SD... We've built an RV-8 now flying since late Oct 07 with just over 80hours on it... great machine! See
http://www.g-hilz.co.uk RV-7(A) effectively same machine but SBS...
200HP unnecessary
Our 180HP FI does 180HP to about 20' after takeoff then throttle back a LOT.
As above, watch the NW versions
An NTSB investigaiton into numerous NW collapses, some with the aircraft flipping right over, has led to a recent "modified" design... yet 2 of these (1 UK, 1 USA) have collapsed already, the UK very nearly flipped as well
The reasons for this are numerous, but the "risks" are higher with an RV NW aircraft than most others...
OTOH the taildraggers are fairly benign (I'd never flown a taildragger before) relative to others out there... so you end up with the "risks" being closer than normal for a NW v TW comparison
NoD