If any of you guys need an engine I have a pair of Lycoming IO360 B1B cores I'm trying to get rid of.

RE: RV-6A - I'm 6'4" and 215lbs and I fit into my friends RV6A. It's a little "cozy" but not much different than my Bonanza or Baron. When flying it solo it's actually pretty comfortable. He did a mod where the seats tilt back a bit farther - I think I have more headroom in his 6A than in my Baron!

Singing to the choir...... A well built RV is a great flying airplane! My buddy keeps talking like he wants to sell his..... anyone have suggestions on how I might sell this idea to SWMBO?

Always have a spare. So organise a time where SWMBO has a place to be, and REALLY REALLY wants to be there. Remove a plug lead or two. Load up and start......ohh bother. If only we had a spare airplane.

Unpack, go home. Return to the plane and refit plug leads and claim your magic skills found some plugs that were not firing and all is fixed. You are not telling porkies, they failed to fire.

A week later say you are about to buy <insert whatever> and should you ever get caught out again you will be able to jump in the RV.



My approach is to follow the "It is easier to cop the flack/or seek forgiveness than it is to gain approval" approach.

Let us know how it works out for ya!

I have a friend who had an RV-6 and a Deb. He decided he only would keep one and asked his wife which one. She opted for the Deb.

10,000 officially flying, quite a milestone!

http://www.vansaircraft.com/pdf/press_r ... Flying.pdf

Yeah, if the builder lets Vans know about it.

My guess is it will easily be north of that. There are around 550 in Australia alone. There is likely 10,000 in the USA alone (maybe someone can look up the register). Add in Canada, NZ, South America, South Africa and a few in Europe I can see there being an extra 1500-2000 maybe.

And that is the flying count.

I got my ticket in an RV12 SLSA and jumping from that plane into a Cherokee, made me really appreciate how fun the 12 is

One issue with the -14 was the up-front cost of the IO-390. There aren't many used ones out there, so you're having to buy one from Lycoming, and they are very proud of those engines! As usual, the folks at Van's listened to their customers, and developed an IO-360 version (200 hp vs 210) that can be built for a LOT less money (assuming a used engine).

Beyond that, I think the main reason you don't see more of them around is that it's just been on the market for a lot shorter time, so there are only a fraction of the numbers compared to the -6 and -7... There seem to be a LOT of them "in progress"...

RV-14 is still a few years away from the population explosion I think. All the kits are now available and some folk take 3-5 years to build.

I do wonder if the extra 10HP is really worth the trouble. But hey....HP isn't everything, it is the only thing!

There is apparently a bit of difference in drag between the trike and taildragger versions. I say this based on the published data on Van's website, where the taildragger version (straight -14) is faster than the trike version (-14A), even though the taildragger's numbers were taken with the 200 hp IO-360 instead of the trike's 210 hp IO-390.

Is the -14 nosewheel any more robust than the others? I think the RVs are the only airplanes where the tailwheel version is safer than the tri-gear. Check YouTube for things like "RV7 nosewheel shimmy" and you'll agree.

My friend who has had an 8 and a 7 lands and keeps the stick in his belly till the nose falls on its own to the pavement, at a fast walk speed. As Stu points out it is very easy to get a lot of shake/shimmy otherwise in the nosewheel. The Vans wing likes to fly slow and fast. They are sooo much fun!

.

The RV-14 also shares the same propriety airfoil of the RV-10, but the wing is shorter (27ft vs 31.9 ft). I can tell you after 200+hrs of flying my RV-10 that the wing is a really good all-around performer.

Hard to beat a -10

The truth of the matter is most RV6A problems from which the reputation was gained, is a failure of most important nut. The nut controlling the stick!!!!

Too many people have tried landing too fast and forcing it on the deck. Simple as that.

That's a contributor, but it's not the whole story.