[Kiwi]

Is anyone prepared to discuss their experiences with the RV8 gear compared to the tapered rod firewall mounted gear on other RVs?

Any comment would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Andrew.

 

[AntiGravity]

Grove

Can't comment on the operational differences since I don't fly anything, let alone my -8 yet, but I've gone with the airfoil Grove gear legs which are machined from solid Al rather than being flat steel bar. They have gun-drilled internal brake lines and don't require the fibreglass gear leg fairings. I was going to get them polished, but I'm going to try painting them with chrome-look paint instead (Alsa Corp stuff, expensive!).

 

[eurof2]

I have not flown with the flat gear on an RV, but I have seen a few of each style and the tapered rod style are simpler and lighter, but are a little more 'springy'

The RV8 steel flat gear are about 19 pounds each without mounting hardware or axles while most of the tapered rod style gear come in around 12-14 pounds with the axle.

I believe the mounting hardware is also lighter as it is built into the engine mount on the taildragger RV models (Not the RV-8 though)

The flat gear also give you a little more flexibility when aligning as you can set your toe adjustment and camber with shims. You can adjust these with the tapered rod gear, but it is not quite as straight forward.

Just from a technical standpoint I prefer the tapered rod style because they are much simpler and much lighter. However I have not flown in an RV-8 taildragger to know what kind of handling differences there might be. (I don't expect much though...)

Oh yeah, the tapered rod are much cheaper in case that is a consideration for you.