Fuselage build time on RV 12is

[Ken Patton]

How much time would one figure in building the fuselage? It took about 100 hours to complete the empennage. Fuselage and wing kits are now backed up five months. And I’ve had my fuselage ordered since the end of October and still waiting. I need a rough estimate on time so I will know when to order the wings.
The virus has definitely been the culprit causing these extended wait times and you have to credit Van’s for their efforts and keeping us informed.
Thank you in advance for any response

[thiggins]

I’ve heard 75% of the airframe time is the fuse. I’m also waiting for the wing kit, trying NOT to acquire more tools.

[Tony_T]

Here are my build times for the legacy RV-12. I have the plans for the iS and would agree that it is a bit more complex in places, but adding 10% to the fuselage build hours should be reasonable for estimating:

Empennage 116 hr
Wings 212 hr
Fuselage 221 hr
Finish 281

I did not include my Avionics or Firewall forward since the iS is significantly different in those areas. Until someone publishes their iS build times, I guess these will have to do.

If I were building now, I would always have the next kit on hand or on order to avoid long down times. This plane builds fast if that's your goal!

[Ken Patton]

That is the information I was needing. I think once I have received my fuselage kit and get it inventoried I will go ahead and order my wings. I would imagine that when this virus subsides that they will be able to shorten the lead times on most kit deliveries. Again, Thanks for the response

[Major-Tom]

The RV-12 is not my first built and I decided not to use primer on this one. So this went fast. My built times:


empennage: 75h
wings: 122h
fusselage: 181h


Sine you need the spar stubs from the wing kit to built the fusselage kit, I would vote for buying the wing kit now.

Have a look at section 21iS/U. these parts need to be fitted to the sparstubs:
F-1203D-L STUB SPAR RECEPTACLE SUPPORT and

F-1206B-L REAR SPAR RECEPTACLE SUPPORT



Keep on building and enjoy the best building manual on earth!

[RFSchaller]

My build times were similar to Major Tom. I had a well equipped workshop and it was my fourth home built so that certainly impacted the build time.