After teaching in the RV-12, however-as well as ferrying two of them across the continent and performing the initial test flights on an experimental/amateur-built model-my initial doubts about it have been replaced by respect and admiration. The RV-12 is simply a tremendous tool for making pedestrians into pilots. With recent changes in FAA regulations, it also provides an economical path for pilots to earn private, commercial, instrument, and flight instructor ratings as well as learn glass-panel skills. The RV-12 began as an experimental/amateur-built kit and got ASTM approval for factory production as special light sport aircraft (SLSA) in 2009. More recently, those SLSA models have been approved as commercial, THE RV-12 has some quirks-and the eccentricities are mostly driven by the design goals of being as light and mechanically simple as possible. The minimalist air vent (left) weighs next to nothing yet sends air swirling throughout the cabin; the pitot tube is oddly placed at the center of the spinner so that the wings can be removed and replaced without affecting the critical system that supplies airspeed information (below, left); and the cutout handles on the wing tips are also meant to aid in removing and replacing the wings. 52 | AOPA PILOT August 2020