what to build

I have been dreaming for years about building a sport aircraft and have bought plans for a mustang II and preview plans for the Rv8 and attended lots of courses about aircraft design. For a number of reasons I've decided against starting on what i have, mainly because i wanted to build a tandem arrangement in aluminium with a tapered wing. I even went so far as designing the outer dimensions of my own aircraft but realised the complexity of it meant that i would be 70 before the thing flew. I initially discounted the harmon rocket because of the implications of hot rodding an existing design and the increased stall speed and engine costs. For a few years now I've been distracted by the rigours of raising a family and building a house. Recently I've been trolling the internet again because you can never completely cure the addiction and came across the F1 rocket which i am absolutely taken by. The only problem is the price as I have lots of time and skills but a tight budget. I have recently been offered a damaged rv4 which had a heavy landing and damaged the fuse and wings for $6500 AUD.
How hard would it be to make silk purse out of a sows ear, or should i just buy a slow build F1. ANY advice as to the structural differences of the three aircraft and first hand experience would be greatly appreciated. Also what is the realistic turbulence penetration speed for these aircraft. It is all very well to say lets cruise at 200 knots but what if you have rough air?

Welcome....

to Van'sairforce, George.
Since you didn't detail the extent of damage to the -4, it's hard to give you a good answer. However, if the wings and fuse are rebuildable with new skins/parts from Van's and the the airplane didn't have a prop strike, you could be well on your way. Keeping in mind that a basic VFR -4 with 150 or 160 HP would cost a minimum of $35-$40 thousand over here (my buddy just did his for around $45,000 with a mid time 160 Lyc. Do the math on the cost of repair parts on the available -4 and see if it's under these numbers.

Since you mention budgetary limitations, I think the -4 would be your most viable path. You'll have a near 200 MPH airplane and tandem too.

As far as penetration speeds, it can get very rough at higher speeds and I've personally been hit with 3 G hits, losing my headset and have definitely slowed down to around 150 or so. Depends on how much you can take.

Regards,

I agree with Pierre, if budget is a limiting factor, go with the RV-4. The Rocket will cost you much more. It's faster, but it comes at a cost.

As far a rough air, the Maximum Structural Cruising Speed of the F1 is 160 KTS. I tend to slow down much more than that when it's rough out. I don't enjoy getting pounded and the Rocket is not significantly different than any of the RVs in that regard.

rv 4 damage

OK the rv 4 has the following damage, the gear and engine mount were damaged but that has been repaired. The engine had a prop strike and needs to be bulk stripped, The fuse from the firewall back was damaged but this has been repaired and the avionics bay is still exposed. The wings have the bottom skins removed adjacent to the fuse and one of wet wing tanks is damaged beyond repair, would require new leading edges. No significant damage is visible in the rest of the wing. The wing mounting points appear undamaged but I am concerned that the spars may have hidden damage. My thinking at the moment is how hard is it to convert this aircraft to a rocket with a square wing. I realize the fuse will be narrow but i may have to live with this. The extent of damage to the wings makes me wonder if it is worth making them into rocket wings. Is the only difference that they are shorter with more tightly packed ribs? What are the other differences structurally to make them stronger?

regards

george

George
Essentially the wings are clipped and the same number of ribs are staggered in different locations. The wings are the easy part. A rocket fuselage is not just a wider RV4 fuselage. The cockpit skins are .040 and most of the internal structure forward of the main spar is heavier. Unless you widen the fuselage the engine mount and gear legs will not fit.
Fix the RV4, fly it, build a rocket, and then sell the RV4.

G'day George,
Replacement parts from Vans are priced very reasonably (in aircraft dollars!), and our dollar is looking pretty good atm, so a repair could be a good option.
If you can find someone familiar with the RV's, try and get them to check it out for you. I've just finished repairing an RV6 that the owner bent on landing, and there were a few problems needing work that weren't obvious until it got pulled apart.
I'm building an F1 sport wing btw, and I'm a L.A.M.E. at BK.

Ron Graham
Sydney, Oz

slowbuild evo

does team rocket offer the F1 evo as a slowbuild kit including slow building the tapered wing. I actually like pain.

SB EVO

I Don't think you can get a slow build wing for the EVO because of the taper, it is much more complex. (or so I've read). The sport wing, (like what comes with an RV) is a "Hershy Bar" wing that is much easier to build.

SLO build kits

Mark does not offer a slo build kit yet. He is considering it with the F4 Rocket lite to more price competetive with a RV-8. He won't be able to beat it, but it will be a lot cheaper to build a Rocket. Building a RV-4/Harmon Rocket kit would be the hardest to build since you have to alter a lot of parts to make it all fit right. The F1 kit is all in one and Marks parts are pretty tight.