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RV-12 First Flights: Photo Album

Of course it is okay, Joeri! As long as our ignition keys are different, we won't end up going home in the wrong aircraft when we meet up! :)
 
Folks,

New photo of Oren Heatwole's Jab 3300 engine. Thanks, Joe Dallas, for sending it!

Find it in Photo Album at: 07/11/2012 First Flight N330JA.

Don
 
Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after receiving its airworthiness certificate, N1769K (RV 120359) took its maiden voyage at Eagle Creek Airpark in Indianapolis!

The test pilot reports that the plane flew great, has no heavy wing, and that all the instruments were running in the green.

Here are some videos. See the "show us the status of your RV-12" sticky for a still photo.

Takeoff video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beWmJv5ZMbM

Landing video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw6gFbU5C1w

Thanks again to everyone here for all of the advice and encouragement that helped make this possible!
 
Folks,

Joe Singleton in England sent a photo of his RV-12 which flew last year but was recently painted. Check out his canopy!

Find it at: 11/10/2012 First Flight G-RVIZ

Don
 
New First Flights

Folks,

On 17-18 July 2013 three more RV-12's were added to the Photo Album. They are:

10/22/2012 Norm Henderson, Sparta, WI
12/23/2012 Walt Shipley, Chuckey, KY
6/26/2013 Julian Coles, Auckland, New Zealand

Congratulations to all !

Don
 
More new first flights

Folks,

I have info on three more first flights:

12/21/2012 Eric Caldwell Arlington, TX
03/17/2013 Dan Harstine Syracuse, NY
05/03/2013 Vicky & John Leroux Cody, WY

Congratulations to Eric, Dan, and Vicky & John!

These have been posted to the Photo Album.

Don
 
First flight

Kit #120401 N612PC received airworthiness In June and I attended transition training with Jetguy in July. On 7-23 at Rocky Mountain Metro (BJC) I flew her on a cool lite wind condition evening. Slight left wing heavy, the ball out to right about a quarter, and the fuel pressure was a little low (1.9). An otherwise uneventful 30 minute flight.

Raised the idle a bit and checked the fuel line to the pressure sender. I did find some fuel which appeared :cool:a little thick and had an orange tint. I flushed out the fuel line and will test it soon.
 
Photo posted of Keith Williams' First Flight

Folks,

I just posted a photo of Keith Williams' First Flight:

10/12/2012 First Flight N533E SN 120533

Keith sent me this photo on 11/2/2012 but I lost it, somehow. My apologies to Keith.

Don
 
Tom Delaney's First Flight

Folks,

I have just posted Tom Delaney's photo with his new plane. Congratulations, Tom!

RV-12 First Flight 07/27/2013 N427TD

Don
 
Patrick Claar's First Flight

Folks,

Patrick Claar's photo has now been posted to this Photo Album:

07/23/2013 N612PC SN 120401 Patrick Claar

Congratulations on your first flight, Patrick!

Don
 
22 august 2013 sernr:120209

No problems, no heavy wing. First flight duration was 40 minutes. Great experience!

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Nice...

Very happy to see you flying your 12. Great job in all respects.

Looking forward to hearing and seeing more about you and your airplane.

Best,
Tony
 
I didn't want to start a new thread for this. This is not a first flight but it was a great first cross country flight... We went to Jekyll Island Ga. and I wanted to post a picture of what I was able to get in the plane. It was 440 mi. round trip and I used 17 gal of auto fuel.

Rick.

 
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Looks like my kind of holiday! Just ordered a folding bike too, so it's good to know it will fit. That's an impressive amount of gear for an LSA. Thanks for posting.
 
11 New First Flights!

Folks,

I just posted a few days ago 11 new first flights to the RV-12 Photo Album.
They are:

1st Flt Date
------------
05/17/2013 Rudy Vogelsberger N505VR
06/21/2013 H. Dan Davis N49DD
08/05/2013 Henry Roden N933HR
08/08/2013 William Haney N912WH
08/22/2013 Joeri van Veen PH-BZT
08/24/2013 Marty Ammond N439MJ
08/31/2013 Karl Ahamer VH-XKH
09/11/2013 Jean-Pierre Bernoux N124BX
09/14/2013 Heinrich Scharer HB-YBZ
09/26/2013 Jim Kleman N817RV
10/22/2013 Daniel Schmid HB-YSD

In addition, Wes Schierman sent a photo of his newly-painted RV-12, N262WS. His first flight date was 10/21/2011.

Congratulations to all! Great photos!

Don
 
The grey pipe is an extension for the fuel filler so I don't splash on the window. The white tee pipe is a rudder lock that fits on the rudder and braces against the seat floor. The bikes are Dahon 20" rims. With all this and full fuel I'm at 1,310lbs. The chairs are 5lbs ea. and we place them between the seats at take off. Everything else gets stuffed here and there up front or in the channel behind the seats. After fuel burn the chairs can be put in the back as well as some of the other items. It all works out and the plane flies great.

Rick.
 
Hi Rick,

I am impressed. I am struggling a bit with my wife and cross country loads.

I have spent a lot of time looking at folding bikes and the best I could come up with was the Brompton from England which cost moonbeams. Put two Bromptons in the back and that is the 50 lbs used up nearly.

I did a quick check on the Dahon website. Can I ask which model you are using. The weights seemed about the same as the Bromptons.

I would love to see a loaded picture if you have one, or the next time you go.

This should go as separate thread.

Cheers

Julian 120316
 
Adding Another Flying RV-12

First Flight.
RV-12 Serial # 120119, built EAB by Tom and Sandy Odehnal
Skyview panel w/auto pilot, wheel pants, farings, stabilator tips and full interior.
Empty weight 770
First Flight - Nov 21, 2013
Flight was uneventful, and ended after just under an hour with a fully developed RV grin, and some shaky knees. My wife, Sandy and I, built this aircraft in our walkout basement, near Hardin KY, and moved it to our adjacent hangar for the final assembly. The build was intended as a retirement hobby project, with no deadlines, and we enjoyed nearly 1300 fun filled hours in the process. The build included all of Van?s changes, and a few other interesting mods. Flight was made out of our field here in Pirates Cove Resort (42KY), where our home, hangar, and taxiway are mid field, and has a Kentucky Lake background. This was a most satisfying project, and we look forward to many happy flights. Thank you Van?s for a great airplane, and your outstanding support team, also, a hardy thanks to the forum support received from many talented builders, who provided the encouragement and support that helped make this project a success.

Pictures sent to Don Carl Jones
 
RV-12 N128TL, Serial # 120374, built ELSA, with Skyview, lighting kit, ADSB and auto pilot. Completely primed interior surfaces, cockpit painted.
Empty weight 738 lbs
First Flight - Nov 28, 2013
Flight was uneventful, and ended after just half an hour with a fully developed RV grin. I built this plane in my shop, later on the covered patio and in the carport near Tucson, AZ and moved it to the hangar in Marana for final assembly.
The build took me 3.5 years next to a busy job and a job change when I was almost ready to move to the hangar (which set me back almost a year). The build took me a bit more than 1400 hours, mostly due to the idea of priming the interior surfaces and some rework due to the change to the Skyview avionics halfway through the build.

Pictures sent to Don Carl Jones
 
Congratulations Torsten. My build hours are now up around the 1400 hr mark too for much the same reasons. Glad to see I'm not the only one who is taking a lot longer than the advertised hours.
 
First Flight Today for N728SL

Hello Forum!
I flew N728SL for the 1st time today after 5 years of construction, off and on, and lots of enjoyment. I would guess total hours in the 1400 range due to a less than quick pace, not to mention the addition of options that each took a bit of time. I'm very pleased with the result and I'm thankful for Van's for a great product and a strong support team.

I'm also thankful to this forum and guys like Scott, Marty, Joe, Tony, Bill and John, to mention a few. Many challenges were met by visiting this forum and reading what others have done.

The first flight was exciting, albeit uneventful. I had not flown for years and the 12 hours spent flying with Mike Seager in the factory N412RV to bring my skills up to par and transition from a Cessna/Piper background was a life-saver. Thanks Mike!

N728SL statistics:
Empty weight = 754
Wheel pants
Lighting Kit
Full Interior
Auto Pilot/Servos
Skyview with conversion harness
ADS-B

First flight involved 3 circuits of my home airport (Twin Oaks Airpark 7S3) with 3 takeoffs and landings. Next weekend I'll start with the flight test cards and progress from there.
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IMG_3248_zps69466d4d.mp4.html


What a great feeling to complete a life-long goal of building and flying my own airplane!

Scott Lane
120043
N728SL
Hillsboro, OR
 
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Eagles Nest First Flight

First flight from Eagles Nest Project Six from Circle Christian School in Orlando, We got the Pink slip March 24th and flew the first flight just hours later. Watch our video, keep in mind that this airplane was build by high school students as a part of their high school academics and completed during the normal school year start to finish. Come see all the builders at Sun N Fun and take a look at their work.

https://vimeo.com/90044454

CFEdgeFLR
Eagles Nest Six
 
Congratulations to the entire team.
It is great to see another teen build RV-12 project take flight. I think that is the 7th completion so far, with many more to come.
 
Folks,

New RV-12 First Flights have been posted to the Photo Album:

10/16/2012 SN 120469 Bill Cooper
11/21/2013 SN 120119 Tom Odehnal
11/28/2013 SN 120374 Torsten Leibold
12/08/2013 SN 120043 Scott Lane
12/14/2013 SN 120051 James Davis
01/31/2014 SN 120532 Brent Connelly
02/02/2014 SN 120526 James Armsrong
03/07/2014 SN 120496 David Heal

Congratulations to all !

Don
 
New photo for SN 120275

Folks,

I forgot to add this second photo of Heinrich's RV-12, which shows its paint scheme better than the first photo.

09/14/2013 SN 120275 Heinrich Scharer

Don
 
More First Flight Photos

Folks,

Here are four more First Flight photos:

04/12/2014 SN 120308 Stanley Ruggles
06/03/2014 SN 120347 Allan Jespersen
06/10/2014 SN 120755 Mike Howard
06/18/2014 SN 120464 Stan Bahrns

Congratulations to all!

Please click on RV-12 first Flights: Photo Album below and go to the bottom of the Album to see these new photos.

Don
 
One more for the VANS Hobbs... first RV12 in Spain.

Well? ...It took some more weekends than what I would have liked, but result turned great.

After all the riveting, the SB's, the modified avionics, endless testing and overdoing engine runs, I finally run out of excuses to not to take off?

Last saturday in LEIG, Barcelona, (Spain) this new RV-12, EC-XMG climbed exceptionally well.

Though steering that rudder was smooth, my right knee couldn?t stop shaking until I saw 1000ft AGL in the altimeter. Once the adrenaline level let me breath normally again, I enjoyed every minute onboard.

What a pleasure!

http://youtu.be/LRpqR4eUyTc

Some more testing to go, and my transponder will start populating the monitors of the South-European controllers!!

Godo @Barcelona
s/n 120503
 
Third one in the Netherlands

Builder: Dennis v.d. Toorren
Registration: PH-DRV
Serial: 120546
First flight: 31 august 2014
Empty Weight: 331kg/731lbs
Spinner/cowling and wheel pants are made from carbon fiber.

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Congratulations to Dennis!
At 731 lbs (assuming including the paint job) the carbon fiber seem to have saved quite some weight over the stock fiberglass parts!
 
731lbs is including the paint job. Interior all primed. Basic upholstery. Analogue instruments, no Skyview. All fiberglass parts redone in honeycomb. Fairings for the vertical tail, horizontal, gearlegs and the wheelwhells. Carbon spinner, pitot in left wing.
The owner of the RV-12 is the owner of a RC hobby shop and he was quite successful as a model airplane pilot. Due too the hobby he has a lot of experience with fiber/resin.

Honeycomb.jpg
 
Eagles Nest 12 First Flight

We flew N912EN RV-12 serial number 120841 built by high school students of Circle Christian School today at SFB and it flew great!

This aircraft was started September 11 and airworthy just some 25 weeks later. Come to Sun N fun to see this aircraft along side 4 to 5 other Eagles Nest aircraft that will be at and flown at the show.

Eagles Nest Projects.org

Best Regards,
CFEdgeFLR
 
We flew N912EN RV-12 serial number 120841 built by high school students of Circle Christian School today at SFB and it flew great!

This aircraft was started September 11 and airworthy just some 25 weeks later. Come to Sun N fun to see this aircraft along side 4 to 5 other Eagles Nest aircraft that will be at and flown at the show.

Eagles Nest Projects.org

Best Regards,
CFEdgeFLR

Scott, 25 weeks, that is amazing!
Congratulations on completing #2
Your build team should be very proud.
 
carbon parts source?

What is the source for the carbon fiber wheel pants and other parts?
Nice job on the A/C
 
First Flight for RV-12, N912AE

First flight for RV-12 N912AE (serial # 120758) took place Tuesday, 4/28/15 at French Valley Airport (F70). All I can say is wow, what a blast! The left wing is a little heavy and there is a bit too much bend in the rudder tab, but both are easy fixes. I'm looking forward to flying off the rest of the five hours and getting ready for paint.

The first takeoff.
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The happy builder.
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The flight test crew. Left to right: Roger Chastain, me, Jane Chastain, Bill Ippolito, Vicki Jensen and Buzz Jensen.
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Finally! :D

My RV-12 (#120346) took to the skies over Serpentine airfield (YSEN) in Western Australia on 3 May 2015, more than a year after I was sure it was `nearly ready?. However, after a series of delays for various reasons (not least due to CASA), the last of the necessary paperwork was finally completed and it received its Special Certificate of Airworthiness.

Yesterday, our very experienced and gifted test pilot `JB?, taxied VH-YRT down past the two Erikson Aircranes that have been stationed here during our bushfire season (Georgia Peach and Ichabod), and took off from the grass strip for a couple of initial circuits around the field. The small group of enthusiastic onlookers who watched the first flight all had very large Van?s grins, including me.

Nothing fell off and there were no leaks, so now the real test flying begins. Thanks to Vans for a fantastic aircraft, and to the many contributors here from whom I?ve learned so much over the past 4 ? years.

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Congratulations, you beat me done, how did that happen? I can imagine your well justified pride in getting it finished.
 
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