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DaAV8R

Well Known Member
Anyone know the weight limit for the forward baggage area?

I am working on this area now and frankly the whole thing looks a little flimsy to me. I had planned on adding some nut plates for attachment of weights so I can take my fa... large friends without having CG issues. The F-866A, F-866B and the floor panel all seem light at a thickness of .025. I'm wondering how much weight can reasonably be carried in the forward compartment.

F-866A and B (bulkhead pieces) have some significant oil canning issues as well. I think I will need to add some extra nut plates to get them to pull up without gaps. Anyone else have this problem?
 
Vans' quote 50lb limit for the front and 75lb for the aft baggage areas.

Maybe not relevant to you now, but a forward battery location gives you more flexibility with a heavy passenger. You can always load up the aft area for trimming solo flight.
 
Robert,

You are right that it does look flimsy. But when all is said and done it is fine. I have an 18 pound bag of fly away stuff secured in the front baggage compartment on the shelf. My battery sits in the lower portion for easy access. I have a cover over the battery. I routinely do aerobatics and have seen no deformation of this area after nearly 150 hours of flight time. I have also packed it up to 50 pounds (maybe a bit over) for cross countries and have also seen no problems. That has just been my experience, take care
 
It'll hold more weight up there than you'd think. My first trip to Oshkosh in the RV-8 (in my avatar) I had the plane loaded up like a pickup truck full of baggage, camping supplies, tools, cooler full of beverages, etc, with most of the soft and light stuff up front. On my first takeoff loaded up like that, I immediately didn't like the CG it had, it felt quite tailheavy and pitch sensitive, so at my first fuel stop, I re-arranged my load and put a bunch of heavy items like a 20+ lbs tool bag, laptop computer, claw tiedown bag, etc up front. I know I had the full 50 lbs of stuff up there, and the next takeoff, the plane felt normal again.
 
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