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RV-10 true useful load w/ real people?

Jets410

Member
Hi All-
My wife & I are completing the tailcone on our -10 (in the garage, while raising five kids!) and are headed for the QB fuse next. After reading an article about Piper Dakotas, I found myself wondering, "What is the real world useful load on an RV-10 with four real-world adults? Van's website says, "It will carry four FAA standard people, full fuel and sixty pounds of baggage.", then states, "accommodates four full-sized adults."

Useful load = 1070 (2700 Gross -1630 BEW)
I figure 4 full-sized adults = 900 lbs.
Leaving 170 left for fuel = 28 gallons = two hours w/o reserve.

That's ok when flying our friends one hour to the beach for dinner, fueling, and coming home, using a Lycoming IO-540 at 14 gph (rough high-end estimates from what I see on these boards).

So the question is, are there some more actual numbers RV-10 fliers would like to share on the heavy side? Does anyone carry four linebackers and still have enough gas to fly more than an hour? Is my data incorrect?
Thanks, -Scott
 
Four real people (two men, two women), full full and the baggage compartment filled to the top. Flew to Key West from Virginia on a hot day. No problem (other than dogging the afternoon Florida thunderstorms).

Disclaimer - if you fatten up your RV with Lexus interior, air conditioning and such you will not enjoy such performace. My plane has a full glass panel, a heavy base/clear coat paint job, O2 and a heavier cowl and plenum. Empty weight is 1685.

Carl
 
Well yeah. Van's uses the FAA standard of 170lbs per pax not the 225 you used. I weigh 190 and my wife weighs 150 so I typically get full fuel and a little baggage with 4 adults. But the useful load is a zero sum game--if you and your pax weigh more then something has to give, and partial fuel is the only card you have to play. This is not unique to the RV-10--a lot if 4-place planes are really only 2-place in practical terms.

As for fuel planning I typically cruise at 11 gph which gives me 160 TAS so leaning out will give you a bit more endurance/range.
 
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I think I'm a real person even though I'm not a linebacker!
My -10 is light- BEW = 1607 lbs. No ac, no fancy paint, Basic interior. I even gained a pound or two of useful load by swapping out my gtx-327 for a Trig TT22. Every pound adds up. My wife and I together (note how I hide her weight!) are just a bit over FAA standard at 350 lbs which leaves 380 lbs for another couple and bags, with full fuel. Not linebackers but maybe punt returners! BTW, I flow matched my injectors and routinely cruise at 160 KTAS on 10 gal/hr, so even with your load I'd have 2 hours PLUS an hour reserve.
 
Its a truck

What the others have said----it holds a lot.

Not yet mentioned yet, but something you need to pay attention to is how the C/G acts when loaded heavy. As you burn off fuel, the C/G can go out of range to the rear:eek:

Always figure your C/G at take off and landing fuel loads to be safe.
 
Mine weighs in at 1650lb which I think is pretty average. So with full fuel load I can get 4 reasonable (not Texas!) size adults.....

My problem comes if I reduce the fuel to 2/3rd load to get 100lb of baggage as well. Then I run into C of G issues. I have a lighter MT prop plus a strobe pack, ELT and ADHARS behind the baggage bulkhead. Next time my battery needs replacing, I'm going to go with an Earth-X, save myself 15lb and shift the C of G forward significantly.
 
CDC says the average US male weighs 199.5 and female weighs 166.2. With you useful load this leaves 346.6 lbs for fuel and baggage.

I took my wife and adult son and daughter to the Bahamas and had full fuel plus 100 lbs of baggage. I did swap out my battery for a Li Iron battery to keep CG within limits. I allocated 20 lbs baggage per person to have room for safety items (life vest, PLB, etc.).

Worked out great for a week trip!

As others have said, everything is a trade-off.
 
I don't think there is a 4-seater out there which will let you take 4 pax, full fuel and 100lb of baggage...........

I think part of the answer is to shed some lbs - win-win ;):D
 
I don't think there is a 4-seater out there which will let you take 4 pax, full fuel and 100lb of baggage...........

I think part of the answer is to shed some lbs - win-win ;):D

And the cheapest place to shed weight??

The biggest variable is how big the people are. I can't bring 3 300lb friends with full fuel and baggage. But many times, my wife and I will bring along another couple for a day trip, and with full fuel we could easily take on another 100 in the baggage compartment. You do need to be cautious with the CG, and I built my plane to have as much of it's empty weight forward as possible, as pretty much anything you put in the plane pulls the CG aft.
 
I cut my professional flying career flying river runners out of the Grand Canyon in Cessna 207's where the weigh-ins were done at the initial launch and not after a week of eating like kings and collecting pretty river rocks in the bottom of their duffle bags. Sometimes those return flights felt like they were balanced atop a bowling ball.

Like a lot of folks, I listed my Rv10 max at 2800 and would not hesitate to do it again. It is imperative to fly within the envelope and I would never suggest otherwise, but a couple of times I've been on the ragged edge of weight and/or density altitude and the RV10 performance definitely degrades from spectacular to merely impressive. That wing is a jewel. It is the most capable 4 seater I've ever flown, but you still have to fly safe and smart.
 
The 'FAA Standard People' is based on the FAA's standard of 170 lbs per person, so 680 lbs vs your calculation using 225 per person. I haven't been FAA Standard Size since I got married 30 years ago!!
 
Hi All-
Well it sounds like my logic is sound even if my waistline is not. The answer lies in a combination of me dropping 15 pounds, upping the gross to 2800, and not taking the biggest couple we can find for dinner dates.

That said, I thank you for the insight on the CG issues that are dynamic across a long flight. Good to know.
Thanks again,
-Scott
 
I just found out the FAA has increased their definition of a standard weight person from 170 pounds to 190. Anyone else heard of this? My inspector informed me about this after reviewing my weight and balance worksheet.
 
In the airline world, a standard weight person is 5lbs heavier in the winter time do to (in FAA logic) heavier clothes and coats.
 
I don't think there is a 4-seater out there which will let you take 4 pax, full fuel and 100lb of baggage

My Cherokee 235 has a useful load of 1420 lbs. I can carry 4 x 190 lb people, 84 gals fuel, and 156 lbs of baggage. That's a range of over 770 nm. If I only fill the mains (50 gal), I can put 4 x 230 lb people, 200 lbs of baggage, and still go about 400 nm. All of this comfortably in the CG envelope. Sure, I'm only going 134 kts in cruise and not 160. I thought long and hard about building a 10. But 95% of the time it's just the wife and I going. This is why I decided to keep the Cherokee and build the cheaper RV-7A. Plus with the 7, I can go out and do some acro if I want.
 
My RV-10 (GW 2700) can do four 190lbs folks but only if I limit myself to 45 gallons of gas (that's a tank and a half) and no more than 20lbs of luggage (or a few more gallons and no luggage). In this config I'll get an approximate no-wind range of 590nm with VFR reserves.
 
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