Louise and I were formatting on the way home from lunch yesterday, and since the air was smooth and clear, and we?ve both been thinking that her RV-6 gained quite a bit of speed with the new style wheel pants, we thought a little wing-tip to wingtip speed comparison was in order. I have often remarked that ?Mikey? is one pretty fast ?stock? RV-6, and was interested to see just how it did. (Bob Axsom needs not worry - neither of our airplanes ahs any speed mods or particular clean-ups. This is really a comparison of ?stock? machines.)
I slid out from the wing position and lined up even, we gave a count, and both went full-forward on the power at the same time. At 2700 RPM and full throttle, I was indicating about 95% power in the cold air at 3500?. Initially, the RV-8 pulled away - slightly better acceleration - but it didn?t take long before the opening rate was slowed to a very slow crawl. With the autopilot on, I stabilized at TAS of 182 knots (as computed on the EFIS) in the -8, and I?d guess that Louise was about 2 knots slower, call it 180. She was showing about 4 knots higher than that, but hasn?t done an airspeed calibration since she bought the plane. My phase 1 testing showed my airspeed system to be within 1.5 knots at top speed, but that hasn?t been rechecked in the 4 years since.
The intention was not to get absolute speeds, but to compare the 2, and I must say I am very impressed with RV-6, Kit #4, with the Pressure Recovery pants! Van?s quotes a top speed of 182 knots for the RV-6 on the web site, and 185 for the RV-8 (solo weights). Since we weren?t at Sea Level, and the systems weren?t recently calibrated, I?d say that we are getting pretty close to book values on both (within the accuracy of this unscientific test). When I did my Phase 1 speed run ?on the deck?, I got 186 knots if I recall correctly.
I guess I?m not going to be able to use the ?let?s take the -8 on the next trip, because it?s significantly faster? excuse anymore?..
Paul
I slid out from the wing position and lined up even, we gave a count, and both went full-forward on the power at the same time. At 2700 RPM and full throttle, I was indicating about 95% power in the cold air at 3500?. Initially, the RV-8 pulled away - slightly better acceleration - but it didn?t take long before the opening rate was slowed to a very slow crawl. With the autopilot on, I stabilized at TAS of 182 knots (as computed on the EFIS) in the -8, and I?d guess that Louise was about 2 knots slower, call it 180. She was showing about 4 knots higher than that, but hasn?t done an airspeed calibration since she bought the plane. My phase 1 testing showed my airspeed system to be within 1.5 knots at top speed, but that hasn?t been rechecked in the 4 years since.
The intention was not to get absolute speeds, but to compare the 2, and I must say I am very impressed with RV-6, Kit #4, with the Pressure Recovery pants! Van?s quotes a top speed of 182 knots for the RV-6 on the web site, and 185 for the RV-8 (solo weights). Since we weren?t at Sea Level, and the systems weren?t recently calibrated, I?d say that we are getting pretty close to book values on both (within the accuracy of this unscientific test). When I did my Phase 1 speed run ?on the deck?, I got 186 knots if I recall correctly.
I guess I?m not going to be able to use the ?let?s take the -8 on the next trip, because it?s significantly faster? excuse anymore?..
Paul
