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Max weight of rear passenger

I have a friend of mine that has been bugging me to take him flying in the 8. The only problem is that he weighs 275#. With 38 gallons of fuel it maxes out and is on the edge of the box until about about 32 gallons.
Time enough for a short local flight.
I don’t want to push it, but here is my question. I weigh about 192, what is the heaviest person that any of you have put in the rear seat? And of course state your weight also.
I would really like to do it because he loves aviation, but I don’t want to do anything stupid.
 
Been in back of my buddies RV8 many times, we are both around 260. Be aware of landing it changes a lot.
 
Use the forward baggage compartment as ballast.

I've had someone who weighs 265lbs in the back, but the benefit of the -8 is that you can throw some ballast in the forward baggage and help balance the load.

I just ran the numbers for my airplane. If I put a 220# pilot, and 275# backseater, in the airplane, with 20 gallons of gas, I'm at 1750lbs, but I'll go out the aft CG limit as I burn gas.

Putting 30lbs of ballast in the forward baggage compartment puts me in CG all the way down to empty tanks, and bumps the gross weight up to 1780lbs... still 20lbs below max gross.

Keep in mind these numbers are for my airplane that weighs 1137lbs empty, and has a O-360-A1A, and a metal Hartzell prop. Run the numbers for your airplane.

Now, you may cube out first...the backseat is going to be snug for a 275lb person. Also, even inside the CG envelope, the airplane is going to be sensitive in pitch on landing, and once you touchdown, will be squirrely (more than normal) on the rudders as the airplane decelerates on rollout. Manageable, but be ready for it.
 
The RV-8 at aft CG and heavy weight isn’t to be trifled with. Honestly, I wouldn’t fly it there with a live weight in back until I’d flown it ballasted to the same configuration - you owe it to your passenger not to be a test pilot with them aboard.

There have been a number of very bad landings - a few with some damage to tailwheel attachments and fuselage members - in this config, so be careful.

I weight 170, and the max passenger I’ll carry is around 230, without forward ballast.

Paul
 
The RV-8 at aft CG and heavy weight isn’t to be trifled with. Honestly, I wouldn’t fly it there with a live weight in back until I’d flown it ballasted to the same configuration - you owe it to your passenger not to be a test pilot with them aboard.

There have been a number of very bad landings - a few with some damage to tailwheel attachments and fuselage members - in this config, so be careful.

I weight 170, and the max passenger I’ll carry is around 230, without forward ballast.

Paul

I just want to echo what Paul said. It becomes more and more squirrelly in yaw with aft c.g. and some will find zero or even negative stick force gradient in pitch when they get slow as well, which is rather disturbing.

During phase I, I tested all the way back to having 220 in the back seat, no other ballast, and on that basis I set my own aft c.g. limit that is somewhat farther forward than Van's says.

I weigh a little over 200, and my back-seat weight limit for 'normal' conditions is 200. With really nice, calm, benign conditions guaranteed over the course of a flight, and me being really current/dialed in, I have twice flown with a 220 pounder in the back. All went fine. But I would not want that c.g. position coming back to Ashland on a typical summer afternoon.
 
What Paul and others have said. In phase 1 I tested mine right into the dark corners of Vans’ published envelope, and learned that stick pressure feedback reversal is real, it’s surprising and you better be ready for it. The airplane flys fine there, but you need to sneak up on it with non-precious payload on board. Carrying some extra speed into the flare seemed to work well for me. I’m definitely Bubba sized and have done dual Bubba flights on several occasions, but always with an eye on the weight and balance and maybe a case of water bottles in the front baggage compartment for good measure. I’d rather be a bit over gross than a bit aft of that aft CG number.
 
Here's another "ditto" to the above comments; I've flown a few times with some big dudes in the back, maybe max of 250 lbs. Not fun. I'm 185-ish lbs.

Your buddy is 275 lbs? I wouldn't fly him, simple as that. But that's just me, I've already had my eyes opened by this...
 
So Go Check It

Why don’t you just run a Weight & Balance computation and see if you’re within Vans specs? Just askin’.
 
CG

Our first 8 was a 0-360 with a FP Catto prop. In other words, it was really light on the nose. Absolutely delightful to fly solo but would open your eyes when landing with a farm boy (me)in the back and my fit and trim son in the front. Our latest 8 is an IO-360 angle valve with a Hartzell CS prop........nose heavier. It's not as light on the elevator in acro but it's MUCH better behaved when doing 2 up landings.
 
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Weight

I routinely carry 2 25# bags of lead shot stradling the rear seat when I'm flying solo.
When I have a passenger, I remove them, unless he or she is heavy...then I put them in the forward bag compt.

Tail heavy landings in the -8 are a whole 'nuther ballgame, compared to solo wheel landings... takes a little bit more concentration ( and skill) to keep the tail in trail.
 
I have a rather light RV-8 (1000lb) and I regularly fly with two 250lb individuals on board. That does require some weight in the front with my CG to be able to fly the full fuel range. As others have said elevator will have substantially lower forces/is more responsive but nothing I would be concerned about. 3 point landings become a breeze compared to nothing in the back ...

Oliver
 
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