The pilot training world is changing. With fewer Mom and Pop flight schools surviving (and kudos to those that are!), more students are seeking training in college programs or large flight schools targeted at future professional pilots. For those of you (like this author) who learned to fly many decades ago, flight training aircraft have changed. Gone are the C-150s and Cherokee 140s that flew two moderately sized people through a private pilot’s basic curriculum. Most large schools for the past several decades have students starting out in Cessna 172s and 180-hp Cherokees—or more modern Diamond aircraft from overseas. These larger, more comfortable—and much more expensive—aircraft have become the de facto trainers of the modern age.
But with prices of engines and airframes soaring in what is essentially a “niche” business (compare the number of light aircraft built in a year with the number of cars or cellphones made in a day to see what I mean), “trainers” can cost schools close to half a million dollars—a huge investment to teach folks how to take off, land, stall, and find cross-country airports. For this reason, flight schools are taking much closer looks at SLSA aircraft from a number of manufacturers, and some flight schools have veritable fleets of capable factory-built Light Sport Aircraft.
Van’s Aircraft—long known as the most successful aircraft kit company (by sheer number of aircraft flying)—recognized this developing market when they created the RV-12 and began manufacturing SLSA models that can legally be used for compensated flight training. While the number of ELSA RV-12s has dominated, the factory-built airplanes have rolled steadily off assembly lines—first at a subcontracted facility in Eugene, Oregon, and then from Van’s plant in Aurora for the past several years. The floor space given over to aircraft production has steadily increased, and Van’s has recently invested heavily in production space, methods, and staff to increase the output of the improved RV-12iS—now equipped with IFR capability to give schools a single airplane that can be used for private, instrument, and commercial training.
We stopped by Van’s “Airplane Factory” while at the plant to help pick up one of the first RV-15 wing kits to be delivered to customers. The weather was typical for coastal Oregon in the winter (the ducks had stopped walking and were seeking higher ground to stay out of the deepening puddles), so we didn’t get a chance to try the latest RV-12iS in flight—but we have enough time in type to know just how well they fly and how comfortable the cockpit environment can be for training. The latest version of the RV-12iS has increased electrical capacity to support the avionics necessary for instrument flight, making it not only an excellent primary trainer, but also a capable advanced trainer to take students through their instrument ratings.
Van’s completed 28 RV-12iS aircraft last year, before the most recent increase in factory capabilities. They are looking at upping the production rate quickly to satisfy increased demand as flight schools recognize the economy of the aircraft—both to buy and to operate. Here is a look inside the growing facility where these latest-generation trainers are being built.
Paul, strong write-up. I spent years in tool and die words and sheet metal manufacturing , and this reads like real factory discipline: incoming inspection, QA, step-by-step build procedures, and 3D scanning tied to CAD. That is how you scale without letting quality slide. And as a flight instructor, I get the mission here. Schools need a reliable, standardized trainer that stays in the air, not in the shop.