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RV-10 Useful Load - G3X and AirConditioning

B

Brian B

Member
The RV-10 Usefull Load seems to be a moving target.
During a prebuy on a 2024 RV10, I had the aircraft weighed. The Empty Weight (Zero Fuel and full oil) was 1816#.
Status of the aircraft weighed. 2 G3X, Air Conditioning which is supposed to be 65# or less. 3 color Painted. Leather interior.

The POH provided originally said EW of 1630# which is 186# difference. Is it likely that paint, AC, and G3X could total to 186#?
 
Did it have a full luxury interior that was perhaps added after the initial W&B? That can add a lot.
 
All things being equal, probably not. More likely it's just a cumulative effect of a lot of little things or the original W & B was off. Paint will add a minimum of 25Lbs, while the G3X or any EFIS just adds a few pounds. Without knowing the exact config of the plane during the initial weighing, kinda hard (albeit not impossible) to piece it together.
 
Brian B said:
The RV-10 Usefull Load seems to be a moving target.
During a prebuy on a 2024 RV10, I had the aircraft weighed. The Empty Weight (Zero Fuel and full oil) was 1816#.
Status of the aircraft weighed. 2 G3X, Air Conditioning which is supposed to be 65# or less. 3 color Painted. Leather interior.

The POH provided originally said EW of 1630# which is 186# difference. Is it likely that paint, AC, and G3X could total to 186#?
Click to expand...
1816 #’s seems heavy for that configuration you described.

Empty weight

I was reading online that the average 'empty' weight for an RV-10 is between 1520-1630 pounds. Ours comes out at 1705. Although we did add a bunch of whistles and bells (autopilot, sound insulation, carpets, etc) I can't see how our plane is coming out at nearly 100 pounds heavier than...
vansairforce.net

See also: https://vansairforce.net/threads/basic-empty-weight.231483/
 
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My RV-10 is about as light as any you'll find that have the standard Hartzell and a conventional battery. It weighs 1607 lbs including paint. It has one G3X and one G5.

If your aircraft started at 1630, paint and the A/C could easily add 100 lbs. The other 86? Well, depends on what they added when they added the G3X. It ain't just the screens - there are other goodies that go along with the system - Servos, AHRS, EMS, backup batteries, etc. Also, if they added carpet and interior that could easily account for the other 86 lbs.
 
Brian B said:
The RV-10 Usefull Load seems to be a moving target.
During a prebuy on a 2024 RV10, I had the aircraft weighed. The Empty Weight (Zero Fuel and full oil) was 1816#.
Status of the aircraft weighed. 2 G3X, Air Conditioning which is supposed to be 65# or less. 3 color Painted. Leather interior.

The POH provided originally said EW of 1630# which is 186# difference. Is it likely that paint, AC, and G3X could total to 186#?
Click to expand...
No. Ac is around 65#s, I believe. G3x doesn’t weigh that much more than 6 pack instruments, maybe 5 pounds more at most, not including AP stuff. Paint on a 10 is around 25-30 pounds.

That is a heavy bird. My 10 is more spartan than many, but it is 1630 with paint and toolkit. I suspect most nicely equipped 10’s are in the 17-1750 range. Add ac to that and you get 1750-1800. So not terribly far off from a lot of 10’s. But it does take a sobering chunk out of your useful load if you plan to respect the vans GW number.

I suspect the 1630 was not an actual weight, but a spec from the rv10 brochure.
 
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Kyle Boatright said:
My RV-10 is about as light as any you'll find that have the standard Hartzell and a conventional battery. It weighs 1607 lbs including paint. It has one G3X and one G5.

If your aircraft started at 1630, paint and the A/C could easily add 100 lbs. The other 86? Well, depends on what they added when they added the G3X. It ain't just the screens - there are other goodies that go along with the system - Servos, AHRS, EMS, backup batteries, etc. Also, if they added carpet and interior that could easily account for the other 86 lbs.
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Thank you
 
Do you have the beefier Matco brakes / wheels? They are quite a bit heavier than the stock brakes. I still have both in my shelf, can weigh the difference.
 
Mine is 1840. I have a parachute and AC plus a nice interior. Went in with eyes wide open on a heavy plane, it's really for three people and anything you would ever want to haul or 4 people and handbags. Wife loves it which is all that matters for us.
 
okent said:
Mine is 1840. I have a parachute and AC plus a nice interior. Went in with eyes wide open on a heavy plane, it's really for three people and anything you would ever want to haul or 4 people and handbags. Wife loves it which is all that matters for us.
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How much does your parachute weigh?
 
okent said:
Mine is 1840. I have a parachute and AC plus a nice interior. Went in with eyes wide open on a heavy plane, it's really for three people and anything you would ever want to haul or 4 people and handbags. Wife loves it which is all that matters for us.
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Well said. Its all about personal choices.
 
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