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FIrst FLights

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Gary Maier’s RV-14A | Erin, Wisconsin RV-14A #140555

My first flight happened almost 3 years to the day of a demo flight at Van’s and 10 years that I got my Private Pilot license. What an amazing adventure! The flight was more than awesome and I look forward to many more.

Tony, Karlyn, and Keegan Leth’s RV-12 | Minnesota RV-12 #120570

Congratulations to the Leth family on their new RV-12! Two words explain our first flight after a couple of years building the family plane with my daughter and son – RV GRIN! “It’s a great day when you fly the plane you built!” -Tony Leth

Peter Winter’s RV-12 | Latrobe Valley, Australia RV-12iS #121056

Congratulations Peter! First flight went very well, 2 flights on the day totaling 1 hour. Flys perfectly straight and had no issues . Pulled the cowls off after flight and all good. This is the second time I’ve had the RV grin after building an RV-7, I’ve just started another RV-7 build as well. 

Jürgen Amtmann’s RV-6A | Alamogordo, New Mexico RV-6A #20623

Congratulations on the first flight of your RV-6A, Jürgen: Started building in 1989 in Del Mar California in my garage and got the wings, fuselage, and tail feathers done before having to move to Santa Fe New Mexico. I finished the plane at Moriarty Airport and started flying in February 2021. What a relief to […] Read More

Dennis Harm’s RV-14A | Cadott, Wisconsin RV-14A #140206

Congratulations Dennis! He writes:  Had my first flight yesterday and what a day it was. The plane flew great and the performance is excellent. Thanks to everyone that helped in my build, including Van Aircraft, VAF, and especially Tim Olson for his online posts and transition training help, it made the first flight really easy. […] Read More

Jim Stanbridge’s RV-14A | Burlington Airpark, ON Canada RV-14A #140118

Congratulations to Jim on the first flight of his beautiful RV-14A! He writes: Fun first flight, uneventful. Aircraft performed flawlessly, flew hands off. Its been a fabulous journey building a slow build kit. Special thank you to my wife for all her encouragement. Made many friends over the years and couldn’t have done it without […] Read More

Michael Wilkinson’s RV-12 | England RV-12 #121067

Congratulations to Michael on his new RV-12! He writes: The aircraft performed almost perfectly from its first flight. A few initial issues such as an intermittent contact break in a socket, rudder trim tab and radio presets were quickly resolved. I now own a stunning aircraft, exceeding all expectations. The touch-screen EFIS and autopilot are […] Read More

Johan Sverkerson’s RV-8 | Sweden RV-8 #83604

Congratulations to Johan, who kept his first flight report short and sweet: Rather uneventful , no heavy wing or any other issue apart from the rubber seals on the filler plates fuselage to wing that were flapping in the breeze, I’ll have to glue them to the plates. What a machine, this will be fun!!! Johan

Pete Miller’s RV-7 | McKinney, Texas RV-7 #72477

Congratulations to Pete, who recently wrote in to let us know that he has flown his new RV-7 for the first time: On Friday, September 24, my RV-7 N174PM took off from Aerocountry with Chuck Wilson at the controls. Jeff Hansen flew chase in his RV-4. Chuck reported that it flew very well. There was […] Read More

Ivan Luke’s RV-7 | Hope Valley, Rhode Island RV-7 #74044

Congratulations Ivan! One day after receiving its airworthiness certificate from DAR Jon Ross, our RV-7 took flight for the first time on 9/13. The first flight went off without a hitch. The airplane flew just like it was supposed to- fast and straight! And boy is it fun to fly! It is a VFR machine […] Read More

Scott Redhead’s RV-8 | Tumwater, Washington RV-8 #83058

Scott wrote in to let us know about the first flight in his RV-8: My RV-8 has fully fledged. I took it for a short flight after a long build. The build was an interesting experience for sure, some frustrations but I learned lots. Looking forward to more flying and learning in phase 1 and […] Read More

Fred Leeper’s RV-8 | Douglass, Kansas (SN52) RV-8 #82906

Fred wrote in to let us know about the recent completion of his RV-8: Finally, after almost 13 years, my RV-8 #82906 slipped the surly bonds quickly and effortlessly on 8/29/2021. The first flight went without any issues, it tracked straight on the ground and flew hands off in the air. Life and work pushed the […] Read More

Paul Hillman’s RV-14A | Wichita Falls, Texas RV-14A #140644

Congratulations Paul! Today began a new phase of the RV flying lifestyle, versus the RV building lifestyle! First Flight was AWESOME! Looking forward to much more flying. The responsiveness, power, and ease of flying cannot be achieved in the spoken word, it must be felt in your body as you become part of the aircraft. You […] Read More

Danny Keel’s RV-9 | Puyallup, Washington RV-9 #91215

Congratulations to Danny on his new RV-9! He writes: The flight lasted .9 hrs and was pleasantly uneventful. The chase plane was manned by friends Wayne Bennet and Cary Grey in a Grumman Tiger and it was pretty cool that they couldn’t keep up. I’m sure there’s a lot of people to give credit to […] Read More

David Weisgerber’s RV-8 | Ionia, Michigan RV-8 #83830

David recently completed his RV-8: I got my RV-8 signed off by a DAR on 7-23-2021, the first flight was on 7-26-2021. The first flight went well with only a few adjustments needed mostly calibrating the fuel flow readout and I had to rebalance the tires. I previously built an RV-6 and flew that for […] Read More

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