How Often....
 

How often do you get to fly an RV, a J-3…and a Spitfire in the same day? (Well, not a REAL Spitfire, but an airplane that is a 90% scale version, true to the original in looks and aerodynamics - and equipped with a 430 HP V-8 engine….that’s probably as close as I am ever going to get to the real thing!)

The Spitfire stares down the RV-8…..


I flew up to Cisco, Texas last Thursday night in the RV-8 (what a great way to travel on “business” – even stopped in College Station for dinner with Louise) so as to be in position to do a test flight in the Supermarine Aircraft Mk26B Spitfire for a future magazine article. I tried to remember the last time I flew a single-engined tail dragger with that much horsepower, and then realized the answer was easy….oh yeah – never. I am not a huge fan of auto engine conversions in general, but I am not so prejudiced that I won’t look at them if they are appropriate – and if you want to build a Spitfire (or Mustang) replica, you pretty much have to use a V-8 if the nose is going to look right. It was a fun airplane to fly, but a bit busy with retracts and an electric prop that had to be operated manually (They hadn’t sorted out the automatic system yet). One of the nice things about the RV’s is the ability to go fast without the mechanical and operational complexity of retracts. But flying a Spitfire with the gear sticking out? Sorry…some things just shouldn’t be done!

Look Ma….no glass!


After a nice evaluation flight before the winds came up, I climbed back in the Valkyrie for a short trip to Fort Worth to check on our little one in the paint shop. The usual gang of miscreants was hanging out at 52F of course, so we traded lies over cheeseburgers and they convinced me (didn’t take much convincing to be honest….) to take Doug’s new (to him) J-3 around the patch a few times. It seemed like I was the only one to have much experience in the 65 HP model, and they wanted to know if I thought it was performing up to par. I’ve got about 500 hours in type, spread over close to forty years, and it sure was fun to crawl back into the rear seat and shoot a couple of landings. Cubs are such great creatures – landing one is sort of like walking, once you have figured them out – I love looking out the open door at the right wheel as it touches down. It’s such simple flying.

Doug traded the “Coral” scooter for this!


Back in the Valkyrie once again, I cruised for home at 9,500’, thinking about how the RV enables such a great day of aviating. Texas is a big state, but these airplanes sure can shrink time and distance. Bouncing imaginary Messerchmitts in the morning, bopping on and off the grass in a Cub at lunch, and cruising high above the heat and bumps with the autopilot on and the Eagles on the XM in the afternoon – RV’s can definitely improve your life….

Paul

Methinks Doug won:D [ed. Well, the scooter and an RV-3 QB and RV-3 fuse kit ;^). dr]

Tough job, seems you are up to it!;)

Huh? Doug has a Cub? Did I miss a memo or something?

[ed. Go to http://www.vansairforce.net/old_news.htm and scroll down to April 26th. br,dr]

Well, it took most of my brain cells to remember how to operate that Australian-designed undercarriage....two switches, six lights, and two levers....for the TWO main landing gear! Oh yeah, there was a circuit breaker in there somewhere too....no wonder the empire fell....;):p

Yeah. Doug posted about it on the front page last week.

You mean British design?
 

As far as I am aware the Aussie that builds the replicas only copied the original British design. On the earliest Spits they had to swap hands on the stick and then manually pump the under cart up.

Cisco...
 

We went by there a few weeks ago while hauling motorcycles to Junction for a ride. The bloke-Mike-who runs things is as passionate about his product as any and they seem to be doing well. It's no real comparison to an RV except wings and an engine but quite the spectacle.

Definitely worth the visit....

So that's what happens when work gets in the way; miss one daily update and Doug gets a Cub.... yes, I'm jealous. I want a Cub! Or a Champ. Or pretty much any little ragwing taildragger.

And the Spitfire; yep, it's cool! I stopped in at Cisco a year ago to check it out... they were still getting things straightened out from the big move and re-assembling the blue Spit. Super nice guys there and very enthusiastic. One thing I couldn't get past though is the "bang for the buck" factor when compared to an RV-8. The Spit is looks fantastic, but at $155K for the kit and another $40K or so for the engine package... that's just too rich for me to have a cool looking ship but not much of a performance advantage over an RV. I've thought the same about the Titan T-51; awesome looking and would love to have one, but again, compared to the RV-8... you just can't beat it for the price.

But, I will admit, sometimes "cool" is worth the extra $$... hence why I'm getting checked out to fly a CAF AT-6/Harvard. 30 gph to do 140 kts? Crazy! But it has that sweet Pratt & Whitney radial engine noise to go with it...

Paul, The WWII replicas don't have to use a V-8 - a real V-12 makes them sound just right -



A tight fit in the rear seat -



And the view forward.... Familiar to RV-4 riders?



Turning final to Chandler - we got there a lot quicker than Tiger or RV speeds...:)



The Spitfire does have prettier lines with it's elliptical wings though...