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Newbie looking for RV12 info

Todd82

I'm New Here
Hi folks, first time poster here.

I've seen an RV12 on display at a local fly in before (EAA SW Ohio Regional Fly In) and the wife especially liked the looks of them. At the time I was more interested in 4 seaters though. Life and medical conditions change and now I'm probably in the LSA world and back looking at RV12's. Now I'd probably be buying a factory build one, definitely not building my own because I wouldn't trust flying in anything I built lol.

What can you folks tell me about real world payload, equipment, performance in the factory builds? With the fuel tank in the back is there even enough room for a bag for maybe a weekend trip? Do they perform well off grass?

While I've always loved the looks of the RV line I just am not mechanical enough to take on Experimentals, but this may be my way in. Thanks.
 
The 912iS provides very good performance at gross. That would be two adults, 50 lbs of luggage and 14 gallons of gas which will get you 2 hours of flying with a 5 gallon reserve. Yes there is plenty of room for luggage behind the gas tank.

I think the premium SLSA is the way to go with autopilot and two screens. The avionics are quite nice and the amount of data available with ADS-B in is impressive.

If you PM me with your email, I can send you a weight & balance spreadsheet that you can play with.:)
 
RV12 Performance

You can download the owners manual from Vans. Performance numbers are there. Mine is the classic, not fuel injected. Climb at gross weight is over 600FPM in mine. Over 1000 with just me aboard. 750 pounds empty weight - I can have 2 big guys, full baggage and fuel (20 gal) and still be under gross.
122 knots cruise with wheel pants. Prop is pitched for best cruise but the climb numbers are still just fine.

I have a single Skyview screen with autopilot, Full interior. Full paint.

Easy to get 2 standard size airline carry-on wheel bags in it in the baggage area with room for soft stuff left over.

Operated off a 1200 ft grass strip for 4 years, does fine.
 
Todd82
I had my RV-12 at SWORFI last year and there are a number of -12's in the area. I'd be happy to give rides. Mine is a classic build with the 912ULS and works great for weekend trips and occasionally more...In 2019 with my wife, our beagle and some luggage flew from Cincinnati to Delaware for Thanksgiving and still had an hour left in the tank...with a little help from the prevailing winds :)
Good luck,
MJ

Flying RV-12 (180+ hrs and Oshkosh 2019)
N418MJ
Warren County, OH (I68)
[email protected]
http://www.mykitlog.com/mwjohn63
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJdXcjckN6M
 
The 912iS provides very good performance at gross. That would be two adults, 50 lbs of luggage and 14 gallons of gas which will get you 2 hours of flying with a 5 gallon reserve. Yes there is plenty of room for luggage behind the gas tank.

I think the premium SLSA is the way to go with autopilot and two screens. The avionics are quite nice and the amount of data available with ADS-B in is impressive.

If you PM me with your email, I can send you a weight & balance spreadsheet that you can play with.:)

QUESTION: Give the factors above, and yes everyone's mileage may vary, what is a ballpark flyaway price for a factory built SLSA RV-12iS? Somewhere north of $160K?
 
Factory fly-away SLSA RV-12iS currently range from $125,500 to ~$160,000 depending on avionics, paint and a few other factors.

You can always call me at Van's if you have questions - X305 from Van's switchboard or ask for Eric. EEEEEEEric if you want a laugh from the salesperson :)
 
The 12 is great but not a two people with baggage cross country machine. Flew LSA in mine for 5 years but pilgrimages to Oshkosh and SNF each year had to be solo with camping gear as my passenger to keep gross weight and W&B in check. Spares, tie down etc. would total close to 20# so only 30 was left for the luggage area. Great for solo cross country but not for dual.
 
Todd82
I had my RV-12 at SWORFI last year and there are a number of -12's in the area. I'd be happy to give rides. Mine is a classic build with the 912ULS and works great for weekend trips and occasionally more...In 2019 with my wife, our beagle and some luggage flew from Cincinnati to Delaware for Thanksgiving and still had an hour left in the tank...with a little help from the prevailing winds :)
Good luck,
MJ

Flying RV-12 (180+ hrs and Oshkosh 2019)
N418MJ
Warren County, OH (I68)
[email protected]
http://www.mykitlog.com/mwjohn63
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJdXcjckN6M
I see we are basically neighbors I'm a few miles south of I66/west of ILN. Yours was evidently the one we saw there that day, small world. Once the weather breaks I may take you up on the offer for a ride and a closer look, looks like the weekend goes sloppy again though.
 
Sorry for 3 posts in a row.

Anyways the wife and I combined will be roughly 355 lb. We've gotten good at packing light for weekend trips. Typical trips will be in the 200nm range for visitng my family and 325nm trips up to TVC. Paved runway here is 3500ish so that's no issue but the fun places are grass so that's why I was asking.

Another thing, I'm your typical story of I was in training, got married, bought a house, and had to stop flying because of a lack of funds at the time. No more mortgage so now I've got money to buy. I've got over 60hr in a lot of starts and stops over the years, but almost all in Piper Cherokee models. Will the transition to a RV12 be difficult?
 
Todd,

I’ve flown a Cherokee for 35 years. You will find the RV. much lighter on the controls. I’m a CFI and I would suggest you just start over training as a sport pilot. You won’t need a PPL for day VFR in the RV-12. 60 hours spread over a number of years without recent flight experience won’t be much of a leg up on getting your license. A lot has changed in recent years so it would be best to just approach training as a blank page. Your hours still count, and if it comes back faster than average they can be used to satisfy the hours required for a sport pilot license.

Transition will probably be most difficult in getting used to a glass cockpit as opposed to steam gages, but certainly there is no aspect of transition to the RV-12 that you can’t do. It’s meant to be simple and straightforward, and with a little study you should pick it up quickly.

Good luck!

Rich
 
Are you familiar with the Rotax 912 engine and it's propensity to be designed to run on premium 91 octane Mogas, not 100LL as sold at most airports.

Some of us fuel Mogas almost exclusively.

The RV-12IS with the Rotax 912IS engines have a plane pushing 775# before paint, cutting even further into remaining payload weight to be under 1320 gross max. Add in 119# for 19.8 gallons of fuel.

The earlier built Legacy versions with the 912 ULS with carbs, seem to come in a bit lighter.
 
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There's no real harm in running 100LL though, right?

But otherwise when at home, gotta use those Kroger fuel points somehow, right? Better in a low wing than a high wing.
 
Your low vs. high wing comment seems to imply wing tanks. The 12 does not have wing tanks - it’s in the cockpit baggage compartment. The filler is on the side of the fuselage. Best you take a look at one first hand to evaluate better. And using LL is ok, just requires shorter oil change and oil tank cleaning intervals. Again, best to have a dialogue with an owner to understand all of the nuisances.
 
There's no real harm in running 100LL though, right?

But otherwise when at home, gotta use those Kroger fuel points somehow, right? Better in a low wing than a high wing.

The lead in 100LL isn't good for the motor, or the clutch in the gearbox. While 100LL can be used, it's not recommended. The tolerances in the engine were not designed for it. Get a copy of the Rotax 912 ULS Owners manual on line.

If you are doing 300 mile trips, and the plane has a range of 4 hour run time, 3.5 actual if you leave 1/2 hour reserve, you should be able to fill up with mogas at your destination, or make arrangements before hand to do so.

It's your plane, once you buy it.

Personally, myself, I try to do everything I can to meet the Mogas fuel spec when my plane needs fueling.

The RV-12 can be used for longer trips, but it's really a fair weather only flying plane. Winds aloft and it's light weight make for a really bumpy ride, so you need to pick the days you fly carefully, check the weather and definitely follow the winds aloft. Where I live, lately, it's been really slim pickings for days that the wind is down enough below 20 kts to go flying. YMMV, based on your location. The RV-12 may be reliable, but the weather to fly it in may not be reliable. Being retired, I can pick my days I go flying.
 
Your low vs. high wing comment seems to imply wing tanks. The 12 does not have wing tanks - it’s in the cockpit baggage compartment. The filler is on the side of the fuselage. Best you take a look at one first hand to evaluate better. And using LL is ok, just requires shorter oil change and oil tank cleaning intervals. Again, best to have a dialogue with an owner to understand all of the nuisances.

I know the cockpit fuel thing I mentioned it earlier, but *anything* beats climbing up on wings to refuel. I'm only 5'8"

I'm just thinking the times you're "out" on a weekend trip or whatever and need a splash to get home. No issues carrying 3 plastic 5 gallon jugs to Kroger for some premium when it's at home base. I say 3 because if it took more than that to fill I was probably deeper into the reserve than I intended anyways with 19 and change usable.
 
Agreed!
I've never landed at I66. I did training at Red Stewart and did a lot of flying in that area. It seems like I'm often near KILN on trips too.

I've had my -12 at 40I and O74 grass strips, one with wheel pants and one without. No problems.
 
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mwjohn63, are you the guy that took me to see your 12 at your house a couple of years ago when I was getting my annual done by Mark at Lebanon? I was the guy that won the RV-12 at Oshkosh in 2017.
 
Flo-Fast Fuel Tank

Get a 15 gallon Flo-Fast fuel tank with crank pump on the top. Put it on a wheeled base (check Harbor freight) and keep in the hangar. Use jerry cans to fill it through a Mr. Funnel. That will maximize your use of premium mogas. Don't worry about the ethanol with this arrangement, the Rotax doesn't care nor do any of the RV12 fuel system components.

You only get the shorter oil change times if you use more than about 30% 100LL. I never worry about using 100LL on a cross country. If there is mogas convenient along the route - great - but I would never worry about trying to make special arrangements.
 
so you're The Guy !

(Lucky Aviation) that won the RV-12 at Oshkosh in 2017.
I was a student at the EAA Sport Pilot Academy in Sept 2017. Every day we'd go to the Jack Mark hangar at KOSH for training (ground school & flying C162 Skycatchers). What eventually became your plane was sitting in the hangar and I spent some time in it making believe that I was going to win it.
After graduating I realized that renting an LSA wasn't going to work out so I had to build (and now fly) an RV12 ... what a thrill :D
That sure had to be quite an experience to get The Call that you'd won.
 
It was an experience of a lifetime, that's for sure!
I am getting farther on my RV8 build currently and will be faced with selling the 12 soon.
It sure is a load of fun to fly!
 
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