Extra Baggage in an RV-6 for OSH

[Frank Smidler]

I thought others might be interested in how I increased my baggage capacity by17 lb for our trip to OSH.

I have a light RV-6 (1009 lbs empty). Because most of the weight savings was firewall forward (wood prop, Lt wt starter and alternator, no vacuum pump, no governor) I tend to run up on aft CG before Gross weight. Preparing for OSH with my son, assuming a min fuel of 1/4, I found our baggage capacity limited to 62 lbs. This did not seem like much since we were planning to camp with our airplane. When I finished my -6 I incorporated the RV-7 firewall forward kit, including forward of firewall battery. This allowed me to use the -7 center floor cover. This was a great place to store our tent. I bought some 1" webbing and snap connectors that I then attached with a fender washer and the #8 screws used to attach the center floor plate. The tent was then securely strapped down so that it could not in anyway interfere with the rudder pedals. The tent was only 6.5 lbs but I packed the airplane tie downs, flashlight and hammer with it for a total of 13 lbs. The forward location of this weight also allowed me to increase the regular baggage limit to 67 (+4) for a total of 17 lbs baggage increase.

[Kyle Boatright]

I have a similar situation. Except I have a battery and ELT where you stored the tent. I've found that the niche between your heels and the spar is a good place to put a few things. My tie-downs and fly-away kit go on the passenger's side and I usually put a big camera lens under my feet. At 10 gallons of fuel remaining (which is what I flight plan around), this gives me an additional 10-15 lbs of baggage before I hit the CG limit.

If I need to carry more bags or burn off more fuel, I will select an easily movable bag (say my other camera bag) and put it somewhere accessable to the passenger so s/he can move it from the baggage compartment to his/her lap for landing.