Stick Length/Heigth?

Hello all.

My RV-8A was purchased -- I am not the builder.

During the entire time I've owned it I've been very aware that the stick length/height is much too short for me. I'm 6'4" with a taller than normal sitting height. The top of the stick is nearly level with or only very slightly higher than the top of my thighs. I must tilt my right forearm downward to grip the stick. There is LOTS of room before it would ever interfere with the bottom of the instrument panel.

The current grip is a Ray Allen (soft bicycle type) with five buttons: PTT; trim up; trim down; autopilot disconnect; and, altitude hold on/off. The grip appears to be pulled down over the stick rather than mounted on top of it.

I'm planning to do a panel upgrade soon so that will be a good time to remedy the stick situation.

My question is this: Do the Infinity Grips and/or the CH Products grips attach to the top of the existing stick and become additive in length/height? If yes, by how much? I could probably use at least another 4-5".

Thanks,

Mike,

I have flown an -8 with a stick that was like what you describe. It made the plane feel very twitchy. Give Van's a call and buy a new stick, I think they run around $60 and are easy enough to bolt in.

Then you can mount your new grip on the end of that stick and make it the right height.

The stick length is one of those never ending debates. If you do a search on the subject, you will probably get more than a few hits.

In my case, I cut my stick so the top of the grip is at the same height as the un-cut stick. This works great for landing and keeps me from over controlling the plane because of the amount of hand travel required when holding it up that high. When on X-C trips, I hold it much lower.

Yes, the CH grips attach to the top and will add to the stick length by about 4+ inches. I ended up cutting down my stick to adjust for the added length. Not sure about the infinity grip.

More on CH Grips

Mike,

I just installed my CH grips today, and concur with Bill C. They actually insert into the stick with a bushing, and the entire length of the grip (minus the bushing) is added to the stick length. I'll measure it tomorrow and post an update with the exact amount.

In my case, I cut the stick at 6" above the weld where the stick attaches to a triangular brace (bad description). That cut-point on the stick measured 13" from the bottom fuselage skin, for another reference point.

This placed the CH grip top very close to where Bill R described it...right about at the top of where the uncut stick top was. I'm 5'9", so I imagine you'd want yours a bit higher. All that said, if your installed stick-top is greater than 6" from the weld or 13" from the fuse (maybe add 2" or so in your case?), you should have plenty of room to work with to get the grip where you want it.

Kevin at CH is now marketing his grips via Aircraft Stick Grips, LLC, and will send you a dummy stick to try out if you give him a holler. (760) 803-6034, e-mail [email protected].

Apologies, but no info on Infinity.

Cheers, and best of luck!

Bob Mills
"Rocket" RV-6
N600SS
4SD

Eight's are different!

Mike,

I noticed that all the replies so far have been from the side-by-side crowd....and they are good comments. However, the geometry of the -8 stick and panel are a bit different. In order for the stick to clear the bottom of the panel, you have to have it pretty short - indeed, the top of my Infinity stick barely clears the top of my thighs, and I am an average sized guy. (By the way, I love the infinity, and it does slide down over the stick - the assembly ends up an inch or two longer than the stick itself, but I would never cut any stick for a grip until I had both of them in my hand.)

Now admittedly, if you were to push the stick forward enough to hit the panel in level flight, you'd probably pull several negative G's....but unless I raised the bottom of the panel to avoid interference, or did a lot of engineering analysis to prove that I never needed that stick travel, I'd be pretty leery about lengthening it so that it didn't clear the panel.

Don't know if that helps you...

Paul

Stick Interference with Panel

Paul's right, the -8's are different. You can have a very tall stick in the side by sides and not hit the panel. The -8 stick is very far forward and IIRC from when I set mine up, if not cut down it will hit the panel at extreme forward stick once everything is rigged.

Do you need extreme forward stick? Yes. I use it more often than even I anticipated during take offs and ultimately wheel landings. With your 8A less of an issue perhaps, but you don't want to resrtrict the elevator from reaching maximum travel. Iknow you bought a flying plane, but if you were a builder and your stick hit your panel, the DAR won't allow it.

Just wait until you have the new grip and test it out prior to cutting anything. Ideally for the -8 you want only enough to get a finger between the panel and the top of the stick, that way it is as tall as you can reasonably get it. Make sure you have set screw on your stick to keep that puppy in place lest it creep up. You may not even need a new stick.

Have fun re-doing your panel.

Rob

Pic of CH Grip height

Below is a pic of the CH Grip mounted in the piece of the stick I cut off. From the top of the stick to the top of the stick grip, it's just under 7" (6 7/8" from looking at it). Your hand will rest a couple inches below that, of course.

Glad the tandem guys chimed in! I didn't know about the difference in stick/panel clearance (8 v 6), though I was sure not trying to suggest that you cut the stick based on my measurements (sure hope it did not come across that way...concur with waiting till the grip is in hand!)

Hope this helps with your planning...and best of luck with the panel upgrade...exactly what I'm doing right now. Big job, but loads of fun!

Here's the pic:




Cheers,

Bob

If you have a 7

If you have a 7 with a standard panel, measuring from the floor to the top of the stick, how tall?

Infinity

If I recall, the infinity grip captures the top 2 inches of the stick. I cut mine so that the finished height would be maximized without hitting the bottom of my extended subpanel. I'm going to love flying with the infinity. Very well made product.

Bevan
RV7A, not flying yet

Measured Clearance Today

Many thanks to everyone who has posted. Your comments have helped a bunch.

Today I was out at the hangar, and I measured the clearance from the top of the stick to the bottom of the panel. It was 2.82" inches from the top of the Ray Allen grip to the bottom of the panel -- see what I mean about the stick being short? I then peeled the bicycle-type foam grip down to expose the top of the existing stick, and the measurement to the bottom of the panel was 4.25" (may be slightly conservative).

Based on that, and the picture posted by rvmills (Bob), I'm leaning strongly in favor of the Infinity grip. It appears that the Infinity will accomplish what I am looking for with little or no modification to the existing stick. If it captures the top 2" of the existing stick it should be nearly ideal. Plus, the Infinity matches more closely the Air Force grips I'm used to from my prior life.

Thanks again,

Stick - fore and aft travel

I have the CH grip in my RV-8A along with the bent stick from RVWoody. I ended up cutting the stick above the first bend so that the forward cant of the CH grip was offset by the backward bend in the stick. Seems to work well, the top of the stick is directly above the pivot point with the evevator in neutral. The stick was cut so that the top of the CH grip clears the panel by 3/8".

Question for the RV-8(A) folks out there: What's your total fore and aft stick travel as measured at the top of the stick? I'm getting 7 3/4" travel with the elevator moving from correct stop to stop. This is less travel than I expected.

Albert Thomas
N880AT
RV-8A QB
(never ending wiring!)

Again, the -8s are different....

To get a comfortable arrangement, I had to cut and reweld the stick. I've tried several versions of bent sticks and they just didn't work well for me. It's difficult to get the clearance around the seat cushion and still get enough aft offset by bending the tubing.

I've cut and offset my stick (to the rear) providing comfortable length and clearance from the panel. I made two miter joints about 80-deg each. Can't tell you the dimensions off hand or the top of stick travel (would *est.* my overall travel at 10"), but I'm happy with it. I use the Infinity grip.

Planning to make a similar changes to the rear stick.