My 12 can take 50lb in the baggage compartment. The current 12’s can take 75 lb as the fuel tank has been relocated. My long trips have been solo so the passenger seat has been available for whatever I wanted to take.
Yes, but lots of light planes have done similar trips going back to the biplane days without any anti or de-icing equipment.
It's just another risk that has to be managed as best you can if you are game enough to tackle something like that.
Paint or powder coating under washers can result in torqued bolts losing tension over time which you can't check easily if Loctite has been used on the nuts or bolt threads. For example on engine mounting bolts.
No visible hatch to enable the chute to be deployed, and those external shroud attachment points would not work with a chute stowed inside the plane. Looks like an April Fools joke to me.
The real tragedy is the pilot's decision to try to make runway 23 by making a 220 degree turn at low altitude rather than land straight ahead in the paddock in front of him. The paddock is not that smooth but there are few good forced landing options around Serpentine and he was lined up to make use of about the best one available in terms of wind direction on the day and available space. Easy to be wise of course when you're not the one flying the plane and having to make the decision.
On the RV-12 which cruises at 110-115 knots they add about 4-5 kts to the top speed. On the faster RV’s that cruise at 150-170 kts I believe they account for about 9-10 kts.
I considered writing but I live in Perth so the likelihood of me ever using the airfield is practically nil making anything I might say pretty unconvincing and probably unhelpful. Others may be in a similar situation.
Vans supply fibreglass wheelpants. They are optional kit items but nearly every RV has them. Pilots sometimes don't install them if they are flying off grass or rough surfaces but you won't find many RV's that don't have them.
He's got an interesting biography as a pilot and builder with over 27,000 hours in his logbook plus various records. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Handley
Most of the users on this site are in Australia and New Zealand and although there are also many international participants such as yourself, not many here would be able to answer the specific question you asked.