RV-10 Speeds

With a growing number of RV10's starting to fly, I'm just curious what the findings have been in terms of speeds. For the most part, I haven't heard of many of the 10's that are getting too close to the published numbers. That has really surprised me because of Vans' reputation for being spot on with most of the performance numbers. Does anyone have any information regarding the flying planes and what kind of speeds they're truly seeing?

I'm curious where you got that impression? Van's had a write-up in the RVator a few issues ago comparing several customer built -10s and the numbers were comparable and in one case better than the factory numbers.

That's the problem. I've only heard rumblings through the grapevine; nothing straight from the pilots' mouths. That's the downfall of the internet - you never what information to trust. So, it sounds like the numbers Vans posts are good then, yeah? Fantastic.

My neighbor recently completed his RV-10 and after lots of side by side
WOT runs I can tell you my SR22 is only about 7 MPH faster. The Cirrus has
a top speed of about 218 mph.

Mark Fowler RV-7 almost complete

Speeds a little low....

I too am a little disappointed at the lack of true, individual aircraft based , real time data. I have repeated many times, that it appears the 10 is a little slow (uncharactoristically of Van's) based on their published numbers. So far, and I have read EVERYTHING published here about the 10, I am the only one to "fly the box" and give real time numbers............. I achieved 193.8 MPH TAS in 331JH while test flying it......I have endlessly asked others to "publish" their numbers here and so far all that has been written is..."Im sure its close"..."Seems to be close to Van's numbers"... ...."comparable..." "...Appears...." and the like.
I am unable to replicate either the max published max speed of 210 mph, the 75 % cruise speed of 201 light, or 197 heavy. All other numbers for 331JH are right on per Vans. Top speeds are not. And, before anybody asks, this plane is set up with the exact engine, prop, etc as the yellow factory bird, AND, it is lighter.
A search of my previous posts for those curious, will yield much info on, elev. authority issues, scalding hot tunnel issues, Blue Mountain Avionics nightmares etc......
I will ask yet once again, since skelrad started this thread.....Any others care to fly the box at 7000' and let us know how their plane compares?
Anybody in Florida wanna fly some formation and see who pulls ahead of who? Maybe at Sun N Fun? If we can get to Sun N Fun, plan on seeing this unique paint scheme fly over at 193.8 MPH TAS during the fly-by demos.
PS....Without letting the theme out prematurely, this plane (If I can get the darn thing painted for Jim in time) will turn alot of heads this April due to the very unique and never before seen, themed paint scheme...

Glen

Starting to sound like an Innodyn thread!

If I recall, they hate to publish any real data...

To be fair, I have seen a lot of RV-10 data on the MAtronics board and some of it does seem to be lower speeds than Vans advertises. Then there are a few....

Didn't Sport Aviation do a flight test of the -10 a couple of years ago? What performance did they observe, or did they just repeat Van's performance numbers?

I know how you feel. All the aircraft I have owned , from a commanche, 210 , 36 ,33, GlasairIII, etc, NOT one of them has ever achieved the fiqures the book gives. So im kinda used to all the inflated numbers and dont expect any different with my RV7.
Then again there could always be a first time.
Let you know when I have the facts.

Speeds

Have owned 3 spam cans but only "dabled" with two. When first prurchased, neither of these puppies, were anywhere near specs. A lot of "tweeking", airframe, and mostly engine and the speeds came to life as published. I suspect that all indications based on design and construction of the airframe, it should have little or no problems reaching Van's numbers. I note that some of the speeds given are within 2 to 3 mph of those numbers, which when considering new engines, new (to the bird) operators, it's too soon to tell, but confident that we'll see more and more reaching "published" numbers.
T88
RV10

glenmthompson said:

And, before anybody asks, this plane is set up with the exact engine, prop, etc as the yellow factory bird, AND, it is lighter.

Click to expand...

I'd actually be interested to know how your W&B compares to Van's. Shitfing the CG back MAY yield some MPH.

One thing I heard at Van's when I was up there was, "The 10 pulls away from the 7 all the time"

I thought that was a great "performance" comparison. It is interesting to hear that the SR-22 is about 8 mph faster. I have been wanting to have someone race a Cirrus.

I'm sure someone will enter their 10 in the race to Oshkosh. Those will be some good numbers for comparison.

Cg

jcoloccia said:

I'd actually be interested to know how your W&B compares to Van's. Shitfing the CG back MAY yield some MPH.

Click to expand...

Yep, CG is at fwd, and in fact we need about 150 lbs of pilot's ass and 8 gallons or so to be in limits. But, we HAVE tried flying at aft CG and, guess what? Same speeds noted..
Glen

ScottSchmidt said:

I'm sure someone will enter their 10 in the race to Oshkosh. Those will be some good numbers for comparison.

Click to expand...

While someone may enter, I'm not sure that'd give good numbers. Too much variation from getting lost, etc.

Something missing

ScottSchmidt said:

One thing I heard at Van's when I was up there was, "The 10 pulls away from the 7 all the time"

I'm sure someone will enter their 10 in the race to Oshkosh. Those will be some good numbers for comparison.

Click to expand...

Scott I am sure, but what is "the 7". According to Van's numbers a RV-10 (260hp) top speed is 211 mph, while a RV-7 (180hp) is 210 mph (with 200hp, 217 mph). So sure it could be faster according to the numbers. The cruise speeds (180hp/-7 vs 260hp/-10) are about the same. Cool. If there's any "pulling away" with that 260hp wide open, there'll be weeping at the gas pump when they pay for the gas.


I just wanted to point out you did not mention what HP the RV-10 and RV-7 where flying with. If its a 200HP RV-7, I don't think the RV-10 could pull away, unless the RV-10 is making more 260hp.


Glad to here Van's does it again. The RV-10 is sure a nice 4 place plane. Van resisted making a 4 place for a long time. It was worth the wait. George

RV10 speeds

In reality when you and your RV friends fly somewhere everyone will throttle back for the slowest airplane. Doesn't really matter who can pull whom or who is a couple of knots faster.
Happy flying
Tom
RV3
lots of hours