A

Andy_RR

Well Known Member
Following on from the RV-8 landing gear box mod thread, I'm curious as to why Van decided to design the landing gear this way on the RV-8, given that most prior designs mount the gear directly to the engine frame.

Has anyone looked at making a conversion to the engine frame to make it more RV-7-like? Would it be a weight+balance issue for the RV-8 to put more weight in the nose like that? More importantly, would it be heavier or lighter with RV-7-style gear legs?

Looking at the RV-7 construction, the firewall and gussets etc don't seem to be any stronger than the RV-8 (at least from a cursory glance)

I wonder what other issues there are?

As an aside, if there was one aesthetic thing I dislike about the RV-8, it's the way the landing gear stick out awkwardly from near the leading edge. I think the sloping RV-3/4/6/7 style gear looks much 'faster'! :)

Just wondering...

Andrew

RV-8 empennage as WIP
 
The RV-8 fuselage is quite a bit longer than the RV-4, -6 and -7. Thus the main wheels need to be further aft from the firewall than they do on the other models.

If an RV-7 mount and gear legs were used, I am reasonably sure that the wheels would end up further ahead than they are on the RV-8. The further ahead the wheels are, the more directionally unstable the aircraft will be on the ground.

I suspect that the LG is the way it is because RV-7 style gear legs would have to angle quite sharply aft from the firewall to put the wheels in the correct place. The very sharply sloping gear legs would have to be long to get the needed prop clearance, and the combination of long legs and the angle they were at would lead to large loads on the engine mount.

But this is all speculation.
 
ummm, you might be right Kevin

according to my crude scaling of the three-views from the Van's website, the firewall on the RV-8 is some 9" further forward than the RV-7, so I guess that makes the angle of the dangle a little excessive.

RV-7vRV-8.gif


Oh well, it's good to know these things! :)

Cheers,

A
 
RV8 Ld Gear

I wish the 8 ld gear was like the 3,4,6,7,9, ,,,
I would build a 4 cyl Rocket if the QB kit was the same price as the RV8, and the wings were not modified / shortened, and they did have 21 gal tanks.
I think the rocket is the best looking airplane in our class, just has that big engine and I do not want to feed a six cyl...
 
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Gear

I'm with you Mickey, I chose the 8 because of the gear design, looks great and it assured no wobble when I taxi.
 
rv8ch said:
Personally I believe the RV8 gear looks fantastic. Massive, and strong.
Click to expand...

...and yet did you not swap it out for Groves??!!;)
Me too :D
I do like the raked back look of some of the other RV models though. They kinda look... faster...
 
I never thought much about the gear type on an -8 until the day I wacthed a -6 taxi up to a grass tie-down at a fly-in, and those "raked back" gear started twangin' and walkin' relative to the fuselage. I know they've lasted for years, but wow! Made me kind of glad for the massive solid legs on the the -8....;)
 
Not love at first sight for me

The 8's straight gear hit me when I first saw it at SNF years ago. I had to warm up to the airplane's appearance (was flying the 4 then). Maybe I should have gone to the Grove gear - Robbie's a genious at doing landing gear!

As for location, most taildraggers have the mains located roughly underneath the wing's leading edge. So mounting on the firewall would put the attach points too far forward. But I still don't like the gear towers in the fuselage; wish Van had used weldments to tie them into the firewall/main spar internally. That would have saved lots of space and made building easier, I think.
 
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