FIrst FLights

Congratulations Whitney! My first RV build but definitely not my last. Had a perfect flight with my father, #1 helper and supporter, watching alongside my wife and friends. The grin is real!

Congratulations to the Leth family on their new RV-12! Two words explain our first flight after a couple of years building the family plane with my daughter and son – RV GRIN! “It’s a great day when you fly the plane you built!” -Tony Leth

Congratulations Peter! First flight went very well, 2 flights on the day totaling 1 hour. Flys perfectly straight and had no issues . Pulled the cowls off after flight and all good. This is the second time I’ve had the RV grin after building an RV-7, I’ve just started another RV-7 build as well. 

El primer salto sobre la pista 1000 metros. fue de sorpresa, mi experiencia era 600 horas de Cessna 152 y 172, estoy muy feliz con el avion. hoy 11 octubre 2021 tiene 100 horas de funcionamiento sin novedades GRACIAS!! The first jump on the track 1000 meters. It was a surprise, my experience was 600 […] Read More

Congratulations on the first flight of your RV-6A, Jürgen: Started building in 1989 in Del Mar California in my garage and got the wings, fuselage, and tail feathers done before having to move to Santa Fe New Mexico. I finished the plane at Moriarty Airport and started flying in February 2021. What a relief to […] Read More

Congratulations to the Souther Arizona Teen Flight group on their new RV-12iS! They write: Amazingly enough, even with Covid, we managed to work on and finish our Second RV12iS. We started the project with 10 students about 8 months before the lockdowns started and had to take about 5 months off. Once back at it […] Read More

Congratulations to Hans on his new RV-12! Flight went flawless. Piet flew off-hands straight right out of the box. A fine touring airplane with great comfort and lot, lots of fun!!

Congratulations Dennis! He writes:  Had my first flight yesterday and what a day it was. The plane flew great and the performance is excellent. Thanks to everyone that helped in my build, including Van Aircraft, VAF, and especially Tim Olson for his online posts and transition training help, it made the first flight really easy. […] Read More

Congratulations to Jim on the first flight of his beautiful RV-14A! He writes: Fun first flight, uneventful. Aircraft performed flawlessly, flew hands off. Its been a fabulous journey building a slow build kit. Special thank you to my wife for all her encouragement. Made many friends over the years and couldn’t have done it without […] Read More

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

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

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

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