Van's Aircraft RV-8

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An RV-8 with conventional landing gear at Carp, Ontario.

An RV-8 at Smiths Falls, Ontario.

The Van’s RV-8 is a tandem two-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt aircraft sold in kit form by Van’s Aircraft. The RV-8 is equipped with conventional landing gear, while the RV-8A version features tricycle landing gear. The design is a larger development of the RV-4, and is similar in appearance to the earlier model.

1 Development
2 Aircraft Type Club
3 Specifications (RV-8)
4 Related content

[edit] Development

Richard VanGrunsven designed the RV-8 series as an improved RV-4, itself a two-seat version of the single seat RV-3. The RV-8 first flew in 1995 and was first shown publicly at Oshkosh that year.

The RV-8 incorporated many changes as a result of lessons learned over the years in producing the immensely popular RV-4 design. The RV-8 airframe will accept larger engines, including the Lycoming IO-360, up to 200 hp. The RV-8 also has increased wingspan and wing area over the RV-4, as well as more cockpit width, headroom, legroom and an increased useful load, all with a view to accommodating larger pilots. Like all other RV series aircraft, except the RV-9 and 10, the RV-8 series are stressed for aerobatics.

The RV-8 shares many common parts with the RV-7 and RV-9 which reduces production costs. Like the RV-7, the RV-8 uses computer assisted design to produce a kit with pre-drilled rivet holes, thus greatly reducing assembly time for the builder.

The RV-8 was intended from the start to have a nose-gear stablemate designated the RV-8A. The RV-8A was first flown in 1998 and features tubular steel landing gear with the nosewheel mounting tube welded to the engine mount. As in all nose-wheel equipped RV aircraft, the nosewheel is free castering and the aircraft is steered with differential braking. The brakes are mounted conventionally on the rudder pedal toes.

[edit] Aircraft Type Club

The RV-8 and RV-8A have a very active aircraft type club Van's Air Force that provides support for owners and pilots of these types.

[edit] Specifications (RV-8)

Specifications are given for 200HP, IO-360 configuration with a Hartzell constant speed propeller

General characteristics

Crew: one pilot
Capacity: one passenger
Length: 21 ft 0 in (6.46 m)
Wingspan: 24 ft 0 in (7.38 m)
Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.71 m)
Wing area: 116 ft² (10.7 m²)
Empty weight: 1120 lb (507 kg)
Loaded weight: 1,800 lb (815 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 1,800lb (815kg)
Powerplant: 1× Lycoming O-320, Lycoming O-360 or Lycoming IO-360 fixed pitch or constant speed, 150-200hp (112-149 kW)

Performance

Never exceed speed: mph (km/h)
Maximum speed: 222 mph at sea level (360 km/h)
Range: 780 statute miles at cruise 75% power at 8,000 ft (1,264 km at cruise 75% power at 2,500 m)
Service ceiling: 22,500 ft (6,900 m)
Rate of climb: 1,900 ft/min (9.7 m/s)
Wing loading: 15.5 lb/ft² (78 kg/m²)