FIrst FLights

Congratulations to Friedel on the new RV-10! He writes: Photo shows ZU – IMG first time leaving mother earth.

Congratulations to Christopher on his RV-10! He writes: With the normal nerves with making a first flight, I am happy to report the flight went perfectly. The engine ran great and the rigging was spot on. A little bit of additional excitement that it was my first flight in an RV-10 (I have a good […] Read More

Congratulations to Steve on the first flight of his RV-10! He writes: First flight occurred on August 21, 2020 in the early afternoon, on a sunny, beautiful day. It went well, with only a few settings on the EFIS needing adjustment and a slightly heavy right wing. After the 40-hour flyoff, it was painted, and […] Read More

Tony and David wrote in to let us know about the first flight of their RV-7A: We purchased a partially completed RV-7A Kit from John Kleber in June of 2018. From there we pursued the completion, moving the project from a truck workshop to Lee Gilmer Airport in Gainesville, GA last year. Ed McGowin who […] Read More

Greg wrote in to let us know about the first flight of his new RV-7: This has been the most rewarding experience of my life. What a fantastic flying airplane. This RV-7 is my first build, and won’t be my last. It’s powered by a Barrett Precision Engine built IO-390-X running dual electronic ignition and […] Read More

Congratulations to Brian on his new RV-10! He writes: Aircraft flew as advertised. Really happy with the performance, typical RV grin!! Powered by IO-540-C4B5 with Bendix fuel injection and mags. Dual Dynon HDX panel with Avidyne IFD 540 GPS from Advanced. Painted aircraft during Covid downtime. Phase 1 flew off. My second RV. First flew […] Read More

Karsten wrote in to tell us about the recent completion of this beautiful RV-8: Can’t believe it: A lot of metal-parts turned into a real airplane! Starting in 2011 building the empennage kit with an experienced builder the foundation was set in stone. A lot happened but we never gave up. Marvin started flying gliders […] Read More

Congratulations to Skip on his new RV-10! He writes: After taking a 7 year building hiatus (to put 3 children through college) my RV-10, kit 40819 N384WP, took to the air. The build was a most enjoyable and rewarding experience due to the excellent design and support of everyone at Van’s, Thanks. Can’t wait to […] Read More

Congratulations to Craig on the completion of his RV-7! He writes: After receiving the empennage kit for my RV-7 three years ago, ZU-JLC flew for the first time on the 14th of February 2021. The call sign is inspired by my 3 children, Jason, Leah, and Cheyenne. My son and I built most of the […] Read More

Romuald wrote in to let us know about the recent completion of his RV-7A: After 11 years of construction, I can now call it an airplane! Despite the coldness of the day, it was a great moment of pleasure. It flies well, it flies fast. Time to put the rivet gun away and enjoy it […] Read More

Javier writes in to report on his new RV-7: Perfect day with family and friends, Amazing flight !!!! I´m very Happy . Great airplane .

Rick and Tanner wrote in to let us know about the recent completion of their RV-10: First flight was awesome with our RV-9A following along and a great sunset!

Congratulations to Robert on the new RV-10! He writes: My RV-10 journey began on September 15, 2011…Nine years, two months, seventeen days and 3000+ hours of labor, N464RL was born! On hand for the first flight were three generations of Aviators. My Dad and I flew the maiden flight together with my son taking care […] Read More

Robert wrote in to let us know about the first flight in his RV-8A: Some specs: The engine is a Titan IO-370 with 9.6 CR pistons, rated at 200 HP. Ignition systems are dual Light Speed Engineering PIII and the prop is from Whirl Wind Aviation, a 200 RV. The fastback kit came from Show […] Read More

Congratulations to Alex on the first flight of his RV-8! He writes in to tell us: After 5 years of detailed construction, I was stunned to find myself flying such a perfect machine! Everything worked absolutely perfect, very responsive controls and very stable flight. I want to thank Victor Mejalenko for helping me on the construction and […] Read More

Luis writes in to tall us about the first flight of this RV-14A! My new RV14A is a pure joy to fly. It tracks true and zero issues came up during the first flight. I would love to take credit but it has to be due to the incredible precision of the kit. The picture of […] Read More

Congratulations to Mark, who writes to tell us about the first flight of his RV-10: It began as a dream. I took the demo flight at AirVenture 2016 with my wife. She had to approve before we committed to this project. I actually sat in the back so Mike our amazing demo pilot could dazzle […] Read More

Congrats to Mark on the first flight of his RV-10! He writes: After exactly five years and one day N25CM took flight from Stark’s Twin Oaks Airpark outside of Portland, OR. My dream to build an RV began back in the late 70’s when, as a child, I saw kit plans being advertised in Popular […] Read More

Sam kept it short and sweet for his first flight report: uneventful, easy plane to fly. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Enrico on his new RV-8! He writes: This morning, after 50 months of building time, shortly after my 50th birthday and a pandemic rolling over the whole wide world, my RV-8 became an airplane! A huge big thanks to the experienced RV-8 pilot Luca Perazzolli, my mentor and master, who kept me motived […] Read More