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Where Have All the Homebuilts Gone?

I could be wrong, but I suspect one strong possibility may be ... a fair number of builders elected to shift gears in the middle of the build and assemble a second fuselage so they can have the redesigned fuselage with all the new enhancements, plus the option of installing either the 912ULS or 912iS engine.

I gave building a second fuselage some very serious consideration ... likely would have built a second fuselage if I were a few years younger.
 
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The article appears to have been searching data on experimental amateur builts (E-AB)

The majority of RV-12's completed in the U.S. have been built and certified as Experimental Light Sport aircraft (E-LSA) so they wouldn't show in in the data search.
 
Van's is losing some market share to The Airplane Factory.
Sling TSI (4-seater) becoming very popular.
TAF is also coming out with a high-wing 4-seater.
 
Just looked at the FAA database. Looks like 84 as E-AB; 586 as LSA. 670 total in the US. And I'm sure that number is low because of data entry errors, not putting in the correct mfg/kit code, etc.

My serial # is 121055 as of a bit less than 3 years ago..so.. 1055 kits sold as of 3 years ago i guess.
 
Anybody have reasonable estimates of the number of -12's (EAB,ELSA and SLSA) Completed/Flying???

Yes! My day job is executive editor of Kitplanes magazine. But I'm also building an RV-12iS, so I had many of the same questions you have when I was reviewing this story before it went to print.

I want to double-check a few things with the author of the story, then I'll post an in-depth breakdown of all the different ways RV-12s have been registered. Stay tuned?I'll get back to you ASAP!
 
The more online videos of the various Sling models I see the more I'm unimpressed. Things not fitting correctly,over complicated assembly's,etc. Not for me.
 
As Scott mentioned, most U.S. registered RV-12s are E-LSA, so they didn’t show up in the database we used for the article. Nevertheless, we did take a look at all 652 RV-12s in the FAA records at the end of last year, and here’s what we found:

75 were registered E/A-B
3 were registered E-LSA using the original rules that allowed any qualified E/A-B to be licensed as E-LSA until 1/31/2008
413 were registered as conventional E-LSA
8 were registered E-LSA that were converted from S-LSA
3 were registered as Experimental Unmanned Aircraft! (We suspect this is an error in the records.)
77 were registered as SLSA
73 have blanks in the certification entry, so we were unable to determine if they were registered as E-LSA, S—LSA or E/A-B.

Rob shows 670 RV-12s in the U.S., so it looks like there are 18 more than there were when we looked at the records.
 
As Scott mentioned, most U.S. registered RV-12s are E-LSA, so they didn?t show up in the database we used for the article. Nevertheless, we did take a look at all 652 RV-12s in the FAA records at the end of last year, and here?s what we found:

75 were registered E/A-B
3 were registered E-LSA using the original rules that allowed any qualified E/A-B to be licensed as E-LSA until 1/31/2008
413 were registered as conventional E-LSA
8 were registered E-LSA that were converted from S-LSA
3 were registered as Experimental Unmanned Aircraft! (We suspect this is an error in the records.)
77 were registered as SLSA
73 have blanks in the certification entry, so we were unable to determine if they were registered as E-LSA, S?LSA or E/A-B.

Rob shows 670 RV-12s in the U.S., so it looks like there are 18 more than there were when we looked at the records.
Thanks for the update Mark
 
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