For about 3 years now I have been looking for a contemporary LSA to purchase. I've flown the CTLS, Remos GX, A-22 Valor, Savannah, Sport Cruiser, Faeta, SportStar and a Tecnam. They all had their strengths and weaknesses but the common element was that they all seemed expensive for the cost benefit. Clearly just a personal opinion from a guy who has owned 5 ultralights.
My wife received her Private Pilot's Certificate last year at Redbird Skyport in San Marcos, TX. It was a tremendous experience for her as Redbird trains extensively in their full motion sims before the student flies one of their six G-1000 equipped 172SPs. Her getting her license was a result of our collective decision to pursue the goal of flying around the world in a small airplane (rtw-adventure.com). Our intention is to have a Van's RV-10 built that flies behind a diesel engine, but that's another story.
We went to Vans in Oregon and flew the RV-10, which was great and we also had the opportunity to fly the RV-12. Both of us were very impressed with the quality of the design, the control harmony, the performance, versatility and the incredible visibility.
I was impressed enough to start shopping for a pre-built RV-12 and I found one in Oregon with 57 hours constructed by an experienced builder. The plane has all Van's E-LSA options (e.g. wheel pants, wingtip strobes and landing light, etc). It was equipped with a Dynon Flightdek 180, autopilot, Garmin 495 and the standard Garmin SL-40 radio and 327 transponder. And the best part is that the plane cost about half the price of a new CT or Remos. I flew the plane from Lebanon Oregon to our home base in Coeud d'Alene and then added an iPad, Stratus ADS-B, Garmin 796 with XM weather and a Zaon XRX traffic avoidance unit.
Two days later my wife and a girlfriend got in the RV-12 and flew it from Coeur d'Alene Idaho to Vero Beach, Florida where my business is based. They were in the air for 25 hours over several days and had a terrific time. Both of us think the RV-12 is the best bang for the buck in the LSA world, at least for what we want to do. I thought I would share our experience.
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L. Bruce Jones U.S. SUBMARINES, INC.
GROUP CEO POSEIDON UNDERSEA RESORTS LLC
U.S. SUBMARINE STRUCTURES LLC TRITON SUBMARINES LLC
TRITON SUBMARINE CHARTERS LLC TRITON ENERGY SYSTEMS LLC
TRITON SPECIALTY VESSELS LLC TRITON MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTIONS
Tel: 208/687-9057 Fax: 208/441-7478
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Building the world's deepest diving multi-passenger submersible
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