Newbie introduction (and a couple of questions)

[oz8]

Hi all,

I'm new to the list though I have been following it for some time. I live in Adelaide, South Australia and am in the second half of obtaining my Private Pilots License. I have developed what my wife calls an "unhealthy obsession" with building an RV 8 after Jon Johansson kindly gave me a ride in one, and I hope to get started as soon as I've completed my training. I've done a fair bit of acro and some emergency manouvre training in a Pitts S2A, so I really value aerobatic performance. Now I know the -8 ain't no Pitts, but I gather it can do most of the loop and roll type manouvres quite well (and is far more comfortable!). I want to keep it light, and most importantly, cheap. So I'm thinking about an O-320 with full inverted systems (I like inverted flight!) and a fixed pitch wood prop, probably a Catto 3 blade.
My questions are; is anyone else out there using this setup? How do you like it? With such a light engine/prop do you have any CG issues? How does the -8 handle when inverted, lots of forward stick needed or any strange habits?
Will an O 320 be enough engine?
Any and all experience and opinions will be most welcome .

Thanks in advance,

Adrian Bruer.

[Davepar]

From the specs on Van's web site, you can see it doesn't suffer much with an O-320. I've read some folks claim that a lighter plane handles better.

I'm sure there are some O-320/RV-8 folks on here. Hopefully, one of them can give you some first-hand impressions. If you don't get any responses, you might try using a post title like "Acro with an RV-8 O-320?". That'll grab more attention.

Good luck,
Dave