Following on from the RV-8 landing gear box mod thread, I'm curious as to why Van decided to design the landing gear this way on the RV-8, given that most prior designs mount the gear directly to the engine frame.
Has anyone looked at making a conversion to the engine frame to make it more RV-7-like? Would it be a weight+balance issue for the RV-8 to put more weight in the nose like that? More importantly, would it be heavier or lighter with RV-7-style gear legs?
Looking at the RV-7 construction, the firewall and gussets etc don't seem to be any stronger than the RV-8 (at least from a cursory glance)
I wonder what other issues there are?
As an aside, if there was one aesthetic thing I dislike about the RV-8, it's the way the landing gear stick out awkwardly from near the leading edge. I think the sloping RV-3/4/6/7 style gear looks much 'faster'!
Just wondering...
Andrew
RV-8 empennage as WIP
Has anyone looked at making a conversion to the engine frame to make it more RV-7-like? Would it be a weight+balance issue for the RV-8 to put more weight in the nose like that? More importantly, would it be heavier or lighter with RV-7-style gear legs?
Looking at the RV-7 construction, the firewall and gussets etc don't seem to be any stronger than the RV-8 (at least from a cursory glance)
I wonder what other issues there are?
As an aside, if there was one aesthetic thing I dislike about the RV-8, it's the way the landing gear stick out awkwardly from near the leading edge. I think the sloping RV-3/4/6/7 style gear looks much 'faster'!
Just wondering...
Andrew
RV-8 empennage as WIP