FIrst FLights

Congratulations to Mark in Australia. He writes: I am the third owner of RV-8A kit SN 82452. It only had the tail & landing gear completed. It was a good kit at the right price and was already in Australia. I thought it would be a good project in my maintenance workshop when the aircraft […] Read More

Congrats to Tim on his new airplane! He writes: Vic Syracuse was my DAR and test pilot. He inspected the plane and flew it Feb 2020. I only had 6 hours of transition training in an RV-6 as my TOTAL tailwheel time, which wasn’t enough. I went to New Smyrna Beach and flew with Capt […] Read More

Congrats to Bruce, who made the first flight in his RV-7A late last year! First flight was November 9, 2019 at KOGD airport. First flight lasted 53 minutes performing “engine break-in” orbit over the runway at high power. The airplane flies straight & true without any need for tabs. I could not have done it […] Read More

Congrats to Rob, who writes to tell us about the first flight of his RV-14! After 3.5 years and 1876 hours, N414S took to the skies. After a rapid acceleration she jumped of the ground and climbed to 1,000 by the end of the runway. She flew straight and true and cruises “hands off and […] Read More

Congratulation to Charlie Derk, who sends his RV-10 first flight report! Four years and 5 months of blood, sweat and tears finally paid off as N688CD took her maiden voyage on Monday. What a thrill. Everything worked as it should and the plane was a dream to fly. Pretty amazing feeling when you start barreling […] Read More

Travis wrote in to tell us all about his RV-7 first flight, which happened recently in December. Congrats, Travis! Hi Van’s, Just wanted to let you know that RV-7 #74585 received it’s Airworthiness from an FAA inspector the first week of December and made it’s first flight on December 19th 2019 after 3 years and […] Read More

A huge congrats to Brian, who writes in and sends photos of his RV Grin, and tells us about the first flight of his brand-new RV-7 that took place today! “The plane flew just like every amazing story you’ve ever heard about an RV. It launched off the runway at close to gross weight and […] Read More

It’s actually been 19 years since Chris first flew his RV-4, but we are super glad for the belated report! “What a fun journey. This project took 2 years and 3 months to complete. Over the years this plane has been a great source of enjoyment for me. She is VFR with an IO-360 and […] Read More

Congrats to Russell on the first flight of his new RV-8! He writes: First flight made from Jandakot airport in Western Australia after a convoluted 12 year build. The first flight went well with no major issues to report and initial performance looks promising. Thanks to Van’s for supplying a great product. Also a big […] Read More

Congrats to Dave, who sends us the story of how he came to build and fly his new RV-12iS! I was about 11 years old and I always loved the idea of taking apart things, I admit having trouble getting them back together. I loved to build plastic Revell model airplanes that I hung from […] Read More

Congrats to Ken, who writes in about the first flight of his new RV-14A: Today was the feeling of great accomplishment. Actually flying this plane truly brings that RV grin to my face. Those summer days here in AZ sweating it out in a hot hangar seemed endless. Sticking to 6 – 10 hours a […] Read More

Dave writes in to tell us about the first flight of his new RV! Van’s RV-7A N47HM received her airworthiness certificate a week ago and had her first flight today after two previous attempts halted due to troubleshooting fouled plugs, faulty airspeed readings, and carbon monoxide leaks. A rare week of rain in Southern California […] Read More

Mike writes in to let us all know: Pleased to say N664K my RV-14A #140049 is officially complete. First flight was in July of last year, flew straight and true from the start with no issues at all. Just got her back from Aces High Aircraft Refinishing based right here in Hays, KS and couldn’t […] Read More

Douglas’ first flight is short, sweet and to the point! “Absolute perfect day for a perfect flight. Well worth the wait!” Congrats!

Rick sent us this report from British Columbia about the first flight of his latest RV build, an RV-7A! First flight. All went well. Good trim and strength forward. The normal big RV grin that I’ve had before as this is my fifth grin in twenty-four years. This girl is fondly called “Ruby 2” as […] Read More

Congrats to Ken, who sends in this report on his first flight: This particular airplane is my second RV (I previously built an -8 which first flew in 2002) and, over the last 21 months spent working on it, I’ve renewed my acquaintance with the RV community (the very best part of building an RV!) […] Read More

Steve’s report was short and sweet: “Thanks Van’s staff for the great design.”

Joe writes to tell about his RV-10’s first flight: First flight was a blast, can’t wait to do some traveling. 5 days a week x 104 weeks = 1 RV-10. Used the EAA Flight Test Guide to develop my test profiles. Flew perfectly trimmed, discovered some new unknowns that only flight testing can reveal. More […] Read More

Phil writes to share his first flight story: Today was the long-anticipated first flight of N1414A. She took 2 3/4 years to complete and was a complete joy every step of the way. She flew great with no squawks at all. I can’t wait to get her in the air again and work through the […] Read More