I went from one sport plane manufacturer to another at Sun and Fun and could not obtain a ride in any of the competitions planes. ( I even offered to pay for some dual so as not to give the pretense I was mooching a free ride). I don't know how these people ever expect to sell a plane without offering a ride in one.
Rans did not have the S-19 on display except for photos yet they were willing to take your money. $20,000 for firewall back. Cowling, engine mount etc are in the engine installation kit so the S-19 is going to be more expensive than the 12. I think Rans is thinking of supplying ready built planes and targeting the flight school market. In fact that seems to the be the general trend of all the light sport aircraft manufacturers. Vans seems like the only one still agressively pursuing an affordable homebuilt sport plane.
I spoke to Van about the RV-12. He said other than the upgrades mentioned on their website he plans on sticking with the same basic design (i.e removeable wings, cab forward, etc). The 12 was not at Sun and Fun and he is not sure it will be at Oshkosh this year either (although after hesitating he said that is the current plan). The new RV-12 will not be ready by then and their not sure about displaying the first prototype or not. It looks like I have to push back my plans for a year and see what next year brings.
By the way, I don't know if its just opening day or what but attendance at Sun and Fun is way off this year. Vans booth was considerably smaller. General attendance from suppliers and people visiting the show appeared way off from last year. I won't be back next year and will put my effort towards attending Oshkosh.
Vans has the best marketing tool of all the light sport manufacturers. Let people have a ride and the plane sells itself. Also, it looks like Vans is going to blow away the competion with their pricing. Nothing specific yet but they believe they will come in at a lower cost than the 9. Based on the cold response I got from the other LSA manufacturers I am going to wait for Vans to refine the 12 and go for that one. As I started out in this thread, as far as a homebuilt LSA it does not appear that Vans has much competition.
Frank
Rans did not have the S-19 on display except for photos yet they were willing to take your money. $20,000 for firewall back. Cowling, engine mount etc are in the engine installation kit so the S-19 is going to be more expensive than the 12. I think Rans is thinking of supplying ready built planes and targeting the flight school market. In fact that seems to the be the general trend of all the light sport aircraft manufacturers. Vans seems like the only one still agressively pursuing an affordable homebuilt sport plane.
I spoke to Van about the RV-12. He said other than the upgrades mentioned on their website he plans on sticking with the same basic design (i.e removeable wings, cab forward, etc). The 12 was not at Sun and Fun and he is not sure it will be at Oshkosh this year either (although after hesitating he said that is the current plan). The new RV-12 will not be ready by then and their not sure about displaying the first prototype or not. It looks like I have to push back my plans for a year and see what next year brings.
By the way, I don't know if its just opening day or what but attendance at Sun and Fun is way off this year. Vans booth was considerably smaller. General attendance from suppliers and people visiting the show appeared way off from last year. I won't be back next year and will put my effort towards attending Oshkosh.
Vans has the best marketing tool of all the light sport manufacturers. Let people have a ride and the plane sells itself. Also, it looks like Vans is going to blow away the competion with their pricing. Nothing specific yet but they believe they will come in at a lower cost than the 9. Based on the cold response I got from the other LSA manufacturers I am going to wait for Vans to refine the 12 and go for that one. As I started out in this thread, as far as a homebuilt LSA it does not appear that Vans has much competition.
Frank