Vans RV-8 Aircraft Buying Experience

[@blancolirio]

Great advice for ANY 1st time plane buyer. Thanks for posting.

[@sierrapapa624]

Thanks!

[@wallywally8282]

Nothing feels/looks better than centreline seating👌

[@sierrapapa624]

100% agree!

[@timothyirvine2842]

Enjoyed your candid comments. All true for anyone looking to buy an RV. I like the 180HP engine and keeping it simple is better. The less you have the less can go wrong or cost with maintenance. The RV performance is so good there really is no need to add anything unless you know you will use it.

[@sierrapapa624]

I agree!

[@FlyinTiger2]

This first hand experience was very similar to mine. Great advice. It took me a year to find an RV I could buy. ADs, make sure to check engine ADs and Vans service bulletins. Check that these have all been complied with. Magneto 500 hour inspection needs to have been done.

[@sierrapapa624]

Good info Albert. Thanks for sharing.

[@robertd4468]

I came close to building one then life happened. I did fly it an I think the RV8 is a wonderful aircraft. For the money they’re hard to beat.

[@2Phast4Rocket]

I really enjoy many of your rv8 video. I can't wait to get my rv8 finished

[@GrimshawAviation]

Did you finish it??

[@jcheck6]

Great vid. I have own both a -4 and -8. The -8 in my opinion looks much better and more comfortable but the -4 flies better and is easier to land..

[@sierrapapa624]

I’ve only flown as a passenger in the 4, and I thought it was awesome.

[@GeneralSirDouglasMcA]

I’m like you in that I want to buy an RV that’s already built; I don’t want to work on it myself. Some RV4s go for around $50k, but they mainly have steam gauges on the instrument panel. But for an iPad/ForeFlight user, that’s not an issue. Others that have more advanced avionics are usually under $100k.

[@AndyRRR0791]

Build yourself a convertible canopy to replace the standard one - it's an experimental after all!

[@sierrapapa624]

That is an idea...however I have heard of folks just flying with the windscreen and they say it is horrible. One day I want an Aeroliite 103!

[@AndyRRR0791]

@@sierrapapa624 Yeah, I get it. I lust after an Airbike from time to time but that's not going to happen until my RV-8 build is done and dusted. Alas a few more rivets to go.

[@sinedo]

One of the most interesting things that you said was 'you wear the airplane'. That's how i feel.. always. The aircraft is simply an extension of you.

[@deborahpotts]

That was packed with useful info. Thanks a lot.

[@zmatt]

Check out the AV-30 to fill one of those blank spots on your panel, I love mine.

[@sierrapapa624]

Thanks for the recommendation...I was thinking about doing that very thing.

[@PedroPatsf]

Really informative video...good job!

[@sierrapapa624]

Thank-you glad you enjoyed it.

[@yodez3]

I like your style. Subscribed!

[@1fujimonk]

Thanks for sharing, that was very useful info.

[@Vansaircraftbuilders]

Great video and good info!

[@FunPlacesToFly]

Very informative video!

[@samyrs489]

I loved the camera effect you used in the last landing. How is that achieved?

[@sierrapapa624]

Glad you liked it. It is just the insta360 and its stabilization defaults. I like the camera because it behaves almost likes someone is holding it.

[@marketfluxadvertising]

Hey buddy how's the passenger seat legroom and headroom?? Is it comfy down there or you recommend a rv 7 or 14 (taildragger). I want some aerobatic capabilities but it should also able to haul some stuffs for long time and fast.

[@sierrapapa624]

Maverick there is plenty of leg room for the passenger and the RV-8 has foot wells that keep the passenger's feet out of the pilots hips. Very nice arrangement. I will make a video of this and post.

[@marketfluxadvertising]

@@sierrapapa624 Thx man appreciate it.

[@kenthigginbotham2754]

LOVE!

[@jesseharper2357]

Thanks for the info. You mentioned throughout your process of looking through barnstormers that you only knew what people were typically asking for their RVs but now what they were getting. I've been curious about that as well because eventually I'm going to be looking for a used RV as well. How much did you pay and how much was the asking price for your RV-8 if you dont mind?

[@sierrapapa624]

Well I am not going to state what I paid for my RV, but if you take the cost of a quick build kit and add it to a new engine you are comfortably above $60k in just parts...less avionics. A paint job is going to be $10k and a prop can be anywhere from $6k to above $14k. Now there are much cheaper options and cheaper does not indicate lower quality...just more resourceful sourcing or doing things yourself. Sellers will give themselves some negotiating room on their price. It is just the way it is done! They know you are going to counter their asking price by a few thousand. Good RVs don't lose value and so long as you go with somebody that knows what they are doing, you will negotiate a fair price. Remember the engine is where things can get very expensive so this is where you will get a big swing in the negotiated price.

[@2Phast4Rocket]

A recently built RV8, less than 5 years old, with a brand new engine, fix pitch prop, 1 main glass panel costs about 90k to 100k in material. The high end of the price is the professional paint job. An IFR panel will have about 20k premium on top of that. An older RV8 doesn't cost as much but you get the steam gauges, and many of them don't have the brand new engine when they were built. Good luck on your plane shopping

[@jcheck6]

@@2Phast4Rocket Your pricing is very accurate.

[@aleclarson1561]

You're about the same size/weight as me and I was curious if you put any ballast in the rear compartment or seat when solo? I keep showing fwd CG on my w/b calculations, not out of the envelope at all but pretty far forward. Was wondering if this is okay or what you have found? Thanks for the videos. -Alec

[@sierrapapa624]

When the plane was originally built, it had a constant speed prop, vacuum system with a six pack of heavy instruments and the battery (concord) mounted up front. In this configuration I flew solo with a bag of sand in the rear baggage compartment floor. I was also landing at a grass strip at the time so I wanted to three point it when landing. When I put on the fixed pitch composite prop, reduced the size of battery and had the vacuum system removed I could then fly without any ballast in the back. But it is still a bear to three point so I do wheel landings. I always fly with ballast 15-20lbs in the back baggage compartment unless I do acro. So yes I always fly with ballast unless I fly acro.

[@jcheck6]

Same as the OP with my -8. Fixed pitch metal prop, D-180 panel (which I like better than newer Dynon), iFly 740 GPS. 1090lbs, not counting 25lbs on shelf of rear baggage. Still the CG is a bit more forward than I like but can live with it. I fly solo 100% of the time. I can 3 pt but think wheel landing puts less strain on a/c.

[@CaptainChaooooos]

Let’s see some stalls in that puppy. Watch that left wing.

[@sierrapapa624]

That is a good idea. Would be a good video. Stalls with flaps stalls without flaps etc.

[@tango67180]

What range do rv-8's actually sell for?

[@sierrapapa624]

Anywhere between 60k to upwards of 140k. The avionics package can really get expensive.

[@tango67180]

@@sierrapapa624 thanks!

[@neumeisteranimalhospital2627]

Nice vid but I just had to laugh at a RV8 with a 50k budget. Only if it had a runout engine and fixed prop. Looks like yours has a basic panel and plain paint, so it wasn't a crazy expensive build.

[@sierrapapa624]

Thanks for watching. Yes you are right...the 50k budget was for a RV-4. I promptly blew that when I bought the 8.

[@Mike-01234]

RV 8 about 100k