FIrst FLights

Congrats to Bill, who just flew his RV-7 for the first time! He wrote in to share his first-flight story: After 8.5 years of slow building, 2311 hours in the builders log, RV-7 N430WB finally broke the surly bonds today for a successful first flight from KHAF Half Moon Bay, CA. Engine ran well; CHT’s […] Read More

Congratulations to Rafael, who tell us all about the first flight of his new RV-7! In September 2015 I received the famous Vans carto box with the tail pieces. My plane has a Lycoming O-360-A1A with ignition and injection SDS EM-5 and a Dynon HDX 10″ and a paneled iPad. From then until now, … […] Read More

Frank writes in to tell us about the first flight of his fifth RV, this time an RV-8! N84FD is my second RV-8, and 5th RV build. With the exception of Grove one piece landing gear, the plane is built to general specs with a new YIO-360 M1B and Hartzell Composite prop. Avionics are Garmin […] Read More

Congrats to Darwin and Robert on the new RV-9A! First flown on June 8, 2020 at KPRC (Prescott Regional Airport) by Robert Liddell. Just a wonderful airplane. Looking forward to many cross country flights.

David writes to tell the world about the first flight of his RV-10 – congrats! First flight was on May 29th 2020. Took off from Joliet Regional Airport (KJOT). The flight was uneventful….just what I was planning on… I’m glad I decided on the flight training, so I knew what to expect and it performed […] Read More

Congrats to Joe, who writes to report on the first flight of his new RV-14A! After 2 years and 2 weeks of construction, my RV-14A flew on June 7, 2020. The plane flew “hands-off” from the beginning with no trim being required except for the normal pitch trim adjustments from take-off settings, cruise setting and […] Read More

Robert writes in to share the story about the first flight of his RV-7A, which happened a couple of years ago but the story is still just as cool! Better late than never, right? I had never seen an RV until Oshkosh 2013 when some Texans had barbecue with my wife and I. I was […] Read More

Congratulations to Andrew on the first flight of his RV-7 in Anacortes, Washington! He writes: It took over 10 years, but the first flight finally came! I started building out of my home in Northern California, but had the fortunate opportunity to move to Anacortes, WA, where there is some beautiful flying. When I first […] Read More

Congratulations to Malcom on the first flight of his RV-6A! He writes: Its first flight was on Wednesday evening from Sleap airfield with no issues, after a very slow but most enjoyable build.

Congrats to Helmut, who writes in to tell the world about the first flight of his new RV-9 in Germany! On April 25, 2020, my RV-9 successfully completed its first flight after 8 years of construction. A Superior Motor IOX 360 and 2 HDX screens from Dynon with autopilot are installed. The first tests were […] Read More

Congratulations to Clive, who has completed and flown his RV-6 in New Zealand for the first time! Van’s RV-6 ZK-CAZ took to the air for the first time at Ardmore Airport (Auckland, New Zealand) on the morning of 23 May 2020 in the capable hands of test pilot David Wilkinson. He reports that it does […] Read More

Congrats to Darren in the UK on the first flight of his new RV-8! Darren worked with us to arrange a paint design we happen to like a lot. We look forward to future videos where that aerobatic logo still reads right-side-up while inverted! Darren writes to tell us: After selling my Husky, I wanted […] Read More

Another tailwheel RV-9 has taken to the skies – and congrats to Dennis, who sent us his account of the build and first flight in 2018: First flight was May, 26, 2018 from Ray Community Airport (57D) in Michigan. First flight lasted 54 minutes performing new “engine break-in” just north of the field. The 9 […] Read More

Congratulations to Alvin on his first flight of his first RV! This was my first build and I spent 18 months of actual build time. First flight was a joy. The plane flew straight with no issues. The Thunderbolt Engine and Garmin Panel performed flawless. I’m utilizing the FAA Additional Pilot Program with a great […] Read More

Congrats to Darwin on the first flight of his second RV-7! My second RV-7 flew for the first time today. This one has an IO-390 and dual Advanced Flight Systems touch systems with Garmin 750. Flew great. A couple of minor tweaks needed and I’ll fly again later today. I can’t thank my good friend […] Read More

Congratulations to Renzo from Chile on the first flight of his new Rv-10! My RV-10, CC-AUS, started in March 2015 and flew for the first time on May 13, 2020 from Rodelillo Airport, SCRD, at. Valparaiso, Chile. The aircraft is a fairly standard RV-10 with few modifications to Van’s building instructions. The engine is a […] Read More

Congrats to Lonny on the completion and first flight of his new RV-6 that’s been more than 20 years in the making! After 20 years, 7 months and 26 days of slow but steady construction in the basement, living room, kitchen, garage and hangar, N248TT finally took to the air on 03.21.2019 at 5:57 PM […] Read More

A big congrats to Manuel for the first flight of his RV-10 in Germany! After 3 years, the first flight could finally take place today. Thanks Van’s for this wonderful kit

Congratulations to Robert Skinner on the first flight of his new RV-10! RV-10 # 40279 made its first flight May 7 from KCXO, Conroe, Texas. The flight went very well with the exception on the #1 cylinder running hotter than preferred. I was accompanied by Richard Jankowski acting as Additional Pilot. I highly recommend the […] Read More