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I weighed my -8 today, it seems a little heavy to me.

Paul Tuttle

Well Known Member
My -8 weighed in at 1121 lbs. Is it just me or does this seem a little heavy?.

Equipment list:

O-360 Lycoming.
Catto 3 blade prop.
Dynon D-100 and D-120.
Radio stack.
Odyssey pc-680 battery.
Classic aero seats.
Hooker harnesses.
Whelan microburst strobes.
fire extinguisher and first aid kit.
ELT.
Painted.

Weight includes engine oil, unusable fuel and brake fluid.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks.
 
1120 lbs, no fuel, 7qts oil, interior panels and seats, Todd's canopy, grove gear, Hartzel, dual Dynons, PC680, O-360. Not painted.
 
Mine is at 1099 on certified scales with similar equipment. I do not think that your out of the ballpark.
 
N725CB
O-360 A1A with AFP stock accy
vacuum 6 pack
king com/txp
Oregon Aero sheepskins
bare inside white fiberglass, bare metal
1050 lbs
 
Clearly your plane is a danger to you and all around you. Your only option is to ship it to me for proper disposal.

:D
 
It does seem slightly heavy equipped the way it is. Most of the other responders have metal C/S props which are good for about 50lbs. The Catto shouldn't weigh anywhere near that. You don't mention interior finishing or insulation? That can add up. It's painted but are the gear fairings installed?

In any case it's a fantastic machine. Your gonna love it!
 
Weight includes engine oil, unusable fuel ...
I am not sure how you exactly determine the latter, but I suspect most RVs are weighted tanks drained.

I have recently done 2 "RV-8 slimming" exercises, and ended up with:
  1. 200HP IO-360, 7497, Grove Gear, Crow Harnesses (were Hooker full rachets), PC-680 (was Concorde), D100/120, 2 1/4" VHF/Xpdr + Airbox GPS (removed 15lb Garmin stack), removed Whelan Strobe Box (ridiculously heavy, not yet replaced but will be with something light), has full Inverted down to 1124 lbs (was 1151lbs)
  2. 180HP IO-360, 7496, Grove Gear, D-180 + 2 1/4" VHF/Xpdr + Airbox GPS, Crow harnesses, Full Inverted Oil / 1 Flop Tube, 1106lbs now 1073lbs
The lighter the RV the nicer it flies if you throw it around, but it has to be with a mindset of only fit what you really need, and where there is a choice of manufactuteres, the first question is "what weight" not "what cost / features".
 
It does seem slightly heavy equipped the way it is. Most of the other responders have metal C/S props which are good for about 50lbs. The Catto shouldn't weigh anywhere near that. You don't mention interior finishing or insulation? That can add up. It's painted but are the gear fairings installed?

In any case it's a fantastic machine. Your gonna love it!

It was weighed as if it is ready to fly , except full gas tanks. All gear fairings and interior were in place. The interior is painted , but there's no insulation or side panels.

It seems to be up there with some of the hartz numbers. Must be extremely heavy paint. :rolleyes:
 
Rv8

Your's weighs in at " ready to fly " . I wonder how much most would weigh after 6 months only subtracting usable fuel ( and we never fly with no fuel ) .
I have weighed a few planes that were missing their WB , they all seemed to gain some LB's over the years .
Tom
 
RV 8

1102 lbs
IO390,200RV Whirlwind Prop,Dual Dynon Glass panel

Yours is much better than when Danny "Speedy" Kight and I weighed our friends RV 7.
We thought Jim Lechleiter was going into cardiac arrest at 1426 lbs.
Jim was cured when we removed 305 lbs. of lead shot and lead dive weights.
 
1102 lbs
IO390,200RV Whirlwind Prop,Dual Dynon Glass panel

Yours is much better than when Danny "Speedy" Kight and I weighed our friends RV 7.
We thought Jim Lechleiter was going into cardiac arrest at 1426 lbs.
Jim was cured when we removed 305 lbs. of lead shot and lead dive weights.

Oohhh,
You guys are evil! I like it! :D

Charlie
 
Lighter

RV 8 with Superior IO360, MGL Odyssey G2 and MGL V10 radio, Garmin 327, Kuntzleman strobes and nav lights, fire extinguisher, seat cushions, ELT, Catto 3 blade, PC680 battery, paint, but no wheel pants and came in at 1066 lbs.
 
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You are not that far off.

My RV-8 fitted with a IO-360, Catto prop, PC-680, basic IFR panel came in at 1103, so you are not that far off.

Was your aircraft weighed with recently calibrated scales?

Dale
 
I'd like to weigh the -8 I recently bought to see what it's put on since the W&B was originally done. Just being lazy by asking rather than looking it up, but what are the level points for the airplane? Canopy rail, maybe?

Thanks,

........JB
 
I'd like to weigh the -8 I recently bought to see what it's put on since the W&B was originally done. Just being lazy by asking rather than looking it up, but what are the level points for the airplane? Canopy rail, maybe?

Thanks,

........JB

I used the canopy rails as stated in the manual.

I'm not going to obsess over the weight too much. It just seemed a little odd that others equipped the same all weigh in lighter.:confused: The scales I used checked out. I'll weigh it again perhaps, just to see if I come up with different numbers.
 
Thanks Paul. I didn't get the manual when I bought the airplane, but did get a set of laminated plans.

.....JB
 
BEW vs. BOW

It was weighed as if it is ready to fly , except full gas tanks. All gear fairings and interior were in place. The interior is painted , but there's no insulation or side panels.

It seems to be up there with some of the hartz numbers. Must be extremely heavy paint. :rolleyes:

One thing to consider is Basic Empty Weight vs. Basic Operating Weight and their differences. BEW is as you described, unusable fuel, oil, etc. By definition BEW is the weight with just the equipment for certification, i.e. the items on the equipment list only. BOW is the "ready to fly" weight, or the weight of the plane with your normal gear i.e. maps, life vests, etc. the stuff you carry all the time but not required for certification. Im not sure what you are thinking when you say "ready to fly" but this could make a difference. Secondly when you weigh the plane, rotate the scales so each weight point is measured by each scale and then average the three numbers. this will provide a more accurate weight and remove any scale error.

Good Luck.
 
Weight

How many planes are weighed "ready to fly " . Most RV's I see on the first flight don't have gear leg fairings, wheel pants ,intersection fairings ,paint , bodywork.

. I did a weight and balance for a friends Eagle , one true empty ,one with fuel , smoke oil,chutes and headsets to see how big a passenger he could do acro with.
Amazing what all the little stuff adds up to.
 
RV8 Weight

I weighted my RV8 last night. It has Dynon FlightDEK 180, ICOM 210 and KT76C transponder, YIO360 M1B, Hartzell C/S Prop., Flightline Interior and Crow Harness with aft battery mount. Not much else, it's polished aluminum with some vinyl graphs, all fairings and wheel pants installed. Only thing not in/on the plane is fuel. Final weights are:

Left Front 528
Right Front 525
Tail Wheel 68

Total 1,121
 
Figured I'd add my RV8 weight to this thread:

1030lbs full flight weight with everything. Aviation scales used.

I've got a spreadsheet of 100's of RV weights. I think the closest 8 to my weight was a rather bare interior and unpainted version.

Weight was always a focus of my build. This is what prompted the development of aircraftwraps.

Low weight Factors: vinyl both interior and exterior, Groove gear, LiPro battery, skyview system, single MGL V6, Catto prop.

High weight factor: Classic Aero Seats (3-4hr flight comfort;) ), fuel and me. The rest stays behind.

ADE39272-8CD9-4C16-B845-2918BC1C8005-424-0000006F2CDB4101_zps00eb7483.jpg


Love these seats!

8613BBF6-F303-4BED-A20D-3B320C71F228-5584-000004749D89E431_zpsda17d5c7.jpg
 
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How many planes are weighed "ready to fly " . Most RV's I see on the first flight don't have gear leg fairings, wheel pants ,intersection fairings ,paint , bodywork.

. I did a weight and balance for a friends Eagle , one true empty ,one with fuel , smoke oil,chutes and headsets to see how big a passenger he could do acro with.
Amazing what all the little stuff adds up to.

I plan adding inverted oil at next oil change. I'll be adding lbs and re W&B the plane. Removable Smoke tank after that.

I have a roll servo installed. However after my last 3.5hr trip to VA I'm debating adding a pitch servo. I just really don't like the servo drag on the elevator while doing aeros or while flaring for touchdown.
 
I plan adding inverted oil at next oil change. I'll be adding lbs and re W&B the plane. Removable Smoke tank after that.

I have a roll servo installed. However after my last 3.5hr trip to VA I'm debating adding a pitch servo. I just really don't like the servo drag on the elevator while doing aeros or while flaring for touchdown.

Really, you cannot feel the drag of the Tru-Trak elevator servo in flight, during acro, or landing!

Skylor
 
My 8a weighed in at 1098. Fully painted, all fairings, well equipped but still VFR panel. I have a WW-200RV CS prop. Included were 7 quarts of oil and a small fire extinguisher.
 
My friend's RV-8 weighted in at 1113 lbs, painted, with ECI Titan IO-360 engine and Hartzell blended airfoil CS prop. Very little insulation, Dynon D100/D120 glass panel, single GNS430, GTX327, TruTrak Digiflight-II autopilot, Odyssey PC-680 battery, fairly spartan interior.
 
I don't have an 8, but there was a comment earlier about "ready to fly" BOW weight. I had the opportunity to empty all the STUFF out of the craft that normally stays in the plane. It weighed 35 pounds. :eek:

An incomplete list:

Headphones
Visors
Sunglasses
Stick on window shade.
Tiedown stakes
Ropes
Eyebolts
Cowlplugs
Pitot cover
Chocks
Control lock
lightweight canopy cover
Towel
Kneeboard
POH
Gas Thingy
4 AAA bats
Flashlight
Canulas
Ox bottle
Tool kit
Oil kit
 
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