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Your RV-4 Empty Weight and Arm?

seanRV8

I'm New Here
Just trying to get a feeling for an average EW and ARM for your RV-4’s if you’d care to share here.
 
EW: 981.2
CG: 69.50

O-360-A1A; Sensenich Carbon Fiber prop; fully painted and primed internally; Cloth seats; 2 screen VFR glass panel; Manual trim and flaps; Odyssey battery on the floor between the rudder pedals.
 
O-360 metal hartzell constant speed, standard battery in standard location, vfr steam gauges, micro air radio and transponder. no paint all interior parts primed.

empty weight 995 lbs
empty cg 65.9 inches

bob burns
RV-4 N82RB
 
RV-4, O-360, Catto 3 blade prop. Paint only on fiberglass parts and tailfeathers. 2 Lithium batteries.

Empty cg 69.5
Empty wt 924#
 
O-320-E2D; Sensenich GA Carbon Fiber prop; fully painted and primed internally; Cloth seats; 2 screen VFR glass panel; Manual trim and flaps; regular battery on the floor between the rudder pedals.

965 pounds and 59.8 arm..... NOTE: This would be a 69.8 arm using Van's current RV-4 60" from LE datum. Beware the comparisons unless you know all the facts.

Other thoughts.... having spent 35 years in lab and industry, I would be very, very skeptical of any scales that haven't been calibrated at a reasonably close weight to what you're weighing. For example, 26 years ago, this plane was weighed on bathroom scales and weighed 940 pounds. (I was poor in 1994 and calibrated scales were hard to come by!) The most recent W&B was after I'd removed the original steam gauges (some of which were radioactive), vacuum pump, and related hoses, filters, heavy tailwheel tire, etc. so the weight difference is probably even greater than it appears.
 
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WEIGHT & BALANCE DATA

Make: Van’s Aircraft
Model: RV4 Serial # 4354 Registration # N359DM

Datum= 60 inches forward of wing leading edge. (L.E.)
Design C.G. Range = 15% to 29% of wing chord, or 8.7” to 16.8 inches from L.E., or 68.7 to 77.4 inches aft of Datum.
Wing L.E. = 60”aft of datum.
Main wheel, right = 60”aft of datum.
Main wheel, left = 60.3”aft of datum.
Tail Wheel = 237.5”aft of datum.


Weight (lbs) Arm (ins) Moment (lbs. in)
Right Wheel 484 60 29040
Left Wheel 499 60.3 30089.7
Tail Wheel 50 237.5 11875
Total: 1036 70997.08

CG=70997.08/1036 / = Empty moment of aircraft 68.53” aft of datum
 
My Bird

Good question:
My total empty weight is 935.
I have IO-320 with constant speed Hartzell prop.
Been on a diet since I got it.
Process is: yank out everything you don't need.

Bought at 988lbs.

C.G 71.25 aft of datum.


Wish I could get/make a lightweight tail wheel.


Daddyman
 
Light is right...

Just trying to get a feeling for an average EW and ARM for your RV-4’s if you’d care to share here.
Sean,
My 0-320 wood propped version tipped the scales at 915# the day the FAA showed up to sign it off in 95'.
Over the years a paint job, heavier hot rod wide deck 0-320, Catto prop and Radio brought it up to 937#.
Still looks and flies awesome...

Light is right...
:)
Smokey
 
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