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First Flight Reports

Alan Fenner’s RV-9A | Menno, South Dakota RV-9A #90713

Alan wrote in to let us know about the first flight of his RV-9A: The first flight of our RV-9A occurred on Memorial Day last Spring. The first flight was totally uneventful except for the RV grin. Stalls were docile and speeds matched Van’s numbers. Empty weight came in at 1083 with a ECI Titan […] Read More

Marcel Heijmans’ RV-7 | Teuge, The Netherlands RV-7 #74668

Marcel wrote in to let us know about the recent first flight of his RV-7: After four years of building, I finally finished my RV-7 now known as the PH-MNX. Since I only have a little over 80 hours ‘under my belt’ and had never landed an RV-7, I decided to take a ‘safety pilot’ […] Read More

Neil Murray’s RV-3B | Johannesburg, South Africa RV-3B #11492

Congratulations to Neil on his new RV-3! He writes: Received my kit in 2013 and started my build in September 2019. Having previously built an RV-8 in 2005 I thought that I would quickly come to grips with this RV-3 build. This was not the case as many RV-3 builders will confirm. I decided on […] Read More

Brian Beatty’s RV-7 | Denver, Colorado RV-7 #72714

Brian wrote in to let us know about the first flight of his RV-7: Van’s, Some might say my journey is over, others that mine has just begun. I like to think that I am only halfway through a book and I have moved on to the next chapter. I started my journey on my […] Read More

David Harm’s RV-9A | Marathon, Wisconsin RV-9A #90819

Congratulations David! My inspection was completed on 11/30 and then it was just waiting for the right day. Day after Christmas was 22 and sunny with light winds out of the southeast. What a Christmas present. First flight was the reward for nine years of building.

Lee Kitson’s RV-8 | Harleysville, Pennsylvania RV-8 #83430

Congratulations to Lee, he writes: My RV-8 took to the skies for the first time on Dec 4th with Nigel Speedy at the controls. It was a perfect day for a test flight with clear skies and low winds. Nigel reported that it flew great and there were only a few minor squawks. The airplane […] Read More

Joe Webb’s RV-6 | Windsor Downs, NSW Australia RV-6 #24871

Congratulations to Joe on the recent flight of his beautiful RV-6! He writes: Long awaited First Flight and First Landing successfully flown by Glen Brigland Australia followed by two more flights totalling 1.8 hrs on 21st December 2021. Issues encountered:  Intermittent fuel senders Intermittent pilot microphone Low CHT’s (for a new engine) Other than that […] Read More

Keith Weale’s RV-12 | Auckland, New Zealand RV-12 #120944

Congratulations to Keith on the first flight of his RV-12! Thanks to all at Van’s Aircraft for making me feel throughout my six year build that I was your only customer. Thank you to all my mates in New Zealand who supported me in this project, and especially to David Campbell-Morrison for contemporary RV-12 build […] Read More

Jon Owen’s RV-14A | Valley City, North Dakota RV-14A #140738

Congratulations to Jon! He writes: QuickBuild wings and fuselage along with a very nice custom panel from Aerotronics allowed me to complete my RV-14A in about 19 months, working mostly in my garage. The kit and instructions were excellent! First flight was smooth, wonderful performance and handling!

Reilly Keen’s RV-12 | Johannesburg, South Africa RV-12 #120152

Congratulations to Reilly, who recently wrote in to tell us about the first flight of his new RV: My RV-12 was built over a 12 year period. During this time I moved to a different house 4 times. Powered by an Aeromomentum AM15 engine. I have learned an unbelievable amount during this build and it has been a […] Read More

Isaac J. Schantz’s RV-10 | Salt Lake City, Utah RV-10 #41847

Isaac wrote in to let us know about the first flight of his RV-10: With my wife, daughter, son-in-law and two grandkids watching, this wasn’t the time to get jittery. In fact, I was concentrating so much on the flight that I didn’t have time to get the jitters. Engine power was right where it […] Read More

Larry Hawkins’ RV-3 | Farmington, New Mexico RV-3 #11456

Congratulations to Larry on the completion and first flight of his RV-3: Larry never really intended to finish his second RV kit, an early RV-3. He just enjoyed building. After some years and few hiatuses, he inevitably ran out of excuses to fly it. On August 12th, she was pointed skyward. She’s just recently completed […] Read More

Juliette Cosh’s RV-14A | Athens, Tennessee RV-14A #140726

Congratulations to Juliette on the first flight of her RV-14A: After transition training with Zack, the first flight was seamless. Other than having to pull the throttle back a little to keep the engine from over-speeding on take-off (prop adjustment to follow), N8181J flew perfectly. What a terrific flying plane… I couldn’t be happier! Juliette