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RV6A POH and Stall

UrbanM

Active Member
I just test flew an RV 6A that was for sale and a couple of questions arose. First, The seller/builder had some very nice build logs available and a good paper trail that showed all the components and what had been done on the engine (Field overhaul). The problem was that the POH he presented was clearly for another aircraft. It looked like he pulled a POH off the interweb and cut and pasted his N number (And on a few pages he left the original number). So the question is Can I do my own test flying and issue my own POH?
Second, The plane flew nice and ran very well until it came time to do stalls. In the landing configuration the thing just quit flying with little/no notice and fell off on a wing with the nose aimed at the ground. I laughed (Used to much bigger airplanes that give a lot of warning so I figured I was just slow to react ;). and tried again with about the same result. I have some RV time in a 12 I just sold and a buddy's 6A and I don't remember the stall being as abrupt. Could this be a CG issue?
Lastly, Where is the Gross Weight Listed? The sign off for the Phase 1 testing showed 1650 and his make believe POH showed 1800.
I don't mean to tear into this owner with all of this (He did build a very nice RV but the guy has issues much of which could be age related) and I have mostly been dealing with his son who has been much more honest and helpful. I have lined up a pre purchase in the event we close a deal.
Thanks for any help,
Kirk
 
At the risk of being flamed by some real test pilots here, it sounds like it pretty much behaves like my previous -6 and current -6A.
 
POH is not required. I think lots of people just cobble them together from ones posted online.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=115014

My 6A stalls pretty abruptly as well. It basically buffets at the same time the nose is dropping and falls off to the left. It's a non-event.. and you don't even have to add power to get it flying.. just release some back pressure on the stick and you're flying again.. miraculous machines.
 
What Dan and Brian said.... SAME !

POH is not required. I think lots of people just cobble them together from ones posted online

My 6A stalls pretty abruptly as well. It basically buffets at the same time the nose is dropping and falls off to the left. It's a non-event.. and you don't even have to add power to get it flying.. just release some back pressure on the stick and you're flying again.. miraculous machines.


My purchased RV6A POH is much like yours Kirk

Re: Stall

Same !!!!

GOOD LUCK ON THE PRE BUY ...hope all is well with it !!!!
 
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POH would be a good thing to develop for your specific aircraft. A great resource for this would be the new Flight Test Manual from EAA. You would get the proper tools and templates to produce a valid POH, as well really learn to fly your plane.

My current 6A also has similar stall characteristics, not much pre-stall warning, falls off left. For me not much of an issue, I know when to expect it and know how to get out of it, & most important how to avoid it. Most other models have similar characteristics, the later prepunch versions tend to stall straighter. Don't know about the 10 / 14 though, the 12 is a pussy cat.

Your Gross Weight? "The sign off for the Phase 1 testing showed 1650", unless you found a later entry stating a higher number.

Good plane hunting!
 
I also just purchased an RV-6A and found the POH to be very concise - mainly a handwritten page and some checklists that are very similar to ones I have found online. My plane has an empty weight of 1084 and a gross weight of 1650 noted in the handwritten POH. The previous owner(s) have done fairly extensive W&B documentation as well, with a recent weighing to ensure accuracy. I have been looking at the POH that has been posted online to possibly expand/replace the POH with a more complete document that includes TO/Landing recommendations.

My RV-6A has a very benign stall - both on and off power. I do have to put in some right rudder to keep ball centered. My plane has aileron trim, and it is a little to the right normally. I do have to trim more to right aileron under cruise to hold steady heading. Make sure you are balanced at stall.
 
Sounds like you may need to trim or balance. How does it fly hands off?
Also it stalls differently depending on CG.
Aft CG stall is more abrupt.
This is just my humble experience.
 
My stall is relatively abrupt and provides no traditional warning / buffet. Though, after you get a feel for the plane, you can predict it within a couple of MPH (without looking at the ASI) just through the feedback it's flying behavior gives you. After a while, you can really tell when you're on the edge without a buffet. It is not a trainer and not designed for jr. pilots that need to be kicked to let them know a stall is coming.

Mine also drops a wing and I don't think this is that uncommon on the early models. It is very hard to get the non-prepunched wings to have an equal incidence all the way down each wing. A quick stab on the opposite rudder levels it right out. Once you do it a few times and learn that it is coming, it is second nature to deal with.

Larry
 
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We purchased our aircraft an RV-6A from the USA and imported it into Canada. While going thru the buying process when I test flew the plane I did several stalls in different configurations. I found if the aircraft was not slipping it stalled wings level every time. The stall is certainly not as benign as your typical trainer but there is a mild buffeting just prior to the stall and of course when it breaks the nose will follow through deeper than your typical trainer. If at anytime you check forward on the stick it starts flying immediately. I've owned a number of high performance singles in the past and its similar to many of them except it's much lighter on the controls and of course more agile. If all your experiences are in Cessnas and Pipers or something like a Citabria then I guess you might feel the RV is a bit twitchy, which of course it isn't. Absolutely lovely flying aircraft in every way. :)
 
For certified aircraft, stall warnings must precede the stall by >=5 kts. The stall warning can be aerodynamic (buffeting) or by a stall warning system, which could be a switch and light like Piper and others use.

Experimental aircraft, like the RVs may not meet this requirement. Like Larry said, once you get familiar with the airplane, there are good cues that you are nearing critical angle of attack. Depending on how straight the airplane was built, and the absence of external turbulence as to whether or not the airplane breaks straight ahead or not when power off.
 
Vans lists the Gross weight like this:
RV-6: 1600lbs
RV-6A: 1650lbs

There are nearly no nose heavy RV ... so be very careful to "just upgrade" and go beyond Kit suppliers specs! All you ad in the plane (except fuel), will end up behind the CG ...
If you ad up on weight, you will move CG to the back. So check W&B to stay within the envelope.

On a "new to you" airplane, I would suggest to do a W&B measurements with scales, this to be sure, all is right.

To the reason of no buffeting, you can ad up small pieces of triangular strips, along the LE of the wing, just about 10" long, so that in the high AOA these generates swirls that
end up on the elevator, so that you should get something to "feel" short before it stops flying. This for sure would need some experimenting. A few GA planes have some like this.
 
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