Menu Sign In Contact FAQ
Banner
Welcome to our forums

Van's RV Aircraft for hire in the UK?

I was in the 235 today which is no slouch and an RV4 came sailing past me. Pretty fast machines. I only know it was an RV4 as Shoreham ATC called the traffic as they where concerned we might meet on right base in an icky rain shower. Having said that, his landing time was only 2 minutes ahead of me which also surprised me as I would have thought it would have been greater given the ease with which he zooted past me.

Always looking for adventure
Shoreham

An RV4 is good for about 180 kts IAS max on 150 HP O-320 fuel burn (or call it 8.5 US gal/hr) with a fixed pitch propeller. Not too bad, and they’re aerobatic too.

One of things that makes my friend with his 1953-design Wittman Tailwind smile is that his plane will keep up with an RV4 on the same engine, but with roomier side by side seating, easy entry through two doors, good baggage space, and with gigantic wing tanks. The only obvious advantage it has over the RV is a CS prop, plus obsessive attention to weight. Its not built as tough as an RV, lighter build to make the numbers.

Last Edited by Silvaire at 02 Jan 19:17

Those are impressive numbers.

Always looking for adventure
Shoreham

An RV4 is good for about 180 kts IAS max on 150 HP O-320 fuel burn (or call it 8.5 US gal/hr)

Do you mean 180kt IAS at 8.5 USG/hr? That would be astonishing. That would make it well exceed 200kt TAS at some altitude like FL80-100, 150F ROP.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Those numbers are a bit optimistic, even for an RV. In the RAeC air races, the 150-160 hp RVs ran around 180-190mph and the 180-200 hp ones at 200-210 mph. That’s low level, WOT, but within RPM limits etc.

The figures on the Vans Aircraft web page are pretty close.

To see what can be achieved though, look up Dave Anders’ CAFE test report.

KHWD- Hayward California; EGTN Enstone Oxfordshire, United States

Do you mean 180kt IAS at 8.5 USG/hr?

No, I wrote too fast. An O-320 burns a lot more fuel than that at 100% power, and since max IAS is probably at sea level the fuel consumption will be higher. However, I do know of an RV4 local to me that does at least 180 kts TAS at higher altitude on an O-320, at lower than 100% power and with proportionately lower fuel consumption. FWIW here’s the engine operators manual.

http://www.8kcab.com/Checklists_files/Lycoming%200-320%20IO-320%20LIO-320%20Operation%20Manual.pdf

The figures on the Vans Aircraft web page are pretty close

http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/rv4perf.htm

They say 175 kts max and 152 kts cruise TAS at 75% power, which is 8.5 gph.

Look up Dave Anders CAFE test report

Here’s a summary. If I read it correctly, it says 250 mph on a highly modified IO-360. That’s fast

http://members.eaa.org/home/flight_reports/triaviathon.html

Last Edited by Silvaire at 03 Jan 07:51

For my RV6, which I have flown over 1000 hours, my fuel criterion is to try to achieve an overall average 5 nautical miles per litre; not many GA types can do this. This is achievable (assuming no wind) at low power settings under 50%, fixed pitch cruise prop, with an IAS of 120-130 knots. Flying at an optimal 8000-10000 ft DA that is usually in the region of 135-145 kts TAS.

Bluebeard
EIKH, Ireland

I’ve visisted them in Oregon once. Nice people!

The RV4 or-8 was the only airplane I always wanted to build,… but only the fastbuild kit, of course.
Such great airplanes!

And then there is the F1 Rocket, a (heavily) modified RV-4 with an IO540. Fast.



The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway
29 Posts
Sign in to add your message

Back to Top