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New RV-3A Owner

Geico266

Geico266

Well Known Member
Well, I pulled the trigger, bit the bullet, gave the go ahead. I'm a proud new owner of N66AZ. Built in 1995 and started life with a Subbie, then coverted to a 108HP 0-235. Turtle deck from birth this baby is pretty cool looking. I'm looking to built my TD time.

Let the games begin!

Pics this evening.
 
Congratulations! I would love a 3 but I think I'm too big to fit. (6'-5" 250#) I'll bet it is a blast to fly.
 
Geico266 said:
Well, I pulled the trigger, bit the bullet, gave the go ahead. I'm a proud new owner of N66AZ. Built in 1995 and started life with a Subbie, then coverted to a 108HP 0-235. Turtle deck from birth this baby is pretty cool looking. I'm looking to built my TD time.

Let the games begin!

Pics this evening.
Click to expand...

Larry, congrats, be sure and keep us posted on how your familiarization period goes. Please also consider submitting info for the RV-3 Registry. It helps all of us to see as much of the fleet as possible.

Fly safe,
 
Larry;
You may know this already, but your plane was built in Tucson by Gene Nelson. It was the third 3 he built. During his build he helped me quite often with the many questions I threw his way about installing a Subaru motor in my Murphy Rebel. It is interesting that both he and I eventually decided to remove our Subarus in favor of Lycomings, not because of reliability problems but because we both had uneasy feelings about flying behind them.

Bill Newkirk
 
Well, I finally soloed in my -3a last weekend. What a nice plane to fly. The best landing of the day was the 1st, I didn't even know I was down. I wish I could report the rest were like that. I gained confidence and was landing better and better as the session went on. Well behaved crisp stall with rudder control, great roll rate, great slow flight characteristics. The -3 is a nice plane for just going flying.

AND my fuel burn for 2.5 hours of T&G's was 4.8 GPH! YIKES! That is cheap! I kinda like the 0-235 (108HP) Sterba cruise prop (68x66) set up. A little doggy on take off, but the speed is great. 165 MPH at 2,400 RPM.

Can some -3 owners go though some landing tips? The three points seems to tail first with wings still flying just a little. I add power, and she noses over and settles down nicely. Any more tips?
 
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RV3 Landings

Here's what works for me. Full flaps to lower the nose, carry enough power to manage the descent rate, "sight picture" is to keep the cowling below the "horizon" (far end of runway) to avoid tail-first contact, relax back pressure on the stick slightly upon touchdown for a wheel landing rollout. Full stall landings like in a Cub don't work; the wing is still flying in the three-point attitude.

Joe Lofton
 
JoeLofton said:
Full stall landings like in a Cub don't work; the wing is still flying in the three-point attitude.

Joe Lofton
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Youknow, I was wondering about that Joe. I've had a couple of 3 pointers that worked, but didn't quite feel right if you know what I mean.

Great info!
 
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