Congrats on the new RV-7 Bill! Built RV-4 number 1628 25 years ago and needed a project, so in 2008 I started and accidentally finished this month. Weight is 1039 but airplane is as light as it ever will be. Took off heat muff and plugged the hole in the baffling so that all the […] Read More
Steve wrote in to let us know about the completion and first flight of his RV-12iS: NZ-TXW (RV-12iS) became an airplane today with a successful first flight over Dunedin, New Zealand. Everything remained in the green and the performance was impressive. No issues other than a mildly heavy right wing that goes away with deployment […] Read More
Congratulations to Michael on the first flight of his RV-10! First flight went perfectly! It was a short pattern flight but the aircraft flew straight, smooth, and fast. I couldn’t be happier. You folks at Van’s have built an amazing aircraft but the community that has been formed around it is amazing.
Mike has completed and flown his new RV-7 for the first time: Six years after setting the first rivet G-CLAO took to the skies on cold damp February morning. She flew faultlessly with just a couple of minor tweaks to the G3X setting required on landing. Following a successful flight test program AO received her full […] Read More
Congratulations to Greg on the new RV-6! He writes: Dubbed the Phoenix Project, this was a replacement for my first RV-6. I started this build from a partially completed kit picked up in June of 2002. I’ve split my time with flying and upgrading a Navion but have continued to chip away at the RV. […] Read More
Congrats to David on the new RV-12! He writes: The aircraft flew just like any RV-12, beautiful! 👍 I would like to thank all of the Van’s staff who were there to help and support/supply at a moment’s notice. Just a note, I would say New Zealand has the greatest number of flying RVs per […] Read More
Congratulations to Aviation Nation and Charles Weber on the new RV-12iS. They write: DAR inspected & issued AWC with no deficiencies. Planned first flight early on a calm morning but Lane A fault light remained on. Opened cowl that evening and found wire connecting airbox sensors not connected. Ours is a youth build and there […] Read More
Byron wrote in to let us know about the completion and first flight of his RV-14A: N384RV took to the air May 1st with a very un-eventful first flight – just as we all strive for. This was a second build for me with the first being N253RV – RV-10. We downsized from our RV-10 […] Read More
Congrats to Glenn on the first flight of his RV-8! He wrote in to report: My RV-8, serial number #83182 had a successful first flight on May 14, 2021with only a few minor squawks. This is the second RV-8 I have built and flown. The engine is an IO-360-M1B with a Hartzell blended airfoil prop, […] Read More
Congratulations to Paul and Mary Beth on their new RV-14A: We decided to start this retirement “adventure” at Oshkosh 2018. Did the Van’s build workshop together at Oshkosh. Ordered our RV-14A kit in August 2018. Decided to utilize the help of SynergyAir in Eugene Oregon. Started building our empennage in December 2018. Spent 24+ 40 […] Read More
Mark wrote in to let us know about the recent completion and first flight of his RV-14A: Nice airplane, significant climb rate, very nicely harmonized controls. Reminds me of my days in the T-37. Covid and a very engaged Spouse resulted in a relatively quick build. Replaces a LongEZ that we built 35 years ago.
Congrats to James on the new RV-8, he writes: N420RV took to the skies over northern Virginia on Sunday, May 9, 2021 after 3 years of building. The plane flew wonderfully. Actually, the best plane I’ve ever flown (although I may be a bit biased). Totally worth all of the effort and frustration of the […] Read More
Congrats to Caleb on the first flight of his second RV! He wrote about it and sent in a video, as well: N955CT took to the skies on a smooth Saturday morning, with a friend’s RV-10 in chase close behind. Three more flights were conducted over the course of the day to work out a […] Read More
Congrats to Doug on the first flight of his new RV-7! He wrote in to report: My RV-7 took to the skies on April 18th, 2021 at the experienced hands of Doug Roth. I built this plane with a ‘keep it simple’ approach. My instrument panel is rather sparse. I have an analog airspeed indicator […] Read More
Congratulations to Robert on the first flight of his RV-7A! He writes: My RV-7A has joined Van’s Airforce! My build time was much longer than I expected, but the result is well worth the wait. The feeling of the wheels leaving the ground for the first time is indescribable. I had a video camera running […] Read More
Congratulations to Scott on the first flight of his RV-14! He writes: It finally happened! After two years of building, and another six months of painting, my RV-14 finally flew this week! Four years ago, my wife was wandering around the Van’s display at Oshkosh and snuck over to the -14 demo plane. When she […] Read More
Congrats to Jesse and Ken on their new RV-12. Here’s their story: Nearly 10 years ago, I bought the RV-12 empennage kit after looking at several different airplane options. This started the best father-son project you could imagine. I started the build, and as I got further along it became a weekly tradition for my […] Read More
Congratulations to Gary on his RV-12! He wrote to tell the tale: It was ready to fly in March 2020. Inspections were scheduled for late March. Then the country went into a 6 week lockdown courtesy of Covid 19! Finally got inspections done in May and flew on 6 June, a date I’ll remember as […] Read More
Congrats to Spencer, who writes in to tell us about his new RV-8 that he recently flew for the first time! Way to go, Memphis! Beat my 3 year goal! The day started with massive thunderstorms along the FL coast, and ended with an inspection and a first flight. The engine purred (phew!) and the […] Read More
Congrats to Andrew and Florence on their new, slow-build RV-7! They wrote in to share the news: Nine years seems like a very long time, but after finishing the empennage in just six weeks we found that sometimes the RV build had to take a back seat. Juggling a move, a house remodel, two airline […] Read More
