I can only comment on the RV-8 and the -8A, having not flown the 6A, but here are my impressions after two months of fairly intensive flying.
- Nosewheel vs. Tailwheel. The accident rate of the -8 vs. the -8A is reflected in the insurance rates you pay. I got the -8A for two reasons: (1) My wife (also a pilot) wanted the nosewheel, and (2) insurance was WAY cheaper.
That said, the nosegear is obviously not as robust as a trainer's. Land on the mains, keep the weight off of it, and it's fine.
- Responsiveness. There is no comparison between an RV and a Cessna/Piper/Beech/Cirrus spam can. I flew the first several hours using ONLY my thumb and forefinger on the stick, because if I held it with my hand I would over-control.
Once you've grown used to this handling, however, (as you noted) everything else feels like a truck! When I flew the Pathfinder after 30 hours in the -8A, I actually thought something was broken! It just would not turn!
- Harmony. I don't know what Van did, but through some aerodynamic and structural magic, he made a plane that flies just like my Suzuki sport bike. If you think it, it will do it, in perfect harmony. It is a sheer delight to fly, and I literally hate to land, because it means I'm done flying for the day!
- Landing an RV. Soon after starting transition training, it became evident that landing the -8A was WAY easier than landing my Pathfinder (Cherokee 235). On my very first landing, I made the first turn, which had me mentally "high-5ing" myself -- until I realized, a hundred landings later, that I was ALWAYS making the first turn!
Again, through some aerodynamic magic pixie dust, Van has created an aircraft that is incredibly easy to land.
- Performance. Our RV-8A, with a 180 HP Lycoming, with the same fuel burn as a Cherokee 180 or Skyhawk, scoots us along at 160 knots. If I want to burn more, we will see 170.
That's 200+ mph, for you old-school guys.
Want to climb straight up a thousand feet? It will do it, effortlessly -- along with "gentlemen's aerobatics" like loops, rolls, etc. Want to come down right NOW? It slips effortlessly and beautifully.
- Comfort. This isn't something that is often mentioned, especially with the -8s, because they are harder to get in/out -- but once you are in, the plane is VERY comfortable, with more shoulder and hip room than my Cherokee.
Better yet, you are sitting more down IN the plane. Combined with a wider seat, and a five-point harness, you feel like you're wearing the plane.
-Turbulence. One area that Mary was very concerned about was how the RV would handle the bumps. She HATES turbulence, and we both thought that the light RV would be worse in rough air.
We were wrong. In the Cherokee, you are sitting extremely upright, with your eyes and inner ear well above the horizontal plane. There is nothing to keep you from getting moved around, especially when seated on slick leather seats. Unknown to us, this magnified the effect of turbulence.
Now, thanks to the lower seating position and secure harnesses in the -8, your sense of turbulence is actually reduced, even though the plane is getting moved around just as much, or more.
I honestly have not found a single negative thing to say about this aircraft. Now that we no longer need to haul kids from one end of the country to the other, it is our perfect airplane.
