RVers tell bigger stories than fisherman

[f1rocket]

I think some of it is a result of most builders not calibrating their airspeed indicator. Most builder/flier don't really know how fast or slow their airplane truly is. Just flying with the buds have uncovered as much at 5-7 kts difference in our collective indicated speeds.

[lostpilot28]

Originally Posted by N941WR

Back to planes, to get 75% at 8000? DA most people will have to push the throttle full in and run right at the redline. This is normal and acceptable but many pilots do not fill comfortable spinning their engines that fast.

Hey Bill...this is a great point, but I think if you standardize the data then who cares if you're running at 75% or 90%? Basically, I would say that each pilot has to record RPM & MP & GPS speed for each of the 4-legged course at 8,000 Density Altitude.

It would also be great to have aircraft weight for the test flight, what engine, prop and model RV it is.

[Christopher Murphy]

Originally Posted by zspivey

Surely not. Remember we are the most honorable people around; we are pilots.

Now let me tell you about the last trip I took. I was at 8,500 feet, full throttle with the prop set a t 2400 RPM. I ran my carbureted engine 50 LOP. I was able to get 200 knots while only burning 6.5 gallons per hour.

This post has no useful information to compare speeds. Maybe thats your point? I like the guys who take pictures of their EFIS and use that to prove their speed.

[zspivey]

Originally Posted by Christopher Murphy

This post has no useful information to compare speeds. Maybe thats your point? I like the guys who take pictures of their EFIS and use that to prove their speed.

As an earlier poster corrected my statement. The 200 knots was ground speed into a 50 knot headwind.

Remember, the first liar never stands a chance.

[Kahuna]

I dont think this will work cause most people just dont care.
Their speed is what it is.
Most don't even bother to calibrate anything. They post numbers and they dont know what they are doing.

We have enough test data running around to guess your speed +- a few knots anyway. There are lots of good data capture guys who are really into it, it takes real work, time, and avgas money.

Some bogus data gets posted and we call BS. We dont see them back. When this happens, the system is working as designed. Coming to the forum with your info, it better be right, cause we can call you on it if the numbers dont add up. And we do. Simple formulas and graphs get us very close to reality.

The real useful stuff comes from the folks who do actual flight testing and make changes/improvements. Folks do actually find that interesting, as they should.

Bottom line, to make it worth while, takes many many many hours of testing, calibration, logging, plotting, and publishing. Most are not up for the task. Heck even something as simple as weight we find is bogus. Folks weighing before paint, or w/o fairings, or without cross testing scales, or what ever.

Anyway, you get my point.

[SteinAir]

This is a good thread. Often times people ask me what I cruise at in the RV....my answer is always "7.5 or 8 gallons per hour". Whatever that equals in speed on that trip is what it is, I rarely pay attention. I shove the black knob in all the way, then play with the blue and red knobs to get what I want. I mess around until I get my 7.5 or 8 gph and there I am! Now, if someone else is paying for the gas, I might let that speed creep up to 9 or 10 gph!

The funny thing is that no matter how fast you think you are, there is always likely someone faster. With my old RV6 years ago, I never spent a lot of time doing all sorts of testing and calibrations to figure out exactly how fast it was. What I do know is that I could beat almost every RV around here when we were all leveled out and wide open (sometimes barely, but mostly I could). There were some faster than me, which I never took offense to - I look up to those guys! Of course I had a pitched up FP prop, and a good strong injected engine pulling a really light and straight airframe to help.

In the end it just doesn't matter that much. It's nice to see people get the planes done, get them in the air and go fly. I don't know if my current project is going to be faster or slower than I anticipate; I really don't care. I'm making the plane the way I want. Luckily I know none of my planes are the fastest, lightest, best looking RV's out there so I don't have much to worry about. I figure mine are better than a lot of planes, but not as good as some....which is the case for almost all of us (except for Rick Gray, Lyle Hefel and a few others)!

In the end, the first post was right though. There are some whoppers told here once and awhile - and it's easy to see right through them if you've been around the block once or twice.

My 2 cents as usual,
Stein

PS, ditto on what Mike said!

[allbee]

I like to add that I love my RV. I was more interested in getting close to published speeds than anything else. I'm happy to say that I am. and the fuel burn is an extra as well. With fill ups that record 7.5 to 8 gal per hour. with speeds from 150kts to 160kts generally recorded from my 696 on ground speed.

I get the most kick out of passing a cessna on take off, we have two parrallel runways. Or even passing a cessna that took off ahead of me like it was standing still. I generally here the tower saying to the cessna that an RV is passing on the right, with a "I know" sarcastic in response. I really get a kick when it's one of my hangar neighbors that doesn't like experimentals. That really gets me feeling good.

No matter what we do. There is always somebody that stretches things a bit to make them feel better. I guess it's called hangar flying.

I also have to say that I, like Stein, don't care to much about the looks of my airplane, as long as it gives me a bunch of fun factor. It's built to MY specs.


have a nice day.

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by allbee

I also have to say that I, like Stein, don't care to much about the looks of my airplane, as long as it gives me a bunch of fun factor. It's built to MY specs.

I care; at least to five feet away. Beyond that, mine won't look like some of the spit polished fiberglass/ airbrushed/ 10 coats of clear.. jobs we see.

However----------All RV's look like "crud" until they're painted! Only a builder can love them without paint.....

L.Adamson --- RV6A (flying/with paint)

[Christopher Murphy]

I feel the same way about my -4. No pre-punched, quick build, professional paint job here. Good solid workmanship, nothing fancy, learned enough to do it better next time but still gets compliments. Performs good enough on stock engine to win a few SARL races and the AVC twice. How fast will it go... don't know exactly but fast enough.

Chris M. RACE34

[plehrke]

Originally Posted by SteinAir

In the end it just doesn't matter that much. It's nice to see people get the planes done, get them in the air and go fly.Stein

The best thing is that there are over 6000 people who have finished their plane, we have a VAF forum to "hanger talk" across the world, and the info on RVs is more documented and verified then any other experimental.

I will listen to anybodies claim of speed or weight but do not have to believe it (unless you believe what I am telling you about my RV). Hanger flying is 90% of being a pilot. Only numbers that matter are Van's, CAFE, the guys/gals flying in the air races, and the guys/gals that spend the time to do the testing correctly. If you want your numbers to be believed then you need to fit into one of those 4 catagories.

I built my RV and love flying it; That makes it the fastest, best looking RV out there.