Selecting an airplane

I have a sport pilot license.  That means I am limited to flying a plane that meets the sport pilot limitations.  I currently rent a Gobosh 700s whenever I want to fly, and there are a lot of things I like about this plane.  Low wing, great visibility handles well, classic steam gauge panel.  The only problem with it is that it weighs 820 lbs, which means only 500# of people, baggage, and  fuel.  18.5 gallons of fuel weighs 103 #, which leaves 397 lbs for passengers and cargo, and that just isn't enough.

So I looked at other planes, but the LSAs I'm interested in are pretty expensive (> $100,000), new, and because LSA is new, there aren't many used ones out there.  I've flown the Flight Design CTSW, but it just didn't excite me.

I started looking at kit planes, and thought that might be a great way for my kids to learn about tools and have a nice family project.  My 14 year old son is thinking about becoming an aeronautical engineer, and I thought this would be a nice intro to plane design and "built a plane" would have to look great on the resume.

So, the question became, which plane to build?  I wanted a plane that was LSA compliant, low wing, made of metal, capable of a 600 # payload, and that could meet the LSA maximum of 120kt speed at sea level.  Pretty quickly I narrowed it down the the Zenith Zodiac CH650B and the Vans RV-12.  My son liked the Rans S-19, but it didn't have the desired payload.  So I decided to check out the two planes, and the two companies.

I went to the January 2011 Zenith Rudder Workshop, in Mexico, Missouri.  I got to check out the factory, spent the weekend building the rudder for the CH650, and test flew the Zodiac 601XL they had as a demo plane.  The plane seemed pretty responsive and a lot like the Gobosh.  You can check out this plane at Zenith Zodiac CH650B

And, some pictures of one under construction, and my rudder

Then in Feburary, I went to the Vans Aircraft factory in Aurora, Oregon.  I got to see the factory, and test fly an RV-12.  It was also a very nice airplane.  It has the interesting feature of easily removable wings, and because the pilot sits on the front of the wing, the visibility downward is really good.  The website:
http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/rv-12int.htm

Some pictures of their planes:

So then it came down to making a decision.  I went with the Zodiac 650 for the following reasons:

1.  I can equip it exactly how I want - while the RV - 12 as an ELSA has very limited options
2.  It appears to be about $10,000 less expensive, the way I want to equip it.
3.  It looks like the construction will probably be faster.

I was worried about some of the past history of the XL series, but there's been a thorough review, and testing, and the designed has been beefed up in many areas.