Club Spotlight: The RV Grin is Built into Lancaster Flying Clubs

Daniel Geib has a couple of hobbies—building planes and helping to form flying clubs. Over the years he has been the driving force in building an RV-12 and two RV-10s—and all three aircraft became part of three different flying clubs based at Lancaster Airport (KLNS) in southeastern Pennsylvania. 

Dan’s first build was an RV-10, which became part of the Sky Blue Flyers. His next project was completing a partially built RV-12, which was part of the Kingdom Flyers, and his most recently completed aircraft was a second RV-10, which is part of the JADA Flyers. (See this month’s Aircraft Spotlight for more on operating an RV-12 and RV-10 in a club, as well as the RV-9A, SkyRanger and Sling TSI).

“I thoroughly enjoy flying and I like to share the joy of flight,” Dan said. “So, I decided to get into building and get other people interested. If I can help other people enjoy flying, I’m happy.”

Dan earned his private pilot certificate in 2003 and in 2010 he built a three-car garage for the purpose of using it as a shop to build an airplane. He started by building the first kit—an RV-10. The project sat for a number of years as he tried to get other people interested in the project.

That’s when fate, or perhaps divine intervention, played its hand. Dan’s medical expired in 2012 and not long after he had a heart attack. If he had a valid medical at the time of the heart attack, he would have lost the medical and been unable to fly. But since his medical was never revoked, he could resume flying LSAs when his doctor pronounced him healthy.

In 2016 or 2017, Dan found a few guys who were interested in completing the RV-10. They began work on his project when they found another RV-10 kit that was partially built. They sold the RV-10 kit they were working on, bought the partially built kit, and completed the aircraft. 

The group started the Sky Blue Flyers flying club, but Dan was unable to fly the aircraft he built because he didn’t yet have his medical. The other club members bought out his share and Dan decided to find an LSA he could fly.

“When they bought me out, I went and bought a Light Sport just so I could continue flying,” Dan said. “What I purchased was a Rans S-12S.”

The Kingdom Flyers are Born

The S-12S is a side-by-side trike with a pusher prop, “it was like a glorified ultralight.” Dan had a friend from church, AJ Rotelle, who was interested in flying. He bought into the Rans and they formed the Kingdom Builders. The two flew the Rans for about a year and decided they wanted to go just a bit faster in something that would make more sense for cross country flying.

“We wanted something that was cheap, something that was economical, and something that I could fly in the Light Sport category,” Dan said. “That is why we chose the Vans RV-12. We decided with my history of building the RV-10, we could find one that was partially built. We could get them cheaper that way, and then finish it and fly it.”

They saw an ad in Barnstormers for a partially built RV-12 in Michigan. Dan and another friend, Aldine Diller, drove to Michigan to buy the plane. Aldine was interested in getting his license and joined the club.

Most of the metal work on the plane was completed. Dan said it took about six months to complete the avionics, mount the engine, complete the firewall forward, the canopy, and paint. “When you buy an RV-12 kit from Vans, that kit comes complete,” Dan said. “If you don’t wander off the plans, you can certificate it as an E-LSA, which we did.” 

Once the RV-12 was together, they changed the club’s name to the more fitting Kingdom Flyers. The name reflects the members and their values as stated on the club web site, “We are a group of Christian people who enjoy aviation and wish to provide others the same opportunity that God has given us.”

Like many clubs, its purpose is to promote safe, enjoyable flying and aviation-related activities, and to provide the opportunity for its members to fly aircraft economically and conveniently.

Once the RV-12 was flying, the club further evolved. Aldine got his license using the plane, AJ left the club and became a flight instructor, and more people became interested and joined the club, eventually growing to nine members.

The evolution continued when several members wanted to get their instrument ratings. They considered putting in a GPS navigator.  However, the RV-12 was registered as an E-LSA and flying IFR is prohibited under the manufacturers operating limitations. So even if the aircraft was IFR-equipped and members got their instrument ratings, they would not be able to fly the plane in IMC.

Dan suggested the club sell the RV-12 and upgrade to an RV-9A. They ruled out an RV-7 because it is aerobatic and that isn’t part of the Kingdom Flyers mission. “The very next day I got on Barnstormers and happened to see an ad from a gentleman down in Florida looking for an RV-12 that was an LSA,” Dan said. Just that quickly, the plane was sold. 

“We were out of an airplane for a few weeks, until one of the guys happen to see the 9A that we fly now for sale out in Arizona,” Dan said. Aldine flew there to check the plane out and returned with another club member, Amos, to fly the plane home to Lancaster.

Third Time is a Charm

While the Kingdom Flyers club was building its membership and flying the RV-12, Dan decided to build another plane. He thought about a Sling TSI but decided on another RV-10 because of the IO-540 Thunderbolt engine.

After his heart attack he worked with an AME and the FAA to go through the process of getting a special issuance medical so he could once more fly other aircraft besides LSAs.  When his special issuance medical expired, he began flying under BasicMed. By doing so, he could legally fly aircraft with six seats or less that weigh less than 6,000 pounds.

In May 2020, Dan and three others bought an RV-10 kit and formed the JADA Flyers, named for its founding members James Slaymaker, Aldine, Dan, and Amos. The four builders decided to cap the club membership at five. After the project began, Jim Mylin, who joined the Kingdom Flyers after they acquired the RV-9A, joined as the fifth member of JADA.

At the start, the four founding members got together to determine all the things they wanted in the aircraft. Having built one RV-10, the guys asked Dan what he would change on the second build.

“The guys were looking to me for insight and recommendations because I had done research for a number of years before I ever started building,” Dan said. “There were a lot of extras that we did to improve the basic airframe.” 

Among the changes Dan recommended were the back seat headrests, having a different rudder trim, and the avionics. The first RV-10 had three Garmin G3Xs. On this plane they chose to replace the center G3X with a GTN 750XI.

One of the options is the back seat. Builders can finish the aircraft with four-place seating or change the back seat to make it a five-place aircraft with room for three children, Jim said. The club ordered a whole interior kit from Aerosport products, including custom leather seats with the add on to seat five, as well as a carbon fiber instrument panel and overhead console.

Another improvement involved the magnetos. “We had regular mags on the first build, and we went with P-mags on the second build for better fuel economy and a little hotter spark, which allows us to basically use an automotive-grade spark plug,” Dan said. “That system seems to be working well. This engine, I think because what we did there, is a lot easier on a hot start than the original.”

Despite knowing how they wanted to finish the aircraft, the four founding members were unsure what the final cost would be. So, they decided to share costs until it was done.

“When it first started, I decided I would buy the kits,” Dan said. “Another gentleman said he would purchase the engine, and another said he would purchase the avionics and that’s how we started pooling things together.” 

It took two years, four months and one day to complete. The plane first flew in November last year and they have more than 60 hours on it to date. They purposely did not paint the aircraft while they were flying off the required time after the plane received its airworthiness certificate in case there were any adjustments that need to be made. The plane is scheduled to go to the paint shop in May.

With the completion of his third airplane, Dan has also successfully helped launch his third flying club. But in doing so, the future of the Kingdom Flyers is uncertain. Four out of the five members of the JADA Flyers are also members of the Kingdom Flyers. Of the nine members of the Kingdom Flyers, all but two or three would like to get out because they have other aircraft, Dan said. Nothing is wrong with the 9A, but the members are more interested in flying four-seat aircraft.

Perhaps Dan will get the urge to build another plane in his garage in Lancaster and help form another club. “So far we've had three, and possibly a fourth coming up,” he said. One thing is for certain. Whether Dan is building or flying, you’re sure to see an RV grin on his face.

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