Pipistrel Virus SW vs RV-12

[diamond]

Does anyone have any experience, first hand or other, with the Pipistrel Virus SW aircraft? I've been doing some reading and comparing it to the RV-12 in performance and have been quite impressed with the numbers. It uses a Rotax 912 ULS, so comparisons are more valid, even though it is quite a bit different in design. The kit version claims 400 hour build time. One downside is that it comes from far away (Slovenia), but maybe that's not such a big deal. I know it's always more convenient to have the manufacturer close by in case of support, parts, etc.

Here's a link:
http://www.pipistrel.si/plane/virus-sw/overview

[hydroguy2]

How did it look or did you fit in it nicely? How were the flight controls? What do the other owners/builders say about it or the companywhat's the baggage situation? What was your mission again?

answer those and you will find your answer?

[Bob Kuykendall]

Originally Posted by diamond

Does anyone have any experience, first hand or other, with the Pipistrel Virus SW aircraft? I've been doing some reading and comparing it to the RV-12 in performance and have been quite impressed with the numbers. It uses a Rotax 912 ULS, so comparisons are more valid, even though it is quite a bit different in design. The kit version claims 400 hour build time. One downside is that it comes from far away (Slovenia), but maybe that's not such a big deal. I know it's always more convenient to have the manufacturer close by in case of support, parts, etc.

Here's a link:
http://www.pipistrel.si/plane/virus-sw/overview

One big difference between the two: If you build the RV-12, you will learn just about all you need to know about making and assembling sheetmetal aircraft parts. You will be pretty much qualified to maintain it, and if you break it you will have the majority of the skills and understanding required to repair it.

With the composite aircraft kit, you will not get the experience of making large composite shells, and you will also not learn the very different skills and techniques of doing composite repairs. Those aren't hard skills to acquire, but they're not the sort of thing you'd learn while assembling the kit. So if you break it, you'll probably have to take it to a firm that specializes in composite repair.

That said, I think that Robert Mudd is the US dealer for Pipistrel, and he is very good at composite repair, and also a very good guy to deal with. So I wouldn't be worried about getting good support for the kit.

Thanks, Bob K.