Poll: Which LSA Can Best Save General Aviation? (RV-12 SLSA, CH750 SLSA, Piper Cub)
Thursday, October 11, 2012 at 09:13PM 
Just announced: Vans RV-12 SLSA - factory built / ready to fly starting at $105,000
Today it was announced that Van's Aircraft will be making their 2-seat RV-12 aircraft available as a factory-built and ready-to-fly SLSA with an introductory price of $105,000. The RV-12 has been available as a homebuilt kit aircraft since 2008 with about 200 completed and flying. The RV-12 has a side by side cockpit, all aluminum airframe, tricycle landing gear and is powered by the Rotax 912ULS engine that makes 100hp for takeoff. This smallest RV from the family of wildly popular RV airplanes has a useful load of about 570 pounds and cruises about 120mph. The RV-12 SLSA will be built in the USA by Synergy Air of Eugene, Oregon. Orders are expected to be first be accepted in November 2012 with initial deliveries beginning in early 2013. Get more info on the Van's Aircraft website.
Now available: Tenn-Air CH750 SLSA - factory built / ready to fly starting at $74,900
Tenn-Air has recently licensed with Zenith Aircraft Company to make a factory-built version of the popular 2-seat Zenith CH750 STOL aircraft available as a ready-to-fly SLSA with an introductory price for $74,900. The CH750 has been available as a homebuilt kit since 2008 with over 50 completed and flying. Over 800 of the smaller but similar CH701 homebuilt have been completed since it was introduced in 1986. The CH750 has a side by side cockpit, all aluminum airframe, tricycle landing gear and is powered by the Jabiru 3300 engine that makes 120hp for takeoff... a combination good for a useful load of about 550 pounds and cruises about 100mph while also offering very strong short takeoff and landing (STOL) performance. The CH750 SLSA will be built from Zenair kits by Tenn-Air in Shelbyville Tennessee, and first deliveries are expected to be available in November or December 2012. Get more info on the Tenn-Air website.
75 years strong: Piper J-3 Cub - rebuilt / ready to fly ('0' time) for ~$50,000 or less
Production of the 2-seat Piper J-3 Cub ran from 1938 until 1947 with almost 20,000 aircraft being built. Today, a completely restored '0' time J-3 Cub can be bought, ready to fly, for around $50,000, or even less. This iconic aircraft that taught thousands and thousands of people how to fly features tandem seating, steel tube and wood structure with fabric covering, taildragger landing gear and is typically powered by a Continental engine ranging from 65 to 90hp. The Cub has a useful load of about 520 pounds and cruises around 75 mph. Thousands of Cubs are still around today with hundreds of them ripe for being restored to like-new condition (ready to serve as trainers and recreational aircraft indefinitely) all for a $50,000 (or less) investment.
So there you have it, three aircraft that are somewhat similar yet still very different. And I'm here once again to make the case for the idea that our best step forward to try to save General Aviation is a giant step backward! I believe that the J-3 Cub makes way more sense than an RV-12 or a CH750 as a way to draw more people into aviation. Don't misunderstand, I think those two modern flying machines are both great little airplanes that have a lot to offer. But when the Piper Cub is cheaper to acquire (by far)... as cheap or cheaper to operate... has a longer lifespan... creates better pilots (because it's a taildragger)... and it's about 243% more fun to fly, you have a clear winner here.
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I also absolutely believe that the Cub has significantly more curb appeal. That curb appeal is really all about passion. Passion for its fabulous style, its perfect nostalgia, and its pure and honest flying pleasure. Spend and hour or two flying over God's green Earth with a good friend and the door open and you'll experience the kind of flying that you'll wish would never ever end.
My vote in the poll below is going to the '0' time restored Piper Cub as the LSA that has the most to offer in trying to save General Aviation in America. Now if I can just get a group of people together to agree on this so we can start cranking out like-new Cubs from a dedicated restoration facility, we can get a whole new generation of pilots into the sky... affordably, with great stick and rudder skills, and in love with the world's greatest airplane!
Reader Comments (7)
NOTE: I originally had the cost of the RV-12 in the poll window incorrectly at $115,000 instead of the correct $105,000. It's now displaying correctly. The $115,000 figure is for a 'Signature Edition' which is temporarily available with all options included for the $115,000 amount. The info in the body of the post was already correct. Thanx - Martt : )
Well, to me you would first ask, do you want a high wing or low wing. I started to learn to fly with a Cessna 150, then hardship set in and I had to quite, so I would say I prefer a high wing. The CH750 is quite known to me, as I've shot several videos of this plane. It is a great STOL airplane, very agile. The RV-12 is rather new to me, as a SLSA. These have been in kit form for quite sometime. So the J-3 cub would be the choice. At 50K for a rebuild, it is great for low and slow flying without getting to technical. A note here is that Cub Crafter builds a super cub, one in their line is the S2, but tricked out it's price is around 160K, so the rebuilt J-3 has the vote.
I bought my J-3 (NC26846) back in the late eighties for $10,000 from John Monnett of Sonerai fame. I think he was trying to pull off a Cub comeback but perhaps the time wasn't right. I leased it back at Smith Field for a while, then we moved to the Chicago area. I was talked out of leasing it back there. Eventually, after the kids came, I couldn't make it work financially. I hated selling that little airplane, but at the time I couldn't see any options.
I do miss flying. In particular, I miss that kind of flying. Perhaps there are a sufficient number of other people who feel the same way. It's sure worth a look. And the place in Hartford seems to be doing a nice job of filling a niche.
elehen e3d3fd1842 http://www.skyhave.com/mortmotidi
elehen e3d3fd1842 http://www.skyhave.com/mortmotidi
elehen e3d3fd1842 http://www.skyhave.com/mortmotidi
elehen e3d3fd1842 http://www.skyhave.com/mortmotidi