RV-9, anybody have one?

Mike Smith

Mike Smith

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Prattville, Alabama
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Fresh Prince of PrattVegas
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1A9
I am considering building and a-9 seems like it might fit the bill, but I would like to put my eyeballs on one. Just curious.
 
Quite simply, do you want to build one, or do you want to fly one? Former, buy a half built kit (inspected by an expert) at a discount. Latter, buy a flying version (also inspected by an expert) at a deeper discount.

Van's Aircraft are awesome planes. I fly two, one of which is an -9a.
 
Where are you located? They are nice planes but not sure I see the point in one unless you are planning on putting a small engine on it. A 6 or 7 is faster, climbs as good, and is aerobatic. The 9 has a slightly slower stall, is not aerobatic, but works really well with a small engine.
 
Saw one last time I flew Young Eagles. I never want one. If I’m going to buy or build a Vans, it’s going to be acrobatic and have a stick.
 
steingar said:
Saw one last time I flew Young Eagles. I never want one. If I’m going to buy or build a Vans, it’s going to be acrobatic and have a stick.
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Vans makes an airplane kit that is NOT a stick?

The RV-9A that shares the rented hangar where I keep my Husky has dual side-by-side sticks. Seems like a nice plane actually (although I covet the -8)
 
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catmandu said:
Quite simply, do you want to build one, or do you want to fly one? Former, buy a half built kit (inspected by an expert) at a discount. Latter, buy a flying version (also inspected by an expert) at a deeper discount.

Van's Aircraft are awesome planes. I fly two, one of which is an -9a.
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I plan on building. As far as the difference between, 6,7,9,12 or even the 14, they all have their attributes and shortcomings. That’s the very reason I would like to take a look at a 9, right now that seems to be what best fits my budget/mission. However, I have never laid eyes on one and I would like to. I appreciate all the opinions, but I really just want to find one to take a look at and make up my own mind.
 
GRG55 said:
Vans makes an airplane kit that is NOT a stick?

The RV-9 that shares the rented hangar where I keep my Husky has dual side-by-side sticks. Seems like a nice plane actually (although I covet the -8)
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There is a fantastic 8 locally. The owner took me for a ride last Sunday. It was a blast!
 
Mike Smith said:
There is a fantastic 8 locally. The owner took me for a ride last Sunday. It was a blast!
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Friend of mine just finished a 2+ year RV-8 build, and it's a fabulous airplane. He's a retired A320 captain, grew up on a farm, incredibly disciplined build, most of it he did by himself, flies it out of his own hangar on his own farm strip. The -8 shares the hangar with an immaculate Tiger Moth he restored earlier.

I told him everyone else at our Club officially hates guys like him. ;)
 
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I've taken a flight in a 7A and went to look at a 9A that was for sale. However, it had issues, and the useful load for some reason was only 600lbs, so it didn't work for me.
Overall impression of the 7A: great climber, very responsive, and although I didn't land the 7A, it was seemingly very easy.

You definitely need to get in one for a spell. To me, the cabins can be pretty tight...but I'm fairly thick.
The two main negatives for me were, as a passenger, that stick is always in the way if you move around at all, and I thought it was a little hard to keep my feet off the rudder pedals as well. Seating is very static.
Some people put in removable sticks, with wire connectors for the PTT button, etc. That seems like it could help a lot.

I wanted the 9A with an O320 to save some fuel/overhaul cost, and to just cruise to places, but I have since had a little aerobatic activity, and changed my thoughts ;)

If Vans could only get the budget down on the 14...
 
Skyrys62 said:
I've taken a flight in a 7A and went to look at a 9A that was for sale. However, it had issues, and the useful load for some reason was only 600lbs, so it didn't work for me.
Overall impression of the 7A: great climber, very responsive, and although I didn't land the 7A, it was seemingly very easy.

You definitely need to get in one for a spell. To me, the cabins can be pretty tight...but I'm fairly thick.
The two main negatives for me were, as a passenger, that stick is always in the way if you move around at all, and I thought it was a little hard to keep my feet off the rudder pedals as well. Seating is very static.
Some people put in removable sticks, with wire connectors for the PTT button, etc. That seems like it could help a lot.

I wanted the 9A with an O320 to save some fuel/overhaul cost, and to just cruise to places, but I have since had a little aerobatic activity, and changed my thoughts ;)

If Vans could only get the budget down on the 14...
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I am with you one the 14 too, I would be all over it if it fit my budget. I haven’t ruled out the 7, but on paper the 9 seems to check all the boxes. I have heard that it can be a little tight shoulder to shoulder, that’s one of the reasons I want to check one out.
 
The cockpit is the same on the 9 and 7. I think the 9 looks better with it’s longer wings and tail. They do feel snug on the inside.
 
I have a 9A with an IO360 and a fixed pitch 3 blade prop. I love it!! It is so much fun to fly! It’s also very efficient. At 9500 it’s sipping 6.5gph at 150 knots true all day. The 9s wing is much more efficient at altitude than the 7 or 6. I’m not into going acro so the 9 was my choice right from the first day of shopping.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Here are a few pics of mine.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
The 9 has a couple of pluses as mentioned here. Very good performer up high. Works well on a smaller engine. Slightly slower stall, which really is not that big if a deal as all rvs stall pretty slow.

It also has a few minuses. Not aerobatic. A bit slower than the others. The rectangular horizontal is ugly compared to the tapered horizontal. Seating is not tandem. The biggest negative, it’s not a RV-4
 
Grum.Man said:
The cockpit is the same on the 9 and 7. I think the 9 looks better with it’s longer wings and tail. They do feel snug on the inside.
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Yeah, aesthetics were part of my decision to build the -9. The longer, higher-aspect wings look better to my eye. As others have mentioned, the Roncz-airfoil wing is very efficient up high, and the 12:1 glide ratio and low stall speed (Vso of 39 kts at solo weight) are big safety pluses. Such a great combination of decent load-carrying, speed and economy! I can go two up (two 200-lb. people), full fuel and 100 lb. baggage and be right at max gross and within cg range, and that's with a lightweight Catto prop and Skytech lightweight starter.

Here's a pic of mine at Wisconsin Dells-Baraboo, waiting for the weather to clear at OSH last year.

IMG_3024 2.jpg
 
Peter Anderson said:
I have a 9A with an IO360 and a fixed pitch 3 blade prop. I love it!! It is so much fun to fly! It’s also very efficient. At 9500 it’s sipping 6.5gph at 150 knots true all day. The 9s wing is much more efficient at altitude than the 7 or 6. I’m not into going acro so the 9 was my choice right from the first day of shopping...
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So much for a "small engine" and "a bit slower than the others". ;) I am assuming your IO-360 is the 180 hp variant? :thumbsup:
Or did you cram a 200 hp into it? :eek:

retpd2001 said:
...I love my -9A.
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Lovely looking RV! Tell us more about it. Did you build it? How long have you been flying it? Where have you taken it? More pics, like panel porn, that sort of thing? :D

:popcorn:

Although the RVs have their detractors, it's not difficult to see why they have collectively become the best selling kitplane model series in history. And displaced the rows of foam & fibreglass EZs that used to be grazin' in the grass at OSH back in the 1980s and early 1990s.
 
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Peter Anderson said:
I have a 9A with an IO360 and a fixed pitch 3 blade prop. I love it!! It is so much fun to fly! It’s also very efficient. At 9500 it’s sipping 6.5gph at 150 knots true all day. The 9s wing is much more efficient at altitude than the 7 or 6. I’m not into going acro so the 9 was my choice right from the first day of shopping.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...

Interesting color, they say geniuses pick green...
 
Here's some panel "soft porn"...I didn't go crazy like some of the guys with $40K invested in the panel alone. Mine's about $10K all told, with a GRT Sport SX, GTR-200 comm, GTX-327 xponder, iFly 740 back-up GPS and a couple of steam gauges, just because I like the old stuff (and a couple circles to break up the tyranny of the rectangle!).

I really like to fly with the moving map displayed, with airspeed and altitude tapes on the sides.

IMG_2042.jpg
 
If I was building... I would go -7A versus -9A because, while I don't do acro, I'm not losing anything by having the plane be capable.

Performance is close to the same if you're going 180HP CS.

The 9 does stand taller on the ramp. I do not have good info on it's grass performance. That may or not be an issue for ya, but you said you're on VAF already so you can get "authoritative opinions" there.
 
Mike Smith said:
I am with you one the 14 too, I would be all over it if it fit my budget. I haven’t ruled out the 7, but on paper the 9 seems to check all the boxes. I have heard that it can be a little tight shoulder to shoulder, that’s one of the reasons I want to check one out.
Click to expand...

I sat in the Van's demo -14, and it didn't feel that much wider, in part because the latch mechanism for the tip-up canopy intrudes on elbow room. Having a slider canopy was a must for me, and the -14 doesn't offer that option. The slider is great for full-on ventilation on hot days...whenever I'm taxiing it's fully open.
 
Mike, here's a video I made recently with the camera facing the seating area that will give some idea of the space. I feel like it's snug without being tight; I've you've ever sat in a Lotus Elise/Exige, it's similar. I'm about 200 lb. and my Osh co-pilot was 250 and we flew from CA to Oshkosh and back in reasonable comfort. No claustrophobia whatsoever with the bubble canopy!

 
I would have switched up to a Vans but Mrs. Steingar hates the canopies and it didn’t have the room for her stuff. The Mooney is a bit slower, but not that much. And about half the price.
 
The 9 and 14 were on my short list and I was leaning toward the 9. Then I looked at barnstormers last week and found a local 12 tail and fuselage kit that was too cheap to pass up. Just picked it up today. Gotta stay off barnstomers. So I'm building a 12. A 9 could still happen afterward.
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I just bought a 9A a couple weeks ago, and I love it!
Fits my mission extremely well.
This is a super solid cross-country platform with plenty of speed and range.
Mine also has 10.6gal tip tanks, for a total of 46.6 gal.
I just did 3-direction GPS speed tests at 10000, 8000, and 6000 ft.
I average around 155 kts on 8gph.
I don't have a nose wheel pant on it right now, but that might add a couple knots.
I've been in 2 clubs and this is the 2nd plane I've owned.
I think it will be the last :-)
You really can't go wrong with a Vans.

IMG-3025.JPG IMG-4968.JPG
 
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