opinions on upgrading from cherokee to RV
 

New to the forum and considering upgrading from my current Cherokee 140 to a faster plane. I've looked at the usual options such as the mooney, arrow but have had multiple people suggest I look at the RVs as a cost effective alternative.

I'm a low time pilot (less than 100 hrs). I've had my ppl just over a year and most of my time is in my personal Cherokee 140. I do have 12 hours in cessnas. I use the plane for a mix of business travel 200-400 mile trips and pleasure flying with the wife. It would be fun to be able to fly with 4 onboard but realistically... 95% of my flying is either solo business travel or with the wife.

We own our current plane and are planning on selling it and adding money to upgrade to something faster. A big factor for us is ongoing cost and we would like to keep that low so we can justify more flying time.

So now with that background... the question is can a low time pilot handle the jump from a Cherokee 140 to an RV? Which one do you think would be the best option for someone like me? Oh I guess budget would help. We are looking at spending 40-60k so not a huge budget to work with. Just my basic research it looks like the RV6A, RV7A or RV9A would be my best bets with the 6A being cheapest and 7A being most expensive. I'm fine with fixed prop/0320 engine since those seem to sell cheaper and still offer a great speed bump from my current Cherokee. I'd welcome any suggestions/advice.

Welcome to VAF. You'll find a lot of similar requests and replies in the archives, but the bottom line is that none of these planes are a quantum leap in terms of the required skills. There are a lot of folks who have actually built first and then learned to fly and a lot who were low-time Cessna/Piper pilots when they bought or built an RV.

Generally operating cost is less because you can do all your own maintenance except the annual. And mileage is better than most others.

Good luck on your search.

Greg

Big question is, are you interested in aerobatics? If two-person cross-country, at lowest operating cost but reasonable speed is your goal, then look at the -9A. It is not aerobatic. If you want loops and rolls, then the -6 or -7 or 6A or 7A is what you want. ('A' means nosewheel, no 'A' means tailwheel. Another choice for you to make)

Sell Cherokee, buy RV, get transition training don't look back.

You will find the Vans world so much more enjoyable and affordable in MANY respects.

Welcome to VAF!
 

Matt----First off, welcome aboard the good ship VAF.

OK, here is my dos centavos------your low hours are not a problem, there have been more than a few folks who have built and flown the RV (of many different models) with less hours.

Get a ride in all models if you can. You will most likely get offers here, just from your original post. Depending where in Texas you are, the RVs down there are thick as mosquitos.

Dont restrict yourself to the "A" models.

Define what you want/need from the plane--------acro?? cross country?? 1, 2, or 4 seats? IFR/VFR? Glass panel or steam gauges? ETC.

Above all, dont rush things-------take time to learn, and make informed choices/decisions.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I'm not knocking Cherokees, I trained in them and liked them, but even an RV-12 would be a step up in speed and way down in operating cost. And a BIG step up in fun. :)

Assuming your mission is as you described - sounds like a perfect use case for a 9/9A. I looked hard at this option before buying a Bonanza (long story). The 9A would be a very easy transition for you - good speed and economy, stable like the Cherokee, great platform for IFR training when you're ready. It flies very well with lower power (O-320) and costs to maintain are very low especially if you go carbureted and fixed pitch. One option would be to buy a VFR panel and upgrade when you're ready to go IFR.

It shouldn't be hard to find some RV owners near you - lots of them in Texas!

I think tricycle gear is best for me since that is what I'm already used to. Don't think I will be doing aerobatics so the 9A would be fine although I'd not be opposed to a 6A or 7A and who knows... maybe a little light aerobatics would be fun? Course the wife might say otherwise :rolleyes:

I will check the archives for similar threads... I did search and didn't find anything but probably just need to be more creative with my search words. Thanks for the input and I'm going to be reading up on the 6A, 7A and 9A threads to get a better understanding of the differences.

Me too!
 

I was in the exact same boat about a year ago. Owned a 1966 Cherokee 140 that I bought to learn and achieve my PPL. Then a friend borrowed it for a cross country and the alternator regulator crapped out.

Another friend offered to take me and the replacement in his RV-8. When we got back, I started looking for a buyer, which took until last December.

Any one of the RVs you are considering will work well but the -9 is more likely to be in your budget, IMO.


EDIT: This RV-9A is in the VAF classifieds. Good timing!
http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...d.php?t=135741

I crossed the 100 hr total time PPSEL mark in my 6A, and most of my time before that was in 152's. I'm now over 600. You will spend slightly more on insurance until you get some hours in type, but it is not bad at all. You will need transition training to get insured, but you will want it anyway.
In my opinion, the 6A is the best bang-for-the-buck out there. Just find a solid build (get some experienced RV eyes to check it out) and upgrade it as you like. That last part is the nicest change you will find from your Cherokee world, except that you won't want to take the RV out of flying status because...well...you'll want to fly it!