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First Flight Reports

Doug Hine’s RV-10 | Colorado Springs, CO RV-10 #42098

Doug Hine’s RV-10 recently took the skies for the first time. Here’s what he had to say: After 6 years and 1 month, 235MM took to the skies. Beautiful Colorado morning. Pikes Peak in the background. Definitely had the “RV Grin” upon taxiing back. Thanks to Tom and Shawn for their advice and an occasional […] Read More

Stefan Schroeter’s RV-10 | Germany RV-10 #42331

Stefan Schroeter’s RV-10 has gone aloft for the first time. Here’s more: My RV-14A wasn’t in the air yet when I let myself be persuaded to join a building project for a four-seat RV-10 as part of a building community. Based on my experience building my RV-7 and two RV-14s, the build was supposed to […] Read More

Mike Mitchell’s RV-14A | Charleston SC RV-14A #140762

“Today was a good day” for Mike Mitchell and the first flight of his RV-14A. Here’s more of the story: Throughout the entire build process, the goal is always a completed and fully functional flyable aircraft yet the finish line seems to sometimes stretch beyond reach. Until the day you tell yourself, “it’s time to […] Read More

Raymond Labonte’s RV-14 | Standish, Maine RV-14 #140800

Raymond Labonte’s five years of building paid off with a first flight of his RV-14: After a 5 year and 4 days build RV-14 serial number 140800 was launched for its first flight from the Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport on 10/11/25. All went as expected and proved that 5 years of effort was well worth […] Read More

Matthew Rivard’s RV-10 | Kansas City RV-10 #42596

Matthew Rivard made it two 10s in two days to get to first flight. Here’s more: I completed the first flight of my RV-10, N238MJ, and I’m happy to report it was entirely uneventful, with everything going exactly as planned. The aircraft performed perfectly in all phases of flight and flew true right out of […] Read More

Greg Hartt’s RV-10 | Napa, Ca RV-10 #42170

Greg Hartt’s RV-10 has flown for the first time. Here’s the story: After 5 long years of building and a few months of waiting on the FAA, I was able to obtain my airworthiness certificate and hold the first flight a couple days later. I had to wait from some ceilings to open up but […] Read More

Paul van Sandwyk’s RV-6A | Western Australia (rural area) RV-6A #22320

Paul van Sandwyk’s RV-6A has completed a 32-year build odyssey to become the latest RV-6A to take flight. Here’s his story: At Oshkosh in 1992 Jerry VanGrunsven took me up for a “free” ride in Van’s demonstrator. Shortly after I purchased the plans for RV-6A #22320. The empennage kit was shipped, by sea, in December […] Read More

Ron Ingram’s RV-6A | Springfield, Illinois RV-6A #21330

Sometimes life throws you curves balls during a build, but Ron Ingram did not shy away from the challenge. He shares a little about the build of his new RV-6A. In 2002, I decided to take the plunge and build an RV-6A. I had already started the work on a Dragonfly, but the RV was […] Read More

Michael Truett’s RV-9A | Beavercreek Oregon RV-9A #92314

A lot of help went into building Michael’s Truett’s RV-9A. It is #1200 of the RV-9 series to be completed! He shares his story and build dedications. I began my RV-9A build when I first retired in 2018, with the full support of my loving wife Denise. This was my retirement project, which also included […] Read More

Richard Raymond | Brisbane, Australia RV-14A #141047

Richard Raymond’s RV-14A took to the skies and is a painting the horizon red. He shares a snippet of his story. After just over three years of slow building, another -14A joins the list of flying aircraft. My sincere gratitude to all my assistants and the good folks at Van’s who produced a stunning kit.

Gregory Lombard’s RV-8 | Nashua, NH RV-8 #80528

Gregory had the whole family help with this build, even his pregnant wife was alongside him setting rivets. Lombard tells the rest of the story: I started building in January of 1998, three months after getting married, and not coincidentally four months after getting a ride in an F-104 Starfighter. I’ve raised 2 kids and […] Read More

Jeff Dingbaum’s RV-14A | Lake in the Hills, IL RV-14A #140266

Jeff Dingbaum’s “no surprises” RV-14A joins the flying fleet of RVs after nearly a decade of “family first” building. Here’s the story: The first flight of N3299A was a long time coming, over 9 years. Life and family came first and sometimes a successful work session was a rivet or two. Thanks to my wife […] Read More

Knut Hentzschel’s RV-9A | Rangsdorf / Germany RV-9A #2002376

Knut Hentzschel persevered through 14 German winters — what better way to distract yourself than to build an RV — and reaped the reward of his RV-9A’s first flight. Here’s the rest of the story: Finally, after 14 winters of building (my interests were different in the summer), my RV-9A has taken to the skies. […] Read More

Larry Larson’s RV-7A | Estes Park, CO RV-7A #73391

Larry Larson joins the ranks of the milestone makers, with the first flight of his RV-7A. Larry has been active on Van’s Air Force and an occasional contributor to Kitplanes magazine. Here’s his (short) story: It took 12 years. Talk about slow build. You all know her as Lucy. I’ve been in the community since […] Read More

Allen Maris’ RV-7A | Santa Ynez, CA RV-7A #72995

Allen Maris watched his RV-7A make its first flight from the ground, a heart-in-throat feeling to be sure. He writes: After 8 years of on-and-off building, the garage project finally became a plane. A close friend and qualified test pilot did the first flight. Watching it take off was surreal—seeing my plane in the sky […] Read More

Don Lepek’s RV-14A | Grand Prairie, TX RV-14A #140947

Don Lepek has been so busy making BBQ runs that he’s only reported in on his RV-14A’s first flight: The first flight of my RV-14A was great but short. I had a minor issue with oil temperature but fixed by adding a diverter to the bottom of my oil cooler. But the second flight was […] Read More