RV-9 ride/forward visibility
 

Hello all,
I know there's a separate forum for nose wheel vs tailwheel, but my question is a little more specific than just that. Which is- how is the forward visibility on the 9 on the ground? I realize it's a tough question to answer, but mainly I'm wondering if it's possible to see over the glare shield. I'm 5'8", so a little vertically challenged.

My wife and I are both private, SEL and have owned a 150 for a little more than three years now. Neither of us have any tailwheel experience. We are well into building the wings of what we initially planned to be a 9A. Recently we're thinking of tailwheel though. Zero forward visibility on the ground could be a deal breaker however.

Second question- is there anyone within 200NM or so of Little Rock who would be willing to donate a ride and discuss their RV9 in exchange for a fuel donation and lunch? We would fly there to meet you.

-Travis

P.S.- no intention here of starting a never-ending debate about ground loops, nose-overs, insurance, crosswind, blah blah blah. Just want to know about visibility on the ground. ;)

It all depends on how high you seat your self.

If you just hop into someone elses airplane that is much taller than you and except the seating position that results from using a tall persons cushions, you will still see over the glare shield but you wont see much over the nose on the ground because of the cowl.
Set the seat up like it should be (sitting high with just enough head clearance to the canopy) and the view is quite good.

BTW, this applies to all the RV's. I see a lot of people flying them while sitting waaaaayyy to low. How do you guys see anything?

RV-9
 

I have the -9 I'm 5'11. I can barely see over while taxing and have to s turn some. Its really no big deal and with some extra cushions, you shouldn't have any problems. Over the nose visibility is excellent once the tail comes up and during flight. The -9 seems to have a bit more nose-down attitude in flight than my -6 did.

Both the 9a and -9 are great designs. However, I am slightly bias towards the -9. One unique point about the -9 is that they are the rarest of all the RV designs, including the -3. As a matter of fact, nobody knows really how many -9 are flying cause some of the early -9a were called -9. It has been speculated that there are only about 25 - 50 currently flying in the world. Who knows.
Good luck!

Scott,

Would there be significant differences in view in a -7, or even a -6? That would broaden his field to select from, and I'm pretty sure there are some -6s & -7s up in that area.

Travis, there's at least one -6 taildragger down here near Jackson MS. If you don't find anything closer (bound to be some in Memphis), I'll put you in touch with the owner here in Jackson.

Charlie

I just adjusted my seats for this before getting them upholstered ( i am 5'-8" ). You can adjust the seat height until your head is a gloved palm from the plexi and you can see just fine. A little lower will also probably work. You can see the cowling in that position but I am not sure what downward angle that is. In transition training I do not remember any concern in taxi. I landing for 3 point I ended having to look out the side, leaning my head against the side plexi - no troubles at all. A wheel landing can be done with full view. The nose is so low on the 7/9 that compared to that cessna on take-off you will be climbing like a rocket with the same sight picture.

My understanding is that the RV-9 legs are slightly longer than the -7s and that this is needed to get the more efficient wing to be closer to stall in the 3-pt attitude (though I could be wrong on this).

That said, I'm 5'10" and have no problem seeing over the nose during taxi. I don't even s-turn generally, though I do sometimes stretch up a bit to provide better forward visibility during taxi. As mentioned above, cushions should be the answer if visibility is an issue anyway.

Finally, I had no tailwheel time prior to my -9. It has been a piece of cake to fly over the past 400 hours. Knock on wood, but absolutely never has the tail seemed to want to go around on me. I too was planning on a -9A until I ordered my fuselage. Boy am I glad I went -9! It's a LOT of fun!

Hope this helps.

I sit up straight while taxiing my -9 and can see fine, sometimes s-turning. I agree with using seat cushions along with seat back settings and rudder pedal positioning to set it up just right for you.

I'll be at SNF HBC if you want to check out RV9 #90438.

We chose the 9A since my wife is 5 ft. 3. Visibility is great and no stress.
I learned to fly in taildraggers in 1971 and like them very much.
For the RV, we chose the easy route and don't regret it. I would like brakes on the right side... but we just swap and she puts a booster cushion in to get closer to the pedals.

I agree with the others. I'm 5'-ll" and the visibility over the nose is pretty good.

Yes, the -9 is taller than the -6 and -7 but not significantly so.

That said, I did have a taxi incident a number of years ago when I crested the hill on a taxiway and hit a trailer sitting in the middle of said taxiway. I never saw the trailer until I got out of the plane.

That would have happened regardless of the RV and due to the narrow taxiway, I couldn't S-turn.

One other thing, the -9 is the best balanced of all the RV's and is truly an amazing airplane.

Travis my 9 is probably the easiest landing taildragger I have ever flown. It's landing manners and slow flight characteristics have saved my bacon several times when I had my head up my rear end. I love wheel landing mine it's so easy. Sure the 3 point attitude is a little blind, but is great compared to most tailwheel planes I have flown. Get some time in the back of a cub or Pitts and you'll think the 9 is perfect. Anyway I just like the stance of the airplane and the look sitting on the ground. For a fun all around plane it's hard to beat.

All that being said if your mission is to travel mostly with the plane I think the 9A is the better choice. There have been several times on trips when I have had to really pay serious attention to getting the 9 on the ground because of exceedingly strong winds. I always thought in those instances that if it was a 9A just how easy it would have been to just plop it on and not worry about what the tail was going to do.

Maybe I'll convert mine someday when I get too old and feeble. NOT!!!