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FIrst FLights

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Dave Swanson’s RV-7 | Eagan, MN RV-7 #74793

Great work, Dave! We’re excited to see his first flight and completed RV-7. He shares: After receiving my airworthiness certificate earlier in the week, followed by a couple days of gusty winds, I had to take advantage of calm winds and an empty traffic pattern. Flight was uneventful but exciting. Thank you to the Van’s, […] Read More

Bob Mowry’s RV-12iS | Butler PA RV-12iS #120-987

Great work, Bob. We’re excited to see his first flight in his RV-12iS. He shares: After seven years of part time building, N412X finally took flight on October 3, 2023. My wife and I started construction at Synergy Air back in October of 2016. I could not have completed this build without the faithful help […] Read More

Bruce Lee / Chandler Webb’s RV-14 | Safford Arizona RV-14 #140647

Congratulations to Bruce and Chandler as they completed their first flights! Bruce reports: After solving the problem of a bad spark plug on our 1st attempt, of all the things we didn’t expect, our actual first flight morning was just glorious! The weather could not have been better, a nice cool desert morning with a […] Read More

Mark Russell’s RV-10 | Denver, CO RV-10 #41634

Applauding Mark’s successful debut flight with his RV-10. Here’s to many more adventures. He reports: First flight of N14BV took place during the pandemic on June 20, 2020. It was noteworthy for being unremarkable. No squawks, no unexpected alarms, no drama. Just the excitement of being in the air for the first time. Credit goes […] Read More

Thaddeus Bettner’s RV-10 | Chico CA RV-10 #42159

Cheers to Thaddeus for conquering the skies in his RV-10! Here’s to many more flights ahead. He writes: An amazing aircraft to build and fly. First flight went perfectly and I was the pilot!!! Thanks so much to my family for patiently enduring this project, my son Gabe who helped buck and rivet the 10,000+ […] Read More

Xavier Lebegue’s RV-10 | Versailles, France RV-10 #41625

Great work, Xavier. We’re excited to see his first flight with his RV-10! He shares: The short first flight around the pattern went smoothly. I am glad I had taken RV-10 transition training from Mike Seager, so I knew exactly how the RV-10 should behave. Phase 1 was also straightforward despite many constraints in the […] Read More

Vio Balanoiu’s RV-14A | Atlanta, GA RV-14A #140756

Sky’s the limit for Vio! Applauding his successful debut flight with the RV-14A. Here’s to many more adventures. He writes: I’ve been looking to building an RV for many years and I thought it’s a good idea to fly one before I do so. I had my demo flight with Zack Czachorowski on March 7th, […] Read More

Niko Lamberg’s RV-7A | Finland RV-7A #74875

Cheers to Niko for conquering the skies in his RV-7A. Here’s to many more flights ahead. He writes: After nearly four years of building, the project finally turned into a real aircraft. As I was the test pilot with no prior test pilot experience, I was a bit nervous – and so was my wife […] Read More

Frieder Kemmann’s RV-10 | Beaufort, SC RV-10 #40119

Great work, Frieder! We’re excited to see his first flight with his RV-10. He shares: This is my 4th build, I started with a Sonex, then a Glasair 2, a Velocity SE and now finally a real airplane, the RV-10. This is by far the most incredible plane I’ve ever owned. The first flight was […] Read More

Steve Olson’s RV-14A | KUGN at Waukegan, Illinois RV-14A #140244

Way to soar, Steve! Celebrating the successful debut flight of his RV-14A. He reports: I started this project over 6 years ago with absolutely no shop or building experience, proving that anyone with the enthusiasm and a little patience can build an RV. First flight was with Carlos Rivera in the right seat as additional […] Read More

George Berka’s RV-4 | Waterbury, Connecticut RV-4 #752

Sky’s the limit for George! Applauding his successful debut flight with the RV-4. Here’s to many more thrilling adventures! He shares: Good Morning, I hope that it is acceptable to post this story here, since it does not pertain to an actual build, but only to a first flight. Nevertheless, it was still a very […] Read More

Terry Shortt’s RV-7 | Wichita KS RV-7 #72651

Cheers to Terry as he completed his first flight in his RV-7! He shares: On September 7th, 2019, My RV build adventure started when my good friend Craig Noah helped me pick up a set of almost complete used wings that had been hanging up in the original purchaser’s garage for the better part of […] Read More

Gary Julian’s RV-7 | New Zealand RV-7 #73688

Congratulations Gary! He writes: The big day snuck up on me. Thanks to my Test pilot Jason Wakelin and engineer John Crawford (and a lot of others who lifted ; held; riveted and so on you all know the drill). All went very smoothly just a few caution lights on the Dynons to be sorted […] Read More

Lee Kitson’s RV-8 | Harleysville, PA RV-8 #83430

Congrats Lee on the completion and first flight on his RV-8! He reports: My RV-8 took to the skies for the first time on Dec. 4th with Nigel Speedy at the controls. It was a perfect day for a test flight with low clear skies and low winds. Nigel reported that it flew great and […] Read More

Alexander Cole’s RV-14A | Oviedo, Florida RV-14A #140509

Congratulations to Alexander on completing his first flight with his RV-14A! He writes: N14YZ had her first flight on April 13, 2021 – she flew almost perfectly and I could trim for hands-off flight. Thankfully, the day was uneventful, but likely because of all the preparation and planning that went into it.  First, I’ll have […] Read More

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