Van's Air Force
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RV-8 Speed Slope Slider Canopy
- Thread starter olyolson
- Start date
bobmarkert
Well Known Member
There are several flat wrap windscreens out there.
William Slaughter
Well Known Member
I have. I got mine from Airplane Plastics, the Van's OEM supplier, who can sell it direct since it is not a stock Van's part. Mine goes up close to the stock baggage door, so it is not as radical as that which you normally see on Rockets, but quite a bit sleeker than the stock windscreen. The increased thickness is also comforting.
Toobuilder
Well Known Member
The term "Speed slope" is usually associated with a flat wrap windscreen - there are plenty of -8's so modified.
However, it appears you are actually inquiring about an 8 with a fastback fuselage and a slider canopy. Is this what you are looking for?
Flat wrap windscreen
My buddy Yobo has been trying to talk me into a Rocket for some time. At $100K+ they're a bit pricey to justify and most have tilt canopies.
Been flying my tilt over -4 for a while and love it. Have it customized to my specs and it's super comfortable but not a 2 person with bags cross country machine. Made some mods to the canopy latching and the tilt over works great but I'd rather have a slider and a bit more room. Looking at tandem for sure so I guess I'm looking for an -8 with the flat wrap and/or a fastback. Kinda specific on my requirements so I'll keep watching what pops up for sale. Not interested in building, not enough time with my schedule, family etc.
Thanks for all the inputs.
My buddy Yobo has been trying to talk me into a Rocket for some time. At $100K+ they're a bit pricey to justify and most have tilt canopies.
Been flying my tilt over -4 for a while and love it. Have it customized to my specs and it's super comfortable but not a 2 person with bags cross country machine. Made some mods to the canopy latching and the tilt over works great but I'd rather have a slider and a bit more room. Looking at tandem for sure so I guess I'm looking for an -8 with the flat wrap and/or a fastback. Kinda specific on my requirements so I'll keep watching what pops up for sale. Not interested in building, not enough time with my schedule, family etc.
Thanks for all the inputs.
Scott Hersha
Well Known Member
Oly,
I made my RV4 more comfortable by moving my front seat back a little - 1.5" at the bottom (hinge), and 2.5" at the roll bar. This gives me a little more seat back tilt plus some legroom. It's pretty comfortable. I'm not concerned about the back seater, who now has no controls - still a pretty neat airplane to give rides in. That being said, I am building another RV8. Considering the wrap windshield. I built a Showplanes fastback on my first RV8, and it was great, especially the visibility, but it was more costly, and time consuming. This one will be a standard slider canopy, unless I can figure out how to build a slider fastback for the same price(roughly). The speed slope looks cool. Combined with a FB, I think you gain a couple knots (plus it looks even more cool).
I made my RV4 more comfortable by moving my front seat back a little - 1.5" at the bottom (hinge), and 2.5" at the roll bar. This gives me a little more seat back tilt plus some legroom. It's pretty comfortable. I'm not concerned about the back seater, who now has no controls - still a pretty neat airplane to give rides in. That being said, I am building another RV8. Considering the wrap windshield. I built a Showplanes fastback on my first RV8, and it was great, especially the visibility, but it was more costly, and time consuming. This one will be a standard slider canopy, unless I can figure out how to build a slider fastback for the same price(roughly). The speed slope looks cool. Combined with a FB, I think you gain a couple knots (plus it looks even more cool).
