at 200+ MPH at a very modest fuel burn (somewhere between 8 - 9 GPH) at altitudes in the 10K - 12K range.
The RV-14(A) is within a couple MPH of 200, at about the same fuel flow at those altitudes.

Probably too slow for the OP, but my -9A did 180 mph true on a recent trip, with a fuel burn of 8.0 gph at roughly 12,000' DA. Definitely "performance cruise" territory, at 2650 rpm or so with a FP prop. No doubt there are gains to be had with higher altitude, but I want to avoid using oxygen.

anuffsaid said:

Hello Folks!

I posted this in the Midwest but thought I might get more traction in the General forum. Please see below.

I just sold my V35A Bonanza and I am considering purchasing an RV. I have been trolling the this sight for a while and would like your input.

My mission includes:
- speed. would love to cruise at 200 mph ( a little slower would be OK)
- seating for my wife and I and some baggage. I am 6' tall and 230 lbs, wife is 155 but I could make her lose weight if I have too.
- I would prefer tandem seating like to RV8 but the wife wants to sit next to me.
- cross country. we fly from MI to Florida a couple time per year.
- ifr
- I would like to stay around $100K

A couple other questions:

1. What limitations if any to Experimental AC have vs. certified?
2. There are a lot of options for experimental AC ie. Glasair, Lancair etc.
What in your opinion would fit my mission the best?

Thanks for your help!

Click to expand...

============================
You and I are the same size and weight. My wife is probably 130 lbs. She won't tell me for sure! Probably because of my size, I find the RV-6,7,and 9 fuselage size to be cramped for more than a hour or so.

You will fit fine in the RV-8. I have flown in the back of my 8. and if I fit so will your wife! The RV-14 was designed to provide for larger people that simply must fly side by side. That aircraft is way out of your price range. I recommend you seriously consider the RV-8.

I just completed a round trip from 52F Roanoke Texas (7 miles south of Denton) to Oshkosh non-stop both directions. I never saw less that 181K true airspeed at 8.5 GPH the entire trip. Going I flew at 7500 feet and I returned at 8500 feet. The computer said that the Doll was getting 23 mpg at over 180K. Sir...that's hard to beat! Flying time each way 4+30. 181K=208mph
When you are drilling along cross country, the RV-8 offers the best visibility in the RV fleet with centerline seating. Formation and aerobatics are best centerline as is the shear enjoyment of flying a sporty aircraft like the 8.

The forward cargo compartment allows you to load the airplane to gross weight and be in perfect CG. Gross weight takeoff is still less than 500 feet, and the climb rate is close to 2000 fpm. The preverbal 500 foot obstacle is never a problem! By myself, with half fuel, on a cool day, I've seen 3000 fpm. Always fun....

My wife wanted me to build a side by side because we owned a Grumman AA-1A for 23 years. The little Yankee's airframe is similar to the RV-6A but with a tiny engine. I refused to build the same basic airframe. Seventeen years and 1600 flight hours later, Builder Doll is very happy to ride tandem.

Good RV-8's are hard to find as many people on this forum can testify to. They are in demand, and for good reasons. A really nicely built and equipped one will cost all of your 100K and maybe 10K more.

anuffsaid said:

Hello Folks!

1. What limitations if any to Experimental AC have vs. certified?

Click to expand...

If you remain within the USA and Canada, there's very little difference in operating limitations between certified and experimental-amateur-built (in Phase 2).

There are no automatic privileges when flying abroad as there are for a standard certified aircraft. You are required to identify yourself as an experimental aircraft when first contacting a tower controller.
Other than that, there are no practical differences.

In other words.... Come on in, the water is fine!!

bkervaski said:

No limitations on experimental aircraft per-se, but there are limitations on the light sport aircraft like the RV-12.

However, just like certified aircraft if you want IFR you have to install certified IFR gear (i.e, Garmin GTN-6xx).

Click to expand...

The only limitation on Experimental airplanes that you might run into is that you may not use them for-hire, e.g., you cannot rent them out.

For IFR use a gps must carry the appropriate TSO. There is no requirement to use TSO'd flight instruments, and "experimental" panels are quite a bit less expensive than normal category airplanes for this reason.