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Good Ground Clearance And Visibility

J

jnmeade

Well Known Member
I fly a high wing off my farm and like to observe crops and so forth.

I've flown in an RV6 and RV7 but none of the others. Are there any RVs that will compare with my Champ for ground clearance and ground observation? If there are any, I'd be serious about considering building one. I like the flight characteristics and handling very much. I would like something that would fly low and slow and land in an unimproved pasture or harvested soybean field.

At this stage in the game, it would have to be LSA compliant.
 
The closest thing in the RV line is the RV-12. It's seating is more forward than the other RVs so it has better over the wing visibility, and it has a slower stall speed. That said, comparing a 12 to a Champ for visibility and ground clearance, the champ would win in my opinion. However, it's my understanding that the 12s flying qualities are exceptional, so you'd need to decide what's at the top of your wish list.

Not sure if that helps any. Best of luck with your search.

Keith
 
Catch a ride in a RV-12 like mentioned before. Visibility forward, forward low and all over is great. Flies slow, glides like crazy, burns very little fuel, and fun to fly as well.

But if you need to look at your 9-oclock and see the ground, then you need the high wing.

Nothing against a Champ, but there's such a big difference it's not really possible to provide a RV "comp." :)
 
Ummm, not sure the Zenith is very fuel efficient when measured in MPG. At 70mph and 4gph that's pretty low on the efficiency scale.

If you want LSA there are lots of choices which will give much better MPG although there aren't many that will give the STOL performance of a 701 or 750.

I'm wondering if the RANS S7 could be built as an E-LSA? If so that would be a pretty direct comparison to the Champ, but is faster on less fuel.
 
I'd say the Bearhawk LSA would be a great way to go experimental with all of the benefits of a Champ, plus a lot of improvements.
 
Rans s-7 would be a good choice, land anywhere , basically a 100 mph airplane that can haul about anything u can stuff in it lands in average of 300 ft

Bird
 
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