[JPalese]

If an RV8 were to be regularly landed from the back seat would one be better off with the -8 or -8A?

My RV time consists of about 12 hours in a -6A.

Total time 17k hours of which 3.5k is GA and ~350 tail wheel.

FWIW I used to regularly and proficiently land T-38s from the back seat.

Thanks in advance for your input.

2 bolts pointed out a lack of clarity in my original post - the airplane would only be landed from the rear seat if both cockpits are in use.

 

[2bolts]

solo flying

JPalese

As far as I am aware, due to CG limitations the 8 is solo'd from the front seat, a guy I know has one and I asked him when looking his one over.

Also I don't know if the back seat has brakes, his rudder pedal extensions appeared to be just rods.

I'm sure someone with an 8 will put me right if I got that wrong.

In the back seat you'll be blind with the tail down, so I guess you'd need to swing the nose like the T-6, warbirds etc, to prove your path is clear.

 

[PaigeHoffart]

It's possible in an 8A (I've done a couple).
Having said that, the rear seat controls leave much to be desired.
Checkout this picture of the rear seat rudder pedals (courtesy of Kevin Horton)

The lack of brake pedals, and free castering nose wheel means the front seater needs to handle centerline control below about 30 knots.

Paige

 

[n5lp]

The lack of brake pedals, and free castering nose wheel means the front seater needs to handle centerline control below about 30 knots.

Paige

In a tailwheel RV-8, control can be maintained down to taxi speed because of the steerable tailwheel. You do have to kill the engine to stop though.

 

[mannanj]

Backseat

JPalese

As far as I am aware, due to CG limitations the 8 is solo'd from the front seat, a guy I know has one and I asked him when looking his one over.

Also I don't know if the back seat has brakes, his rudder pedal extensions appeared to be just rods.

I'm sure someone with an 8 will put me right if I got that wrong.

In the back seat you'll be blind with the tail down, so I guess you'd need to swing the nose like the T-6, warbirds etc, to prove your path is clear.

No brakes in the back, so if a landing gets too far sideways you're gonna have problems unless the front seater is proficient.

 

[Neal@F14]

The rear rudder "mushroom" pedals on an -8 taildragger do not have much finesse when trying to land from the back seat, the rudder movement is stiff and abrupt. I've tried to land one from the back seat and it felt really dangerous, especially without rear brakes. An -8A is probably a bit easier and safer to land from the back, but still without rear brakes you could easily get into trouble. I have landed a -4 from the back seat and it was pretty difficult too, but I have made a few successful landings in one.... and some pretty ugly landings in the back of a -4 too The front seat pilot had to work the brakes.

 

[dcarfly]

I know that while in the back seat, I can not even get my feet to the rudder pedals in my plane. I would make sure that you have free and unobstructed movement before attempting your landing.

 

[Toobuilder]

There is no particular difficulty landing from the rear seat in a -8, but as pointed out, the back seat has rudementary controls so "routine" landings are more work than they have to be. I can only imagine it would be easier with training wheels (-8A), but the controls are still the main problem. If you need to land in an emergency or just do practice, you can get through it from the back seat - "routine" ops will require some control upgrades IMHO.

 

[flyenforfun]

Seems to me a taildragger -8 would be hard to land from the back seat with the rods. It doesnt even taxi very well with them.

 

[Snowflake]

If I were planning to land an -8 from the rear most of the time, I'd change the configuration so the rear seat pedals were the "master" and the front seat pedals actuated them with cables. Not sure what kind of room you have in the rear seat footwells to get full pedals/brakes in there though.

 

[Bill Dicus]

landing RV from rear

Am fortunate to have several friends with RV-8's kind enough to let me try landing from the back seat. My experience confirms what other posters have said. The -8 is not hard to land from the back seat, but rudder control with those little buttons (and no brake) seems marginal at best, at least for me. Once down and rolling, I'm very happy to turn over control to the front seater!

 

[TomVal]

JMHO...

I don’t recommend conducting training from the back seat. I had received approval from my insurance company to receive my initial 5 hours of training using my -8. My instructor was a 30,000 hr pilot with over 2000 hours in tailwheel. We decided that it would be best for me to start landings from the rear seat giving him full control of the brakes if necessary. As previously mentioned, the rear seat rudder controls have limited authority and lack feel. Plus, if you have large feet (I’m size 12) your foot will sometimes drag on the side of the front seat thus potentially adding to your lack of proper feel and feedback. Also, if you installed the standard Van’s aft throttle lever, my thigh would interfere with throttle lever movement (this is easily corrected). Anyhow, after several full stop landings, I decided it would be safest to hand the aircraft over to the front seat during rollout for the reasons stated above.

Last year a local -8 was totaled during landing with two highly experienced tailwheel pilots. The front seat pilot was receiving the checkout and doing well. Doing so well, that the rear seat instructor had somewhat reduced his guard when the landing swerve occurred.

I think the odds are against you in conducting training safely from the rear seat in this aircraft. JMHO.

Regards,