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RV8 Newcomer looking for tips

M

mf_pilot

Member
Fellow RV8 friends,

I have over 3,000 hours in various airplanes, single, multi, turboprop but have not flown tail draggers. I started an RV8 build last year and just purchased an RV8 to fly and take the pressure off from build. A friend who owns an RV8 has advised me tail dragger is dangerous as compared to tricycle gear aircraft and recommends training hours.

I have flown in my friends RV8 in back seat, and have not done any landings -- since he wasn't comfortable. Scheduled to pick up the RV8 at end of May and am debating what to do. Appreciate your insights, opinions, recommendations, etc...

Safe Travels,
MF
 
I have 0 tailwheel time and am building a tailwheel RV-8. My training plan is this:

- Reading "The compleat taildragger pilot" book. It is a fast read and, to be honest, very much worth the price. It explains the handling very well.
- Getting tailwheel training locally. I am going to ensure we fully cover three-point and wheel landings, as well as lots of crosswind and gusty landings. Lots of training beyond just the endorsement.
- Renting a tailwheel plane locally from the same place, flying it a lot.
- Getting RV-8 transition training closer to the end of the build
- For me, also getting aerobatic training closer to end of the build. The IAC course is a week long, and will also be in tailwheel planes further adding to your time and overall ability.

I don't think a tailwheel has to be more dangerous. Maybe it has a little less crosswind ability for us low tailwheel time pilots. I do think we can be just as proficient as anyone in our tailwheel planes, though.
 
Get a checkout and tailwheel endorsement from any local you can find.

Go get transition training in a tailwheel RV so that you can meet your insurance requirements.

The several RV tailwheel airplanes I have flown are the easiest tailwheel airplanes I have flown.

I made 1st flight in tailwheel RV when I was a 210 hour pilot with only 50-hours of tailwheel time. I do not have a tailwheel endorsement because I met the "grandfather" provision of having logged tailwheel PIC time before a certain date.

Just my opinion. Typically the insurance companies will make things more restrictive than what the FAA requires.
 
inktomi said:
I have 0 tailwheel time and am building a tailwheel RV-8. My training plan is this:

- Reading "The compleat taildragger pilot" book. It is a fast read and, to be honest, very much worth the price. It explains the handling very well.
- Getting tailwheel training locally. I am going to ensure we fully cover three-point and wheel landings, as well as lots of crosswind and gusty landings. Lots of training beyond just the endorsement.
- Renting a tailwheel plane locally from the same place, flying it a lot.
- Getting RV-8 transition training closer to the end of the build
- For me, also getting aerobatic training closer to end of the build. The IAC course is a week long, and will also be in tailwheel planes further adding to your time and overall ability.

I don't think a tailwheel has to be more dangerous. Maybe it has a little less crosswind ability for us low tailwheel time pilots. I do think we can be just as proficient as anyone in our tailwheel planes, though.
Click to expand...
Thanks Matt,
Sounds like a good plan. Will browse Amazon for the book you suggested. I called an aviation school for some lessons on a Citabria, trying to line up one or two lessons next week. The instructor there suggested 5-10, lots of pattern flying with take offs and landings. They will not rent the airplane after tail dragger endorsement. Aerobatic training is also I'm very insterested in as well, hopefully can line up someone experienced in the northeast to give lessons.

Good luck with your build and thanks for the insight!
Best,
MF
 
RV6_flyer said:
Get a checkout and tailwheel endorsement from any local you can find.

Go get transition training in a tailwheel RV so that you can meet your insurance requirements.

The several RV tailwheel airplanes I have flown are the easiest tailwheel airplanes I have flown.

I made 1st flight in tailwheel RV when I was a 210 hour pilot with only 50-hours of tailwheel time. I do not have a tailwheel endorsement because I met the "grandfather" provision of having logged tailwheel PIC time before a certain date.

Just my opinion. Typically the insurance companies will make things more restrictive than what the FAA requires.
Click to expand...
Gary, that's encouraging to hear "The several RV tailwheel airplanes I have flown are the easiest tailwheel airplanes I have flown." As I mentioned on my reply to Matt, I have called a local school for a few lessons on a Citabria. The instructor told me the average endorsement takes about 10 hours with a lot of pattern work take off and landings...

Re: insurance, you are right, without tail wheel time - it gets pricey... I was quoted over $3,500.00 with a hull value of $175,000.

Thanks for the advice. Best,
MF
 
You can do it!

I built a Cub Crafters EX-2 and had my endorsement with maybe 6 hours. I have nowhere near your experience and I'm retired. Insurance required 15 hours of dual and would have gotten transition training anyway. I keep a record of crosswind speed and direction. Then kept increasing both to where I was comfortable in most anything. Sometimes it's a nice day when you takeoff, and then upon return it's blowing snot!

And the insurance quote looks about right from my perspective.

Cheers
 
Absolutely get tailwheel training and a tailwheel endorsement, then get some RV tailwheel-specific training. More than likely, your insurance will require both--so it's not really just an opinion poll from the forum. Find out what your insurance wants you to have and shop around if needed. But ten hours tailwheel with another ten hours in RV tailwheel aircraft is a ballpark figure. BTW, I wouldn't categorize tailwheel aircraft as "dangerous", but it is easier for them to swap ends on a pilot that's not paying attention. It's just a different skillset to acquire.

I think Van's posts a list of CFIs that do RV transition training, or you could search on this site and see what you come up with. I don't know what's in the Mass area, but don't limit yourself to that. A few years ago, I met a lady from Chicago that had come down to Houston for her RV transition training. The training was top-notch, and the weather was certainly better than the Windy City. So don't rule out having to travel somewhere for RV training. People do it all the time.
 
Go spend a few days with Bruce Bohannon. He has a Cub and a dual control 8. He will start you in the Cub, and as soon as he thinks you are ready, you’ll jump in the 8 and get those insurance hours. Bruce is a blast and great instructor. And he has a ton of stories.
 
mf_pilot said:
Fellow RV8 friends,

I have over 3,000 hours in various airplanes, single, multi, turboprop but have not flown tail draggers. I started an RV8 build last year and just purchased an RV8 to fly and take the pressure off from build. A friend who owns an RV8 has advised me tail dragger is dangerous as compared to tricycle gear aircraft and recommends training hours.

I have flown in my friends RV8 in back seat, and have not done any landings -- since he wasn't comfortable. Scheduled to pick up the RV8 at end of May and am debating what to do. Appreciate your insights, opinions, recommendations, etc...

Safe Travels,
MF
Click to expand...
I had only about 350 hrsTT all in Cessna 152 and 172's. I got 20 hrs in a Supercub and 10 in a Citabria before flying my new to me RV4 home. No minimum TW or RV time requirements for me from the insurance co. That was about 11 yrs ago. I put 450 hrs on the RV4 in 4 yrs while building my 7 and 750 hrs on it in the 7 yrs since completing it. No where locally here in the great white north to get RV time, but not that big of a transition from the Citabria to the RV. Looks like you have the speed part covered. Only have to get comfortable with the control sensitivity and using your feet. Good luck and enjoy the RV!
 
Taildraggers are not dangerous. If you would like to know more about flying conventional gear aircraft, I'd suggest getting "The Compleat Taildragger Pilot" by Harvey S. Plourde. Good stuff for new and experienced conventional gear pilots.



Also, nothing beats thorough Transition Training in whatever RV you have, not just a couple of 'aircraft checkout' flights.

In addition, below are links to a collection of articles by Van himself on flying RVs. These should be useful for all RV pilots, but especially pilots new to RVs.

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- IAC Aerobatics in RVs (with a sidebar on preparing your RV for aerobatic flight by Ron Schreck)​
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Enjoy your new RV-8 and good luck with your build!
 
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fl-mike said:
Go spend a few days with Bruce Bohannon. He has a Cub and a dual control 8. He will start you in the Cub, and as soon as he thinks you are ready, you’ll jump in the 8 and get those insurance hours. Bruce is a blast and great instructor. And he has a ton of stories.
Click to expand...
Bruce is no longer teaching. I had planned to go and found out he had stopped.
 
May sound crazy, but a VR simulator helped me a lot with training my brain to use my feet to steer.

Mickey's RV8 Site | VR Flight Simulator

www.rv8.ch www.rv8.ch

Like many things in aviation, the cockpit is not always the best classroom, and I guess this is why we created simulators. Same for learning to fly a tailwheel. Sure, you don't get the full motion, but you will get the instinct to use your feet quickly and correctly when you need to.

I had time in a Decathlon, tailwheel endorsement, RV7 checkout, Cub checkout, a few hours in a Bücker Jungmann, but still felt I had to "think" when steering - it was not instinct. The sim helped a lot.

Best of luck, and welcome to VAF and to the community!
 
aeroaddict said:
You can do it!

I built a Cub Crafters EX-2 and had my endorsement with maybe 6 hours. I have nowhere near your experience and I'm retired. Insurance required 15 hours of dual and would have gotten transition training anyway. I keep a record of crosswind speed and direction. Then kept increasing both to where I was comfortable in most anything. Sometimes it's a nice day when you takeoff, and then upon return it's blowing snot!

And the insurance quote looks about right from my perspective.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thanks Dan, endorsement in 6 hours is impressive! crosswind is on top of the list from everyone flying tail wheel airplanes I am finding! Good luck with your RV9-A build. Safe travels!
 
D-Dubya said:
Absolutely get tailwheel training and a tailwheel endorsement, then get some RV tailwheel-specific training. More than likely, your insurance will require both--so it's not really just an opinion poll from the forum. Find out what your insurance wants you to have and shop around if needed. But ten hours tailwheel with another ten hours in RV tailwheel aircraft is a ballpark figure. BTW, I wouldn't categorize tailwheel aircraft as "dangerous", but it is easier for them to swap ends on a pilot that's not paying attention. It's just a different skillset to acquire.

I think Van's posts a list of CFIs that do RV transition training, or you could search on this site and see what you come up with. I don't know what's in the Mass area, but don't limit yourself to that. A few years ago, I met a lady from Chicago that had come down to Houston for her RV transition training. The training was top-notch, and the weather was certainly better than the Windy City. So don't rule out having to travel somewhere for RV training. People do it all the time.
Click to expand...
Hi David, good insight! called a flight school here in Mass for lessons on a Citabria, my goal is at least 10 hours on it and hope to fly my friends RV8 and do a few landings on it. Thanks for your insight!
 
RV8JD said:
Taildraggers are not dangerous. If you would like to know more about flying conventional gear aircraft, I'd suggest getting "The Compleat Taildragger Pilot" by Harvey S. Plourde. Good stuff for new and experienced conventional gear pilots.



Also, nothing beats thorough Transition Training in whatever RV you have, not just a couple of 'aircraft checkout' flights.

In addition, below are links to a collection of articles by Van himself on flying RVs. These should be useful for all RV pilots, but especially pilots new to RVs.

​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​

​
Enjoy your new RV-8 and good luck with your build!
Click to expand...
Thank you so much Carl. Will purchase the book and check out those links you suggested. I am impressed with the knowledge and willingness to help on this forum! I semi-retired two years ago, looking forward to spending a lot more hours on the RV8 build, exciting!
 
If you can fly a Citabria, you'll do fine in the RV8, it just lands a little faster, but it's very easy to land, specially since you can see everything over the cowling unlike other taildraggers. I bought mine and both insurance mandated transition instructors were teaching me to land way faster than needed so after I finished with them I started slowing it down on my approaches and instead of eating up almost all of the 2500' runway before stopping, I was stopped and adding power to be able to reach the 1500' turn off to my hangar.
 
Pilot135pd said:
If you can fly a Citabria, you'll do fine in the RV8, it just lands a little faster, but it's very easy to land, specially since you can see everything over the cowling unlike other taildraggers. I bought mine and both insurance mandated transition instructors were teaching me to land way faster than needed so after I finished with them I started slowing it down on my approaches and instead of eating up almost all of the 2500' runway before stopping, I was stopped and adding power to be able to reach the 1500' turn off to my hangar.
Click to expand...
That's encouraging news, thanks for the tips! final approach speed is key with any aircraft. Best regards, MF
 
mf_pilot said:
Fellow RV8 friends,

I have over 3,000 hours in various airplanes, single, multi, turboprop but have not flown tail draggers. I started an RV8 build last year and just purchased an RV8 to fly and take the pressure off from build. A friend who owns an RV8 has advised me tail dragger is dangerous as compared to tricycle gear aircraft and recommends training hours.

I have flown in my friends RV8 in back seat, and have not done any landings -- since he wasn't comfortable. Scheduled to pick up the RV8 at end of May and am debating what to do. Appreciate your insights, opinions, recommendations, etc...

Safe Travels,
MF
Click to expand...
I know an RV-8 pilot out of Falmouth who in the past has instructed and checked out pilots in RV's if you need required training time for insurance purposes.
 
Don’t put the cart before the horse. You must have the tailwheel endorsement prior to acting as PIC. Call one of the VAF recommended insurance brokers first thing tomorrow (I use Gallagher), assuming you want/need insurance, they will tell you what additional training is needed to get coverage. They will undoubtably put certain requirements on the cfi you use (RV7 experience, etc.). You’ll need to take the cfi with you when you pick up the plane (unless current owner will deliver). Once you have the numbers (hours training, etc) you and your new cfi can decide if it’s best to rent locally to get the endorsement, then move to the 7, or just go with the 7 to start. Insurance is hard to predict - it might be overall cheaper to get tailwheel hours in a rental before your own plane, I don’t know.
 
Just my opinion but I was glad I beat up the instructor’s citabria for the first hours getting my tailwheel endorsement.
 
BobTurner said:
Don’t put the cart before the horse. You must have the tailwheel endorsement prior to acting as PIC. Call one of the VAF recommended insurance brokers first thing tomorrow (I use Gallagher), assuming you want/need insurance, they will tell you what additional training is needed to get coverage. They will undoubtably put certain requirements on the cfi you use (RV7 experience, etc.). You’ll need to take the cfi with you when you pick up the plane (unless current owner will deliver). Once you have the numbers (hours training, etc) you and your new cfi can decide if it’s best to rent locally to get the endorsement, then move to the 7, or just go with the 7 to start. Insurance is hard to predict - it might be overall cheaper to get tailwheel hours in a rental before your own plane, I don’t know.
Click to expand...
Now that he mentions insurance:

Be sure to read every word in the policy and ask the brokers if you have the slightest doubt. Remember that when it comes to denying coverage after a claim they'll look at every single word too. Just because they write something doesn't mean you can't ask for changes. Mine said I needed dual training in my MAKE & MODEL. I had just got the training a couple of months earlier and when I got the policy it actually said it had to be in MY SPECIFIC PLANE. So I asked for clarification and they said it had to be in MY PLANE. A few emails back and forth and they finally accepted the training in the same make and model but not in my specific plane.
 
MF,
Welcome to RV-8 ownership. I'm based at KPYM, feel free to contact me if you have any questions about your build or flying an RV-8. FYI, Alpha One flight school, at KPYM, will rent you a Citabria after a tailwheel checkout.

There is a group of Boston area RV owners/builders/pilots that fly together most every week, aka "Bravobusters". Send me a PM with your contact info if you would like to join us.
 
I am a newish pilot with low total hours (<200hr) and low RV hours (<50hr). I got my tailwheel signed off flying the SuperDecathlon when I was at about 100 hour mark flying the rental Warrior. I only have about 24hours in the SuperD, a combination of training and rental hours. I started RV transition training when I was about 140 hours, after taking about 6 months hiatus from flying in order to complete my RV8. I found the RV8 is an easier tailwheel airplane compare to the Super Decathlon, but the Super Decathlon is a more fun plane to fly, but it's a lot slower. I am still in the familiarization mode with regard to the RV8. Some days I made a few good landings, some days I needed a few go-arounds. I don't have trouble landings on wide runways but when they are about 50 feet wide, then I tend to have more go-arounds, especially when the wind is gusty. It's getting better.

This is a perspective from low time pilot.
 
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