January 2009 saw the first flight of kit number 71082. It started out as a 7A model but was changed to a tailwheel during the construction process.

Empty weight is 1099. I have a io360 A1B6 with superior cold air sump and Rod Bower ram air induction which turn a Hartzell blended airfoil prop. It is not painted, but is covered in a primer/camo scheme for the time being.

I race this plane in the SARL events and have more fun than one should be allowed !!

      

       Gary Wilcox
       St.Thomas, Ontario
       Canada
       [ gwilcox at start.ca ]

Add another one to the Hobbs meter!

Kit # 72575, an RV-7A flew July 10, 2010 from Stoney Creek Airport in Ontario, Canada.

Registered C-FZUM it is powered by an O-360-A1A from Aero Sport Power, a 3 blade propeller from MT Propeller and fired by electronic magnetos from E-magair.

On the panel are dual Advanced Flight Systems displays, an AFS AOA Sport, a Garmin 496 GPS, a Garmin 330 mode S Transponder, a Garmin SL-40 Comm. and a Trutrak Digiflight 2 Autopilot. Completed in four and a half years it weighed in at 1130 pounds and was a pleasure to build.

Thanks Van's!

Many thanks also go to my brother Bernie for all his help as well as my wife Meta for her love, patience, understanding and her parking spot in the garage. Thanks also to Mike Seager who's training allowed me to confidently conduct the first flight myself.

      Mark Rataj
      [ mark_rataj at sympatico.ca ]

Hello,

For your statistics, I would like to inform you that my RV-7 Registration D-EACS, made its first flight on Saturday 14/8/2010.

       With kind regards,
       Carel Sanders
       The Netherlands
       [ carel.sanders at wanadoo.nl ]

N177WD
RV-7A #72742
Standard Kit

After 3 years, 11 months and 2600 hours, N177WD, standard kit RV-7A slipped the surly bonds on May 18, 2010 piloted by myself. "Miss Marie" is dedicated to the following Marie’s in the family, Johanna, Katherine, Christine, Jennifer. I would also like to dedicate it to the men of the 4th fighter group , 335th fighter squadron of the Dreden Eagles.

She is equipped with the following items: ECi-IO-360, Hartzell M-Hub 7497, James Cowl & Plenum, ICOM 210A, Garmin 320A, TruTrak ADI II, Vans old school gauges,8-day clock from Gramps, Dual CD/MP3,DVD,FLC, custom pop up vents, removable steps, Andair Fuel selector, G-Force seat belts, Dynamatted interior, Smokin Airplanes smoke system, Custom Seats and interior (Old School), Bonaco Lines, Polish by NuVite, Vince Frazier Graphics, Fairings ETC, Milspec Camlocs, MH o2.

Special THANKS to my wife Kathy "Kat" for letting me keep the project at the house and sliding lunch under the door for me !!!!!

Also thanks to the HELPERS: Dad, Mike, Nate, Neal, Scott, Ed, Cody, Max, Dennis, Joe, Hugo, Smitty, Jarhead, Rooster, Woody, Glider, Bulleit, Amazin, Rocket, Doug Reeves & VAF, Tom Moore, Rob Dodd, and all the other members of EAA 168 & 1246 for all the encouragement over the years.

Special Thanks to VAN for a great airplane !!!!!!

             


       Bruce "BOOMER" Pauley
       EAA 168
       Dallas, Texas
       Mykitlog.com/bpauley
       [ bkpauley at verizon.net ]

To the fine folks at Van’s Aircraft, RV-9 (91002), N791AC, has taken to the air. The airworthiness certificate was issued May 18th, 2010. She currently has 60 hours under her wings with no squawks. After 5 ½ years of on-again, off-again construction I couldn’t be more pleased. This airplane handles great and is a blast to fly around. She is equipped with an ECI-O320 (160 hp) engine and Catto 3-bladed prop; dual Lightspeed electronic ignition; Dynon EFIS; Garmin 396, 300XL Comm/GPS, 320 transponder; and Vision Microsystems engine monitor. Beautiful interior by Classic Aero Design. Paint is Dupont acrylic enamel, Jet Black with Metallic Pearl Red embedded in the paint. Graphics by Aero Graphics in Middleton, Wisconsin. I have a smile on my face everytime I fly this machine!!!

          Jerry Cummings
          [ boomer434 at csinet.net ]

N704RT completed her first flight today.

Thanks for a great airplane.

Tim
RV-7A
71526
[ tbennettservices at gmail.com ]

RV-8 Kit # 80067
Started May 1996
First Flight 9 Jan 2010

I started my RV-8 in May of 1996 and after 13 and a half years of building the first flight was on 9 Jan 2010. It has a Lycoming IO-390 with Lasar ignition, 3-Blade MT propeller, and a Christen inverted oil system. Avionics include a TruTrak ADI Pilot II Autopilot, Century Slaved HSI, King Radios and Mode S Transponder, and AvMap EKP-IV GPS.

Performance is exactly as Van says and it flys as good as it looks- Worth every minute of build time.

               

        Robert Gibbons
        [ fatkorat at aol.com ]

Hello Van’s Cousins,

RV-6 22894 started June 1993 finally made its first flight. Had no business building one, but was determined to do so, so I paid for it by working on other people RV’s. Can’t tell you how many wheel pants and tips I’ve done. So at 13 years I registered her as N130PM, thirteen years, other peoples money. To put it in perspective, I go back to the first days of the RV List, the first thing I did with the internet. I remember Ken building his back then.

Anyway, some of the local airport bums showed up with the video cameras and really put together a couple of nice videos of my first flight. I was really staggered by the quality, had no idea this is what they had in mind. Anyway, though someone there might enjoy my version of the RV Grin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH6mwOjm6Kc 
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwTnwGLG1K4

I now have 3 flights and two hours and she flys hands off and all temps are mid range. I couldn’t ask for more. I have now answered a very old question of mine…..YES, it was indeed worth the 17 years I put into her. No doubt about it.

The first flight of kit 25635, N241ES was on August 17, 2010. I started this kit in 1999...so don't tell me you cannot finish your kit!

It weighed in at 1055 pounds and has a ECI kit engine, 180 HP with a constant speed prop. Flies great and really does produce that Van's Smile! The best advice I had from the technical support group at Van's was when I called in worried about a 1/16" variation in the skin... and the response was that unless it is 1/2" or more... to "get on with it"! " This is a tractor with wings"! And so it is.... but it really flies nice!

Thanks to the many friends that helped me finish this plane and especially Carl Harris who pushed me through to the end! Take a look at that smile!!

        Ed Spengler
        Longmont, Colorado
        [ spang1 at comcast.net ]

Vans

RV-7 VH-JWC (s/n 72920) had its first flight on July 18th 2010. The project (standard kit) took three and a half years to build and approx. 2000hrs.

First flight was faultless and I couldn’t be happier. Thanks go out to all the people who helped me achieve this goal (particularly my family). Special thanks to all the team at Vans for producing such an awesome machine!

Attached is a photo of the first flight that I took from the rear of the chase plane (Vans RV- 8 VH-NEK). The test pilot is Peter James (a former RV-7 builder and owner).

In our hangar at Little River, Victoria, Australia we now have RV-8 (VH-NEK) and RV-7 (VH-JWC) flying. To keep them both in good company there is an RV-7A and an RV-10 under construction.

I’ll send some more photos soon and yes I’m still grinning – thanks!

        

         Jon Clements
         [ Jon.Clements at jcba.com.au ]

Just wanted to let you know that my 8 is flying. Very happy, flies fantastic.

Thanks very much. 

Will send a photo when I have one.

Trevor Mills
[ trjmills at bigpond.com ]

First flight for N880KM, RV-8 (builder #82670) happened on 8-8-2010. It was the second day of high speed taxi tests when she decided to launch. I was prepared and enjoyed it thoroughly!

This is my second RV. I built a -4 back in 1999. Again, Bravo Vans for a good kit, and many thanks to my family, friends, and the wonderful people in the RV community.

This plane has a O-360 180hp and spins a 3-blade Catto Prop. A really good combination for fixed pitch drivers.

               

         Cheers!
         Mike Hundley
         [ mikejh64 AT aol.com ]

Maiden Voyage
Registration: N363RV
Serial #: 60388
Model: RV-6A

This was a quick build that was started by another builder about 2001. He worked on it for a couple of years and then sold it. It sat idle until my wife Amanda and I purchased it in October of last year. We have worked on it everyday between 3 and 12 hours a day for 9 months and 3 weeks. Without her dedication, organization, extreme patience, hard work and willingness to get dirty in this project we could not have completed it this fast.

We had the occasional volunteer drop by and countless observers. A special thanks goes out to Rusty Williams (fly's a 7A) who took us on our first flight in an RV. He got us and many others involved with RVs. He is a major supporter of the Vans products. I would swear he worked for vans as a sales rep. :-) He has built 2 of them. Henry Horn for keeping us company and lending a hand with various tasks along the way. He has been a wonderful volunteer. John Winchester, who fly's a 6A and has been a good friend with lots of Vans flying stories. All these folks have lent us tools or given us various items. Spiritual support from more folks than I can count.

Thanks to Richard VanGrunsven for sharing such a cool machine with the rest of the world.

Our machine has electric elevator and aileron trim. We also have electric flaps. In addition we have an EIS 4000 engine monitor. Dynon is the primary instrument along with analog airspeed and altimeter. We have a Lycoming o-360-a1a with a Constant speed propeller (Hartzell 7497). Some Garmin equipment will be tossed in their later as well as enhancing the Dynon with a single axis autopilot.

The take off was normal (off in 500 feet of runway) with a nice landing an hour later. I was able to easily exit in the center of our runway (gpm) which has a total length of 4000 feet.

       Thanks
       John and Amanda Eldridge
       [ John.Eldridge at workflowone.com ]

Hi all @ Van’s,

We are happy to report that the first RV-7A in Switzerland left solid ground on August 4th, 2010 at 1409LT. www.flyvans.com for all the latest pictures.

The grinning continues after several successful flights with no major write ups. Also, it flew straight and true from the first minute, no additional trim tabs or wedges required ;-)

Of course, we had assistance from friends and family along the way, too many people to list but you know who you are! A big thank you to all!

Me and Alex built the plane during a period of 5.5 years from a QB kit. Couldn’t think of a better building partner!

Also, I would like to namely thank Dominik Stadler, who is still working on his 7A standard kit. He mentored us from the start, helped us countless times and his technical expertise is to be envied!

Also big thanks go to Patrick Bertsch, who more than filled in for Alex while he was away. And to my Dad Markus and my brother Adrian, both engineers by trade, they helped during various stages and made things look easy!

We were glad, that a few of our friends were able to witness the first flight event in person, despite it being in the middle of the week :-)

The generosity in the builder- and especially the RV community is second to none. Also the resources at vansairforce.net were a great help, which probably saved Van’s a quite a few support calls ;-)

Transition training with Jan Bussell last summer, even considering the way different configurations of the plane, was a great preparation for first flight, highly recommended!

The airplane weighs in at #1166lbs but with all fairings, paint, interior etc... installed. Plus a fully loaded panel that fulfills our mission of "personal airliner".

Engine is a Mattituck TMX-IO-360 180+ h.p. parallel valve with ECI fuel injection and ECI cold air induction, a single P-Mag, one standard mag, swinging a Hartzell 72" constant speed prop.

Panel contains among other stuff: 2 Advanced Flight Systems 3400s EFIS, Vertical Power VP200 solid state electrical system, a custom windows xp based embedded pc solution, a custom Flight Control Unit to make up for the lack of multiple rotary knobs on the EFIS’s, Advanced Flight Systems AOA Sport, Garmin units GMA-340, GTX-328, SL-30 and an ICOM IC-A200 com2.

Full lighting, partial classic aero interior with Van’s foam upholstered by classic aero and a custom designed center console make up for a rounded package and excellent ergonomics.

Also, we do have the Grove nose wheel installed, which we feel, lives up to its excellent reputation!

Thanks to Van and company for such an excellent design and making a dream achievable for normal people like us.

Looking forward to travel the whole of Europe, once the test phase is completed and some maturity is reached.

And to everybody lurking on the site or on forums, don’t wait! We were both 24 when we initialized our project and enough people considered us nuts. Where’s a will, there’s a way!

gotta stop raving ;-)
easy on the brakes,

bernie

              

                                          www.flyvans.com

Good morning Ken,

Yes, N409FM is flying. First flight was 7-28-2010, at 23N, Bayport NY, up to 7.5 on the hobbs.

Thanks for all your help, you must be getting close to a first flight on your 12.

       

        Mike Miller
        120290
        [ intprd at optonline.net ]

The Beast took to the air in the early evening on 8/10/10. First flight... Fantastic! What an airplane. Love the engine. Love the prop.

The day started a bit gloomy but with a promise of clearing skies it offered potential for a first flight. My Missy came to town on a red eye and recovered while I went to work. After work we darted off to the hangar and pushed the Beast into the sunshine. Terry came by to review the first flight test plan and in no time the support crew was gathering at the Zlin hangar. While taxiing I burned in the brakes and oiled the prop.

Nearing the departure apron I soaked up warm feelings of enthusiasm and encouragement from the team sending waves and thumbs up signals my way. Big thanks Terry, Keith, Lauren, Dan, CA, and my Missy.

RV-7 number 73442 was completed to first flight in just under 22 months on the calendar, logging 2,059 hours of construction during 376 work sessions and is powered by a Lycoming Thunderbolt IO390 with airflow performance fuel injection. It turns a whirlwind 200RV prop and weighs in at 1090 lbs.

High power fuel guzzling orbits while breaking in the engine push right past 190 mph without fairings... dirty stall is docile at 52.

Using a firewall mounted oil cooler and plenum from the RV-10, CHTs are 300-350 with an oil temperature of 190.

Time to sell the Cessna!

              

        Stephen Christopher
        [ schristo at mac.com ]

I flew my RV-8 (82317) I-LUKE on 9 august 2010 for 15 minutes over the airport at 3000 feet doing a clean stall. All the numbers was right and she flies hands off.

Engine is a Lycoming YO-360-A1A from Van's with a Catto Three blades prop 66" Diameter x 76" Pitch. The empty weight is 1071 Lbs. The panel has the standard engine and flight Van's instruments plus a small Dynon D10A Efis and an UBG-16 for CHT- EGT-Carb-Map. A Garmin SL-40 with XPDR Garmin GTX328 are the avionics stuff. Garmin GPS-695 is mounted on the right side of the panel. The seats are the Sportsman Package from Classic AeroDesign with the Hooker Harness 5 points Sport Set.

Special thanks to my wife Katia and daughters Giorgia and Lisa that gave me the energy to complete the project in the past five years.

Van's people was really great with special thanks to Gus and his patience for my crazy questions and doubts. This is the airplane that I wanted ! An incredible experience that gave me an irresistible euphoria that I can't control. Maybe RV GRIN ?

             

        Luca Perazzolli,
        Mattarello (TN) - ITALY
        [ info at rv8.it ]

On Tuesday, 8-10-2010, N803RV made it first flight. The plane performed flawlessly at the hands of my test pilot, Tom I.

It has been under construction for 9 years.

Empty weight: 1103 lbs
Engine: Superior XP IO360
Prop: 74" Hartzell Blended airfoil

Thanks to everyone for their support and for a great airplane, thanks Van.

        Randy Bornhorst
        Rochester Mn
        [ rv8flyer at hotmail.com ]

RV-6, Kit # 21079, was started on 5/25/91 and first flew on July 30, 2010.

After raising 4 kids and now with 2 grandkids my RV-6 has finally been completed and flown successfully on July 30th, 2010.

Many thanks to my wife and family for their patience, understanding and riveting assistance!

Also, thanks go to Mike Seager for his training that made the first flight an enjoyable experience knowing what to expect from flying her for the first time.

Working now on flying the time off, making minor trim adjustments and getting her ready for the next 20 years of flying!

RV-6, N157DL
150 hp – 030-E2D
Sensinich Fixed pitch prop
Traditional "steamer" panel
Empty Weight – 1027 lbs.

Thanks Van for a great kit and better airplane!

        David Sweet
        [ dsweetat prou.com ]

Kit number 72395 passed inspection five years and one day from it's beginning on 7/6/2010 after 1918.25 hours of construction over 842 days worked Two weeks later on 7/23/2010 I made the first flight as the evening was passing in to twilight. Empty weight is 1046lbs (81.59cg) with all fairings and complete Flightline Interior, no paint. The engine is an ECI/Lycoming combo with one mag and one Lightspeed Plasma II+, a three blade Catto prop on the front, and an SJ cowl and plenum. It was built as a day/night VFR lightweight fun machine with an MGL Enigma II EFIS, A210, panel mounted Garmin 295, and 320A xponder. Simple and light...it flies GREAT!! No heavy wing, and it's moving right along at a brisk pace without gear fairings or pants at this point.

I have an answer to the age old question...please pass along to Van that at least one RV-7 builder out there knows EXACTLY how many rivets it takes to build one...I have 16,229 rivets in my airplane. Yep, I counted from day one. There, now we know. ;o)

A couple other tidbits on my airplane...all lighting, except the strobes are LED. I installed manual flaps (from an RV-6), manual aileron, elevator, and rudder trim.

First flight takeoff from the ground:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd7hBd_bKtk

First flight video in cockpit from my eyes (video glasses)-10 minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9qdyrJobg

I have to thank my beautiful wife, Brittne, for agreeing to let me fulfill a dream, my dad for being my bucking partner, and my mom for ENDLESS support in this endeavor. I had tremendous support from my entire family. Thanks to Jack Holland for allowing me to learn how to fly RV's in his RV-7, and both Jack and Rob Johnson for flying chase with me on my first flight. My RV buds...Brad, Terry W., Larry, Terry R., Carl, Joe, all of Rivetbangers and VAF, Thank you. EAA Chapter 129 played such a huge role in this as well, and I have to thank all the members for encouragement along the way.

               

       Chad Jensen
       [ taildragger7 at gmail.com ]
       http://www.chadandbrittne.com/RV-7.htm

On Saturday July 31 2010 I finally went solo in my RV-4 after my friend Joe Hine who is an RV-4 owner and pilot checked me out. This picture was taken at the Stanley (CCW4) Nova Scotia Airport after I finished a couple of Take Offs and Landings.

What a beautiful airplane to fly. It's everything that I thought it would be, Thanks Van!

             

       Brian Eisner
       [ eisnerrv4 at hotmail.com ]

Hi Folks:

What must be the slowest quick-build RV-6A ever finally made it up in the air with my own hands at the controls this morning. N811WT was first flown by test pilot Joe Shetterly a couple weeks ago and then I went to San Diego to get some transition training - highly recommended. The plane has an Aerosport Power IO-360-B2B with Airflow Performance injection, a Klaus Savier CDI on the right ignition and a Catto wood prop. I made a fiberglass cooling plenum for the engine, which I think worked because CHTs barely made it above 400 deg. in the climb and settled down to about 380 in level flight at 5500 ft., and that in Tucson in August. Oil temps were in the 190's.

So, many thanks to the most patient guys in the world - the guys at Van's who answered all my questions over the last 12 years. And many thanks to Van for a terrific airplane design.

       Tom Sargent, RV-6A, N811WT
       [ sarg314 at gmail.com ]

To all my friends and family, on Wednesday, July 28, 2010, at 7:28 AM Penny Lee took her maiden flight and slipped the surly bonds of earth and became an airplane. She handled beautifully and caused great joy at my house! Many more flights are in her immediate future as I get the test period out of the way so that I can leave the test area and start visiting everyone. Here are some pictures to look at and enjoy! (zoom in on the belly and see the big red bird!)

             

        Bob Schroeder
        [ BSchroeder at rideuta.com ]

Hi,

On a beautiful Sunday morning (27th June 2010) RV-4 C-GBVG flew for the first time here in CYRI. It climbed and went faster than any flying machine I previously owned. I am really happy with the outcome.

Empty weight: 939 lbs
Lycoming 0-320E2D
Sterba prop
I kept it very basic with only a Dynon-180 and a portable COM for the first 25 hours.

Special thanks to people in CYXK:
   my very helpful MD-RA representative Bruno, Richard who kindly offered
   his own RV-4 for check rides, hangar neighbors in YRI, and finally my
   wife Michelle who supported me in many ways during this project.

Many thanks to Mr. VanGrunsven and all the staff at Van's.

        
      

       Mario L'Allier
       Notre-Dame-du-Portage, Qc Canada
       [ mariolallier at videotron.ca ]