RV-6 / RV-7 vs Glasair I

[jtrusso]

I've been dreaming of building or buying an RV for about 5 years now, and have spent many hours of everyday over those past 5 years on this site reading about all things RV. I've done the homework and know that the RV is for me, it fits my mission and my wallet.

That being said I have stumbled upon an opportunity to be a 1/3 owner in a Glasair I that first flew in 1987. One of the partners is the original builder, a guy who I work with and have known for 10 years. It's an incredible deal, the cost being about 1/2 of what I'd have to pay to partner in a similarly equipped RV. The plane has a new (only 300 hours TT) O-360 from Mattituck and 3 blade CS prop (also only 300 TT). The plane is hangared at TOA and has been well cared for over it's life and has no damage history. One of the partners has moved and needs to sell his share.

As far as I can tell there are only 2 major difference between the Glasiar and then RV 6/7 1) the Glasair is plastic (ok, ok, glass and cloth, don't want to offend the composite guys ) and 2) it stalls at a much higher speed, around 65kts.

What do you guys think? Would someone who lives/breathes/dreams RV 24/7/365 be happy with a partnership in a Glasiar? It seems I'd have all the speed/nimble handling at a much lower cost. I'm flying around in 172's and 182's right now, and the idea of cruising at 155kts is very appealing.

[Kyle Boatright]

Sounds like a heck of a deal to me if the airplane is in good shape. Why not arrange a flight in it and then find a local RV to ride in for comparison?

On the same HP, the Glasair should be faster and will stall faster (as you noted). The Glasair I's had a reputation for aft CG, so you probably want to run the weight and balance numbers under your typical loading situations - light fuel solo, to full fuel plus bags, plus a passenger, just to make sure the airplane is a fit for your mission (s).

[CraigM]

X 182 owner - same dream, same drill. What I found when I interviewed a very nice GlassAir 1 was that I was not comfortable in the cockpit at all. I am 6' broad shouldered stocky guy and it was crowded around the legs and shoulders. I felt the whole time like I was leaning in towards the center of the plane. Even worse was that I was not comfortable on the pedals at all. I could not seem to get my feet worked around to where I was comfortable on the pedals and it was a very uneasy flight for me. They are really neat airplanes but once you slide in there is not much movement. I felt like a sardine in there. In my 7A I can move my legs and body around even with 2 in the cockpit and it is just so much more comfortable. Definately go fly one it if you can. It might be a better fit for you......Just my $.02

CraigM
Flying 7A

[jrs14855]

I flew a 160 hp Glasair I taildragger about 60 hours. I did the initial test flight, all the test time and checked the owner out. I am 6' tall with long legs and built some rudder cable extenders to gain leg room. These are just metal straps that extend the rudder cables. I flew the airplane from Texas to Oshkosh and was ok comfort wise, but no excess room. The seat back is just a flat piece of fiberglas and this could be modified for a bit of extra room. I did all the loop roll maneuvers on most of the test flights. No spins. I found the stall very docile. Speed on short final can be just a couple knots above stall in calm conditions, it will still float a bit. The big negative is lack of rudder control at slow speed on takeoff. I did most of my flying off a rough grass strip, and much of the time had a left crosswind. FULL RUDDER will not keep the airplane straight, some braking is required to keep it straight. This is only a problem on takeoff and only on a rough surface. And this airplane had the big rudder. I also had a couiple flights in other I's, one taildragger one trike.
Overall I am very impressed with the airplane. The unstarted and partially finished kits are real bargains.

[Snowflake]

Things to keep in mind...

The RV will fill more missions than the Glasair. The RV has more room inside, can take off and land shorter, and even in a tailwheel version you can see over the nose if you stretch.

Buying a share in an airplane that someone built and still owns a share in is prone to difficulty. It will always be "their" airplane, and you are just contributing to it. New O-360 and three-bladed prop? That's what "partners" are for... To pay for these expensive upgrades. Personally I wouldn't want the emotional baggage that arrangement would come with, but that's just me.

All that being said, the Glasair *is* extremely nice to fly, and will probably outrun any RV...

[gasman]

Take it for a two hour trip with a partner........ then decide..... only after you have done a 2 hour trip in an RV.

[Jaypratt]

The pain of the lesser plane lingers long after the pleasure of a cheep price is forgotten.

[randyintejas]

Originally Posted by Jaypratt

The pain of the lesser plane lingers long after the pleasure of a cheep price is forgotten.

Mr. Pratt speaks with great wisdom.

[N941WR]

A friend has built both a -7A and GlasAir II. Both planes have IO-360 180 HP engines. The Glasair is 20 knots faster but his minimum airport length is 3000?. He has about 60 hours on the Glasair and said that maybe when he gets up to 150 hours or so, he will be comfortable taking it into my home airport (2300? w/ trees).

He sold the -7A after finishing up the Glasair and I asked him which he liked better. His answer was an unequivocal the RV. He said the Glasair is more stable and a good long distance cruiser but he really wishes he had kept the RV and sold the Glasair. He went on to say that the RV just handled better.

As for fit, he is well over 6?-5? and fits in both. The again, he moved things around in the Glasair so he would fit.

[flybill7]

A lot depends on what kind of flying you like to do. Obviously you can go places in both airplanes. But if you like doing acro, formation flying, and going to fly-ins at 2000 ft long grass strips, you might want to go with the RV over the Glasair.