John Schultz’s RV-14A | Leonardtown, Maryland RV-14A #140860

John recently completed and flew his RV-14A for the first time! He writes:

After 4 years and 2,800 hours of build time, N9314A took to the skies over Southern Maryland. The aircraft flew straight with no aileron or elevator trim required! Thanks to Joe “Zack” Czachorowski’s excellent transition training, I was well prepared for any eventuality. I had an avionics failure during the first flight, that Zack and I had discussed, which made the failure a non-stressful event. During Phase 1, I was happy to find that my RV-14A closely matched Van’s brochure performance.

The engineering design of the RV-14 made the build an awe-inspiring process. I often explained the build as a giant tinker-toy. Everything just fit.

Thanks to excellent documentation and Van’s builder support, the hardest part of the build was the painting. Evoke Aviation helped me with the scheme and provided paint masks. My daughter designed the tail art in her early teenage years and let me put it on the airplane. “Dino” the dinosaur represents turning dead dinosaurs into noise and thrust.