Why choose a RV 12?

During my first series of flying lessons in early 1993, the concept of building my own airplane seemed very appealing. I was looking in depth at a Kitfox. My training plane was a Cessna 152 and the association was natural. When I reconvened my flying lessons last year and finished in a Piper Warrior with a private pilot license, a low wing, all metal airplane seemed like a better choice. Reverting to the Light Sport Catagory and attending the Sebring LSA show, the Sun and Fun show and multiple Oshkosh conventions caused me to select the Zenith CH601 with a quickbuild option. I attended the Zenith rudder workshop in Mexico, MO last year and built the rudder seen in the photograph. With my desire to build a Experimental-Light Sport Aircraft (E-LSA) rather than a Experimental-Amateur Built (E-AB), the Vans' RV 12 fit the requirements. Rans' S-19 and Zenith's CH601 now CH650 are not E-LSA buildable. After talking with a number of RV builders (and there are vast numbers of them) I felt a trip to Aurora, OR was in order. Seeing Van's factory and flying the prototype was all of the convincing I needed. The order was placed and the wing kit should arrive in about two months.