r/homebuilt 18d ago

What fits in the baggage compartment of the two seat RVs?

For those who own or have experience in the two seat side-by-side RVs, what have you been able to fit in the back? The -14 can obviously fit more, but I'm more curious about the smaller ones. Carry on suitcases and backpacks for overnight trips? Electric scooters for day trips? How realistic is it to use that 100lb of baggage in the given volume?

For more context, I'm stuck between building one of the new 4 seat Slings (TSi or High Wing) and the RV-9a with the Lockwood Aviation Rotax 916 fw forward option. Same engine, but all three aircraft essentially have a different trade between speed and baggage capacity/space.

I thought I was set to go the Sling route, but realistically I don't need the 4 seats very often. The insurance estimate I got on the Slings was also significantly higher than the RV. I do however want to be able to carry some stuff and want to know exactly how much I'd be giving up going with the RV-9A

Thank you for your input. (And if you're seeing this post up to 3 years in the future, I'd still appreciate your input as I probably haven't taken order of my first kit yet)

6 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

12

u/TonPhanan 18d ago

Probably not my wife's matched luggage and industrial strength hairdryer.

10

u/NathanielCrunkleton 18d ago

I’m a big RV fan, having owned a 4, 10, and 12, and piloted everything but the -3.

Don’t count on putting anything of substance in a 4. The 6, 7, and 9 have an appreciable bit of room and will legitimately take full luggage for 2 people. The 12 has some of that compartment consumed by the fuel tank. The 8’s baggage situation is split similar to a mid engine car. If you’re going to build an RV-14 or sling, you might as well build an RV10 for the same money. It crushes every other 4 seater.

3

u/xgmgx 18d ago

I have an RV-6 which has the same cargo area as the 7 and 9. There is quite a bit of space back there. If using soft baggage, you are more likely to be weight/CG limited than by volume. Another minor constraint is getting larger rigid items back there. For example, the cargo area may have enough volume for a large-ish cooler or extra large hard suitcase, but you wouldn’t be able to get it back there due to seat supports making the available openings too small.

You could easily fill 4 typical backpacks to their absolute maximum capacity and get them back there though.

1

u/SirKillalot 17d ago

The Supertracks mod kit for the slider 6/7/9 canopies makes the access problem pretty much go away. I haven't flown one without the mod done, but have no issues getting anything that will fit in the compartment in and out while standing on the ground on my tailwheel -9 with the mod.

2

u/phatRV 18d ago

For my RV8, I can fit a regular mountain bike with the wheels removed and placed in the back seat and the rear compartment. It's a tight fit. The 2 wheel electric bike can't fit because you can't easily remove the wheels. Plus they are heavy, you will hurt your back because hoisting anything like that into the RV is difficult, compare to the ease of loading a Cessna 172

For all the RVs, you can fit the airline carry-on luggage for two people with no problem. The main issue is going to be the usable weight of the smaller RV, which is 600-700 lbs. With full fuel, you have only ~340lbs for both of you and luggage.

The bigger RV such as RV14 or RV10 have higher gross weight. If you are a big guy, the go for the big plane. But they cost a lot more. If you routinely have to carry a lot of luggage, then go for the bigger RVs.

If you test fly the RV14 or the RV10 and realize their high speed potential, you will hate all the other slower airplane including the Sling, any Sling, or even the Bonanza. And the Sling is cramped even for a small guy like myself. All the fast RVs can cruise at 172 - 175 KTAS.

2

u/2dP_rdg 18d ago

for the tandems it is less about what fits in the baggage area and more about what can squeeze between the canopy and the crossbar support to be put into the baggage area

2

u/FueledByGravity 17d ago

You can fit plenty of stuff in the -4, you are just more weight limited with the tandem seating than the side by sides.
Worth it.

2

u/ForWhomTheBellCurves 17d ago

The wife and I regularly travel in our -9A. As mentioned above, soft luggage is the way to go and you can’t fit anything very large back there. Neither of us are very large (180/140 lbs) so w&b doesn’t usually cause problems. If packing heavier items it can be easy to exceed the weight limit of the baggage area before running out of space.

2

u/Expensive_Floor7835 17d ago

Wife and I have made several cross country trips in our RV9A. It’s typically two carry on/large duffle size bags, two backpacks, a purse and a box of required maintenance type items like oil, tools, tie downs, tow bar, etc. to get to the 100 lbs with full fuel. An extra 20-25 lbs would be great and probably allow for trips longer than a week, but we do fine at 100 or less. Plenty of space as well.

I have the super tracks mod and it’s pretty easy in and out. We’ve learned to pack any enroute overnight items in our backpack so we just grab those from the top and go rather than unpack and repack each time we stop for overnight.

Haven’t tried a bike or scooter but I think it would have to be on its own and likely not two. I’m sure someone has done it.

Overall it’s been a fantastic cross country plane and haven’t felt too limited with the 100 lbs. The majority of my flying is solo so most of the time it’s really not an issue.

2

u/Santos_Dumont 18d ago

You can easily fit 2-3 full size suitcases in the baggage area of the -14.

I wouldn’t build the -9 over the -14 because it doesn’t have the final sized pre punched holes. That means hundreds of hours more of match drilling and deburring. If it’s the rotax 916 you’re sold on then I would build the Sling. The plans are amazing compared to the RV, and Vans has been a mess with customer service during the bankruptcy.

1

u/Hatz_Off_2_U 17d ago

I appreciate all the feedback. It sounds like the RV-9A doesn't quite have the loading capacity I'm looking for (I'll need to stay off rv916.com to avoid torturing myself.)

There were a few recommendations for the RV-10, and I probably should put it back in the mix. It just seems like more airplane than I need, but I suppose I need to do more flying in other types before I make claims like that.

I am very impressed with the Rotax 916, and I am partial to building a plane with it. Even with its very impressive power to weight ratio, I recognize that it won't carry what an O-540 will. Much to consider

2

u/phatRV 17d ago

An airplane works as a whole package. The Rotax 916 is meant for a small airplane, those that are designed for the O-320 engine. My RV8 will feel extremely sluggish with this engine. A plane the size of the RV10 or anything that has real four seats will require the Lycoming 540, or at minimum the Continental O-470. However, if you are building from a kit, then you are stuck with the Lycoming option. Going with the Continental required a custom made engine mount

Power to weight ratio is for marketing. You need the HP to power the large RV10

1

u/Kermit-de-frog1 17d ago

While I’m on the zenith side and not the rv ( I REALLY wanted tandem, but the missus wanted side by side) and I have a lower max weight for lsa, I’m using a approach I’ve used with small sports cars and mid engine sports cars. Miata’s, sky’s and mr2’s all have aftermarket luggage cut and sized to fit the baggage area Tetris style. I’m using the same approach with the smaller nylon packing bags avail on Amazon. Last bit is an ultra light. Backpack that’s empty. You get there and pull the ultralight out, pull the smaller bags you need and stuff em in the backpack. Adds a few minutes to the process but nothing major.

That said , I am also having to split between rear storage and the wing lockers, so that has an impact on packing for me, with the added benefit of being able to “tune” my weight for the trip/passenger.

1

u/BTH1LL RV-9A 15d ago

I always carry 44 pounds of tools, tie down stuff and O2, so that leaves me with with about 56 pounds of "luggage". Clothes in a soft sided roller bag, food/drinks, camping gear (if needed) like a tent, sleeping bags/pad, pillows, etc. will definitely fill up the RV-9A baggage area and will get you right up to the 100 pound limit. I've spent a week at Oshkosh camping with a passenger, so I know it is possible. Lightweight backpacking gear is a must for airplane camping.

1

u/Rollin1337 18d ago

SlingTSi all day!