R

rbregs

Active Member
I am a low-time pilot, with a little over 100 hrs flying time. Most of that time is in C-152, C-172, with some tailwheel experience in Piper Cub, Citabria, and Maule. I also have a few hours in gliders.

I'd like to begin construction of an RV-8 but am concerned that it's too much airplane for a low time pilot. I've attempted to use insurance rates as a sort of watermark, however the comparison is more anecdotal than informative.

I've read all the PIREPS of the RV-8 that I've been able to find including the CAFE report of the RV-8A, which indicated that the RV-8A was suitable for a "well prepared" low time pilot. I've considered the RV-9, but desire the additional structural strength, and aerobatic capabilities of the RV-8. I also prefer convention gear, as I believe it to be a more robust design for occasional operation on grass strips.

I would estimate that by the time the airplane is completed I will have a total 200-250 hours of flying time. I planned to bias at least half of the additional 150 hours time of new flight (75 hours) to the Citabria.

For the RV-8 pilots - I thought I might ask you for your thoughts regarding the suitability of an RV-8 for a "well prepared" yet low-time pilot. Any insight that you might provide would be greatly appreciated.

Bob
 
Get all the time you can with a good RV instructor and you will be fine, I had around 250hrs TT and 125 Tailwheel when I first flew Dakota Queen. I got all together about 12hrs in a 6 and it was a total non event flying my 8.
Go for it you won't regret it!
 
Thats twice the hours you need.
Get transition time and your good to go. THe 8 is a very forgiving plane compared to the other TD's your flying.
 
Can I handle an -8?

Bob:

The decision as to when you'll be ready for an -8 is so subjective that it's literally up to you as to how you feel about your abilities. If you continue to fly taildraggers while you're building (a very good idea) and in an aircraft such as a Citabria, you'll probably do fine with the -8.

The 8 isn't a hard taildragger to fly (quite the opposite in my opinion) but it is considerably faster and more responsive than a factory built aircraft such as a Citabria. So as you near the time to fly your 8, you'll want to get exposure to an RV-like aircraft to prepare you for the experience. Transition training is one way to get exposure to the RV world, but since most transition trainers are side-by-side I don't think they'll give you the true feel for what an 8 will be like. I think you'd be best served by some time in an 8. As you build, make it a point to meet other 8 pilots. This website is a good place to start. See if you can't get some back seat stick time. I'm sure 8 flyers like myself would be happy to help. We love these airplanes and want others to enjoy them as well.

So, in my opinion -- go ahead and build it. I think you'll be glad you did.

Chris
 
You can do it!

Bob,
I went from flying my Piper Cherokee 160 to my RV8. I have around 610 hours now. I have over 100 now in N214TK. I picked up my taildragger endorsement in a Super Decathelon. It was a great flying plane. Be sure to get some good training. I will admit the pucker factor was quite high the very first time I flew my RV8 but just stay ahead of her. I soon found that the 8 handles well in all phases of flight. I always hated taxing the Super Decathelon but the 8 stays where you want to. Remember, again, remember just stay ahead of her. The RV8 is by far the best flying airplane ever built for the money. It flies like a dream, will outrun about anything, and burn less fuel than any other. It is the best bang for the buck IMHO.

Remember, prepare yourself for every flight. Treat her with respect and she will return the favor.

Darren Kerns
RV8 N214TK
 
Desire

You will be fine in the 8. Desire and perserverance will make you a fine pilot. Do not let anything keep you from fulling your dreams.
Kahuna and Chris are right on, listen to them and build the RV8.
 
The -8 is cake...

I see you have experience flying a Maule - if it is a high powered 6 cylinder Maule, then the -8 is a lot easier aircraft to fly. An experienced TD friend of mine - we shared an Acrosport 1 together for a bit - he flew a higher powered Maule and thought that with so much power and a small rudder it was a handful for what it was. He felt that the Maule was more difficult to manage than our Acrosport because it didn't have enough control authority to match its engine power. The -8 has as much power for the weight as the Maule, but has muuuuch more control authority, so much so that it is easy to fly. The -8 is responsive, but not twitchy. The CAFE report you read was right on the money and I thought captures the -8 pretty well.

The -8 handles like a Decathlon or a Citabria on the ground (yet with better rudder responsiveness), it's just a matter of getting used to thinking ahead of a 200mph aircraft. Definitely get some transition training to get your brain ahead of the -8 and you'll do just fine. Go for a CS prop if you can - it puts more in your bag of tricks and aside from the obvious performance gains, it makes the aircraft much easier to slow down. Pull the throttle back at a cruise prop setting and you have just thrown out the anchor.

Oh, BTW most -8's handle wheel landing better than 3-point. You'll find that most -8 drivers either wheel land or do a tail low wheel landing. So, think about getting really comfortable with wheelies. Plenty of discussion on other VAF threads regarding this so, no need for me to re-hash here. Might want to do a few searches on that as you would probably find the comments interesting.

Go for it,

Rob
 
GO FOR IT!

Don't forget- if you keep flying (which I think is important for a bunch of reasons) you will have a lot more time by the time your RV8 is complete.

If you think you want a taildragger- start getting more time now.

Look for a cheap partnership (5-8k) in a cub or cessna, for the money it will be the cheapest way to keep flying.

I had right under 300 hrs before flying my RV7. Because I had ZERO tailwheel time- I could have had 75 hrs and it would have been about the same learning time to land a tailwheel (I had about 30 hrs in a RV6a and it still took about 10-15hrs to land a tailragger, so it's not that the RV's are hard to fly)

At over 40 hrs on the tailwheel- I'm really enjoying the airplane.

As repeated often here- Vans Planes are pretty straight forward to fly without any nasty characteristics, but it takes a little transition training to kick some ugly "spam" can habits and to get used to light controls and higher speeds.
 
I had 140 hrs of C172 time plus a tailwheel conversion on a Stinson 108-3 when I flew my -8 for the first time. I should have gotten RV transition training, but it all worked out great. If you have tail wheel time, and get RV transition training, you will be just fine.
 
Thank You for Your Replies

To All -

Thank you very much for your replies to my question concerning the RV-8's suitability for a low time pilot.

Not one person thought the RV-8 was unsuitable for a properly prepared, low time pilot. I was both surprised and encouraged by the unanimity to the RV-8's suitability. I greatly appreciate the replies and the encouragement.

So I've made my decision and will build the RV-8.

Best Regards,

Bob
 
Building an -8

rbregs said:
To All -

So I've made my decision and will build the RV-8.

Best Regards,

Bob
Click to expand...

Good choice. And good luck. Hope to see you at a fly-in before long.

Chris
 
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