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Who has the lighest RV-7?

Talk to Van's. They once told me that tail draggers with the tip-up are the lightest configuration.

After that it is all about options and "building lightness in".
 
Wow, this thread has lasted almost 2 hours with nobody coming in with diet advice or the lighter doesn't make it go faster argument!
 
hohocc said:
Wow, this thread has lasted almost 2 hours with nobody coming in with diet advice or the lighter doesn't make it go faster argument!
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Oh, just give it time. It's the middle of the work day here in the US.
 
who has the lightest rv7?

Rv7 slider, 0320-d2a Catto 2 blade, mgl explorer, trig, autopilot, full leather interior, paint polish 1020# 8 quarts oil in engine.

Keith Rhea
N60KR
At EAA chapter leaders workshop KOSH
 
My -9, with the longer wing was 990 lbs with all the fairings, oil, etc. on its first flight.

The -7, with the shorter wing should be able to be built lighter.
 
Wow.... 1,020....That is light.....

RV-7A (I know you didn't ask about nose draggers.) No external paint or primer yet. ECi Titan O-360, WW ground adjustable prop, Dynon D6 and Dynon Skyview with pretty much everything Dynon offers, tipper, feau leather seats, 8 qts in the engine, 1,062#. Not probably close to the lightest, but not a pig, either. :D If I polish and only paint the fiberglass, shouldn't add too many pounds.

Can't really say I lived the 'think light' philosophy discussed recently while building, but limited how much stuff I put in the plane. Every little aftermarket 'cool thing' that someone sells costs $$$ and weight.

I always wonder what it would have weighed if I would have skipped priming everything while building......
 
I built my 7-A to be reasonably light, but comfy for long cruising. It weighed 1079 lb this annual including unusable fuel, 6 quarts oil, fire extinguisher, headsets, and necessary junk in glove box.
IO-375 with Catto three blade prop and tip up canopy
3 colour Jet-Glo paint, full leather interior
Sky view, back up analogue, and full lighting
Monster retread 6 ply tires

I will replace my PC680 with an EX680 when the time comes
Jay
 
Not qualified for the poll but THE 8 has same wing as 7 :)

Bare bones VFR, came in at 1029.

The 7A with Subby H6 engine came in at 1256.
(perhaps the heaviest 7A)
 
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N941WR said:
My -9, with the longer wing was 990 lbs with all the fairings, oil, etc. on its first flight.

The -7, with the shorter wing should be able to be built lighter.
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Bill, wow 990lbs, and that's with a bigger horizontal stab and elevators also.
 
My -9A is 981.5 Lbs. TIp-up, OX-340S, Sensenich GA prop, 8qt oil, Shorai battery, unusable fuel, pilots seat cushions and a headset I forgot to take out. No gear fairings though. Polished with vinyl stickers for highlights.

N941WR, was that weight with the O-290 or the O-360? ISTR you had an O-290 in it initially?
 
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KRviator said:
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N941WR, was that weight with the O-290 or the O-360? ISTR you had an O-290 in it initially?
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You caught me. That was with the O-290d2.
1068 lbs with the O-360, leather side panels, autopilot, paint, fully primed, and some other options.

Both setups had Catto props, dual P-mags, smallest starter available, manual trim, dual brakes, 60 amp alternator, Tip-up tail dragger, and VFR. That's about it.
 
jay bell said:
I built my 7-A to be reasonably light, but comfy for long cruising. It weighed 1079 lb this annual including unusable fuel, 6 quarts oil, fire extinguisher, headsets, and necessary junk in glove box.
IO-375 with Catto three blade prop and tip up canopy
3 colour Jet-Glo paint, full leather interior
Sky view, back up analogue, and full lighting
Monster retread 6 ply tires

Jay
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It is a really nice paint job Jay. I didn't know that 'all in' you were tipping the scales under 1100#. Nice. Hmmm, I might need to pick your brain a bit, get some ideas.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wvd5RDmDIPs/VW0bhulhyQI/AAAAAAAAAxc/aNzPkfJHIrM/s1600/IMG_4074.JPG
 
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RV-7A

You guy are making me feel as if I screwed up somewhere. Not painted yet and wheel pants are not on, it came in 1093#. So I am figuring final would be around 1120#. At 1093# weight and balance is little toward the back of the airplane. Now I have to gain about 10# so it will be perfect.
Hartzell constant speed prop, o-360, Dynon Skyview, 430W, Nat audio panel and Val backup comm. So, my question is unless the scales are off how can you possibly shave off 100#. The first time we weight the plane we also came under a 1000# but after rechecking the calculations we found the mistake.
 
Alex, what options do you have?
Change that heavy CS prop to a FP Catto and you will drop about 80 lbs. Remove the 430, it's antennas, and wires and you will drop a bunch more weight.
 
There was a guy in Florida trying to sell an RV-7 as an LSA a while ago... Engine placarded to not operate above X RPM, light interior, etc. Don't remember the empty number but the gross had to meet LSA limits... 1200lb?
 
alex48 said:
You guy are making me feel as if I screwed up somewhere. Not painted yet and wheel pants are not on, it came in 1093#. So I am figuring final would be around 1120#. At 1093# weight and balance is little toward the back of the airplane. Now I have to gain about 10# so it will be perfect.
Hartzell constant speed prop, o-360, Dynon Skyview, 430W, Nat audio panel and Val backup comm. So, my question is unless the scales are off how can you possibly shave off 100#. The first time we weight the plane we also came under a 1000# but after rechecking the calculations we found the mistake.
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Don't get too worried about it.....
The reality is that none of the weights claimed so far mean anything (for comparison purposes anyway) until each of the airplanes is weighed on the exact same set of scales.
 
Snowflake said:
There was a guy in Florida trying to sell an RV-7 as an LSA a while ago... Engine placarded to not operate above X RPM, light interior, etc. Don't remember the empty number but the gross had to meet LSA limits... 1200lb?
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My regulatory limit is 1320Lbs for RAAus administration initially, but I'll change it over to the normal CASA registration in a year or so so I can use the full gross weight.

We don't have any speed limits for RAAus, so other than the RV-3 that is running around, I may well have the fastest ultralight in Australia!
 
#1026

One of my former neighbors, who is not on the forum, was shooting for the lightest 7 with a 360. His came out to 1026 with combo of paint and polish. His goal to built light and shoot for a record attempt to 27,000 feet. He got to 26,900.

He built it with no lights, auto pilot, minimum avionics. He cut lightening holes in everything possible. I think he could have made it without paint or reducing the amount of red that actually went on. (Red is the heaviest color and his painter went crazy!!).
 
I am about to start on the fuselage and eventually want to take someone with me for a loop or roll. To be certified for acro with two people what is the max empty weight that everyone recommends. I have a friend that just completed his 7 and is restricted to single occupant for acro.
 
The aerobatic gross is 1600Lbs, so if you factor 150Lbs of fuel, 200Lbs for each of you, you'll need to come in under 1050Lbs. If you drop your fuel to 100Lbs (16Gal) you can have a BEW of 1100Lbs if you both weigh 200Lbs.

Don't forget there is also a rear CG limitation of 84.5" for aero's as well as a weight limit.
 
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IO-360, 1060#

My first -7 came in at 1060lbs,

IO-360 (200hp), lightweight catto 3 blade. Garmin G3 panel with autopilot, minimalist interior, reasonably basic paint scheme. It was a tip-up...

Tricks to getting it light? Primed ribs only, not skins. Placed everything as far forward as possible and lightweight prop. Apart from that, the airframe was built according to plans. Perhaps this makes it the lightest 200hp RV7?!

The airframe Vans' supplies is pretty darn light, it is all the other gadgets we builders install that really add up the weight!
 
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