What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Landing an RV-8

Strikes were all the rage for the RV-8 before folks figured out that good intersection fairings did the same thing and with lower drag - that was more than about a dozen years ago. So if you like them and are happy, that?s fine....but for folks building today, make (or install) intersection fairings and you can forgo the little things....

I looked on the Van's website and couldn't find anything about intersection fairings. Do you have a source for them?

Thanks,
John
 
I looked on the Van's website and couldn't find anything about intersection fairings. Do you have a source for them?

Thanks,
John

I did a search with Google and found fairings, etc. I will need to look to see how they are different than the ones on my -8.
 
I used the RV Bits fairings and have no bad behavior at all. This is interesting to me because when I went down to Houston for transition training with Bruce Bohannon, he had strakes on his RV-8 and swore that they mitigated some sort of airflow disruption when he was close to stall causing a slight momentary "swerve" (best word I can come up with at the moment). I never noticed it probably because my own bad technique was worse than the "swerve". Randy Lervold also wrote about this on his site and Mike Robbins put some on his plane as I recall.

All I know is that my plane is extremely docile on the stall with no weird behavior at all. I can sit there power off with the stick in my gut and it just bobs up and down as I lose 1000 fpm.
 
Landing with PAX

Well I got a nice reminder today that having a pax of substantial weight (i.e. an adult not a kid) can have an effect on landing.....

1st landing - bounce go around
2nd bounce bounce bounce go around
3rd greaser
4th greaser
5th a bounce but not too bad and a landing.

All safe....but really really ugly

Need more practice with an adult in the back seat
 
Add a little throttle when you get down on the deck. I had a 230 pounder in the back today after not carrying a pax for a while. I was extra cautious to add a touch of smash and it worked out real well.
 
Add a little throttle when you get down on the deck. I had a 230 pounder in the back today after not carrying a pax for a while. I was extra cautious to add a touch of smash and it worked out real well.

Yeah that's how I got the greasers. added a bit of power.
 
My secret to Ldg my conventional u/c 8 when a pax is in the back, well anytime actually, I trim nose heavy, slightly, that way when I flare and touch down all I do is release some of that back stick position and it nails the landing👍 two things that puts a plane back into the air after touchdown, ROD (high excess energy) and AoA, reduce both reduce Newtons Third Law:)
 
I used the RV Bits fairings and have no bad behavior at all. This is interesting to me because when I went down to Houston for transition training with Bruce Bohannon, he had strakes on his RV-8 and swore that they mitigated some sort of airflow disruption when he was close to stall causing a slight momentary "swerve" (best word I can come up with at the moment). I never noticed it probably because my own bad technique was worse than the "swerve". Randy Lervold also wrote about this on his site and Mike Robbins put some on his plane as I recall.

All I know is that my plane is extremely docile on the stall with no weird behavior at all. I can sit there power off with the stick in my gut and it just bobs up and down as I lose 1000 fpm.

You don't have anything additional installed on your wings? Mine shakes before stalling so I recover then. Never have let it go into full stall, might have to try that in a few days when the weather gets better to see if it does like yours.
 
I've now got 400+ hrs on my RV-8 and wheel land exclusively. I shoot most final approaches with half flaps at 85-90 mph (74-78 kts) and chop power before the threshold. When rounding out, I make it a point NOT to bring the plane to a zero descent rate at any time before settling down onto the runway. I round out to only a very shallow descent rate while looking far down the runway. On touchdown I push the stick forward enough to "stick it" but then let the tail settle down on its own from there. If I round out to zero descent rate any time after roundout it often makes for a somewhat harder landing. So, I'd suggest rounding out ONLY to a very shallow descent rate. This still allows me to land tail low, but keeps the plane ALWAYS descending. The shallower the descent rate, the more tail low it becomes by touchdown. Just consciously keep her coming down....it will find the runway for you. Obviously, it takes some practice to know what that ideal post-roundout descent rate looks like and where your wheels are, and when you need to pull back on the stick just a tad to grease it. I get a lot of greasers this way. The RV-8 is a joy to land.

For footwear, I always wear leather-top Puma driving shoes. They're very narrow, have very thin soles, no pronounced heel, and the back of the heel is generously rounded which provides a nice smooth pivot point for precise rudder control. They provide superb pedal feel. The thin soles are surprisingly durable...I'm still on my first pair.
 
Last edited:
After 16 pages, hopefully the non-RV-8 pilots have picked up on the fact that the RV-8 lands like a tailwheel airplane. ;)
 
From experience (!000+ hours in my 8), best take away here is to look at the end of the runway just before you touchdown, not right in front of you. You look at the cement in front of you, you will bounce 10 feet in the air---also from experience):D:D

Oh, and I forgot, per #155, whether there's a guy in the back seat or not, always keep just a smidgen of power on til the mains touch, then yank it off to idle.
 
Last edited:
now, having flown a couple of hours on my friend's Tony -8...

I'm lucky enough to have flown the -4, the -6 (which I own, -8 tail on), the -7, and now the -8. I now have >2K tailwheel flying, and a few landings under the belt.

For my taste the -4 is the best. The controls are perfectly harmonised, light, and responsive. The view is outstanding, and one feels completely part of the machine. You wear a -4, you mount an -8 (unless you are very... hmm, say muscular ;)).
The -6 and -7 behave very much like the -4, but the difficulty is in the landing as one looses sight of the welcoming turf during the flare.

I found the -8 quite heavy on the controls, this making it cruise stable, and a very good long range flyer. I have yet to switch the AP on.
It reflects on the landing in lacking some finesse, and the rather short stick requires more force to achieve a proper flare.
As on the other models, speed control is paramount. And as on the other models I found that a tailwheel low works best. Not the kind where you push after contact, the one where the speed is above stall, and you keep the touchdown attitude after contact.

To say frankly, I'm a bit disappointed by how the -8 flies, compared to the other models I've had the pleasure flying. Same engine, not a kt faster than my -6.9 which has better handling.

Oh well, the -8 looks big and aggressive on the ramp, and makes you an instant hero :D
 
Young RV-8 owner with the bare minimum amount of hours in the plane, and this is my first tailwheel too! So I definitely know what I am talking about (read: no clue, I don’t).

I was taught to three point it so I go for the three point landing. Once I’m more comfortable I’d like to try wheel landing the thing. Does it go bouncy-bouncy? Yes, yes it does. Does it sometimes scare the heck out of me when it darts off to God knows where after touching down? You bet! But I came to accept these as facts of life. Most often all it needs is some gentle rudder input and we good. If not then a touch of differential braking.

I come from docile tricycle planes (Diamonds) where I got to the point in my flying where I could grease every single landing. The -8 grabbed me by the legs and pulled me hard back onto Earth. Turns out I am a bad pilot.

I wonder will I ever get to see the day I get to grease it with my -8…
 
My 8 looks cooler than any other I have owned. Good enough. Done. But really, it seems to be heavy on Elevator when 3-pointing. I assume it's the longer tail moment. It is more nimble than anything else I have owned. Just coming from a Super Decathlon......using rudder with your ankles instead of your legs was the largest transition.
 
Back
Top