Our website is now available: www.airplanefactory.co.za

Nice one, Kloot Piloot, but a name has already been chosen.

She is now known as the Sling - see the cover story in February's SA Flyer.

The basic structure of the website has been completed and we are filling in the gaps with appropriate text, images, specs etc. in between test flying and designing the production prototype! I guess we could have the website launched within the next two weeks, but it really depends on too many other ...

This particular canopy was made by John McKercher (also known as "Fluffy" in aviation circles around Petit). We supplied him with a welded steel frame which he used in his blowing process. Free blowing a canopy yields very good optics and a round shape as viewed from the front. For a side-by-side se...

Hi FAWGie, We do have a website in the pipeline, but all our attention at this time is on the test flying. As soon as we have decided on all the changes to be included or excluded from the production prototype, we will be in a position to publish some "official" specs and pictures on the web. As the...

Stephan van Tonder wrote:That is nice. Why change it to the production model?. Simpler? cost saving?.

It gets really hot in there during taxi and powerchecks. Sliding canopy is also less of a danger if a latch comes loose.

But I will also miss the visibility of a clean bubble...

Construction will be hole-matched, with the holes exactly to size (I think only the RV12 has exact holes). Unfortunately, all my detailed construction photo's were taken before we have started our matched hole approach. As we build the production prototype we will take lots of photos and time the co...

Ok, it is still not 100% official, but here are the prices: Kit (everything excl. engine, prop and instruments): R230k Ready to fly (912ULS, basic prop, one MGL Voyager EFIS, no ballistic 'chute) R600k Some changes to appear on the production planes: sliding canopy and a more rounded engine cowl. We...

It is a bit of a gamble to include a colour in the name - what if someone wants to paint his plane pink!?! The bare aluminium on our plane is because we do not intend to keep the structure for very long after the test-flying is complete (some ultimate testing needs to be done). Also, paint adds a bi...

We have designed some very nice spats (based on the low drag spats of Burt Rutan's VariEze). We are waiting for the shapes to get machined in Cape Town.

Firstly, thank you Oupa G for the kind words - I will make sure Mike reads it.

James Pitman and I flew it for about an hour this morning, testing out some new mods. All changes had positive effects. We are still adjusting the stick forces to see if we can get it spot-on Mil-Spec.

William

Keep a lookout in SA Flyer for name suggestion competition - we've got to reward the winner somehow!

(Note: the engine cowl might change - unless there is overwhelming demand that it doesn't. The sharp lines might cost a couple of knots at the high end... )

Close, maybe a little pessimistic...

Sorry to keep you waiting, RV4ker, we're working on getting the price finalised ASAP (afterall, performance only matters if you know you can afford it!). One thing I can say is that kits will be sold in stages, allowing the builder to get on with the job while saving for the next sub-kit. The cabin ...

We tried our best to make it as "Proudly South African" as we can - but realistically, most of it is still imported material. You simply do not get the appropriate quality of aluminium (6061-T6), or fasteners (AN) manufactured locally. The ballistic parachute (GRS) is also imported. We did put in tw...