I have narrowed the very wide field of available kit planes down to two.
Van’s RV-12 is option number 1. This is a nice little 2 place side by side. The ability to quickly remove the wings and trailer this aircraft is the characteristic that keeps this one on the short list. Being able to trailer this home and not having to pay for hanger space or worse….. leave this sitting out on the ramp is a huge money saver and very appealing to me. Less appealing for me is the power plant option. Van’s has limited this to the very popular but somewhat out of date Rotax 912.
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CH-650 with UL 350iS power plant.
Zenair’s CH 650 is the second option. At first glance the CH 650 looks very similar to the RV-12 and is also a side by side two place aircraft. Performance is also very close largely due to the limits placed on LSA class aircraft. The CH 650 has a large number of power-plant options that includes my current favorite, UL’s 350iS. This option also gives the CH 650 about 50lbs more in useful load and a longer range. It does not have the detachable wings limiting it’s storage options when not in use.
So there is one of many decisions that I must make before I can start this awesome project. I look forward to any comments or suggestions including other aircraft options I may have overlooked. I will likely delve deeper into the engine options in a future post…. stay tuned.
I did some digging and it appears that the wings of CH-650 can be removed…. relatively easy, but it isn’t really built for frequent wing removal because the designers feel that it makes the aircraft less usable due to the added time required to trailer the plane to the airport and to put it together. With this new information I find myself leaning towards the Zenair CH 650