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RV-12 taildragger?

D

diamond

Well Known Member
I searched this a bit and found a thread that was several years old. What is the current thinking on this? Has anyone made an RV12 taildragger? Is it structurally not a realistic option?
 
vandi said:
I believe the LSA can't be a tail dragger. I could be wrong though.
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Certainly an LSA can be a taildragger. There are many out there. However, the only way you could build an RV-12 as a taildragger would be to go amateur-built, because if you go ELSA, you must follow the plans verbatim.
I suspect to make the -12 a taildragger would be an engineering nightmare. I don't think it would be practical at all.
 
Not very practical was the answer when I asked

I once asked about that also and received a laundry list of things from one of the Van's guys that made it very impractical. I am sure it is not impossible, as people have made RV's with retracts, but very impractical.
 
vandi said:
I believe the LSA can't be a tail dragger. I could be wrong though.
Click to expand...

Welcome to VAF!

I try not to let the first post go by with out some sort of recognition. Welcome!

I think what vandi was trying to say is the RV-12 E-LSA cannot be a tail dragger, and I believe that is correct.
 
Thanks, I'm still doing my research, and I thought that one I'd read somewhere at one time or another that one of the LSA specifications was that it had to be tricycle, but that was probably in the developmental stages of the Regs and I think at the time probably didn't include amphibious as well.
 
Stick around vandi, Mel and I will straighten you out. ;)

Again welcome, no more lurking, full and engaging participation required. :D
 
Lurking is what I do best. :)

I usually have foot-in-mouth disease, if I comment on something...
 
Hey, We all have "foot-N-mouth" disease lurking in the background and it comes out occasionally. When it does, just accept the jesters and "build-on".
 
Is there a place to put welcome to the forum " here I am, this is what I'm about" place around these parts?

Nothing like Hi Jack'n someone's thread.
 
Hi Vandi and welcome
OK to hijack my thread because I got the message loud and clear "No taildragger on the RV12". I expected that and am OK with it.
 
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vandi said:
Is there a place to put welcome to the forum " here I am, this is what I'm about" place around these parts?

Nothing like Hi Jack'n someone's thread.
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Welcome to the friendliest gathering of aviators anywhere, Hi Jack'n goes on all the time around here....just so it is about airplanes and flyin'. :)

I belong to 2 local EAA chapters and we have quite few members who do not fly or are not yet pilots but love to hang out and they are always welcome. This place is like that.

Back to the thread topic, sure the RV-12 could be made into a tail dragger. All it takes is money. Drop a couple million into the bucket at Van's and they'd do it for you. But does that make sense? There are many, many tail draggers that are in the LSA envelope amateur built, go shopping in that area and for sure there's something that will meet the mission. (I particularly like the Fisher line up of wood airplanes, since it has has to be home built for me.)
 
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