L

laz

Well Known Member
I am about 90% done and 90% to go on my RV8. I acquired my wing kit form an individual not vans .. They were slow build and still in the crate. They came with the old flat top wing tips. The wings are done except for the Tips and paint.

Is there any advantage to using the newer wing tips from vans? I am still n the fence about using wing tip landing lights vs leading edge lights. My fuselage is a much newer quick built. I just wonder if I should bother to upgrade to the newer tips.

Also how are the new Aero sun landing lights working out?
 
The newer style wing tips hold their shape on top a little better. The original style need a small amount of bracing to keep them from going "concave" along the flat part of the top.

Actually the original hoerner style tips are more efficient and in my opinion look better.

I changed mine to the later style and saw absolutely no performance gain.
Actually I think I lost a little cruise. I was also hoping that the "extra" span would reduce stall speed. Didn't happen!

I did it because I got the tips essentially free and installed them while installing the Hotel/Whiskey ER tanks.
 
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Thanks. This is what I suspected. I do hope to get a few more replies. I will probably stick with what I have. I wonder why vans changed them to begin with?
 
laz said:
Thanks. This is what I suspected. I do hope to get a few more replies. I will probably stick with what I have. I wonder why vans changed them to begin with?
Click to expand...

Aren't the new style slightly longer (to give a bit more span)? Back when the new (sheared) tips came out, they were Van's answer (IIRC) to some sheared tips that were generating performance improvement claims in the Rocket and other highly modified RV circles. In theory, that shape plus a bit more span should give you a little more speed at altitude.

Personally, I prefer the old style tips. They look better, IMO. I'm sure people with the sheared tips will disagree, because most of us like what we have.

In any case, I wouldn't spend $$ to change from one style to another.
 
The net lore I've heard is that Van's tried to copy the aftermarket tips, and saw no performance difference but kept them because market research indicated a preference for the sheared tips. One claim of the aftermarket tips was reduced stall speed. Continuing the net lore: When Van's copied the tips, they didn't do an exact copy. The AM tips had a sharp mold parting line along the outer edge; Van's don't (the outside edge is rounded). (I know that my Van's sheared tips do have rounded outer edges.)

I do know one person who added a sharp edge to Van's sheared tips, and said that he got a noticeable improvement in stall performance (he didn't quantify exactly how much to me) over the original old style tips he had been running. No loss of cruise/top speed with the new tips.

FWIW,

Charlie
 
rv7charlie said:
I do know one person who added a sharp edge to Van's sheared tips, and said that he got a noticeable improvement in stall performance (he didn't quantify exactly how much to me) over the original old style tips he had been running. No loss of cruise/top speed with the new tips.
Click to expand...

That is interesting.... because after the claim was made that the tips didn't properly mimic the original sheared tip design, a set of the Van's tips were modified to copy the sharp edge, and then a flight test comparison was done

There was no measurable change.
 
Scott,

Thanks for the update. I hadn't heard about Van's taking that next step. As I said, I do know one person who swapped tips & reported an improvement, but there are so many variations from a/c to a/c, even with RV's, that his results may not be repeatable. IIRC, he thought enough of his results on his 1st plane that he repeated the effort on his 2nd RV, but of course there was no a/b comparison on the 2nd plane since the 2nd came with sheared tips.

Charlie
 
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