Rv 4 and gross weight

Im am about to purchase a rv 4 and i was doing the weight and balance for me and my friend. The numbers were with in cg bit the gross weight was 1580. 80 pounds over gross weight. How critical is that 80 lbs. Thats full of fuel and yes i can take fuel off but will have to land every 1.5 to 2 hours to refuel

Thanks

David

1st to do

Jetspud said:

Im am about to purchase a rv 4 and i was doing the weight and balance for me and my friend. The numbers were with in cg bit the gross weight was 1580. 80 pounds over gross weight. How critical is that 80 lbs. Thats full of fuel and yes i can take fuel off but will have to land every 1.5 to 2 hours to refuel

Thanks

David

Click to expand...

David,
The Van's plans called for 1500#. The builder sets the max weight.
Checked the placard?
Mine said 1600#, so not an issue.

Heavy weights + hard landings can be hard on your gear.

Sounds like your plane could go on a diet.
I put mine on a strict diet and lost 83#


Daddyman

Jetspud said:

Im am about to purchase a rv 4 and i was doing the weight and balance for me and my friend. The numbers were with in cg bit the gross weight was 1580. 80 pounds over gross weight. How critical is that 80 lbs.

Click to expand...

How critical is it that your insurance pays out if you crash while flying over-gross?

A lot of -4`s got FAT over the years as builders, and in many cases second and third owners installed larger engines, constant speed propellers and avionics which pushed up the empty weights.
In some cases owners just arbitrarily (and illegally) increased their gross weight to a number that satisfied their needs. I inspected such a plane with an #1800 GW, and among other things found cracked gear legs and cracked Dynafocal rings. Van realized the limitations of the -4 and hence the RV-8 was born.
If you are looking for a -4, I would search out a nice light 150-160 hp fixed pitch bird and use it for what it was intended. Every airplane has its limitations.

Gw

My gross weight is set at 1750, empty weigh is 1063(full ifr, constant speed IO-360), and it gets up and goes. When I?m landing, I will be at 1600 pounds or less. No wrinkles, or any other issues after 350 hours.

also noted...

daddyman said:

David,
The Van's plans called for 1500#. The builder sets the max weight.
Checked the placard?
Mine said 1600#, so not an issue.

Heavy weights + hard landings can be hard on your gear.

Sounds like your plane could go on a diet.
I put mine on a strict diet and lost 83#


Daddyman

Click to expand...

BTW; mine is IO-320 with constant speed prop. not fancy but fast.
Happy Landings,
Daddyman

Mine has a MGTOW of 1700. My MGLW is 1600. I rarely if ever go over 1500.

X

I bought a flying RV-4 and the builder specified 1650# as this plane's MGTOW. However, after studying what Vans has to say about it, I re-wrote the POH and put it to the recommended 1500#. Aerobatic MGW is 1350, and the engineers at Van's say you have to respect this limit.
FYI, when I bought my -4 it had a smoke system, added 12V power plugs, ipad mount, oxygen, and all kinds of little crazy stuff that I had no need for. I got all the non-mission essentials removed and reweighed the plane. Empty wt is now 970 and with full fuel is 1162. So for the physical size of the plane, not too bad really. Bigger issue with a back seater I find to be is balance. I weigh about 135, so the limiting factor for the back seater for me is more about CG. Again, CG limits are harder to manage for Acro.
If your mission requires more payload capacity, and especially if you want to do aerobatics with your buddies, you might need a "bigger boat." The RV-8 is more expensive, but if you can afford one, it could be a better choice. And if you're a bigger guy with broad shoulders, I recommend you find an RV-4 and try sitting in it before you commit to buying one. It fits me great, but I'm a little guy.
Good luck; blue skies!

I echo Ben?s sentiments about respecting the designed gross weight in an RV4. Even at the aerobatic gross weight of 1375#, you need to be careful during certain maneuvers. If you end up with a tail slide during a hammerhead, you could encounter extreme structural limit exceedances that the airplane wasn?t designed for. Exceeding the 1500# utility limit could also end up causing problems, at least eventually. The RV4 is a wonderful airplane. And if you respect it?s limits, there isn?t any RV that can compare with the light perfectly harmonized handling qualities of that airplane. Keep it light, keep it simple, and you will not find a more efficient, affordable, fun airplane anywhere. If you?re looking for a cross country speedster with a good payload, and able to shoot a coupled approach to minimums, this probably isn?t it. If you don?t weigh much (like the OP), and your passenger is equally slim, you could probably be OK if you didn?t have lots of luggage, but watch your CG with that aft baggage compartment.