One of the frequent comments you'll hear about the Glastar is that control forces are not well harmonized, with pitch and yaw being considerably lighter than roll. Don't be too badly put off by this complaint because Glasair came up with a mod which puts a servo tab on the aileron and reduces roll force by 1/3, and it produces a much more harmonious feel. It'll never be light a nimble like an RV4, but then an RV4 will never carry very much baggage.
BTW, I'm building a Sportsman (Glastar's big brother) and had pretty much the same kind of questions in my mind since my "flying" airplane is very light and nimble. After flying a Glastar with modified ailerons I have to say it's indeed more like a sport cruiser than a flying truck, but definitely not a full sport airplane.
A Glastar with a 160hp and CS prop is a pretty decent performer. With an O-360 it's a GREAT performer, with cruise up in the 135-140kt range while hauling a bunch of bulky stuff. Plywood ripped into 2'x8' sheets can handily be loaded through the front door. There's no RV that has that kind of capacity, otherwise I'd likely be building one! LoL
Stability for instrument flight and long-haul cruising is great in the Glastar, and it's incredibly roomy (wider than a C-182). We like the Sportsman because, while our friends are folding up their expensive Dahon bikes to put in the back of their -6, -7 or -9, our bikes will go in the Sportsman pretty much fully intact. That means we have enough of a head start in taking off that it should negate some of the speed advantage of the RV.
That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it! ;-)
E-mail me at sportsman_cgvlf (at) yahoo (dot) ca if you wish to chat more on the topic.
