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I'm New Here
I am a prospective buyer in the Baltimore area looking to sit in an RV-7A and RV-14A (with my wife) and get a feel for each aircraft before making a purchase decision.
Happy to drive a couple hours (and not looking for a flight… just an intro to the aircraft).

Backstory - We just sold our Cardinal after 25 years and 5000+ hours and wish to move into the experimental world.
The RV7A and 14A are compelling but not sure about fit/comfort without actually trying.

Thank you,
Sherif and Sue
 
For starters, you can look up shoulder width in each plane, and compare that to the Cardinal. And don't forget that there is the "almost RV-14" mod for the RV-7, allowing the top of the seat to be a little bit father back. I've never read anybody talk about this, but my guess is that factory built airplanes have a better ride in turbulence in part because those seats have springs, whereas RVs have foam seats.

If you're a handling qualities aficionado, the RV-14 handles only almost as well as other RV laterally.

And if you're not going to do aerobatics, the RV-9A is a real sweetheart. It's only 10 knots or slower than the RV-7A with a bigger engine, same fuselage, and, of course, less room and payload than the RV-14A. At one point, the factory wrote that the -9/A was their favorite (two seater) for cross country.
 
Ed_Wischmeyer said:
For starters, you can look up shoulder width in each plane, and compare that to the Cardinal. And don't forget that there is the "almost RV-14" mod for the RV-7, allowing the top of the seat to be a little bit father back. I've never read anybody talk about this, but my guess is that factory built airplanes have a better ride in turbulence in part because those seats have springs, whereas RVs have foam seats.

If you're a handling qualities aficionado, the RV-14 handles only almost as well as other RV laterally.

And if you're not going to do aerobatics, the RV-9A is a real sweetheart. It's only 10 knots or slower than the RV-7A with a bigger engine, same fuselage, and, of course, less room and payload than the RV-14A. At one point, the factory wrote that the -9/A was their favorite (two seater) for cross country.
Click to expand...
Thank you, Ed. Appreciated.
I’ve had my last few flight reviews with the Patty Wagstaff aerobatics school and am thinking having basic aerobatics capabilities would be nice in my next aircraft; otherwise the 9A would work well.

My wife and I think the 14A is a good fit width-wise based on the size/width numbers, but if the 7A is wide enough (given the real world experience of sitting in one), that would be better overall cost-wise.

Won’t know for sure until we sit side by side in each.

Thank you,
Sherif and Sue
 
If you can make it to a fly-in that's in your area, you'll almost certainly see a gaggle of RV's there. Most owners will let you sit in their plane (if you ask nicely), and it gives you a chance to talk to builders to learn from their experiences...what they would do differently, what they're glad they did, etc. I learned a lot going to two fly-ins right before I pulled the trigger on buying a kit.

And while it can be a delicate subject, you didn't say, uhhhh... how big you two are. RV-7s will handle six-footers (and then some), but they do start to get a little snug when one of you gets north of 225 pounds or so. After 25+ years of being together, I'm assuming you've worked past any personal space issues. With that said, I vividly remember going to a fly-in and seeing two big guys--both easily over 250 pounds--climb out of an RV-6 that landed. It can be done, but it's really cozy. Isn't that the word realtors use for snug?
 
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