F

Fitzroy

I'm New Here
Our club is looking into buying an RV6A or 7A (built) and I have a question regarding engines and aerobatics. I did about 20 hours of aerobatics on a C152A a few years ago. I can't not see doing the same on the RV once properly transitioned. The usual loops, rolls, 1/2 Cubans etc. Anytime you took the 152 inverted a few times the engine would burp a small amount of oil, nothing unusual but it would always require a cleanup after the flight. I guess if we have a choice is there anything special regarding the engine that we should be looking for that would avoid this from happening? Thanks.

Peter
 
You could install a Christen or Raven aerobatic kit on a fuel injected engine. This will allow prolonged inverted flight with out the mess. Either company also makes just a air oil separator type system that should keep the belly relatively clean if you are using a carbureted engine for non prolonged inverted flight.
Good luck,
Mahlon
?The opinions and information provided in this and all of my posts are hopefully helpful to you. Please use the information provided responsibly and at your own risk."
 
To me the question boils down to this - do want to limit yourself to positive G maneuvers only, or would you like to have the capability of exploring negative G (precision) aerobatics? You can do all the positive G stuff in an RV (loops, rolls, spins, half cubans, etc.) without the engine hesitating or throwing oil. You won't throw oil until you get around zero G. No need to go there, and IMO no need to worry about oil control in an RV if you're doing positive G maneuvers only. Low performance and slow rolling airplanes (ie. A-152) are more likely to get to near zero G while attempting positive G maneuvers if your technique isn't perfect. Easier to avoid this in the RV. For years, I did all the positive G maneuvers you can do in an RV and never found a drop of oil on the belly. Depending on the routing and setup, some are more prone to throwing oil than others.

You don't need fuel injection to install full or half inverted systems, but there's no point in installing a full inverted system unless you have fuel injection or a throttle body/pressure carb in non-FI engines. So if you want to maneuver in such a way that might make a mess of the belly, why not just install a full inverted oil system? You'll have the capability to really expand your flying and learn new skills. Cowl space can be tight, but the system doesn't add much extra weight. If you have fuel injection, I wouldn't even bother with a flop tube in the tank since it will take a few seconds to burn the fuel in the lines before the pickup cavitates, leaving you with enough time to draw short inverted (precision) lines as required in IAC Sportsman Category style flying. There's no reason to sustain negative G longer than a few seconds unless you want to do inverted spins, outside higher negative G pushes (outside loops, etc), or inverted turns. Not typical RV acro stuff.

Another great solution is Ron Schreck's half-Raven setup described and shown here: http://iac19.org/images/DAF_APRIL_10.pdf
 
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Make sure you fully research the legal aspects of buying an experimental for "club" use as experimentals for rent is prohibited under most circumstances. If you're talking about a partnership, totally different road.

Personally I would be very hesitant about a "rental" aerobatic airplane. That's a lot of abuse by different people with different abilities and techniques. It only takes one or two people to mildly overstress it before the structural integrity is suspect. There was a 152 aerobat at a school I used to teach at back in the day. I personally never flew it, and was vindicated when they discovered the spar in the horizontal stab was split clean in two. Several flights of people reporting a "popping" sound in the back under mild G before they pulled the inspection plates. Scarey stuff.

Edit, just realized you're in Canada... rules may be different. Still do the homework before you buy.
 
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