N941WR
Legacy Member
Thane States built a very nice RV-10 and a few weeks ago he let me fly it. The following are my impressions.
Keep in mind, I normally fly a 990 lb 135 HP RV-9 tail dragger. The -10 just looks like a monster to me, in comparison.
Climbing in was easy enough, easier than getting in my -9. Once in place with the seat pulled forward I was impressed by the visibility out of this thing. It's much better than I had expected.
Power up was typical for a hot fuel injected engine, Thane did the honors. Taxiing was simple enough, with very little need to use the brakes. Run up complete I taxied to onto the runway and centered the nose wheel before applying power.
Being careful not to firewall it and hold on I smoothly applied power. Stick all the way back. The controls are much heavier than my -9 and with no need to push forward and then rotate we found ourselves climbing out before I had the throttle even half way to the stop. Even then, we accelerated and were climbing better than my -9 could ever hope to do.
Adding full power and pulling the nose up to Vy was really impressive.
A few simple turns gave me the feel of this thing. It is much heavier on the controls than my -9 but that isn't a bad thing. It responds immediately to any input and was fairly easy to trim for level flight.
The -10 is fast, I mean really fast. (OK, the climb prop on my -9 limits me to 140 knots.) We quickly caught and passed the pair of RV-7's that left three minutes ahead of us and we weren't even running at 75% power, but then neither were they. We were indicating about 170 knots down low, IIRC.
Next came the landing. Not only was I in the right seat in a strange airplane but the destination (KCUB) had a right hand pattern.
As is typical for me, I like to slow down before entering the pattern but Thane reminded me he has a CS prop up front so into the pattern we went.
On downwind I pulled the power, pushed the blue knob forward, like I knew what I was doing, abeam the numbers I could put in the first notch of flaps. (Thane has a flap controller in his -10. Push the button down once and you get the first notch of flaps, push it a 2nd time and you get the 2nd, same for the third and final push.)
Trim the thing, turn base, more flaps, more trim, final, same thing, third notch of flaps and trim for 70 knots.
Down low the -10 floats in ground effect, not as much as my -9 does, but there is still some float there.
Nose back, a little more, hold it, hold it...
Squeak, squeak, there are the mains, pull back on the stick a little more, hold the nose off... Squeak. There's the nose wheel. Hold the stick all the way back. Keep it on the centerline. Man, these land-o-matic landing gear sure are nice. Let it roll out to the next turn off, no need for brakes, even while maneuvering on the taxi way.
Man, this is one NICE plane. Lots of room, fast, and good control response. Stable on final, I'm sure it will make a good instrument platform. With its combination of room, payload, speed, and range, I can understand why so many are under construction.
Now if only I could figure out how to put the little wheel in back.
Keep in mind, I normally fly a 990 lb 135 HP RV-9 tail dragger. The -10 just looks like a monster to me, in comparison.
Climbing in was easy enough, easier than getting in my -9. Once in place with the seat pulled forward I was impressed by the visibility out of this thing. It's much better than I had expected.
Power up was typical for a hot fuel injected engine, Thane did the honors. Taxiing was simple enough, with very little need to use the brakes. Run up complete I taxied to onto the runway and centered the nose wheel before applying power.
Being careful not to firewall it and hold on I smoothly applied power. Stick all the way back. The controls are much heavier than my -9 and with no need to push forward and then rotate we found ourselves climbing out before I had the throttle even half way to the stop. Even then, we accelerated and were climbing better than my -9 could ever hope to do.
Adding full power and pulling the nose up to Vy was really impressive.
A few simple turns gave me the feel of this thing. It is much heavier on the controls than my -9 but that isn't a bad thing. It responds immediately to any input and was fairly easy to trim for level flight.
The -10 is fast, I mean really fast. (OK, the climb prop on my -9 limits me to 140 knots.) We quickly caught and passed the pair of RV-7's that left three minutes ahead of us and we weren't even running at 75% power, but then neither were they. We were indicating about 170 knots down low, IIRC.
Next came the landing. Not only was I in the right seat in a strange airplane but the destination (KCUB) had a right hand pattern.
As is typical for me, I like to slow down before entering the pattern but Thane reminded me he has a CS prop up front so into the pattern we went.
On downwind I pulled the power, pushed the blue knob forward, like I knew what I was doing, abeam the numbers I could put in the first notch of flaps. (Thane has a flap controller in his -10. Push the button down once and you get the first notch of flaps, push it a 2nd time and you get the 2nd, same for the third and final push.)
Trim the thing, turn base, more flaps, more trim, final, same thing, third notch of flaps and trim for 70 knots.
Down low the -10 floats in ground effect, not as much as my -9 does, but there is still some float there.
Nose back, a little more, hold it, hold it...
Squeak, squeak, there are the mains, pull back on the stick a little more, hold the nose off... Squeak. There's the nose wheel. Hold the stick all the way back. Keep it on the centerline. Man, these land-o-matic landing gear sure are nice. Let it roll out to the next turn off, no need for brakes, even while maneuvering on the taxi way.
Man, this is one NICE plane. Lots of room, fast, and good control response. Stable on final, I'm sure it will make a good instrument platform. With its combination of room, payload, speed, and range, I can understand why so many are under construction.
Now if only I could figure out how to put the little wheel in back.
