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Pete's RV-8 Web Site
Hi, my name is Pete Britton and I would like to welcome you to my RV-8 aircraft builders Website. It is my intention to make this site a duplicate of my builder’s log documenting the construction of a personal RV-8. Much has been written about the RV series of aircraft but to summarize, the RV-8 is a two seat aircraft built from a precision manufactured kit available from Van’s Aircraft, Inc. of Aurora, Oregon. The RV-8 is of standard metal construction (flush riveted for low drag), with a tandem cockpit layout (sliding bubble canopy), and conventional landing gear (taildragger). It is an excellent all around performer, capable of aerobatics, short field operations, and extended cross-country flying at 180-200 mph in VFR or IFR conditions. Typically, the RV-8 is equipped with a Lycoming engine ranging from the (I)O-320 to (I)O-360 coupled to either a fixed pitch or constant speed propeller. The aircraft is reliable and straight forward to build considering it’s a high performance bird. The quality of Van’s kits and the factory support is excellent. In addition, there is a large community of RV builders around the world well versed in the building and flying of the RV-8 and other RV designs. I expect my project to take a few years so plans may change but for now, I plan to build a day/night VFR aircraft, round gauges, Lycoming IO-360 powerplant with a constant speed propeller, Christen inverted system, and basic radio and navigation equipment. To keep the aircraft as light as possible, priming of the aircraft interior will be kept to a minimum. Hopefully, the quality of the riveting on the airframe will allow the option of a polished aluminum finish at project end. I plan to design a trim scheme based on the P-51s of the late WWII period. A final word concerning the entries in my builder’s log is in order. When I first began this project in late summer 2008, I had not yet acquired the Kitlog software. To keep track of my activities and progress I used Section 6: The Empennage in Van’s builder manual as my log. After completing each listed step, the item was checked off with a date and time expended notation. After receiving the Kitlog software as a Christmas gift, I used the winter months to transfer my entries from Van’s manual to the electronic log and enhanced the entries with digital photos taken during actual construction. For this reason, many of the earlier log entries will be very detailed and almost identical to Van’s instructions. More recently, I have made log entries immediately upon completion of the work and in my own words. From this point, the log should be easier and more pleasant to read. Again, welcome to my site. I hope you find something of interest or value as you review my log. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments. Regards, Pete
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