What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Looking to get a ride in an RV-12

N

NinerBikes

Well Known Member
Hi,

My name is Randy, and I am looking to get a demo ride in an RV-12. Considering buying one, concerned about a fitment issue. I am 6'5" tall, 36" inseam and about 250#. Need to see if I fit before starting flight school down in Glendale, AZ to get my Sport Pilot license.

You can PM me here, or text me or call at 7four7 threehundred 76fiftyeight. Might need a light tank of fuel if we go up to be under 1320 #

I'm in the north end of the San Fernando Valley in L.A. KVNY and KWHP are both close to me, also KWJF or Fillmore.
 
NinerBikes said:
Hi,

My name is Randy, and I am looking to get a demo ride in an RV-12. They are located at KTOA. Considering buying one, concerned about a fitment issue. I am 6'5" tall, 36" inseam and about 250#. Need to see if I fit before starting flight school down in Glendale, AZ to get my Sport Pilot license.

You can PM me here, or text me or call at 7four7 threehundred 76fiftyeight. Might need a light tank of fuel if we go up to be under 1320 #

I'm in the north end of the San Fernando Valley in L.A. KVNY and KWHP are both close to me, also KWJF or Fillmore.
Click to expand...

Hi Randy, are you looking at a factory built -12 or the kit? If the -12 doesn’t work for you, I’d look at the Sling2 next. The S-LSA is 1320lbs, the kit’s MAUW is 1540lbs. There is no difference between the two and if you decide on the factory built LSA, it will jump to 1540 a few years down the road when they up the weight limits.

I hope you fit in the -12, they fly real nice...good luck.
 
Last edited:
I?ve flown both

Both planes are fantastic. The Sling folks at the Torrence airport can introduce you to their plane; I did their introductory flight to see how the plane flew.

I think Vans has a bigger fleet of flying planes. And the company is setup in a way for future success with excellent people, finances and product engineering. It might be worth a trip to the factory in Oregon for you to see all the planes.

Good luck and have fun! ��
 
Last edited:
RV12JT said:
Hi Randy, are you looking at a factory built -12 or the kit? If the -12 doesn’t work for you, I’d look at the Sling2 next. The S-LSA is 1320lbs, the kit’s MAUW is 1540lbs. There is no difference between the two and if you decide on the factory built LSA, it will jump to 1540 a few years down the road when they up the weight limits.

I hope you fit in the -12, they fly real nice...good luck.
Click to expand...

Probably the Experimental kit, want to have the ability to work on it myself, and do inspections, etc, once the 16 hr. class has been taken.

I have looked into the Sling 2, sat in one and my knees are against the bottom of the dash in the Sling 2. The Sling 2 is also a bit portly with the 39 gallons of fuel capacity, lowering it's ability to handle both my weight and the instructors, just not a lot of payload left, so the instructor would be down to 120 or 130 pounds with 10 to 12 gallons fuel on board. It's a very nice plane, but the price tag on them has not depreciated much, and the ones available for sale are used student pilot program units with usually 1000 + hard student hours on them, and I don't need a pair of two G3X units in the dash.

Thanks for the suggestion, though, they were my first choice.
 
Last edited:
mikefox said:
Both planes are fantastic. The Sling folks at the Torrence airport can introduce you to their plane; I did their introductory flight to see how the plane flew.

I think Vans has a bigger fleet of flying planes. And the company is setup in a way for future success with excellent people, finances and product engineering. It might be worth a trip to the factory in Oregon for you to see all the planes.

Good luck and have fun! ��
Click to expand...

Gonna be a long drive to the factory... and that might be late spring... weather is kind of Iffy in Oregon in the winter? Or are they located on the desert side of the Cascades? Both planes have a reputation for being "floaty" on descent, if you don't get the speed down so that they start sinking. Both still require watching the throttle setting too at 8000 feet or above, or they exceed the Sport Pilot License air speed limit. Last thing I need is a letter from the airplane Po Po.
 
Last edited:
r
Larco said:
Since you are coming toGlendale for training this school advertises an RV12 as a trainer. http://www.flying-cacti.com/

I do not personally know them, just an idea
Click to expand...

First things first, I have to fit into the plane, before committing to training in an RV-12. Van's is Dutch, I am Dutch, I hope they design and build planes for people of Dutch heritage, the Dutch are some of the tallest people in the world.

I've looked into it... Already have the Gleim Self Study Kit for ground school. Already took the FAA practice test and scored 82.5%, it really seems to me like the test is based on common sense... want to finish reading the ground school first, before spending time on a flight instructor, simulators, and rentals.

Question... ADS-B... is it mandatory on ALL planes in 2020, or just in planes planning to request permissions from ATM to fly in or over B, C and D airspace? There's a lot of BLM land where I intend to fly in the South West here, have no intentions of ever wanting to fly into B airspace, plane is just not fast enough to get in the flight line to land with the big commercial boys, and a LSA type aircraft, no matter how far down the runway you land, is asking for trouble from vortices off of wing tips of the big jets. Same for VNY, I never plane to land there, either. Far, far, far too crowded air space around there.
 
Last edited:
NinerBikes said:
Both still require watching the throttle setting too at 8000 feet or above, or they exceed the Sport Pilot License air speed limit. Last thing I need is a letter from the airplane Po Po.
Click to expand...
Not a thing. The LSA regs specify max speed in level flight AT SEA LEVEL, not at higher altitudes.
 
DaleB said:
Not a thing. The LSA regs specify max speed in level flight AT SEA LEVEL, not at higher altitudes.
Click to expand...

Any idea what you've seen for top ground speed actual, in a no wind condition at higher elevations, say 7500 to 8 or 9000 ft ASL? Also, if your prop has adjustable pitch on the ground, how do you have your pitch set up? I'm assuming you're running a 912 ULS.
 
Last edited:
NinerBikes said:
Any idea what you've seen for top ground speed actual, in a no wind condition at higher elevations, say 7500 to 8 or 9000 ft ASL? Also, if your prop has adjustable pitch on the ground, how do you have your pitch set up? I'm assuming you're running a 912 ULS.
Click to expand...

Top ground speed my RV-12 has seen is a little over 200MPH. Lots of tailwind... I wasn't flying it at the time, a friend had borrowed it. I've never seen no wind at altitude. I typically cruise at 120 true, but I've seen a few knots over that at 6500 or higher. Our prop is pitched roughly by the book... I think we could take out maybe a couple tenths of a degree still. Maybe next condition inspection, or right before we have it dynamically balanced this coming year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top