We learn of flying RVs in several different ways, and we can only add your RV to our counter if you let us know it’s flown! Ideally, a builder will use the form linked from this page to send us the story and a photo/video or two or three of his or her personal “RV grin.” Sometimes they call us on the phone, which is great but doesn’t actually provide us with anything to publish on the web. Other times we find out incidentally; for example when a customer calls to order new tires and we wonder why someone who is still building (as far as we know) would need them. Or, we may discover a first flight announcement on an RV web forum or other online venue. On yet other occasions, we learn of a new batch of flying RVs from “RV factories” overseas, but without the individual owner details.
We’d like to see more RV grins here, so please submit your first-flight story and pictures of your new “baby,” or we (and the rest of the world) may never know of your success! Click the “Submit Report” link on the right to do it!
Congratulations Ivan! One day after receiving its airworthiness certificate from DAR Jon Ross, our RV-7 took flight for the first time on 9/13. The first flight went off without a hitch. The airplane flew just like it was supposed to- fast and straight! And boy is it fun to fly! It is a VFR machine […] Read More
Scott wrote in to let us know about the first flight in his RV-8: My RV-8 has fully fledged. I took it for a short flight after a long build. The build was an interesting experience for sure, some frustrations but I learned lots. Looking forward to more flying and learning in phase 1 and […] Read More
Ken and Steve recently completed and flew their new RV-10 for the first time: Made the first short flight near the airport. The flight went well with no surprises.
Congratulations to Ian on the first flight of his RV-14A! He writes: I have always been fascinated by aviation, but for much of my life the idea of me flying was unachievable (time, money etc.) Then in 2008 I took the plunge and got my PPL, after about 100 hours life conspired against me and […] Read More
Fred wrote in to let us know about the recent completion of his RV-8: Finally, after almost 13 years, my RV-8 #82906 slipped the surly bonds quickly and effortlessly on 8/29/2021. The first flight went without any issues, it tracked straight on the ground and flew hands off in the air. Life and work pushed the […] Read More
Congratulations Paul! Today began a new phase of the RV flying lifestyle, versus the RV building lifestyle! First Flight was AWESOME! Looking forward to much more flying. The responsiveness, power, and ease of flying cannot be achieved in the spoken word, it must be felt in your body as you become part of the aircraft. You […] Read More
Congratulations to Danny on his new RV-9! He writes: The flight lasted .9 hrs and was pleasantly uneventful. The chase plane was manned by friends Wayne Bennet and Cary Grey in a Grumman Tiger and it was pretty cool that they couldn’t keep up. I’m sure there’s a lot of people to give credit to […] Read More
David recently completed his RV-8: I got my RV-8 signed off by a DAR on 7-23-2021, the first flight was on 7-26-2021. The first flight went well with only a few adjustments needed mostly calibrating the fuel flow readout and I had to rebalance the tires. I previously built an RV-6 and flew that for […] Read More
Congratulations to John on the first flight of his RV-12iS! Great first flight. Absolutely no surprises. A delight to fly. Flew just like the SLSA plane I flew for transition training. Thanks Van’s Aircraft for a great building experience and first flight experience. This is the second aircraft I have built. The first was a […] Read More
Lee and Cliff wrote in to let us know about the recent first flight of their RV-14A: After a gear up landing in a rental Piper Arrow due to a maintenance error (actually series of errors) Lee decided enough is enough and order the first kit for the RV-14 in December 2012. Lee toiled away […] Read More
Kevin and Jason wrote in to let us know about the recent completion of their RV-10: After a little more than 3 years of building, N232KJ took to the smoky central California skies. This was the second RV build for Jason and first for Kevin. RV-12 chase plane was piloted by Greg Hartt who is […] Read More
Mark wrote in to let us know he has completed and flown his new RV-14: Approximately 25 years ago my A&P instructor took the class to his house to show us the RV-4 he was building in his basement, obviously the seed was planted. N141MS took flight on August 10, 2021, 3 ½ years after […] Read More
Congratulations to Michael on the first flight of his new RV-12is: My son, Karsten, and I built this plane as a pandemic project. I earned my Sport Pilot certificate in May of 2020 and it became obvious right away we needed our own plane. After much research we decided the RV-12iS was the right plane […] Read More
Congratulations to Robert, who recently wrote in to let us know about the first flight of his RV-8: Nine years total time (5 years to build, 4 years not building, away for work). I’ve learned more than I ever thought I’d know about what goes into aircraft. So much fun to fly (can’t wait to […] Read More
Congratulations to Keith on his new RV-7A! N779KT finally took flight on 8/2/2021. The RV grin lasted all night.
Congratulations to Blake on the RV-7A! First flight happened on 7/26/21. Flew around willapa harbor airport at 4,500 ft for 8/10th of a hour. Plane ran great with no major flaws. The build took me a little under 3 years from start to finish and I painted it myself in my shop. This plane consisted […] Read More
Congratulations to Alan on the recent completion of his RV-4! He writes: On July 22/21 yet another RV-4, C-GUYM, took to the skies. She flew just like an RV, light and sensitive on the controls but not twitchy. Powered by a Lycoming O-320 160hp, fired by one Slick and one LSE Plasma 2, driving a […] Read More
Congratulations to Jeff on the completion of his RV-7A! He writes: All went well. Seems to be well balanced. Flies level when trimmed. Feels good but different from my RV-7A
Congratulations John! Building an RV-14 in Malaysia for Australian registration was always going to be interesting especially with the plan to include a ferry tank from the start so she could be flown to Australia via Christmas Island. With a full lockdown, normal jobs were not possible and building became a full time occupation 10 […] Read More
Congratulations to Raymond on the completion of his RV-6. He writes: It’s difficult to explain why it took me nearly 27 years to get here but my commitment to completing this project never waivered. Just as many RV buliders experience, life events contributed to a lengthy build. But along the way, this project actually provided […] Read More
