S

stefan87

Member
Hello to all

I am Stefan from Austria.

I would be interested if anyone of you has already thought about an RV with a retractable landing gear to equip or modify it.

Please write me your thoughts and experiences.

Or maybe you know someone who had also had such thoughts and still has.

I thank you with in advance for the many answers here in the forum.

Fine Greetings from Austria to America.

with friendly greetings

Stefan
 
Vie gehts, Stephan. I'll post a bit of what you will probably hear from a host of folks - if you want a retractable gear RV, you will be better advised to design your own aircraft. Modifying an RV will be a MONUMENTOUS task, and although technically feasible (I've seen pictures of at least one), won't be worth it in the long run, either from a money or time standpoint. You'll get no support from Van's (can't blame them for that!). Better to build it like Van designed it or design your own. Just my .02
 
Someone in germany ( i beleive) has done it.

most people will say that it will take nearly a complete re- engineering of the structure, while increasing speeds a very small amount. the fuel tanks would need some major consideration to make room for the gear.

nearly everyone i've heard that posted about such modifications says it could double your build time, if not increase the time very significantly

in general the summary is: very costly in both time, money, effort and knowledge required to successfully accomplish, with very little benefit and many drawbacks such as increased weight, increased complexity, less room for fuel and some other smaller considerations.

if you really want to fly don't do it. If you want to do some fancy engineering project for a class it could be interesting, but hardly worthwhile or rewarding

edit- vans in the -3-2008 rvator says you'll be on your own, it won't be a van's RV, it is way to much different from a kit for them to offer any engineering help. it has a photo of an RV 8 in bare al that has retracts.

see if you can find photos of D-ESKR. It is a painted retractable ( looks like it was an rv4 ) i have several photos of the plane i could email but no time to post to a file sharing server right now.
 
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Coolness factor... exponential.

Return on time and money invested for a complicated/unproven/questionably reliable home brewed setup to gain MAYBE 10 knots? Zero
 
stefan87 said:
.

I would be interested if anyone of you has already thought about an RV with a retractable landing gear to equip or modify it.
Stefan
Click to expand...

"Lot a Sugar for a Dime". I would guess you'd be looking at several thousand dollars, at least 1000 additional build time hours and a 40% increase in insurance cost just to gain 6-8 Kts............ It would be Cooooooool though!
 
I know the guy who built the retractable RV-4. He is now building a rectractable 'rocket' using similar gear. It will have a longer fuselage, RV-8 tail and an IO-390. Same width as a stock RV-4.

The gear is beautiful to operate but the wing is extensively modified. Will look beautiful and be fast & economical.

Way outta my league!

Vern
 
If you want to do it you can

It has been done so you know it is possible. If you want to do it and can afford it, I think you should do it. You will gain more experience and satisfaction than most builders. At low speeds the retractable gear is not as big an advantage as you might think over a well faired fixed gear RV normally but once you go that far you can build on the accomplishment into an area that hasn't been explored by others. If you have the creative spirit and the tenacity to work through the problems you will have a life experience that is unique and a pretty special airplane.

Bob Axsom
 
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The retractable kits are all fiberglass. Unfortunately, if you want a metal retract you are always going to get deeper into that "experimental country."
 
crazy talk

VNE for a rv7 is 200 knots. I'm building a 9 which has a vne of 182 knots. I don't know too much about it yet, but my guess would be that you could reach vne in either case much more economically by adding a bigger engine and/or fancier prop, or just by running your basic engine wide open in cruise flight, than by going retractable. Lancair sounds much easier. Or just clip the wings by a couple feet an you'll be just as unsupported as with retractable gear.

If you just _have_to_have_ wheels that might not be there when you really need them, wouldn't an Arrow be more practical? Or how about a Mooney? you can get a perfectly airwothy Mooney for under $50k. You will never build a retractable RV for less than that. Or if you crave economy and can't stand the idea of a Cherokee, how about a Mooney Mite?

So, you can go fast, or look cool without spending the next ten years figuring out how to make an RV retractable...
 
So, you can go fast, or look cool without spending the next ten years figuring out how to make an RV retractable...
Click to expand...

That's kind of the nature of experimental.

People push the envelope for the pure joy of doing something different, overcoming the difficult, solving problems etc. because it gives them pleasure. Eventually one of them comes up with something really terrific that the rest of us want or need.

I am sure RVG when building the 1st RV caught a lot of flack about how crazy it was to build a plane in the garage when there were Pipers, Cessnas, and Mooneys he could buy.

Aren't we all glad he persisted and built that 1st RV?

So go for it Stefan and post lots of pictures as your project progresses.
 
IIRC, the gentleman in Germany who built his second RV-4 with retractable mains and tail wheel found it only added 4 knots AND 80 pounds! :eek:

IMHO, it is not worth the complexity, speed gain, or useful load loss. However, as a project, it sure sounds interesting and when finished, it will look great.

Check out this thread for pictures:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=48338
 
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N395V said:
That's kind of the nature of experimental.

People push the envelope for the pure joy of doing something different, overcoming the difficult, solving problems etc. because it gives them pleasure. Eventually one of them comes up with something really terrific that the rest of us want or need.

I am sure RVG when building the 1st RV caught a lot of flack about how crazy it was to build a plane in the garage when there were Pipers, Cessnas, and Mooneys he could buy.

Aren't we all glad he persisted and built that 1st RV?

So go for it Stefan and post lots of pictures as your project progresses.
Click to expand...
You're right of course, indeed none of us would even be reading this if we just wanted the easy way out. But maybe if Stefan could clarify his goals a bit. If he really wants a huge challenge, go for it. But if he just wants to go a bit faster, then there are easier ways.
 
Instead of spending the entire day in the shop working on the RV, I spend most of the day at the airport figuring out why the gear wouldn't retract on the Arrow.
 
Hi Stefan,

I sometimes wonder if experimental aviation has really become "follow the instructions, shake the box, and fly the airplane that falls out". There's nothing wrong with that, but there isn't a single thing wrong with wanting to do something unique and challenging such as building a retractable RV, either.

Don't let the naysayers dissuade you. Approach it as a serious engineering effort and have fun!
 
retract RV-10

HUmm------all this talk of retracts led me to think (a scarey thought) of a retract RV-10. Sounds cool, but as ya'll are saying , not worth the weight penality, or the problems involved. But it sure would make a neat airbourne picture!!!!
Tom
 
Retractable RV8

About four years ago I flew to Farmington, MO to look at a used 0360 for my than RV7A project. Anyway we drove over to his home and when we walk down into the basement to look at the engine there was a completed RV8 wing attached with retractable landing gear. Have not heard if he got it flying but it was very interesting.

Squeak
IN
RV7A
 
Want Retractable AND More Speed?

Stefan:
Take a good look at something that's already engineered and has probably the coolest looking retractable gear in all of aviation - the Questair Venture
http://www.airbum.com/pireps/PirepQuestairVenture.html
Aluminum construction. Cruise speed near 240 kts (One of these raced at Reno and clocked over 325 kts, with a higher output engine). Solid instrument platform, and a VERY unique shape (I think Van designed the RV gear fairings by studying this aircraft). If you come to Airventure, you will likely see a few of these on the flightline.
Terry, CFI
RV-9A N323TP
 
If anyone thinks about following the Questair design, make sure you do a fair bit of research... The original gear design was not inherently stable and could very quickly launch a pilot into the weeds. It was redesigned and the later models were extremely stable, like Cessna 150 stable, or so i've read. And it's definitely a neat design. Not sure where you could bring the gear into the fuselage on an RV though...
 
stefan87 said:
Hello to all

I am Stefan from Austria.

I would be interested if anyone of you has already thought about an RV with a retractable landing gear to equip or modify it.

Please write me your thoughts and experiences.

Or maybe you know someone who had also had such thoughts and still has.

I thank you with in advance for the many answers here in the forum.

Fine Greetings from Austria to America.

with friendly greetings

Stefan
Click to expand...

There is no denying that a retractable RV has coolness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d506a6Id5CY
 
Can't wait to stop flying retracts

While I am really glad that Dennis Polen ignored the naysayers when he built his incredible steed, the times have changed. There are plenty of choices today for retrac birds available to kit build or scratch build. However, if nothing else suits your fancy, then go ahead and live the real roots of experimental aviation and modify to your hearts desire.

I, for one, will be quite relieved to not have to worry about the gear anymore (renting an Arrow while building). You know the old adage.. "There are retract pilots that have and retract pilots that will" :eek: I want to get my RV done before I DO (land gear up that is).
 
Retractable gear RV?

I am a little late in this thread, but anyone thinking about a retractable gear RV may want to take a look first at the Furio RG. I saw the kit at Oshkosh last year. It's basically a carbon fiber kit of the Falco that is made in New Zealand...I think it is something like 16 or 19 basic carbon fiber pieces and designed for the IO-390. Even their specs, though, didn't show much of an improvement over an RV-7 in performance, but it sure did look nice...for a lot more money.
 
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