RV-9A vs Glastar....anyone with time on both?

[Vansconvert]

Yes, I am.

I sat in the Sportsman the first year it was on display at OSH and thought, man, this is it! Till I saw the price of the kits. Totally out of my budget at the time.

Long story short, I was in the right place at the right time and bought a Sportsman's project from the original builder at a very fair price with a lot of work having been completed.

It wasn't till after I bought it that I got some dual in a Glastar, and just recently a little dual in a Sportsman with the 390. Both very nice planes with very similar handling.

Never been in an RV, except for trying the 14 on for size at OSH last summer. Impressive!

[grubbat]

It is nice to be able to haul stuff besides dead animals out of short strips. I put an IO360 in the back seat area once and hauled some wing control surfaces another time. I wished that Van's would put their engineering and kit knowledge into making a utility airplane so I can sell my Maule. Nothing against Glasair, as I am a very partial and loyal Van's customer just iching to give them some more money for an experimental hauler.

Originally Posted by Canadian_JOY

(To all who would flame me for describing the 8's baggage areas as "relatively tiny", please try to place an 8 foot long 2x4 in an RV8, then come back and tell me how it went. We can place 8 foot long building material in our Sportsman without any modifications. THAT's the kind of baggage area the RV8 is being compared to! )

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by grubbat

... I wished that Van's would put their engineering and kit knowledge into making a utility airplane so I can sell my Maule. Nothing against Glasair, as I am a very partial and loyal Van's customer just iching to give them some more money for an experimental hauler.

Every time I look at that wonderful -9 wing and those follower flaps, I think the same thing!

Even if it is not dedicated bush plane, it would be nice to have a 2+2 sort of bush plane!

[flyboy1963]

....I think most of the elements are there, to graft together a nice bush plane!
Todd Bartrim in Prince George showed transport Canada that the -9 wing would lift 2200 lbs. in order to register his ship with a higher gross weight...he has a rotary engine, and looooong range tanks, necessitating the upped gross.

http://www3.telus.net/haywire/RV-9/C-FSTB.htm

[flyboy1963]

oops, repost

[smokyray]

Perry,
I offer a third option to the 9A/Sportsman choice, the Bearhawk Patrol. I'm a 3 time RV builder having bought my RV4 tail kit in 88' sight unseen after seeing a Vans ad in Kitplanes in our F16 Intel vault. I owned a 65hp TCraft and the RV4 sounded like a 180mph Super Cub. I had flown Scouts, Super Cubs, Maules and Cessna 180"s in a previous life and wanted a lot out of my sport plane. 10 years and 1000 RV4 hours later, I still missed what my RV4 wasn't, a bush plane.

As fate would have it, a neighbor built a 330HP Bearhawk, sold it and let me deliver it to from FL to MT. Wow, fast, powerful, roomy, STOL machine. Later I would do a prebuy on a Patrol, again a great airplane and far superior to the RV or Sportsman (which I have also flown) in room, cost and capabilities. The patrol will realistically cruise at 125 KTAS at 10K with 24" AK bush wheels and an 0320 out front and land on a gravel bar at the other end. It is also stressed for light acro and does so nicely. Having been blessed to fly many cool airplanes in my life, the Patrol is one of the best personal airplanes out there.

Take a look....
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u0r1LGEQaGs

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nWTrwqFDWPk
Gravel bar landing...

V/R
Smokey


PS:
When I finally test flew my RV4 in 95' it was from my friends 1200' one way strip. The first flight showed all my work had paid off. After getting airborne in less than a third of the strip I climbed briskly to 10,000 ft, accelerated to 150KTAS and did some light aerobatics then a stall series. Returning to my home strip I approached at 60KIAS and landed easily in half the strip with braking. Impressive machine that RV4! Over the next 10 years I would traverse the ID backcountry, Dirt strips in AZ and Mexico and every conceivable turf surface in the SE USA. GREAT airplane...

Originally Posted by flyboy1963

Yeah, it's winter, WOXOF, so when not flying we tend to ruminate on these kind of things. An ad for a local aircraft for sale had me wondering.....
There are a LOT of varying performance numbers for the Glastar, not to mention the sibling OMF Symphony ( certified) which is a few hundred pounds heavier.

some days I wish I had more headroom, and space for my 'plus' size friends and their gear, but I'd sure miss the speed and climb of the -9.

slightly different mission to be sure, but can anyone verify that the Glastar with a 160 hp can really get in and out of grass airparks at gross? I've flown in 2 when I was looking to buy, but ended up with the -9a for the great skyward visibility...raised on low wings I guess.

appreciate any input, ( or just wild armchair speculation!)

[flyboy1963]

Some great pireps and advice, thanks Smokey!
I had steered away from the tube & rag craft, after seeing what weather did to our ply & fabric Jodel outdoors.
...but the smarter ones like Bearhawk are skinning the wings, and with a good set of covers, might just make the grade!
..now to find someone selling one for $65,000........hmmmmmmm.

[bhassel]

The Patrol looks good, and I really like the LSA, now only if it was side by side...and tip up of course...

Bob

[smokyray]

Originally Posted by bhassel

The Patrol looks good, and I really like the LSA, now only if it was side by side...and tip up of course...

Bob

Bob,
RV's have their place in Sport Aviation, a very successful one. Having built 3 of them I can relate. However comma, The Bearhawk, 4 Place or the Patrol aren't RV's or ever intended to be.
Having flown both the Patrol and the 4 Place they are great airplanes for this type of flying, something I truly enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2KjSQSChLE

V/R
Smokey
www.iamanet.org
Not many Super Cubs with tip ups or SBS...