Van’s Aircraft introduced its Light Sport Aircraft, the RV-12, just over three years ago. More than 500 kits have been sold since then, and on April 13, the 198th kit to ship became the 100th RV-12 to fly.
Sam Sullivan of Gulfport, Miss., intended to build the RV-12 and finish his flight training in it, but life got in the way and he had to “side-step a moment.” Ed Burdick of Canyon Lake, Texas, purchased the kit and his friend John Ratliff joined Sam in completing the airplane. John made the first flight of N312E, taking off from the grass runway at Shadetree Airport (MS82) just north of Gulfport — a sleepy little airport where aviation is still the way it used to be, Van’s officials noted.
“I’ve heard the hype that the -12 flies like an RV and I thought, yeah, right…” John says. “I have a couple of hundred hours in RV-8s and I know what an RV is supposed to feel like. Well, there’s no way I would have believed it but Van’s nailed it. The RV-12 really does fly ‘like an RV.’ It’s incredible how nimble this ‘LSA’ feels — a fantastic little bird!”
For more information: VansAircraft.com or 503-678-6545.
