JJohnston

JJohnston

I'm New Here
Hello all,

I've been lurking a while here, and I joined as soon as I saw a post from another member who lives at 1N1 - Sandia Airpark Estates, in Edgewood, NM. I'm in the process of buying a lot there myself, and I hope, in not more than about 5 years, to build a house/hangar, move in, and start building an 8 or 8A. I've got about 50 hours in Citabria/Decathlon, about a dozen landings in a Stearman, and about 220 total.

My question is in regard to the leg position in the 8. In the Citabria/Decathlon and Stearman, the rudder pedals are widely spaced, and you sit kind of spead-legged. For me, this is a very comfortable position. But in the 8, the pedals look like they're right together, which doesn't seem very comfortable, not to mention it seems like it would make it hard to apply full aileron. Is this a problem? Has anyone with an 8A moved the pedals apart? Does this sound feasible (I don't think it would with the 8, with the gear leg towers in the way)?

Oh, and anyone else at 1N1? Need a warm body to hold a bucking bar or whatever?
 
I think they are fine

I also learned to fly in a Citabria. I find the RV-8 pedals to be quite cumfy. I fly long flights with narry a fidget. I do have the adjustable rudder pedals, but have not felt the urge to change their distance during a flight. I know some folks do, as a way to change position for a while on long flights.

the spacing is not constrained so much by the gear towers. The lower forward baggage compartment panel does, and in my case, the matching panel on the other side also. Of course, you could sacrifice some baggage area there and make them wider. But I would not bother.

I do have pedal extensions below the stock pedals to help stay off the brakes when I don't want them.

Welcome to the forum!
 
Hi Jeff and welcome aboard. This might come as a surprise to you but the pedal spacing on the RV-8 is consistent with the pedal spacing on the side by side RV-6 and RV-7.

I too have some hours in a Citabria and really like its dramatically wider pedal spacing but on the other hand absolutely hate heel brakes! My foot musculature makes normal braking ergonomically uncomfortable. I'll take toe brakes any day.

If you get a chance, fly an RV. You'll quickly discover your concerns about its pedal spacing are completely unfounded. :)
 
Welcome to VAF!!!!

JJohnston said:
Hello all,

I've been lurking a while here, and I joined as soon as I saw a post from another member who lives at 1N1 -
Click to expand...

Jeff, welcome aboard the best place on the web for things of an RV nature.

Good to have you here, enjoy it:D
 
Peddle spacing is fine

I too wondered about the peddle spacing on the 8. However, after 1000 hours in my RV-8 I think the peddle spacing is perfect. I have flown legs as long as 4 hours and 10 minutes without the slightest discomfort. My legs never get in the way of stick movements. I would not change a thing.

Dan Miller
RV-8 N3TU
 
RV-8A Wide Track Front Rudder Pedals

Welcome, Jeff!

I modified my RV-8A?s adjustable rudder pedal assembly to move the pedals 3 inches outboard on each side. 6 inches total. Of course, like most modifications, it?s not one modification; it?s several. Here?s what I did:

1. Remove the right lower portion of the front baggage compartment. If you want to keep some of this baggage space, you could reduce the width of the compartment. I elected to remove it. My boost pump is installed where the lower baggage compartment was.
2. Widen the adjustable rudder pedal assembly by 6 inches. I added a tubing sleeve on each side, an extended tube for the pedal arms, and ?welded? with 3M 2216 structural adhesive.
3. Install additional firewall stiffeners to achieve a wider eye bolt location to match/attach the forward rudder cable ends coming from the ?S? tubes on the adjustable pedal assembly.
4. Shorten the forward rudder cables (that pass through the ?S?s?) by about 1 inch. The original forward rudder cables were slightly long. Shortening requires a new swaged end; I had mine done at Aircraft Spruce. The eye bolt length can be adjusted (increased as needed) to fit.
5. Weld tabs to the front of the rear rudder pedal idler arms, about 2.5 to 3 inches further outboard, to provide a wider attachment for the forward rudder cables coming straight back from the two ?S?s.?

The rear rudder cables are attached to the inboard end of the idler arms as normal except for some additional spacers to make up for the separate, more outboard attachment of the forward rudder cables.

I measured the weight difference for all the modifications. The total weight increase was slightly less than 1.5 pounds. I factored in the removal of the lower baggage compartment.

As modified, the wider front rudder pedals feel great to me; about the same distance apart as my friend?s Rocket. I?m sorry that I don?t have any photos for you. Currently, the modified rudder pedal assembly is removed for painting/wiring, etc., but I?ll take and post some photos when I re-install the rudder pedal assembly.

For the RV-8, it appears that you would need to somehow penetrate or workaround the gear towers to widen the rudder pedal assembly. It can probably be done although you may not be able to move the pedals as far apart as 6 inches without the pilot?s legs contacting the gear towers. I don?t know. Maybe someone with an 8 has widened, or considered widening, their rudder pedals and can give you some insight with respect to the 8.

Again, Welcome to VAF!

Bill Palmer :)
 
Ergonomics?

Having built and now flying an RV-7A, I don't think the terms RV flying and ergonomics can exist in the same sentence. I tried to make my cockpit as comfortable as possible with Oregon Aero seats and a custom interior but the bottom line is there is only so much you can do here. That being said, I love my -7A. I think of it more like a sports car from 30 years ago: short on creature comforts but a blast to get around in.
 
Thanks for the replies. Bill, I'd love to see pictures of what you did.

I'm leaning toward the A, even though I've thrown the Citabria around a little, and not just because it lacks the gear towers, but that's a debate for another thread.
 
I had flown a Citabria for a couple of years and a Stearman for 15 years before I finished building my -8. I worried about this issue quite a bit since I had never even sat in an -8 until I was nearly finished with mine.
When I finally got to the point of taxiing the -8, I found it was a non-issue. I now have 150+ hours on the -8. Hadn't thought about this issue again until I saw your post.
Go ahead and build the -8 like Van designed it. You will throw rocks at any other airplane you ever flew.
Regards,
Geoff
 
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