It'll be here soon..... I hope

I got back from my annual skiing holiday to Canada on the last day of Janaury 2010 knowing that my RV-12 kit shipped from Van's on January 27th. Whilst in Canada I seriously considered a trip to Oregon to have a look at the demo aircraft but it was all a little too last minute to make it happen..... Next year maybe?

Anyway on arriving back home I had loads of post some of it from Van's confirming what had been shipped and what hadn't. I seem to have 3 parts on back order a rudder weldment, upper stabilator horn and lower stabilator horn but nothing that will stop me from starting the building. Also included in the information sent over was a list from Avery detailing the items in the RV-12 tool kit and a couple of additions I made and some stuff for my friend Tim who has had his RV-7 flying for almost 3 years now and has been a great source of information and I have no doubt will remain to be so.

Yesterday I put a call into the shippers DB Schenker to find out where the kit is and it's in London having already been to Portland, LA & San Fran on it's air freight journey to the UK..... I wonder if I have to log these flying hours?? Hopefully it'll be in Manchester soon and I can get the thing registered with the LAA, get my workshop inspected and have some lessons from Tim about applying primer and working with aluminium. I also finished my tool purchase with an expensive afternoon in Machine Mart buying air tools, an inspection lamp, tool chest and a few other items.

I'm pretty much set to go and am looking forward to a massive challenge and hope you enjoy following my progress.

I've Bitten the Bullet and will be Building an RV-12

So after a lot of thinking and doing some sums I've finally placed my order with Van's Aircraft for my RV-12!! Initially I've ordered the empennage, wings and fuselage kits along with a tool kit from Avery and the Vans tool box kit as a my 'first project' having only every built flat pack furniture up until now.

So far I've cleared my garage and turned my garage it in to a workshop complete with build benches, a compressor, shelves, improved lighting and curtains..... My Mum's idea not mine. I've made contact with my LAA inspector and am ready to register the kit once it arrives at my house.

Kit one the empennage and tool kit will ship late January 2010 and should arrive at Manchester International via air freight early February after my annual snowboarding holiday with the other two kits sea freighting at the end of March for end of April or early May delivery.

The RV-12 is a 2 seater rotax powered aircraft that is made of aluminuim and offers good performance and economy whilst running on standard unleaded car fuel and has the ability to carry 2 large people along with 75 litres of fuel giving a range of over 500 miles. A glass cockpit comes as standard with modern avionics, the kit is almost like buying flat pack furniture as it comes with comprehensive instructions and everything you need to build a finished aircraft and another benefit it’s a ‘permit’ aircraft in the UK so the owner does the maintenance which means a saving of at least £3,000 a year compared with traditional aircraft.

So now the garage is clear the work benches built, compressor waiting and Machine Mart shopping list on stand-by....... Let the fun begin!

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION:

Length - 5.82m or 19.12 ft
Height - 2.56m or 8.43ft
Wing Span - 8.19m or 26.87ft
Fuel - 75 litres or 16.5 UK Gallons
Range - 560 - 614 statute miles (482 - 534 nautical miles) depending on power setting
Empty Weight - 740 lbs
MTOW - 1320 lbs
VNE - 136 kts or 156mph
Cruise - 90 kts or 104 mph or 108 kts or 124 mph depending on power setting
Stall - 41 kts or 47 mph
Rate of Climb - 1,135 ft/min or 900 ft/min depending on power setting
Service Ceiling - 12,000ft
Limit Load Factor Light Sport Category - +4.0g/-2.0g