Walter and Bill (though slightly biased) summed up much of the major differences. A big one which was not mentioned is the “stall-proof” capability of the canard. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they are totally “stall-proof” because if you really screw up your CG you can still stall the main wing – which is pretty much unrecoverable. But that would be true with an RV as well (i.e. get too much weight too far aft and not enough elevator at slow speed). However, if you pay attention to W&B / CG you basically cannot stall a canard – it remains fully flyable at completely aft stick at any power setting.

 

I also like the visibility from a canard better than the RV.  Because the wing is aft of the pilot location you’ve got great visibility out either side even to a certain extent in turns.

 

Fiberglass is easy to work with and mistakes are easy to fix or re-do. I’m guessing that if you seriously dent an aluminum piece or drill a hole in the wrong spot it’s more or less permanent and/or calls for ordering a new piece. With fiberglass it’s easy to fix problems like that – and if you really screw up people have been known to pull out a grinder and simply remove all traces of the screw up and re-do it (hmmmm wonder who would screw up that badly J ).

 

As far as the finishing process (i.e. making it smooth and shiny), a Velocity should be far easier to finish than a plans built canard (Cozy) like mine. With Velocities it’s my understanding that you’re gluing parts together – so for the most part the only part of the plane that you need to actually fill and sand for finishing is the joints. On a Cozy it’s the whole airplane which is HUGE. But hey, I always wanted Popeye like arms J

 

Those are just some of my thoughts.