RV-6A.. seat - stick adjustment.

[Ande Elkins]

Greetings,
I have been looking at some RV-6As lately. I had a C150 and decided to move up to a faster plane.
I'm no light-weight but, never had any problem fitting in the C150.
The RV has wider cabin width, and appear roomier.

Recently, I sat in a RV-6A and noticed that the stick would not quite make full travel to the left without pinching my leg. It also appeared, a bit tight in the crotch when pulled fully back. Other than that, there appeared to be plenty of room. (even with the homebuilt console between the seats)

My question is:
Is the seat structure adjustable? Moving it back a couple inches would have cured the problem.. Or,
Is the base position of the control stick adjustable?
Moving it forward would serve better considering the foot position felt right on the rudder/brakes..

Just wondering?

 

[Ken Ibold]

Have you only sat in one? Did the builder build it per plans or modify it to fit himself/herself? Is the stick stock?

Remember that every homebuilt is different. The way this one's seat/stick is installed might not be the same as the one the next one is installed.

 

[tonycondon]

heck you are building the thing. make it fit.

 

[gismo]

heck you are building the thing. make it fit.

I've seen some rather "bent" sticks intended to solve this in various homebuilts.

 

[CJones]

Hey Ande...

RV's are GREAT planes. Just a word of advice -- get some transition training if you're jumping from a C150 straight into an RV-X. I had about 200+ hrs in everything from C-152, C-172, Archer, and Cardinal RG before I transitioned to an RV-7A. At the time, the Cardinal RG was the 'slickest' plane I had flown. It was NO comparison to the RV. The RV DEMANDS precise control of speeds for landing, etc. It's a 'easy' plane to fly, but you have to watch your power & speeds a lot closer than in a C150. You definitely want to get some time in some more 'high performance' planes and some actual time in either a -6 or -7 to get a feel for it before you hop in to go around the pattern for the first time. Since my first flight in the -7A in April 2004, I've only flown it and the 177RG which seems like such a DOG now. HA! I don't know if I can ever go back to the 172.

About the actual construction of the plane. DISCLAIMER: All my info comes from helping build an RV-7A, so there might be some variance to the -6 line, but not much.

As far as the control stick mounting goes, there's not a lot of 'wiggle' room in where to mount it. IF I remember correctly, the control stick pivot connects to the actual main spar, and there's really nothing else in the area sturdy enough to mount it. One thing you might want to check is the cushion thickness and placement. With thinner seat cushions you would be closer to the actual pivot point, which might give you a few extra degrees of movement. On the OTHER hand, you really won't need much stick movement unless you're planning on doing some hefty aerobatics. I think the RV has something like a 270+ degree per second roll rate which means aileron rolls are over before you know you're doing it (been there, done that ---- IT'S FUN!). For leisure flying, you mostly just lean to one side or the other to do shallow turns.

As for the seat mounting itself, in the -7A line, the original seat bottom mounting procedure calls for attaching three piano hinges at different points to allow for adjustment of spacing from front to rear. The seat backs are also moveable depending on where the 'back prop' is set. In our plane, we only installed one set of piano hinges. My dad is 6'5" and I'm 6'7", so there really wasn't any reason to have to move the seats forward. We just hard-installed them as far back as we could go and made an extra set of 'booster' cushions for mom and other not-so-tall passengers.

If cabin size is an issue for you, you might want to look at the -7/-7A. Basically it is the same plane as the -6 with just a little more room.

Welcome to the wild world of RV lovers. Once you get that famous "RV grin" on your face, it never comes off!

http://www.oncloud7.com/video/Chris%20first%20flight%20edited.WMV

-Chris

(sorry for the long reply. Once I get talking about RV's, I can't seem to shut up. )

 

[Ande Elkins]

Thanks for all the replies..
Good advice on the transition training, now I just need to find someone with a RV willing to work with me on it.

To clear up one of the replies.. I'm looking to purchase a RV-6(A) rather than build one. Deep down, I would 'like' to build one but, my job requires much travel so I'm not home enough to support the time required to build.

It may be that the one I sat in had the seat bottom adjusted towards the front (causing the stick to feel too close to my crotch and thighs) The owner was not there but, I will call him and ask. Other than that, it was a comfortable fit. The RV was beautifully built. He really did a great job and I know he hates to sell it.
Again, thanks for the feedback..

 

[CJones]

Thanks for all the replies..
Good advice on the transition training, now I just need to find someone with a RV willing to work with me on it.

Almost ANY RV guy will be more than willing to give you a ride with some stick time in their plane, but keep an eye out for CFI's that'll actually do formal transition training. We did our training in Jefferson City, MO, which might be a little out of your reach in the 150. Check out http://www.vansairforce.net/ for TONS of info about RV's in general. Also, look at some of the Yahoo! Groups. I know there are at least a couple of them full of folks itching to tell about their planes. They'll be able to point you in the direction of a CFI.

Good luck and keep us posted!

-Chris