I Am Converted

I have been a pilot for almost 20 years, flying the usual assortment of single engined spam cans. I've owned Pipers and an Ercoupe, and flown rental Cessnas. I've got hours in a fairly wide variety of aircraft, from Cubs to Constellations.

But, oh, my goodness, I've never flown anything like the RV-8 I flew Sunday.

It is amazing what good engineering can produce. The controls are wonderfully harmonized and precise. Stability is comparable to a lawn dart -- point it "thataway" and it goes thataway, without wallow or wander.

Performance? Um, nothing comes close, per horsepower. We saw 200 mph with a 180 HP engine, and did a zoom climb at over 5000 feet per minute.

Want to do a roll? Why not? Want to carry folding chairs, a cooler, and two bags of clothes? It will do it.

Visibility? Unlimited. Comfort? I had more shoulder room than when I fly with another guy in my Pathfinder.

I believe Vans has designed the perfect single engine prop plane. I flew my plane on Monday, and it felt like I was trying to coax a freighter into port, by comparison.

I have been...converted. I now understand Geico's religious fervor.
 
docmirror said:
I applaud Van for the number of completions. It's my understanding that of the non-UL types the RVs have the best completion percent out there.
According to one of their periodic reports, the seller of the Arion Lightning kit reports better than 50% completion rates and fairly rapid build times. It is definitely not an UL. According to the following newsletter between March '06 and June '09 they had delivered 78 kits and 42 were flying, giving a completion rate of about 54% and a build time for those 42 all under 3 years. (I think there are now over 150 flying.) Build time is given as roughly 600 hours.

http://www.flylightning.net/images/pdf/Newsletter%202-6%20Jun%2009.pdf
 
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