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Van's over-engineering compared to certified aircraft
I was reading through some older threads last night about how the RVs are significantly over-engineered when compared to other certified aircraft. Vic made reference specifically to a comparison between an RV and a Cessna. I'd be curious to know, does anyone have pictures, drawings, etc. that might show to what degree these airplanes are over-engineered?
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I don't have a drawing, but I've looked inside some airplanes structures and said "thats the wing spar?!?!?!" Or "that's the engine mount!?!?!?". Same for hinges, brackets etc.
Stuff on RV's does seem to be beefier that alot of certified stuff. |
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The only accurate way to know if something is "over-engineered", as used in this context, is to understand the design specifications and then compare them to the actual design. If the design spec says +6/-3 but the design will handle +12/-6, then saying it's over-engineered is probably fair. But to say that one design implementation (an RV) is over-engineered to another design implementation (C-172) is specious at best. |
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Show me the data
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Accident data would seem to indicate that these Part 23, factory built airplanes are a lot more "over-engineered" than the non-certified, garage-built RV's. I for one am not convinced that the RV's are over-engineered compared to certified planes. |
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I've heard people exclaim about Van's being overbuilt :eek:...but it's just not true IMHO.
My -7 is NOT over engineered, far from it. It's a great aircraft but the total performance comes from the light weight design. Some Beechcraft's may be considered over designed...they're built like a tank. |
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This link provides a bit better perspective https://www.diamondaircraft.com/en/private-pilots/safety/ Other than a couple of drop test videos, not much from Van's as to their design criteria. The Diamonds are normal/utility category, same as some of the Van's designs. My issue is with blanket salesman-like comments with very little data to back them up. |
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Both are fine airplanes and we can infer that they both have proven to measure up to their design specifications. But the DA40 fails to measure up to the same specs as an RV-4 (for example), and the -4 wouldn't meet part 23. |
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