rv7charlie
Well Known Member
After 25 years of flying -4s (with lots of other stuff mixed in), I just bought a nice -6. I'm trying to get seating position + rudder pedal position sorted for me, and I'm finding some, uh, interesting differences between the -4 & -6.
When I purchased my -4 back around the turn of the century, I moved the rudder pedals as far forward as I could, and lengthened the cable attach straps as far as I could, without having the firewall limit pedal movement. I also reclined the seat by moving the top to behind, instead of the front of the roll bar brace. Note that I'm not tall (~5' 9") or heavy (~155 lbs, fully clothed and sweaty). I've been very comfortable with these settings, and can fully 'box' the stick with one pedal fully deflected, without the stick hitting my thigh.
On this -6. I've moved the pedals as close as I can get them in the holes drilled by the builder (center block is ~1 1/2" forward of the aft end of the 10" long center brace The most forward seat back position is still ~2" farther away from the bottom of the pedals than in my -4. And because that puts me so close to the stick, full aft and side corner of the box with full rudder deflection bites into my thigh. Not my favorite stick position for my hand, either. It seems that the -6 stick position is significantly farther aft, relative to the seat back and pedals, than the -4.
At this point, I'm looking at drilling one more set of holes for the pedal mounts (will require moving some stuff the builder tied to the center brace), and possibly still needing to add pedal extensions, in order to get my torso far enough from the stick to get clear movement.
Is my size that far off the center of the 'bell curve'?
Anyone else run into this, and if so, what was your solution
Thanks,
Charlie
When I purchased my -4 back around the turn of the century, I moved the rudder pedals as far forward as I could, and lengthened the cable attach straps as far as I could, without having the firewall limit pedal movement. I also reclined the seat by moving the top to behind, instead of the front of the roll bar brace. Note that I'm not tall (~5' 9") or heavy (~155 lbs, fully clothed and sweaty). I've been very comfortable with these settings, and can fully 'box' the stick with one pedal fully deflected, without the stick hitting my thigh.
On this -6. I've moved the pedals as close as I can get them in the holes drilled by the builder (center block is ~1 1/2" forward of the aft end of the 10" long center brace The most forward seat back position is still ~2" farther away from the bottom of the pedals than in my -4. And because that puts me so close to the stick, full aft and side corner of the box with full rudder deflection bites into my thigh. Not my favorite stick position for my hand, either. It seems that the -6 stick position is significantly farther aft, relative to the seat back and pedals, than the -4.
At this point, I'm looking at drilling one more set of holes for the pedal mounts (will require moving some stuff the builder tied to the center brace), and possibly still needing to add pedal extensions, in order to get my torso far enough from the stick to get clear movement.
Is my size that far off the center of the 'bell curve'?
Anyone else run into this, and if so, what was your solution
Thanks,
Charlie