K

Kyle Boatright

Well Known Member
I was out flying this morning - working on my landings, which have been pitiful recently. Anyway, I was doing stop and go's, and a C-172 joined the pattern on an upwind leg as I was touching down.

Once I stopped and applied power again, I saw him off my right shoulder and slightly behind. I figured he though he'd enter turn crosswind in front of me, but I was off the ground, to pattern altitude, flew the crosswind leg and turned downwind before the Cessna turned crosswind.

About that time, the Cessna pilot came on the radio and asked "Aircraft departing Cartersville, what type aircraft is that? Your climb rate is incredible"...

Made me feel good in my little 160 hp, fixed (cruise) pitch RV-6...
 
Yep

We left Ocracoke after a 172 had taken off and we turned out over the ocean, keeping him in sight. As we passed him, my wife said, "Jees, it looks like he's going backwards!" She'd never passed another airplane in our 180 horse -6A.:)

Yep, you made the right choice, Kyle.

Best,
 
We have quite a few RV's on the field here, so the controllers are familiar with them. Just yesterday, I'm cleared to take off for a straight out departure behind a 172 staying in the circuit, and the controller made a point of asking me to pass on the left (right hand circuits).

It wasn't really an issue... when I reached the 172 I was already about 200 ft above him and he was just turning cross-wind. :D
 
java said:
We have quite a few RV's on the field here, so the controllers are familiar with them. Just yesterday, I'm cleared to take off for a straight out departure behind a 172 staying in the circuit, and the controller made a point of asking me to pass on the left (right hand circuits).

It wasn't really an issue... when I reached the 172 I was already about 200 ft above him and he was just turning cross-wind. :D
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What is the max climb rate on say an "average" RV-6 or 7?
 
I guess that would make sense comparing a heavy, four seat aircraft with a small, two seat aircraft.
 
SteveinIndy said:
What is the max climb rate on say an "average" RV-6 or 7?
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There are too many variables to give you a solid answer.

With the 180 hp O-360 in my -9, 3/4 tanks, and a climb prop, I could easily see 2200 FPM. With the climb prop I currently have on the front 1600 to 1800 FPM is possible.

When I had the 135 hp O-290-D2 I could hit 1800 FPM solo.

Also, a lot of this has to do with the airport elevation (~600 to 800? MSL for me) and the OAT?s. None of those figures were adjusted for a standard day or altitude.
 
N941WR said:
There are too many variables to give you a solid answer.

With the 180 hp O-360 in my -9, 3/4 tanks, and a climb prop, I could easily see 2200 FPM. With the climb prop I currently have on the front 1600 to 1800 FPM is possible.

When I had the 135 hp O-290-D2 I could hit 1800 FPM solo.

Also, a lot of this has to do with the airport elevation (~600 to 800? MSL for me) and the OAT?s. None of those figures were adjusted for a standard day or altitude.
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I was just kind of looking for a ballpark figure. If you can do that with a 180 hp engine, I am kind of rethinking the climb performance I might get out of the design I'm putting together that is at the moment be planned with a 300hp engine. Granted, my design is heavier than an RV but still....very nice.
 
SteveinIndy said:
... I am kind of rethinking the climb performance I might get out of the design I'm putting together that is at the moment be planned with a 300hp engine. Granted, my design is heavier than an RV but still....very nice.
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Weight is the killer! My plane was only 990 lbs with the O-290. With the O-360 I've jumped to ~1060 lbs. I also have the long wing, which helps a LOT!
 
N941WR said:
Weight is the killer! My plane was only 990 lbs with the O-290. With the O-360 I've jumped to ~1060 lbs. I also have the long wing, which helps a LOT!
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Yeah, we'll be a lot heavier than that. The engine we are looking at alone weighs about half of what your entire plane weighed with the O-290 mostly because I decided to go with a diesel piston engine rather than one that runs on 100LL.
 
DakotaHawk said:
Take a look at this thread for some good numbers on climb rates. A couple of RVs flown from full stop to 10,000'...
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I showed this thread to one of my friends (an engineer and erstwhile F-16 pilot) and he goes:
HIM: "Why not just make your design have a thrust:weight ratio of 1.0 or above and show them what a good climb rate really is?"
ME: "Cost and I don't like the idea of leaving my stomach at the approach end of the runway I depart from."
HIM: "*****."
 
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It's not that our RV's have great climb rates, it's that most spam cans are so pathetic. I consider my 200HP -6 to be barely adequate and often wish there was more power when taking off from high elevation at full gross.

Maybe next project will be a Rocket...
 
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