I miss my RV... they are the most pure fun to fly!
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Joe, if you can, sit in one not for 5 minutes but as long as the owner will let you and preferably alone.

As someone previously mention if you plan to fly with a passenger the -7 or -9 is the way to go. Otherwise let the "Walter Mitty" come alive and look at a -8. I do my BFR in a -7 and am always surprised how much less shoulder room it has vs my -8.

The -7 can use the weight of a CS whereas my -8 with a FP is more nose heavy than I care and lug around a 25 lb sand bag in the aft baggage compartment. I am working on reducing the nose heaviness.

I do my BFR in a -7 and am always surprised how much less shoulder room it has vs my -8.

I am with you on that!

Joe, if you can, sit in one not for 5 minutes but as long as the owner will let you and preferably alone.

As someone previously mention if you plan to fly with a passenger the -7 or -9 is the way to go. Otherwise let the "Walter Mitty" come alive and look at a -8. I do my BFR in a -7 and am always surprised how much less shoulder room it has vs my -8.

The -7 can use the weight of a CS whereas my -8 with a FP is more nose heavy than I care and lug around a 25 lb sand bag in the aft baggage compartment. I am working on reducing the nose heaviness.

If you have a spouse and plan to fly with her often, best to get her input on the side-by-side vs tandem configuration. Anecdotal evidence suggests the side-by-side is usually preferred by a wide margin when couples fly together a lot. There are threads on this topic over on VAF.

If you have a spouse and plan to fly with her often, best to get her input on the side-by-side vs tandem configuration. Anecdotal evidence suggests the side-by-side is usually preferred by a wide margin when couples fly together a lot. There are threads on this topic over on VAF.

Shoot fire then I'd go 8 before 7. If you are looking for sportier, you might look at the RV-4. If you are looking for sportier and a fire breather, look at a Harmon Rocket II http://www.harmonrocket.com/ or FI Rocket http://www.teamrocketaircraft.com/ which are based on the RV-4 but use IO-540's (there's way more to it than that but's the most visible physical difference). Don't know what the used market is for the latter but they do pop up for sale from time to time.

Shoot fire then I'd go 8 before 7. If you are looking for sportier, you might look at the RV-4. If you are looking for sportier and a fire breather, look at a Harmon Rocket II http://www.harmonrocket.com/ or FI Rocket http://www.teamrocketaircraft.com/ which are based on the RV-4 but use IO-540's (there's way more to it than that but's the most visible physical difference). Don't know what the used market is for the latter but they do pop up for sale from time to time.

I agree with the others - I got a -6 over a -8 because my kids wanted to fly with me. Opted for a -6 over a -7 as the 6's are generally cheaper with comparable performance.

Definitely fun aircraft - alway puts a huge smile on my face!

The -14 is the more comfortable choice.

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I've owned a RV7 for ~ 2 years. Its a blast to fly and very very nimble. I've owned an E33 in the past - which was more comfortable for long cross country trips.

In a perfect world, get a F33A for long cross country flights & the RV7 for everything else.

I like the 6 just as much as friend's 7's and 8's

There's nothing wrong with a 6. Just learn how to fly it and you'll be a better pilot all around. Especially at landing.

Dave

I had just north of zero tail wheel time before we built the RV 6. I chuckle now whenever people were telling me when learning a Taildragger "you'll find out what your feet are for" how true.