RV-8 Fastback weight savings = 9 lbs

[judoka5051]

Hey All,

When I started researching the fastback option I noted a poster that asked about the weight differential. As far as I can tell no one has ever done a weight comparison until now. I'm converting a partially built 8 from a slider to a fastback. It had all the slider hardware installed, so it was easy to do a before and after weight since all the removed parts ended up in a pile. The fastback mod I'm doing is a "Showplanes" kit,,, mostly. I raised the turtledeck 2.5 inches to get rid of the 'bubble' effect. Anyway, I weighed all the pieces that came off and compared that to pieces being added and found that I'll save a smidgen over 9 lbs.

BTW, I had to use 2 pieces to form the new turtledeck, There's no way to get it done with a 4ft wide sheet. Bummer!

[rv7charlie]

Have you built & weighed the canopy itself yet?

Charlie

[judoka5051]

Hey Charlie,

In individual pieces and cleco'ed together for the dry fit. Actually, it will still lose some more weight when I trim off the excess, but not more than 1/2 pound or so.