Weight and balance numbers

[Raymo]

Belle avion!!!

(Hopefully Google translator worked correctly)

[engineerorange]

RV7-A Slider
O-360 Carb
Sensinich Aluminum prop
Full Paint, Leather Seats, no other interior
Nose Job 2

Left Main 399#
Right Main 400#
Nose 265#

Empty Weight 1064lb@80.536"

[Robb]

RV7 IO360 Sam James Plenum Injected leather seats no side panels
painted tilt up oil no fuel IFR 1093 lbs

[BillL]

RV7
Tip Up
No Paint
SJ Cowl
IO360 M1B
CS Composite Hartzell
1/2 Raven
Oil Accumulator
OA Seats, Abby Leather w/heat
Classic aero - carpets side panels
Fire extinguisher

1139 lbs
MainR 538
MainL 535
TW 66

She is a little heavy, but I am not.

[cropdusterdave]

RV7
Tip up
no paint
O-320 160 HP
Fixed pitch
classic aero seats and full carpet
lt main 472
rt main 474
tw 68

1014 lbs

[Jpm757]

RV-7 Slider
Lycoming IO-360-M1B
MT Constant Speed Prop
AFS 5600 Quick Panel with Dual ADAHRS
Manual Flaps and Trim
Full Classic Aero interior with heated seats
Rocket link tailwheel steering arm
Oversized 380x150 Tires
Exterior a mix of paint and vinyl

Left Main 500.8
Right Main 507.5
Tailwheel 72.8
Empty Weight 1081.1
Useful Load 718.9
CG 80.62


This is a great thread for anybody in the building/planning stage of a 7. If you are building a taildragger, I would recommend keeping everything mounted as far forward as possible especially if you are going with a light prop. It seems the 7 was designed around a heavier engine and heavier prop. Once you start adding people and baggage, the CG can move aft quickly, especially if you have a composite prop, even if it is a Constant Speed. Without the weight on the nose you can end up with a limited baggage capacity if you don't plan accordingly.

[tgmillso]

I completed the weight and balance on my RV-7 today with the following configuration and results:

Type: RV-7
Engine: IO-360M1B with dual PMAGS
Prop:Hartzell 72" Blended Airfoil CS prop
Dual Andair wing root gascolators, Andair fuel pump, Andair fuel valve.
Single G3X Touch IFR panel (GTN 625, G5, heated pitot, autopilot etc...)
Electric pitch and roll trim
Night lighting (flyleds Nav/Strobe and Baja Squadron Pro landing lights)
Tosten military grips
Dual brakes
Airframe fully primed internally (Ekopoxy) and fuselage fay sealed.
Canopy Supertracks (best mod on the aircraft)
Sikaflex Canopy and Carbon/Glass skirt
Full carpet (walls self adhesive "fossliner" 340gsm, baggage and seat pan with 490gsm Spectropile and forward floor with Autex Reef 800gsm)
Forward floor 3/4" sound insulation foam.
All Van's seat cushions/spacers installed (canvas covered)
5 point Crow harnesses.
EarthX lithium battery, single alternator
Oversized 380-150x5 tires (second favourite mod)
JD Air Parts Tailwheel assembly and vent/drain fairings.
Ceramic wool/stainless firewall protection
Titanium/ceramic wool belly fire protection
Fire extinguisher
Flight manual
Luggage net
Full external paint and all fairings in place.
Full oil
Unusable fuel (22lb or 3.68gal total)

Total Empty Weight: 1135lbs
Empty Arm: 79.35"

Tailwheel weight: 62lbs

So it appears I built a bit of a pudgy sucker. I focused hard on keeping the CG forward during the build, which I achieved, however I blew my target weight by 27lbs. It's amazing how all of these little mods add up, even after the lithium battery weight saving. With two 170lb people on board and full fuel I'm limited to a baggage weight of 72lbs due to gross weight (1800lb) limits, and for aerobatics I'm limited to half tanks with two on board. In no loading case am I CG limited.
If I was to do things again, I would look at a lighter engine/prop combo (perhaps a composite sump and propeller, but stick to the 8.5:1 compression) and put it on a 320 engine mount. I would maybe ditch the interior primer and just fay seal everything with a modified silicone polymer (apart from the 6061T6, which I'd still prime). I guess I'll have to build another one...

Tom.

[BillL]

Originally Posted by tgmillso

I completed the weight and balance on my RV-7 today . . . . .

So it appears I built a bit of a pudgy sucker.

Tom.

Pudgy, naaaah . . . Take off the paint and extra fuel and its pretty good!! With a pilot and 1/2 fuel, she will jump off the runway just after you get to full throttle!

[tgmillso]

Thanks Bill. Looking back at Van's statement on page 14-4 of the manual, it appears that they may have weighed the aircraft used in the example with no fuel on board instead of the unusable fuel, which we have to do here in Aus, so really I guess I'm only about 5lb over. I did try to keep the paint pretty light when I laid it down, with one layer of zinc phosphate etch then two medium coats of PU over that and just a couple of decals on top. I tried to think about weight the whole time I was building, however I also wanted to make something that would be useful, safe and would last the test of time.
Tom.

[Finley Atherton]

Tom, I have a 9A and don’t know much about the 7 but 3.68 gals unusable fuel sounds excessive.

Fin.
9A NSW AUSTRALIA