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"Teens to Flight" RV-12 in the Wall Street Journal today

DaveWelch

Well Known Member
Weekend Edition - Saturday/Sunday, August 15/16, 2020 Page A6.
Congratulations to Pilot Mark Scott and the Wilcox Technical High School "Teens to Flight" members in Meridian Connecticut.

I'm curious if "Teens to Flight" is a typo or a different organization than "Teenflight" and I haven't searched yet to see if Mark is a participant in our "Airforce". It's all good in any case. More future aviators!
 
I have a good rapport with the builder of my RV-12. At least as long as he stays alive. It was a consideration, having that, when I made him the offer on his plane.

You don't get that with planes you buy from the widow, or teen built RV-12s.

Just saying that, for potential second or 3rd owners of RV's, as IMHO, there's a lot of value in that experience of the build and wisdom extended to the new owner, that is not there in a teen build.

Of course, if you're already a genius and have already built Van's RV's, then it's probably a non issue... I am freshly minted to the aviation world. Airport I am at has four RV-12s there, currently, all the owners are active, so that helps a lot also.
 
You don't get that with planes you buy from the widow, or teen built RV-12s.

Just saying that, for potential second or 3rd owners of RV's, as IMHO, there's a lot of value in that experience of the build and wisdom extended to the new owner, that is not there in a teen build.

I don't think that is a fair assumption to make when you haven't done it......

Of the 4 teen build projects completed in our local program, I think at least 2 of them were purchased locally and there has been open communication between mentors in the program and the new owners. I believe there has also been open communication between the owners of the other two and the program as well (one of which was shipped to New Zealand).

They were all built with RV-12 experienced mentors monitoring the entire process so if anything, there could be argument for saying that they might be a better buy than one built by a first time aircraft builder.
 
There was a teen built RV12 done in Tucson. The mentors were experienced builders. It was thoroughly tested and sold. They have now started their second build. I think it is a great way to introduce today's teens to the world of aviation which is sadly lacking in younger people. It sure beats sitting around twiddling your fingers on a cell phone playing games.
 
There was a teen built RV12 done in Tucson. The mentors were experienced builders. It was thoroughly tested and sold. They have now started their second build. I think it is a great way to introduce today's teens to the world of aviation which is sadly lacking in younger people. It sure beats sitting around twiddling your fingers on a cell phone playing games.

Agreed, about playing games.

The gent I bought from, the RV-12 was his third. Built a RV-6 and a RV-9a. then built the RV-12 I now own, and he sold it to make room for the Sling2 he just finished building as a 1540# 700 kg class E-AB instead of the 600 kg class E-LSA.

Same kit, builder decides the gross weight capacity. The Sling2 comes in at about 810 to 825# before 38 gallons of gas capacity. A little bit different mission, I suppose, that you'd want all that fuel on board.

While I looked at the Sling2 and the TAF factory is close by to me, the RV-12 seems more practical for my needs.
 
When I was a teen in CAP we restored a J-3 Cub. It was a great experience and I learned a lot, although at the time I was probably more interested in the mentor’s 16 year old daughter who routinely showed up to help!😜
 
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