SideSticks

[Piloto.Mendes]

I?ve been wondering how I could use sidesticks (like those used by Cirrus) in a RV.

I?d like that anyobody who saw sidestick installed on a RV to tell us where we can find the project/design/photos. And also to talk about pros and cons in using them.

I think sidestick awesome.

It also provides more comfort for bigger people (I am one of them) than those sticks located between legs.

It makes access to the cabin easier to non-flying person.

And so on...

Anybody?

[gasman]

If you want to do a "7" you might be better off to do a center stick. That can be done. The way the RV's are, a side stick would be a real problem!!!!

[Kevin Horton]

Changing to side sticks would be a huge modification, that would add many hundreds of hours to the project, and would almost certainly result in an aircraft with worse control feel than a normal RV. You would need a very complicate control linkage, and the additional pivots would add friction. You would need to substantially redesign the fuselage. After you got flying, you would almost certainly find that you needed to change the design several times to achieve a satisfactory result.

The RV that is the best fit for large pilots is the RV-8. Find an RV-8 to sit in to see how you fit.

If you don't fit in the RV, with a normal control stick, then it is the wrong aircraft to build.

[Mel]

I've built one aircraft with side stick (Moni Motorglider) and inspected several more. I love side sticks. But, It needs to be designed into the aircraft. Retrofit would not be practical. Sidesticks take up a lot of room. You would have to add a torque tube to each side inboard of other structure. By the time you added sidesticks to a SBS RV, you would narrow the cockpit at least 4-5".