FIrst FLights

Congratulations to Steve! He writes: The adventure with G-STRV began in Oct 2017, when slow build parts began to arrive in Shropshire, UK, and my friend Tim Nicholas has been a faithful rivet partner throughout the build. The first flight took place from Sleap Airfield where G-STRV will live, and she felt “right” the moment […] Read More

Trevor recently completed his RV-7! He writes: A little late to report, but I’ve been having way to much fun! First flight was almost perfect other than the standard heavy wing. A quick tweak and I now have over 50 hours problem free and loving every minute of it. My wife and I have enjoyed […] Read More

Congratulations John! He writes: Since the first rivet was driven 3 years, 7 months, 3 weeks, and 1 day ago, N683JT left the earth for the first time the morning of 7/22/22. It was a 47 min flight that reached an altitude as high as 5,168 ft, and achieved a ground speed that went up […] Read More

Congratulations to Scott and Rochelle! They write: My first flight was completed by Vern Darley (Falcon Field RV Squadron Peachtree City GA) and myself in the right seat. Vern is a highly experienced FAA examiner, an RV-10 builder, and longtime friend. We departed KCCO in Newnan Georgia. To say it was exhilarating is an understatement. […] Read More

Congratulations Gavin! He writes: This beautiful RV-8 started life out as an early QuickBuild kit that was purchased from the original builder in 2018. After leaving the Van’s factory in 1998 and through many hours of blood, sweat and tears together with good friends, Reyno Coetzer, Mike George and Peter Steyn she was completed in […] Read More

Congratulations to Michael and Colleen! They write: First flight of our RV-8, sporting the initials in our tail number in memory of our two brave and beloved sons, took place on Friday July 9th 2022 in Eugene Oregon. The aircraft performed exactly as advertised and capped a journey of friendship and experiences that wil last […] Read More

Congratulations to Steven on the completion of his second RV! He writes: Built an RV-9A, completed exactly 4 years ago – construction took 25 months. Proud owner of a 2 plane RV air force with completion of the RV-10, Independence Day, 2022.

Congratulations Larry! This RV-14A was an absolute joy to build. Between my son and I we have about 3500 hours into the build. This was a slow build all the way. As a result, I know every inch of the plane. I also wired the Garmin G3X IFR capable panel and did the paint job […] Read More

Nice work on your RV-14A, Brian! He writes: Great experience building the plane and flying it for the first time. The RV-14A is a wonderful plane to fly. I am a CFII and just enjoy to fly and help others fulfill their dreams of flight. I am learning aerobatics and plan to use the N84BR […] Read More

Congratulations to Mark on the completion of his beautiful new RV-6! Sorry for the late sub mission.Well the day arrived to do the first flight. The Test pilot said to me when we were taxing out. (Before hand we had our briefing of what we were going to do and what we would do if […] Read More

Congratulations Joe! I started my build in August 2015. First flight was on July 5th, 2022. Nearly a 7 year build time. The kit was a slow build RV-7 with a slider canopy. I can’t thank my wife and daughters enough for all the support over the years. They have been a great help when you […] Read More

Jason wrote in to let us know about the recent first flight of his RV-10: After just over 4 years of building, N410JB took her first flight on June 30th…. almost 10 years to the day after my RV-7A had her first flight in 2012! One of the best parts of building an RV is […] Read More

Congratulations to Steven on his new RV-14A! He writes: We chose a beautiful CAVU morning for the first flight. This is not my first flight in a plane I’ve built, but was the first flight in an RV. I cannot compliment Van’s enough for their design, manufacturing process, and assistance. Back to the first flight. […] Read More

Congratulations to Larry, who writes in to tell us about the first flight. of his new RV-7A: First flight was accomplished on Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at the Ann Arbor Municipal Airport (KARB) with the able assistance of fellow EAA333 chapter members Mark Powell and Jeff Cohen. After a glitch with the radio was resolved […] Read More

Chalkie just completed another RV! Congrats! My first RV was an RV-6 23680 which I completed in early 2003 and then flew to OSH in celebration of the Centenary of Aviation in July / August 2003. 77 hours to OSH via northern route across North Atlantic. Return flight was St Johns – Santa Maria and […] Read More

Congratulations to Jim on his new RV-10! He writes: After just over 3 years and 2,700 hours of building – our dream airplane finally flew. With help from my grown adult children and most especially my wife, our RV-10 was complete. Building in isolation in a remote part of Canada made the build somewhat difficult […] Read More

Congratulations to Michael on his new RV-6! He writes: I had test pilot fly the plane. Had no problems, flew straight and true. Stalls were as advertised. I really enjoyed the flight, let off a lot of stress that had been building up over the last couple of months. I had a lot of friends […] Read More

John wrote in to let us know about the recent completion of his RV-12iS! He writes: Having never had a go at anything as complicated as this, I pulled the trigger and away we went! I found opening all the boxes and looking inside quite daunting and, to be honest, quite overwhelming. So I carried […] Read More

Congratulations to John and Chris. They write: After three years and nine months of work, our RV-9a was finally read to fly. With the weather forecast looking good, we gathered at Krugersdorp airfield on a cold winter’s morning. ZU-SRV was pulled out of the hangar and the pre-flight checks done. Then, in the capable hands of test-pilot […] Read More