We learn of flying RVs in several different ways, and we can only add your RV to our counter if you let us know it’s flown! Ideally, a builder will use the form linked from this page to send us the story and a photo/video or two or three of his or her personal “RV grin.” Sometimes they call us on the phone, which is great but doesn’t actually provide us with anything to publish on the web. Other times we find out incidentally; for example when a customer calls to order new tires and we wonder why someone who is still building (as far as we know) would need them. Or, we may discover a first flight announcement on an RV web forum or other online venue. On yet other occasions, we learn of a new batch of flying RVs from “RV factories” overseas, but without the individual owner details.
We’d like to see more RV grins here, so please submit your first-flight story and pictures of your new “baby,” or we (and the rest of the world) may never know of your success! Click the “Submit Report” link on the right to do it!
Ken and Sherry wrote in to let us know about the first flight of their RV-12iS! See their report: After roughly five years of building in our spare time, N190KS received her airworthiness certificate on November 12th, 2024. We were beyond thrilled, and at the first good weather window, Ken did the first taxi testing […] Read More
Congrats to David on his new RV-7! He writes: After a 5 year build effort, N961VJ completed its first flight. She flew straight, no heavy wing, and CHT’s in the 350’s. Couldn’t have done it without expert advice from Tom Berge, Everette Williston, Mike Kerzie, Bob Fouts, and the Guys at Van’s (Kevin, Tony, Sterling, […] Read More
Congratulations to William on the new RV-7! He writes: I’m very happy to get my RV-7 in the air! It flew great with no issues.
Congratulations Matthew! Everything went as planned on the first flight. The 20-minute flight was uneventful and the plane flies great!
Congratulations to Frank on his new RV-14A! He writes: On the 121st anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight, our RV-14A took its first flight. We took off in light winds for its first hour of flying and to begin engine break-in and flight test. Really no serious squawks were uncovered and sure is a […] Read More
Congratulations to Keith on completing and flying his incredible RV-10! He shares: 4 years and 2 months later we have a flying RV-10. There’s been ups and downs along the way, but the first real (airborne) makes it all worthwhile! The performance is spectacular! With my wife’s help and support we have made our dream […] Read More
Congratulations George! He writes: The RV-10 is my second build. Special thank you to Martin Sutter and Jon Abarr for all their technical knowledge and their constant support to complete the build. I built a RV-7A in 2006 and still enjoy flying it. My first flight was a long time ago but I keep procrastinating […] Read More
Congratulations to John on the first flight of his RV-7A! First flight was flown by Tom Berge, all went good, had two wiring changes, one for trim direction and one for MP ground, also left heavy wing.
Congrats to Dan on his new RV-8A! He writes: To get here it took 4 years (almost exactly), 3300 hours of work, 15000 rivets, and almost my sanity, but N8824 took to the skies this morning, 11/19/2024, at 11:02am, from KSDC, and flew beautifully! I can’t understate how fast and smooth this thing flies. It’s […] Read More
Nice work Michael! He writes: During my university time we were designing and building an aircraft at the Akaflieg Stuttgart, the fs35. When i finished I decided to proceed this dedication for aviation and started an RV-7 empennage. But then I was able to purchase a second hand QB-Kit RV-9 and built in in the […] Read More
On Saturday 11/16/24 N567P took to the sky for the very first time! I started the build Thanksgiving week of 2019. My kit was a mixed bag of slow build wings, a quick build fuse, and an engine I yanked out of an old Pitts S1 and overhauled. One thing that a person learns is […] Read More
Congratulations to Estevan! He writes: The first flight on my homemade airplane was a thrilling blend of tension, excitement, and a deep sense of accomplishment. After years of learning and building, everything was finally in place. The engine fired up smoothly. As the plane rolled down the runway, I felt surprisingly confident. The takeoff was […] Read More
Congratulations Andrea! He writes: I became the owner of the RV-7 s/n 72206 on August 25, 2021 and on September 19, 2021 it was destroyed by a tornado while it was parked in the hangar at Carpi airport (Italy, ICAO code LIDU). In May 2022 my insurance paid me the damage, in July 2022 I […] Read More
Christopher’s RV-9 has flown for the first time! He writes: After briefing the tower for my first flight profile, I climbed aboard with a nervous, excited mindset. On takeoff clearance, the 2500 hours of work diminished into a single moment. What an incredible machine, looking forward to continuing the test flying phase, then the world’s […] Read More
Congrats to Shawn on completing his second RV! He writes: This is the second RV I have built, the first was an RV-7 that took me 3 years and 3 months to build with the first flight on 5/27/2014. The RV-10 journey took much longer due to job changes (and having a flying RV-7). After […] Read More
First flight lasted 35 minutes. Rock solid airplane. Loves to go fast. Joy to fly.
Congratulations to Matias on his new RV-7! He writes: The first flight lasted 15 minutes, it was the most focused and incredible moment of my life. Only after the flight did I realize that I had flown in an airplane that I had built myself. I love the RV-7.
Congrats to Jim! He writes: The first flight went well. The airplane flies straight and handles well.
Congratulations to Buck on his new RV-8, he writes: Construction of my dream RV-8 began way in 2002 (!) and progress stopped and started numerous times due to life getting in the way, having multiple jobs, house moves, and all sorts of other distractions — including my own desire to customize almost everything on the […] Read More
Congratulations to Kenneth on his new RV-10! He writes: I started the build in December 2018 as I retired from the electrical contracting industry and spent ever day over the last 4+ years working on the build. A heartfelt Thanks to my good friend Stuart who has been with me throughout the build. I went for […] Read More
