For days in November, the employees at Van’s Aircraft had been watching the Hobbs meter on the company’s website, waiting for news of the 1,000th RV-9/9A to fly. On Nov. 20, John “Bert” Bertucci of Prairieville, Louisiana, rang the bell with his new RV-9A. “I have always wanted a plane of my own, so in June 2013 I […]
Van's Aircraft
Van’s lawsuit attack against kit-built industry
An Oregon family has filed a $35 million lawsuit again Van’s Aircraft after a crash last year that claimed the life of the builder and his 4-year-old granddaughter. The suit alleges that the instructions for the kits and the parts provided by Van’s Aircraft Inc and Floscan Instrument Co. “are inadequate and unsafe,” according to […]
ULPower now available for Van’s RV-12
Al Smith of AB Enterprises has developed a complete firewall-forward solution for those who want to use the ULPower 260-series engine in their new Van’s Aircraft RV-12. Smith, a retired Army Warrant officer who has already built an RV-6 (and whose wife is now building a Zenith CH 750 STOL with the 160-hp ULPower engine), explained, “I […]
Van’s ships 1,000th RV-12 kit
On Aug. 27, the shipping department at Van’s Aircraft had several orders to fill. By the end of the day, it had rolled out the 937th RV-12 kit empennage package onto the shipping dock, where it was picked up by a customer from Washington state, Richard Bangsund. What’s the significance of 937? Combined with the S-LSA […]
Maryland flight school wins first Van’s RV-12 dealership
STEVENSVILLE, Md. — Chesapeake Sport Pilot flight school has earned the first Van’s RV-12 dealership in the United States. The new dealership agreement allows Chesapeake Sport Pilot to sell new, factory built RV-12 aircraft to customers. “The RV-12 is the most popular aircraft we have ever put on the flight line at Chesapeake Sport Pilot,” […]
9,000 Van’s flying
On April 9, Van’s Aircraft received a first-flight report from Thomas Damm, of Billund, Denmark. Damm’s RV-8 became the 9,000th RV kit to be completed and flown by a customer. Damm bought the barely-started kit from a close friend and completed it over a span of nine years. Using his life-long experience as a pilot for SAS, he […]
Van’s RV-12 now available with dual Dynon touchscreen displays
Van’s Aircraft and Dynon Avionics have teamed to create a dual display option of the Skyview avionics suite for the RV-12. Both screens are individually configurable, according to Van’s officials. A simple “swap” command will flip the right side display to the left, and vice versa. The dual touchscreen is an option on the RV-12 […]
Van’s names new Southern service center
Van’s Aircraft has tapped US Sport Planes of Denton, Texas, to provide factory authorized service for the RV12 SLSA Light-Sport aircraft. Servicing most the major LSA aircraft, US Sport Planes has been a Rotax Service Center for several years and have more than 20 A&P mechanics on staff. “We received good comments from our customers about US […]
Van’s debuts Dynon Skyview touch panel for RV-12
Just in time for EAA Airventure Oshkosh, Van’s Aircraft and Dynon Avionics have introduced the dual-screen Dynon Skyview Touch option for the factory-built RV-12, available Sept. 1. The dual-screen option provides a larger view of mapping, the ability to share information across screens, and redundancy in the rare event that one of the screens fail, company officials said. […]