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RV-7A to a 7

J

jeffrey

Member
well I've been building my 7a since Nov 07. watching the threads on nose wheel problems. Was not that worried about it. But since working in the Pacific North West ie eastern Washington and northern Idaho I've seen some beautiful grass and dirt strips I would love to fly into. So I'm thinking of turning my 7A into a taildragger:D But I've already have mounted my gear in the fusalage. and riveted the side steps on. How hard will this be? Or is it to late?
Jeffrey
n187kw reserved
wings done Q/B in slow build status
 
Jeffrey,

It is never too late to convert an A to a tail wheel. A few have already been converted. Try doing a search and see what comes up.

At least one -9A has been converted to a TW and he (Cam) posts on this forum.
 
Jon from TeamRV

Jon bought a finished RV7A and converted it to a -7. I think he said the -7a engine mount had the -7 gear mounts in it. Don't know if that's standard or not.
 
Leave the weldments in, just make patches for the skin of the mains. Add the tailwheel mount to the rear bulkhead (probably the hardest part...) and put on a -7 mount.
 
The vertical bars that the HS attaches to are different too. On the -7A they are supposed to be tapered and on the -7 they are rectangular.
 
further thoughts

Jeff -

I believe you can get a universal engine mount which combines both the mount for the nose wheel and the forward gear for the tail wheel set-up in the one unit. If you are going to the trouble of modifying it this would be a sensible solution because when you sell the aircraft it will then be far more straightforward for the buyer to revert back to 7A if it is their preference.

Not sure where you get the universal engine mount from but i am told it exists.

I was in the same boat. Prior to building I thought about buying a 7A and converting it to a 7.

I decided to take the build option on in the end.

Cost for the required parts is somewhere between $1500 and $2000 but Vans will tell you that it is approximately 150 hours work. Not as simple as it seams but there is one thing that is guaranteed.....

It will look better when its a 7 !!!

Cheers,

JON
 
Jon Clements said:
Not as simple as it seams but there is one thing that is guaranteed.....

It will look better when its a 7 !!!
Click to expand...

Well, I wouldn't *guarantee* anything concerning a purely subjective thing such as aesthetics. :D

Personally I don't get the taildragger obsession. I honestly prefer the look of the land-o-matics.
 
Jamie said:
Well, I wouldn't *guarantee* anything concerning a purely subjective thing such as aesthetics. :D

Personally I don't get the taildragger obsession. I honestly prefer the look of the land-o-matics.
Click to expand...

Same here. When Van's converted their 7 to a 7A, I thought it looked better! They haven't converted it back............either! :D

If we're going to be talking serious "backcountry", then lets get real. How about a Cub Crafters (Cub look alike), or Aviat Husky. High wings, much larger diameter tires, and no wheel pants. This would be my preference.

http://www.cubcrafters.com/

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
Not a huge deal

jeffrey said:
well I've been building my 7a since Nov 07. watching the threads on nose wheel problems. Was not that worried about it. But since working in the Pacific North West ie eastern Washington and northern Idaho I've seen some beautiful grass and dirt strips I would love to fly into. So I'm thinking of turning my 7A into a taildragger:D But I've already have mounted my gear in the fusalage. and riveted the side steps on. How hard will this be? Or is it to late?
Jeffrey
n187kw reserved
wings done Q/B in slow build status
Click to expand...

It's not a huge deal. I've participated in one conversion and am rebuilding my 7A as a 7 (but I have a new fuselage).

The big differences are the engine mount and the tailwheel. You will have to derivet part of the tail cone to install the tail wheel assembly. I would not leave the gear weldments in place, as they are quite heavy. You can leave or remove the steps. As a TD you won't "need" them.

If you remove the steps and gear weldments, you will have to make some small covers for the holes. Pretty simple and you can use body filler to make them "disappear" before painting.

You also need the TD engine mount.

All in all, we spent about 100 hours doing a 6A to 6 conversion.

Just a data point.

YMMV
 
L.Adamson said:
Same here. When Van's converted their 7 to a 7A, I thought it looked better! They haven't converted it back............either! :D

If we're going to be talking serious "backcountry", then lets get real. How about a Cub Crafters (Cub look alike), or Aviat Husky. High wings, much larger diameter tires, and no wheel pants. This would be my preference.

http://www.cubcrafters.com/

L.Adamson --- RV6A
Click to expand...

I agree, I have a kitfox and that baby goes where no RV should go. Don't let the peer pressure get to you. If you plan on going into strips in the northwest, think again on your airplane choice, not the configuration. I'm proud to have a 7A, she looks beautiful. I'm also proud to have a kitfox, tail wheel, she also looks beautiful. They each have their purpose. Remember, it's the human behind the panel, not the airplane.
 
the truth about mountain strips

I would like to throw in my feeling and observations about back country strips. First, make sure your experience is waaayyy up there. Make sure the choice of airplane is a good one, ie. lots of power, big tires, good brakes, high wings, good visability(can see straight down).

Now I fly in preperation for mountain strips everyday, landing spot on, keeping straight down the runway, have an out, what you say? yup, critters like to be on the runway, birds are abundant, holes are on the runway, many strips are not even 20ft wide, there are trees on the approach end that are upwards to 150ft high. There is no horizon, yup, you fly through the trenches and can and will have trouble finding up or down and level flight. The weather can change in an instant, better have survival gear and know how to use it. When landing, you will not be on any normal landing, the choice of how you are landing will be an instant decision, with a change at any moment. You turn into a daredevil. One real importing thing to remember on all of this, you screw up one little bit, I mean just a tiny bit and your DEAD. You will be in the top of a tree or into the side of the mountain.
 
7A to 7

Been there and done that. In may I converted my 7A to a 7. It was not that difficult. I left the main mounts in place for now since it requires removal of the fuel lines and vent lines. I may still pull them at the next anual condition inspection but for now having to much fun flying. I did not have a tailwheel indorsement before I did this so I got 5 hours of dual for the sign off. hardest part was the cowl since the new engine mount moved the engine forward about 5/8" and left me with a big gap between cowl and spinner.
 
Geico266 said:
Land -0- matics........Thanks Jamie! :mad: I spewed coffee all over my puter.

We need to have a warning system inplace for funny posts!:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Can't claim credit for that one. In 1956 Cessna put spring gear on the 172 and that's the marketing term they used. Thank God they stopped...but they have always been famous for their less than stellar marketroid terms.
 
RV7A Main Landing gear

Pete, or anyone else who did the conversion from 7A to 7 do you still have the 7A main gears ? and if still usable would you be interested in selling ??
Hope someone out there has a set.
Thanks
Bob
 
Thank all who responded, I'll have to think really hard before making a decision.
Jeffrey
7A? wings done tail finished
fuse working on
N187KW reserved:D
 
pdecraene7a said:
Been there and done that. In may I converted my 7A to a 7. It was not that difficult. I left the main mounts in place for now since it requires removal of the fuel lines and vent lines. I may still pull them at the next anual condition inspection but for now having to much fun flying. I did not have a tailwheel indorsement before I did this so I got 5 hours of dual for the sign off. hardest part was the cowl since the new engine mount moved the engine forward about 5/8" and left me with a big gap between cowl and spinner.
Click to expand...

I've been considering the conversion but am also having too much fun flying.
I hadn't considered leaving the gear weldments. I didn't want to change all the plumbing either. I never did add the steps.
I'm not following the 5/8" gap to spinner. Did the cowl requiring any additional trimming on the aft end?
How did you fill the gap?
Do you have any pictures?

How about the wheelpants & farings?
 
I was fishing

Jamie said:
Well, I wouldn't *guarantee* anything concerning a purely subjective thing such as aesthetics. :D

Personally I don't get the taildragger obsession. I honestly prefer the look of the land-o-matics.
Click to expand...

Come on Jamie......I dangled the bait but you didn't have to bite the hook!

I'm an architect - believe me when I say I know that aesthetics are subjective!!!

Cheers,

JON
 
7A to 7

Dan,

The gap at the spinner was due to the engine mount. The new mount moved the engine forward 5/8". You have a 360 mine is a 320 so you might not have the same issue. The fix was to add 1/2" of foam to the front of the cowl and fiberglass over it. I did take pictures but never looked at them and my camera is out at the airport.
The wheel pants fit fine on the new gear, but the leg fairings are short by about an inch. It should be an easy fix with a little fiberglass work but I haven't done anything with them yet. I also still have to fit the intersection fairings and will do that when I rework the leg fairings.
Time to convert was just over 2 weeks, most of that was weekends and I lost a bet. Cost me a bag of sliders (White Castle Hamburgers). I could have done it in less time except for the fiberglass work.

Bob,

I did get your e-mail and will sell my old gear legs but I don't have any idea what they are worth. Make me an offer.
 
pdecraene7a said:
The gap at the spinner was due to the engine mount. The new mount moved the engine forward 5/8". You have a 360 mine is a 320 so you might not have the same issue. The fix was to add 1/2" of foam to the front of the cowl and fiberglass over it. I did take pictures but never looked at them and my camera is out at the airport.

Time to convert was just over 2 weeks, most of that was weekends and I lost a bet.
Click to expand...

Thanks Pete.
My condition inspection is do in Feb. That's probably a good time to get it done.
 
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