Closterman

Closterman

Active Member
While I build my RV-7, I fly with my Cherokee. Our runway are 18-36 but the dominant wind are from the west, so we are nearly always in crosswind condition. I have no problem at all with the Cherokee and I regulary T/O and land with the windsock horizontal and 90 deg from the runway... I have near 300h as pilot, 100 on Beech Sundowner and 200 on Piper Cherokee..


Now my question are : because the nose wheel on the RV are free (no direct steering linkage), can the RV handle the crosswind like a Cherokee ?

In strong crosswind, did you have to use the brake on one wheel to keep the aircraft on the runway ??
 
The huge rudder on a 7/7A ought to be plenty powerful enough to keep it straight in a pretty big crosswind. I fly an -8 and it's smaller rudder provides more than enough authority to keep straight on the runway in as much as a 15 kt direct crosswind (the most I've ever tackled thus far).

I also flew a Cherokee 140 for almost 800 hours before flying RVs, and that plane would make child's play out of even the hairiest crosswind landings... the kind I would not even attempt in an RV :eek:
 
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Crosswind in 7A

I learned to fly in the usual trainers C 152-172, Piper 180... after my checkride I bought a Grumman Tiger and like you was worried about crosswinds, our fly-in community has one runway. The Tiger with castering nose wheel had me concerned, but after one or two crosswind landings I found out that the Tiger is much easier to land than anything I had flown, due to the great control authority. The nose wheel had nothing to due with landing, just taxi around a while to get the feel of it. The RV-7A that I have now has much more control authority than even a Tiger and the crosswind landings are a non event. I would not have anything but a castering nosewheel since flying them for the last five years. Good Luck and enjoy.

PS If you cannot get transition training in an RV Grumman AA-1 or Tiger is the next best thing.
 
based on my recent experience from greece, the 7A is delightful to handle in crosswinds. the trickiest part is actually the weather-vaning tendency at low speeds when the rudder has no or not much effect yet and the big area of VS/rudder are affected by the crosswind.
the only short "aha" moment came during takeoff with the wind from the right, when you're stepping on the right rudder instinctively and the wind pushes tail to the left/nose to the right quite agressively. suddenly you need lots of left feet which feels very awkward in that situation.
for the approach, crabbed into short final wings level, then wing-low decrab, which was easier than with any other light aircraft i've flown so far.

the fact that the nosewheel is castering is a non-event. after a short while you get used to it and you won't miss the mechanical steering. about the only downside is potential brake failure consequences, which have been discussed here extensively. pretty much all the recent light airplane designs go for free-castering nosewheels, due to weight and simplicity.

regards, bernie
 
Easier to land in a strong crosswind than Cherokee (lots of leverage due to large control surfaces). Taxiing without riding brakes is the tricky part.
 
Brake pads are easy to replace.

I have also handled 18G25 kts crosswinds in my 6A. It may not be as crosswind capable as a 7A.
 
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Nice to hear !

Thanks a lot for your answer guys ! I'm very happy to hear that !

I have a friend who just got a AA-5, so I will make some ride with it !.
 
I fully agree with all the posters above; I also have a lot of time in Cherokees and my last plane was a Tiger (small world, this). One thing not mentioned; when you land a Cherokee in a crosswind, failure to neutralize the rudder )and therefore nosewheel) prior to the nosewheel touching down results in a very abrupt sideways jerk due to the direct steering linkage. With a castering nosewheel, you can maintain your cross controlled slip right through the rollout, as the nosewheel will track straight no matter what your rudder is doing.

I also fly at a strip where crosswinds are the norm, and the castering nosewheel of the Tiger is a real pleasure in that department. Hopefully I'll find that my 6A is the same when I get checked out this w/e!
 
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