Why has the RV been such a success?

There is also a great (price)difference between MOGAS (<1% alcohol, e.g. Total UL91) and the stuff you can run a Rotax with (car fuel up to 10% alcohol). In Addition the fuel you get at the airfield is often much more expensive than at the filling station on your way home.

But surely there must be Lyco/Conti engines running even on car petrol? I seem to remember a C172 at my home field being fueled from jerrycans, obviously filled at a road service station.

Jan_Olieslagers wrote:

But surely there must be Lyco/Conti engines running even on car petrol? I seem to remember a C172 at my home field being fueled from jerrycans, obviously filled at a road service station.

Both my certified aircraft, one with a Lycoming and one with a Continental, are STC’d for car petrol. The engines typically fitted to RVs (O-320 and O-360 Lycomings in straightforward parallel valve, lower compression versions) also run OK on most car petrol. The issue in the US market is the widespread addition of alcohol to car petrol which makes the fuel unusable under the STC but may or may not be technically acceptable for Experimental airframes that in some jurisdictions are free to use whatever fuel works. Auto Fuel STC Info

Peter – I think the difference in specific fuel consumption between common carburated engines is minimal in cruise, but can vary in training service if one engine uses a rich mixture in full throttle climb and the other (for instance a Rotax with water cooled heads) does not. Re geared engines, as you say geared engines tend to be less efficient in cruise. One example that allows direct comparison is O-300 Continental (old C172 Skyhawk) versus GO-300 Continental (old C175 Skylark). The GO-300 uses more fuel according to those who have flown both.

I have a RV9 which was developed after Vans realised people where using his airplanes to go places rather than just for sport. He used the Roncz wing which is longer and narrower than the normal Van’s wing and climbs better and glides further, it’s more stable and has slotted flaps.

The LAA runs metal work courses where you spend a whole day building a tool box which introduces you to all the tools and techniques required. You only then have to plumb, wire, lots of plastic on cowlings, wing tips, wheel pants, oh, and fit the engine. The November course is full a few place available on 6th February 2016 and 7th February 2016 http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk/Courses/aluminium.html

My worst three mistakes where 1- Not starting 5 years earlier. 2- Starting 10 years to late. 3- Not starting 20 years earlier! Fantastic aircraft, cruise at 135kts on 25litres, climb at 1400ft minute at gross, able to do 4 ½ hours with 30 minutes reserve with two adults and 100lb of baggage.

As a travelling machine th RV is great, in our RV8 we calculate cruising 150 knots from 5000 feet upward and 30 ltrs/hr. For nonpilots we tell 11 ltrs/ 100 km and trip distance is only 80% of same by car. The fuel we use is premium Mogas mostly Shell V Power and low wing is safer to fuel, no ladder accidents.
The plane is for lonely pilot although the back seat is okay but difficult to get out. My partner in construction and owning flies mostly aerobatics and does sportsman competitions although plane is little bit too fast for this.
The engine is FIO 360 from Superior with roller lifters and separated intake air from oil sump and has Aerosance Fadec control, no magnetos or pilot controlled leaning. The weak point are pulsating injectors but following EGT values helps to diagnose where the problem is. The instrument panel is just half of normal size so the handy Bluemountain pair is there.
Taildraggers are forgiving for bad conditions like emergency landing because of deteriorating weather and take off next morning from paved road behind the plane!

Vans found a gap in the market between the ever more expensive new aircraft (Cirrus etc), which were out of reach for most and the increasingly old and expensive to maintain existing fleet.

Say you’ve learnt to fly in spam cans and you are looking to take the next step in this hobby. Perhaps you want something faster, aerobatic, modern and with better availability. You rarely fly with more than 2 POB and let’s say you have ~£10k a year to spend on flying – plausible, because that’s probably about what you spent getting a PPL in the first place – and £50k that you can tie up in an asset. Your choices are:

• Rent – can be restrictive and good quality aircraft are not that easy to find, especially if you seek more speed, modernity etc
• Join a group – only works if you have like minded buddies and the right aircraft, expect to compromise on modern vs available
• Buy an old CofA aircraft – exclusive access but at £10k/yr unlikely to be fast or modern and expect maintenance shocks and old avionics.
• Buy or build a kit aircraft – fast, modern, aerobatic and 100% available but has some limitations like no commercial use and, in some countries, no IMC

So the kit built aircraft looks enticing but daunting at the same time. You look around and discover that RVs are riveted aluminium (just like spam cans), there are more than 9,000 flying (far more than any other kit) and they have a great community/support network. An RV is the least daunting option in the kit built category.

We’re seriously considering building an RV10 (with the IO540) and will probably decide one way or the other over the new few months. They are fast, and can carry a good load, and if you lay the panel out with the G3X then you will future-proof yourself in case IFR certification comes along.

For about £150k you can end up with a mean machine, kitted out with all the goodies, which is brand new.

Still you can buy a 10 yo. Cirrus for less then that now, but after a lot of back and forth we still reckon the RV10 is probably the way to go.

I am not worried about fuel burn really either. It would be like buying a Lambo and asking the dealer how many MPG it does…. :)