How to fly an RV-6: A beginner’s guide
From Matronics
by Austin Tinckler
What follows is an outline only for those who are still building and probably have low time, or none recently. The rest of you, don't even read this.
Like all other builders, I read all the magazine articles on how to handle an RV. Nothing really prepares you for an RV, so the best you can do is talk to those who have flown and try to get some rides and dual. Nobody is likely to let you take it off or land it.
Step 1: Take-off
Mounting up is fun in itself. You get comfortable and strap in and these surroundings make it self-evident that you are aboard something really different. After all the checks are done and you are ready to roll, feed in the throttle gradually and you will find the thrust to be fairly strong. You feel it in your back. With this will come the tendency to pull left, which you will be prepared for, and you apply right rudder as needed. After I mastered this, I found I was dropping right wing on lift-off. Others did the same. This is because I was so keen to get an arrow straight liftoff that I was holding in rudder too long. The aircraft will lift off by itself and if you have a tailwheel, raising the tail improves the view and makes you feel like a hot dog, but you don't have to do this unless you want to.
Step 2: Climb and cruise
Once you are climbing out, you will find that the controls are light, but not snaky, and you can move them around gently while you decide when to level out, turn, or whatever. When you throttle back (you get to height quickly), it gets quieter and you have time to do a scan and enjoy life a bit. Tooling around will let you feel how much response is there and what you feel you like to do. Not much else to say here.
Step 3: Landing
If you stay in the pattern, you may not get too much speed up, but if you fly away and come back to join up, you need to think about slowing down. This you will get to learn quickly and easily and there is more than one way to do it. Downwind should be about 100 mph, base slower, to 80, final to 75, then 70 and 65 once you get good.
I only use one notch of flap because until I changed the flap handle, no way could I get the second notch on. (I had cut it down 2 inches — big mistake.) I am used to it now and it works for me. I use 2nd notch rarely and only if I am too high.
I do not practice touch and goes because I want to save the wheels and brakes and I can make two good landings followed by a bummer, so I feel any landing is a keeper and that suits me.
When to turn final is the big question and depends on wind and traffic and your height. I try to get it slowed to 75, know I have the runway made. By 70 I am nearly there, and I quit looking at the airspeed and keep a steady descent.
I round out gently at a height that tells me it is time now (I really don’t know if it is 20, 15, or 10 — sorry). Then I keep the spinner up moderately, no more, and she will settle on the mains. If I keep pulling back like a Cessna, she will rise up and drop in. If you are short, an addition of throttle will carry you to the numbers. If you are a bit high and chop the throttle, she will settle kind of quick. All this is a description of approach on a short runway. Ours is 2000’. I don’t need the brakes until the end for turn off.
The RV thankfully tracks very nicel and straight, which is a big help for a novice. If you have a long runway, then life should be even easier for now you can keep power on all the way, settle as you like, and just let the tarmac come up to meet you and you roll out. No brakes needed. I just like to land as dead stick as I can because I was taught that way and I think it could be valuable. Pros can send their flames as they choose. This is only a guide for amateurs by an amateur.
I was way out of date with my flying and was nervous more about the systems than about myself. I had 1.5 hours checkout in my RV then went solo thereafter. I am still learning of course. I just thought this would be of encouragement for those who hope to strap in and take the challenge sometime down the road.
