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Highest Flight in an RV-12: 16,214 Ft

Bill_H

Well Known Member
A friend has made and documented what may be the highest flight in an RV12! Here is a summary, and there are more details and pictures at the link.

A private pilot with medical can fly the RV12 to 17999 ft. (I guess if you are instrument rated and the RV12 is equipped for IFR, you could legally go higher.) If you are exercising Sport Pilot privileges (such as being a PP with lapsed "driver's license" medical) then you are limited to 10000 feet or (the KEY) 2000 ft AGL, whichever is higher. So for maximum altitude in that case, fly over a mountain - like Mt. Rainier, at 14410 MSL, 14800 on the chart! So that would allow for a 16,800 ft attempt.

He waited for good weather, took oxygen and a saturation meter, and made the flight with ATC flight following.

He achieved 16214 feet (density altitude) and was still climbing. He was at less than gross weight, about 1070 pounds.

He has flight logs form the Skyview and all the Density altitude/true altitude calculations.

Climb rates were:
Sea Level to 10,000 ft was 14 minutes. = 714 fpm
10 - 12 thousand was 5 min. = 400 fpm
12-16 thousand was 24 minutes. = 167 fpm
15 to 16 thousand was 8 minutes. = 125 fpm

The RV12 POH lists the service ceiling as "Estimated 12,000 feet." Service Ceiling is defined as the maximum altitude using max continuous or climb power when the ROC (Rate of Climb) falls to 100 fpm while flying at Vy (Best Rate of Climb Speed ) (75 kts for the RV-12) at an ISA Standard Day, which defines a "normal" temperature for different altitudes.

Bob Bogash says "I could have held on for 17,500, but that would have probably taken another 10- 20 minutes - and at less than Vy.

That would likely be the Absolute Ceiling - the Maximum Altitude the airplane can achieve at any speed when the Rate of Climb goes to Zero.

I didn't want to get into that part of the flight envelope - my goal was the Service Ceiling."

"I figure I determined the Service Ceiling with some degree of accuracy - it's about 16,500 feet at ISA at a "typical" solo operational weight of 1050 lbs.
The Service Ceiling is no longer "estimated."

Much more detail and pictures of the flight are here:
http://www.rbogash.com/RV-12/Service Ceiling/RV-12-Service-Ceiling.html

Has anyone gone higher?
 
Service ceiling

Excellent summary & website story. Remarkable how capable a 912 powered RV-12 can perform - one almost thinks Van's low balled the service ceiling in the POH. (wonder if it will be revised in next version?)
 
Is the figure in the POH at gross weight? That might explain the difference.

I am pretty sure all of the values in the POH and the sales literature are at gross weight unless specifically stated otherwise.
That is at least partially why the service ceiling was an estimated value... it is not possible to reach max service ceiling at maximum gross weight, without having taken off higher than the approved gross weight.
Another reason it would be quoted as an estimate, is with a ground adjustable propeller there are no performance absolutes. Climb performance (and service ceiling) is to some degree dependent on propeller pitch. Completion of the PAP tests confirms that the airplane performs to a minimum (to match data published in the POH), but there is some tolerance. That, coupled with the fact that Bob was well below gross weight probably accounts for the majority of the difference.
 
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Great writeup, Bob! Van's obviously designed a good one. You might be interested to know that you've just flown well over twice the height of Australia's highest peak, Mt Kosciuszko (7,310').
 
Well, that record did not stand very long, look what could happen if he repowered with a Viking!
sccf1i.jpg
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And the reflections in the photo suggest a ground based photo. Viking? Must have been dreaming!
 
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The reflection is of me taking a photo of the original on my computer screen with the N number taped over to protect the guilty. I did not notice it until later.
 
This was sort of tongue in cheek info, since there is of course no contest to see who can fly the highest nor any prize to win, and was not in any way supposed to be a challenge to anyone, Bob included..
 
Wow!

And it's still climbing 500 feet per minute!!

Those Viking engines are amazing😷

Putting one in my rocket ASAP
 
Just another data point

Not very scientific but still maybe interesting for some RV-12 drivers. Today I achieved a max. altitude of 17240ft. :)
I was solo with full fuel and approx. 20lb baggage. I reached that altitude after 36min.
OAT on ground was +2?C. QNH 1033 hPa.
That was pretty much the limit and higher would have been irresponsible anyway without O2.
That altitude is quite impressive for that little, regular aspirated engine.
 
A couple of years ago I took the ROTAX maintenance courses and there were a couple of mechanics who maintained drones in the class. They said they routinely operated drones with the 912ULS at 18 and 19 thousand feet. I don?t know what the weight and specs were on the drones, but I was quite impressed that these engines could operate that high.
 
A couple of years ago I took the ROTAX maintenance courses and there were a couple of mechanics who maintained drones in the class. They said they routinely operated drones with the 912ULS at 18 and 19 thousand feet. I don’t know what the weight and specs were on the drones, but I was quite impressed that these engines could operate that high.
Yes, having flown those aircraft (MQ-1) for a number of years, we would operate in the low 20s regularly. (With Rotax 914) Of course if you lost the turbocharger you were not staying there!
 
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it will be interesting to see how the Fuel Injected 912 iS compares to the ULS Bing Carb'd version, for max elevation.
 
For the 912iS, Van?s shows 19,200 feet for absolute ceiling and 17,300 feet for service ceiling. For the 912ULS, 14,600 feet is absolute ceiling and 13,000 feet is service ceiling.
 
IFR ticket

For the 912iS, Van?s shows 19,200 feet for absolute ceiling and 17,300 feet for service ceiling. For the 912ULS, 14,600 feet is absolute ceiling and 13,000 feet is service ceiling.

Man, I better get my IFR ticket if I ever want to see FL 200 and a re-breather style o2 mask. LOL.
 
17,999

Just saying... ok, I didn't document it with anything fancy like a video, but it was just for fun and I was still doing about 150 fpm @85 KIAS when I leveled off. (solo at about 1100 lbs). Oh, and not a Viking engine. Or Rotax either...

That gives me something to do the next time I'm bored on a day off; I'll go up again and then upload the data files or something.

While I believe I could go on up higher, I too am limited by the BasicMed altitude limit and the use of a canula (I hate wearing masks).

ATC enjoyed the conversation and having something to watch on an early Saturday morning and read off my altitude by 500' increments.
 
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Just saying... ok, I didn't document it with anything fancy like a video, but it was just for fun and I was still doing about 150 fpm @85 KIAS when I leveled off. (solo at about 1100 lbs). Oh, and not a Viking engine. Or Rotax either...

That gives me something to do the next time I'm bored on a day off; I'll go up again and then upload the data files or something.

While I believe I could go on up higher, I too am limited by the BasicMed altitude limit and the use of a canula (I hate wearing masks).

ATC enjoyed the conversation and having something to watch on an early Saturday morning and read off my altitude by 500' increments.

Curious in terms of TAS and Ground speed on that day of taking samples?
 
Curious in terms of TAS and Ground speed on that day of taking samples?

I don’t remember those exactly, but OAT was about -17ºC, so I’d guess about 110-115KTAS; I was more focused on indicated airspeed and altitude, but I do remember I was climbing into the wind.

I’ll do it again sometime and let you know.

In the meantime, here’s some data I had from a flight last weekend for your viewing pleasure. I started flying with Garmin Pilot and it uploads my flight data after each flight, so pretty cool.
PEFmMAwl.png
 
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Just saying... ok, I didn't document it with anything fancy like a video, but it was just for fun and I was still doing about 150 fpm @85 KIAS when I leveled off. (solo at about 1100 lbs). Oh, and not a Viking engine. Or Rotax either...

That gives me something to do the next time I'm bored on a day off; I'll go up again and then upload the data files or something.

While I believe I could go on up higher, I too am limited by the BasicMed altitude limit and the use of a canula (I hate wearing masks).

ATC enjoyed the conversation and having something to watch on an early Saturday morning and read off my altitude by 500' increments.

Very impressive Ron. An excellent example how well a simple machine could perform in the hands of a capable pilot. Good job Sir! Looking forward on your next day off experiment.
 
Very impressive Ron. An excellent example how well a simple machine could perform in the hands of a capable pilot. Good job Sir! Looking forward on your next day off experiment.

He's kind of flying a baby RV-9A.... a 130 HP UL350IS, fuel injected beast, no gearbox, so his engine displacement and power to weight ratio, with the higher compression ratio, adds to the elevation potential. Sort of a FADEC set up, no leaning of the carb or adding carb heat?

I've sometimes wondered how well that particular power package would work in a RV-9A build? Maybe like a O-290?

Certainly a high performance bird, that can climb like no other RV-12, at most elevations. An extra 30 HP is a very healthy addition.
 
It's definitely a sporty little bird, thanks.

I think the right engine for the RV-9A would be the UL520i, which makes 160 hp at 2800 rpm (180 hp at 3300 for 5 minutes, if you want to run let 'er rip for a quick burst). It's a flat six and smooth as butter, along with being lighter and more fuel efficient than the comparable O-320, along with FADEC controlled.
 
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