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RV-12 Transition Training ? A Scanlon Aviation Review

John-G

Well Known Member
Near the end of the RV-12 build, I unexpectedly found myself in a doughnut hole of no insurance coverage. When calling about procuring an insurance policy for the about to be flying RV-12, I was told that my builders insurance policy became null and void the moment the airplane could move under its own power. I had incorrectly assumed the builder?s policy would stay in effect until the aircraft received an airworthiness certificate.

Unfortunately, the new insurer was requiring I receive at least 5 hours of flight training with 10 full stop landings (not unreasonable) before the RV-12 would be covered with me at the controls. However, essentially that had left me in a doughnut hole of being uninsured should I desire doing any taxi operations to condition the brakes or swing the compass, ect. Fellow builders carrying a builder?s insurance policy may want to consider getting some transition training near the completion of the build so you too don?t find yourself unexpectedly stuck in a doughnut hole of no coverage (as I did) even though you have an insurance policy in effect. Upping the ante, the insurance company was also requiring the instructor for the transition training have at least 750 hours and at least 25 of that had to be in the RV-12.

After looking into various training centers, I settled on heading out to Scanlon Aviation in Novato California at Gnoss Field (KDVO) which is approximately 30 miles north of San Francisco. Scenically, the areas surrounding Gnoss field are truly diverse ? there are mountains, large marshlands, the beautiful San Pablo bay to the south (a practice area) with views to the Golden Gate Bridge and seven miles to the north is the Petaluma airport where another practice area resides between Petaluma and the Pacific Ocean adjacent to scenic Point Reyes. Thirteen miles to the east is Napa ? where the runways are long to support jet traffic and great for over the runway maneuvering practice.

My flight instructor for the 10 day extravaganza at Scanlon Aviation was John Ward. (Yep 10 days, I wanted to far exceed the required 5 hours and really learn the RV-12, so I logged over 18 hours). Have to say; John knows the flight characteristics of the RV-12 like the back of his hand. Prior to each flight session John would discuss what the goal(s) would be for the flight session and how the RV-12 would react ? John?s analysis was always spot on. I would not hesitate recommending John as an instructor for those builders desiring transition time in an RV-12 ? he truly knows the flight characteristics of RV-12. Oh, how does the RV-12 fly? Wonderfully!!!!

For me, the only downside was that the Scanlon RV-12 has a Garmin avionics package and not the Dynon SkyView as in my RV-12? so I was not able to delve into the SkyView menus for flight planning, setting up GPS way-points, ect.

For fellow builders desiring transition training in the RV-12, I can wholeheartedly recommend the services at Scanlon Aviation and, in particular, instruction from John Ward.
 
Congrats on your build and transition training! I'm looking forward to seeing you post about your travels in the newly built plane!

Best, T
 
That's my home base! I wish I'd known you were in town so we could have shown you the rest of the airport and taken you to lunch. There are some cool things hiding at that airport if you know where to look...

My wife did transition training in that SLSA-12 as well and learned a lot! She told them the S stood for "Store Bought".
 
I too did RV-12 transition training at Scanlon Aviation and I loved them both: Scanlon, and the RV-12. My instructor was Will McClendon, and he was just superb. I've never flown behind a Dynon SkyView, but I have sat in a plane with its SkyView powered on, and I like the Garmin G3X more. The G3X displays information, and especially the moving map, in a completely clear and uncluttered fashion, unlike the SkyView which I though displayed a cluttered map.

I live in Santa Monica, quite far from Novato, but I've driven back up there just to fly the plane again. I keep looking online for a previously-owned G3X-equipped SLSA RV-12 for sale, but they're so new that I haven't found one for sale yet. I tried to persuade my local flight school, from which I now rent a Cessna SkyCatcher, to add an RV-12 to its fleet. The owner said he might be willing, but only if I bought it and leased it back on terms that would not have cost me more than if I bought one and just flew it myself. (The extra insurance and flight school management fee wipe out any hope of breaking even.)
 
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