I?m a 500-hour plus pilot, with almost all that time in a Cessna 150. I have about 15 hours in a J-3. I just bought an RV-3 (150hp, fixed-pitch), and thought I would share my impressions about the transition. Here they are to date (one week under my belt).
The RV-3 is not your father?s C150!! It is a fantastic flying machine that gives you options that you don?t have with your C150. You can give up those close-up views of the treetops at the end of the runway on a hot day. You have a choice on whether to endure the bumps or climb above them. There is a whole blue sky above your head that you never knew was there, and to see the ground below just quickly tuck the wing under out of the way and take a look. No slack in the controls, and the stick is much more natural than the push/pull/turn of a control yoke.
That said, the formerly cramped cockpit of a C150 is absolutely spacious compared to the RV-3. This is an airplane that you step into and put on. You won?t be tossing your headset up on the glareshield and your maps and books into the other seat or the baggage area. Anything in the baggage compartment might as well be on the moon while you?re flying. Think small; even two folds of a sectional on a kneeboard tend to get in the way of the throttle or stick. I may be able to put a water bottle down by the flap handle, but haven?t tried yet. Everything I need either goes into the small side pocket, the map box behind the stick, or on the wingwalk while I slide in. Then I can just reach down and pick up the stuff off the wingwalk, such as a kneeboard, and put it on. I?m thinking cargo pants with lots of leg pockets will work well on a x-country. Plan ahead ? take everything you need and nothing you don?t.
You?ve heard it before, but I?ll say it again. Get some transition training before flying your RV. If you?ve been flying anything other than say a Pitts, you won?t be ready for the performance. I got some checkout time in an RV-6 and a Citabria. Both were very helpful. In a Cub everything happens slowly ? the tail drifts up, the Cub trundles sedately along and gives you plenty of time to do your jitterbug on the rudders, the control surfaces are sort of loosely connected to the stick and rudder pedals, and the 65hp leisurely levitates you. If you get off line you have time to think about it a while before you have to react. Not so in the RV. My first takeoff was a sort of crow-hopping affair. The power went in, a two seconds later the tail came up, the p-factor/gyro effect pointed me toward the trees on the left side, I booted the right rudder and probably hit the brakes at the same time in my wide-eyed hurry, we hopped a couple times on the grass and were airborne, climbing like a banshee. That?s when the grin started, in spite of my heart pounding like Roger Rabbit?s. WooHoo!!
Takeoffs are much more controlled now. I learned from that experience to feed the power in gradually. You can easily be up to takeoff speed as the throttle goes past halfway, and you have more time to control the plane. Of course takeoff distance is a bit longer ? say 400ft instead of 300ft. There are no free lunches. Keep feeding the power to full and climb out at 100mph, 1200fpm plus. I?m always thrilled to see triple digits at cruise in my C150, and anything over 500fpm climb is a gift, and only happens on a cold day. From a field elevation of 800ft, it is easy to be at a cruising altitude of 3500ft before leaving the pattern in the RV.
We (the RV and I) are still working on the landings. My technique in the C150 is to make fairly steep approaches with 30 degrees flaps, 1500rpm, power off and airspeed at 65mph on short final, touching the mains with the control yoke almost all the way back, and holding the nose up until it drops on its own. No tailwheel to get in the way of the flare. The J3 is similar, fly down to a few inches off the runway and gradually pull the stick back to the 3-point stance. At a full stall the tailwheel will touch just before the mains and there is no flying energy left. Not so with the RV-3 ? the stall happens at a considerably higher angle than the three-point stance. This is good for visibility. With seat cushions adjusted to leave about an inch of headroom under the canopy I can see almost all the runway in front of the RV, which make taxiing easy. But old habits are hard to break, and it just hard to fly the RV onto the runway in its three-point stance. I have a sore temptation to flare at the last minute, the tailwheel hits first, the mains come down, the tail goes up?and down, and up and down?until I manage to pin it with back stick or add a little power to keep it up until I can ease it down. At the same time I?m searching for the centerline that got away from me somehow. I?ve never felt out of control, but it isn?t pretty yet. I?ve had one good landing (out of a couple dozen) where everything rolled on at once. Just like golf ? that one good shot out of every ten that makes you think, ?I can play this game!?
That?s where we are after a week. I?m promising the RV-3 to learn to land and fly it well, and it is promising me that we will have some good times together.
Joe Lofton
Plane-poor - C150, RV-3A, building RV-9 wings
The RV-3 is not your father?s C150!! It is a fantastic flying machine that gives you options that you don?t have with your C150. You can give up those close-up views of the treetops at the end of the runway on a hot day. You have a choice on whether to endure the bumps or climb above them. There is a whole blue sky above your head that you never knew was there, and to see the ground below just quickly tuck the wing under out of the way and take a look. No slack in the controls, and the stick is much more natural than the push/pull/turn of a control yoke.
That said, the formerly cramped cockpit of a C150 is absolutely spacious compared to the RV-3. This is an airplane that you step into and put on. You won?t be tossing your headset up on the glareshield and your maps and books into the other seat or the baggage area. Anything in the baggage compartment might as well be on the moon while you?re flying. Think small; even two folds of a sectional on a kneeboard tend to get in the way of the throttle or stick. I may be able to put a water bottle down by the flap handle, but haven?t tried yet. Everything I need either goes into the small side pocket, the map box behind the stick, or on the wingwalk while I slide in. Then I can just reach down and pick up the stuff off the wingwalk, such as a kneeboard, and put it on. I?m thinking cargo pants with lots of leg pockets will work well on a x-country. Plan ahead ? take everything you need and nothing you don?t.
You?ve heard it before, but I?ll say it again. Get some transition training before flying your RV. If you?ve been flying anything other than say a Pitts, you won?t be ready for the performance. I got some checkout time in an RV-6 and a Citabria. Both were very helpful. In a Cub everything happens slowly ? the tail drifts up, the Cub trundles sedately along and gives you plenty of time to do your jitterbug on the rudders, the control surfaces are sort of loosely connected to the stick and rudder pedals, and the 65hp leisurely levitates you. If you get off line you have time to think about it a while before you have to react. Not so in the RV. My first takeoff was a sort of crow-hopping affair. The power went in, a two seconds later the tail came up, the p-factor/gyro effect pointed me toward the trees on the left side, I booted the right rudder and probably hit the brakes at the same time in my wide-eyed hurry, we hopped a couple times on the grass and were airborne, climbing like a banshee. That?s when the grin started, in spite of my heart pounding like Roger Rabbit?s. WooHoo!!
Takeoffs are much more controlled now. I learned from that experience to feed the power in gradually. You can easily be up to takeoff speed as the throttle goes past halfway, and you have more time to control the plane. Of course takeoff distance is a bit longer ? say 400ft instead of 300ft. There are no free lunches. Keep feeding the power to full and climb out at 100mph, 1200fpm plus. I?m always thrilled to see triple digits at cruise in my C150, and anything over 500fpm climb is a gift, and only happens on a cold day. From a field elevation of 800ft, it is easy to be at a cruising altitude of 3500ft before leaving the pattern in the RV.
We (the RV and I) are still working on the landings. My technique in the C150 is to make fairly steep approaches with 30 degrees flaps, 1500rpm, power off and airspeed at 65mph on short final, touching the mains with the control yoke almost all the way back, and holding the nose up until it drops on its own. No tailwheel to get in the way of the flare. The J3 is similar, fly down to a few inches off the runway and gradually pull the stick back to the 3-point stance. At a full stall the tailwheel will touch just before the mains and there is no flying energy left. Not so with the RV-3 ? the stall happens at a considerably higher angle than the three-point stance. This is good for visibility. With seat cushions adjusted to leave about an inch of headroom under the canopy I can see almost all the runway in front of the RV, which make taxiing easy. But old habits are hard to break, and it just hard to fly the RV onto the runway in its three-point stance. I have a sore temptation to flare at the last minute, the tailwheel hits first, the mains come down, the tail goes up?and down, and up and down?until I manage to pin it with back stick or add a little power to keep it up until I can ease it down. At the same time I?m searching for the centerline that got away from me somehow. I?ve never felt out of control, but it isn?t pretty yet. I?ve had one good landing (out of a couple dozen) where everything rolled on at once. Just like golf ? that one good shot out of every ten that makes you think, ?I can play this game!?
That?s where we are after a week. I?m promising the RV-3 to learn to land and fly it well, and it is promising me that we will have some good times together.
Joe Lofton
Plane-poor - C150, RV-3A, building RV-9 wings
