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RV-10 CG

boandrv7a

Member
Hey Guy's - I'm curious, are you RV-10 drivers able to use your entire useful load? I also have a V35B and, until I had a bunch of **** taken out of tail (30 years of old wire, King HSI, etc), I had to be careful how I loaded it. I can use my full 1,300 lb useful load, but I still need to be careful.

Before I bought my 7a, I looked at a few 10's for sale but then decided to upgrade the Bo and buy an 7a.

Just curious about the actual CG envelope and what little gotcha's are out there.

Thanks!

Jim
 
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I was able to fill my plane up to the maximum gross weight of 2700 pounds.

N959RV Weight & Balance Data
Empty Weight: 1703 lbs. (8 qts oil & Wheel Fairings @ #3.75 lbs. each
Gross Weight: 2700 lbs.
Datum: 99.44" forward of wing leading edge
CG Range Limits: 107.84" - 116.24" aft of Datum
Fuel: 108.90" Aft of Datum
Pilot/Front Passenger: 114.58" Aft of Datum
Rear Seat Passengers: 151.26" Aft of Datum
Baggage: 173.50" Aft of Datum
Right Wheel: 688 lbs., arm 123.85", moment 85209
Left Wheel: 685 lbs., arm 124.15", moment 85043
Nose Wheel: 330 lbs., arm 49.90", moment 16467
Total Weight: 1703 lbs., moment 186719
Empty CG: 109.64" (moment divided by weight)

To Compute Loaded CG
Multiply weight by arm = moment
Add all weights
Add all moments
Divide total moment by total weight
 
Pretty easy to load a 10 up to max--------but if you do, be careful to compute the C/G for the landing.

Due to burning off fuel in the flight, you can go out of C/G to the rear.
 
Pretty easy to load a 10 up to max--------but if you do, be careful to compute the C/G for the landing.

Due to burning off fuel in the flight, you can go out of C/G to the rear.

Mike, as fuel burns the CG moves forward, not aft.
 
Hey Guy's - I'm curious, are you RV-10 drivers able to use your entire useful load? I also have a V35B and, until I had a bunch of **** taken out of tail (30 years of old wire, King HSI, etc), I had to be careful how I loaded it. I can use my full 1,300 lb useful load, but I still need to be careful.

Before I bought my 7a, I looked at a few 10's for sale but then decided to upgrade the Bo and buy an 7a.

Just curious about the actual CG envelope and what little gotcha's are out there.

Thanks!

Jim


There are some that have certificates showing higher gross weight than 2700lbs, although mine is not one of them. I've not had any problems flying at gross weight. CG is within specs, but usually pretty far aft.

My advice is to model your CG at both the beginning and end of the flight. Also think about how you load and unload your aircraft. Here's a scenario:

  1. Back seat passenger weighs 50lbs more than front seat passenger, plus an 80lb dog in the other rear seat.
  2. Pilot gets out first.
  3. Front seat passenger gets out
  4. When they step down on the step, the RV-10 tails sits on the tarmac.
  5. Small crack in the rudder fairing

The issue is that there is minimal fuel in the tanks to function as a counter balance. So we ponder a bit and work through the logistics to prevent this from happening again. We stop at the same airport on the return trip.

  1. Back seat passenger weighs 50lbs more than front seat passenger, plus an 80lb dog in the other rear seat.
  2. Pilot gets out first.
  3. Rear seat passenger gets out
  4. When they step down on the step, the RV-10 tails sits on the tarmac.
  5. Major cracks in the rudder fairing because the additional weight on the step increases the force the tails hits the tarmac.

What we didn't realize is that we parked in a different spot to fuel this instance. It happened to be on about a 15 degree incline sloping downwards towards the tail. The physics on the incline out smarted us with attempting to offload the aft weight first.

So the point I'm attempting to make is that CG is important on the ground too! BTW, I've seen the same thing happen to a 7A at gross too. The first person getting out steps on the step and down she goes.

I've also resolved the situation by having the two people swap positions regardless of whose dog is in the back. Put the heaviest occupant in the right front if all the seats are full.

bob
 
Just like with your V tail, the answer is "it depends". Some builders have put air conditioning, extra batteries, heavy primers, etc., in the tail. They do need to exercise caution with regard to aft cg when loading to max. OTOH, my empty cg is pretty far forward (solo, I carry 20 lbs of water in the back) and I seldom have cg problems even loaded to max. (I dump out the water). Just like other airplanes, the pitch feel is much lighter at aft cg. And, to elaborate on the above posts, you must check cg at landing configuration. If you start out near the forward limit, cg moves forward as you burn gas. And if you start out near aft limit, cg moves aft as you burn gas.
Edit: To see possible variations, look at David's wt and balance numbers above. My empty weight is 100 lbs lower, and empty cg 2" further forward, than his. So there's a lot of plane to plane variations.
 
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[*]Pilot gets out first.
[*]Rear seat passenger gets out
[*]When they step down on the step, the RV-10 tails sits on the tarmac.
bob

Bob,
Trying to grasp this scenario, if one stays standing on the wing walk would this still happen?
 
Bob,
Trying to grasp this scenario, if one stays standing on the wing walk would this still happen?

I think the issue is two people on the two steps at the same time, possibly complicated by baggage or people already in the back seat.
 
I think the issue is two people on the two steps at the same time, possibly complicated by baggage or people already in the back seat.

This. My rule is only person at a time gets on the step and climbs on to the wing regardless of who or what is already in the cabin.

A couple of years ago at OSH we were in a departure hold due to a crash that closed the field. The plane was loaded to the gills with gear and my teenage kids in back. We got word the field opened and in our rush to get in and started my wife and I both got on both steps at the same time. I felt the plane start to tip and jumped off but it was too late and it settled back before I could catch it. The good news was we were still in the grass in front of our camping spot and that plus the relatively slow tip back resulted in only my pride being damaged. :eek:
 
My CG is definitely further back than I would like as I have a MT prop plus an ELT, strobe pack and ADAHARS behind the baggage bulkhead. I haven't flown 4 people and baggage yet but running the numbers shows I have to load carefully.

Plan a is to replace the Concord battery with an Earth X unit once it reaches the end of its life which will make a big difference......
 
Revisiting an older thread -

Tail tipping seems to be somewhat uncommon, but not unheard of. I saw a beautiful painted RV-10 with an unpainted rudder at SNF after it had tipped on the tail and destroyed the rudder.

Has anyone designed a "pogo stick" type device to place under the tail tiedown (similar to what is used on Cessna 208's and B-737-900's) - for loading and unloading? I have a design in my head, but if something already exists - I would like to see what has been used and proven.
 
Has anyone designed a "pogo stick" type device to place under the tail tiedown (similar to what is used on Cessna 208's and B-737-900's) - for loading and unloading? I have a design in my head, but if something already exists - I would like to see what has been used and proven.

Wouldn't be hard to design a skeg (which is what you're describing), but you can avoid the need by controlling/sequencing the loading and unloading to keep the front seats occupied while the backseaters load/unload.
 
Here is an example of a trip I just took. The CG would have been AFT with no fuel but ok for landing at our destination. This calculation was based on 100lbs of baggage but we only had 88lbs so were in CG for all phases of flight. Alao, I always keep my tail tie down ring in my plane to protect my rudder just in case the tail comes down
 

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