Tue, Sep 01, 2015
Van’s Aircraft Proves That People Are Interested In Amateur-Built Light Sport Aircraft
It’s hard to determine how many people are exercising sport pilot privileges while holding a higher level pilot certificate because the FAA only keeps track of actual new certificates issued. However, one way to get a feel for it is to look at the sales of kit-built airplanes designed to qualify as an LSA.
Van’s Aircraft tells us that On August 27, their shipping department had several orders to fill. By the end of the day, they’d rolled the 937th RV-12 kit empennage package onto the shipping dock, where it was picked up by a customer from Washington State, Richard Bangsund.
What’s the significance of “937”? Van’s says that combined with the S-LSA “fly-away” RV-12s the company has constructed, the total number of RV-12 empennage kits produced and sold now totals one thousand.
This is the sixth RV design to exceed 1000 sales…four designs have exceeded 1000 completions. The number of flying RVs listed on the company’s website now totals 9,178. Four hundred and seven of those are RV-12s.
“All of us at Van’s have known that the RV-12 is an excellent little airplane,” said company founder Dick (Van) VanGrunsven. “It’s nice to see the word spreading in the market place.” Vans reports that the popularity of the little RV 12 has certainly spread in his immediate family. Van and two of his brothers have built and fly RV-12s. So have a pair of company employees.
Van’s says RV-12s have also been completed by several groups of young people participating in the Teenflight and Eagle’s Nest programs. S-LSA RV-12s are now operated by several flight schools, who report that their students love the way it flies, and it’s reported they often request the RV-12 even when other airplanes are available.
The RV-12 may not be the typical RV high performer, but it performs the job it was designed for and intended to do very well.
(Images from file)
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