After significant deliberation and thought I purchased the RV-10 empennage kit from Vans!  We have a (4) seat mission that the -10 fits perfectly so took the leap and ordered the emp kit.  A personal minimum for kit selection was that there were over (500) examples flying and the kit has examples flying for at least a 10 year period.  This takes the short list of (4) seat experimental kits and wittles it down a bit.  I did spend lots of time reading NTSB reports to see what was happening to the various kits and why. 

I went and toured CompAir in Titusville and saw some neat stuff.  Flew down to Sebastian and saw some even neater stuff at Velocity.  Sat in many things at Sun-N-Fun year after year and finally came up with the RV-10 and the Sportsman as finalist.  The end decision came down to this:  the rear facing back seat in the Sportsman is not a place I would like to sit for any real length of time.  Its like a (2) place aircraft with “afterthought” seats put in the baggage area (caugh, caugh, just like our early Cherokee 140).  I am a slim build and found it challenging to egress from the rear seats of the Sportsman through the small and single rear door.  The rear seats appear to be great for the occasional load of (4) people but not well suited for “regular” passenger hauling.  Folding wings, 180hp engine (lower cost and fuel burn), factory float fittings, and optional BRS are a few things that make the Sportsman VERY appealing but in the end the HUGE back seat, separate component kit purchase option, and significantly higher cruise speed of the -10 made it a better fit for our mission.  Not to mention the build community that surrounds the RV series – Icing on the Cake! Getting into and out of the rear facing back seat in the Sportsman and the inwardly tapering leg room made this a real deal killer for us.  The 68′ Cherokee we currently fly has rear seats with NO leg room so the idea of another aircraft not ideally suited for (4) adults ended the Sportsman for us.  Also the idea of plunking down the entire kit value and receiving the entire kit at one time was a bit daunting.  With the RV series your commitment starts with only the moderately priced tail kit.  Receive the kit and for one reason or another decide its not going to work out, there is less of a financial risk.  With component kits you are only storing the parts you are working on in the immediate future.  The roomy back seat, large baggage area, high cruise speed, enormous build community, component kit sales, excellent resale value, and American Owned manufacturer were all reasons the -10 beat out the competition for our order.  I did say American owned and that does represent a value point in my purchase decision.