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FIrst FLights

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Michael Wilkinson’s RV-12 | England RV-12 #121067

Congratulations to Michael on his new RV-12! He writes: The aircraft performed almost perfectly from its first flight. A few initial issues such as an intermittent contact break in a socket, rudder trim tab and radio presets were quickly resolved. I now own a stunning aircraft, exceeding all expectations. The touch-screen EFIS and autopilot are […] Read More

Johan Sverkerson’s RV-8 | Sweden RV-8 #83604

Congratulations to Johan, who kept his first flight report short and sweet: Rather uneventful , no heavy wing or any other issue apart from the rubber seals on the filler plates fuselage to wing that were flapping in the breeze, I’ll have to glue them to the plates. What a machine, this will be fun!!! Johan

Pete Miller’s RV-7 | McKinney, Texas RV-7 #72477

Congratulations to Pete, who recently wrote in to let us know that he has flown his new RV-7 for the first time: On Friday, September 24, my RV-7 N174PM took off from Aerocountry with Chuck Wilson at the controls. Jeff Hansen flew chase in his RV-4. Chuck reported that it flew very well. There was […] Read More

Ivan Luke’s RV-7 | Hope Valley, Rhode Island RV-7 #74044

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 Redhead’s RV-8 | Tumwater, Washington RV-8 #83058

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

Fred Leeper’s RV-8 | Douglass, Kansas (SN52) RV-8 #82906

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

Paul Hillman’s RV-14A | Wichita Falls, Texas RV-14A #140644

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

Danny Keel’s RV-9 | Puyallup, Washington RV-9 #91215

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 Weisgerber’s RV-8 | Ionia, Michigan RV-8 #83830

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

John Stewart’s RV-12iS | Goodyear, Arizona RV-12iS #121154

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

Michael Murphy’s RV-12iS | Auburn, California RV-12iS #121280

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

Robert Grant’s RV-8 | El Paso, Texas RV-8 #83282

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

Blake Bogar’s RV-7A | Raymond, Washington RV-7A #71595

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

Alan Dyck’s RV-4 | Mississauga, On., Canada RV-4 #2186

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

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