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FIrst FLights

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Martin J Filiatrault’s RV-8 | Clarkston, Michigan RV-8 #83507

Martin wrote in to let us know about his first flight in his RV-8. He writes: The first and second flights of my RV-8 occurred on Thursday, April 28, 2022 with test pilot David Carrick at the controls. The first flight was only five minutes; an unknown vibration occurred and David returned to the field. […] Read More

Alan Wieder’s RV-9A | Creswell, Oregon RV-9A #91173

Congratulations Alan! I acquired this “90% complete – 90% to go” project in Sept 2020. The first builder passed away before completion and the second builder had health issues which prevented him from making any progress for about seven years. Changes in my work schedule (COVID) provided me the opportunity to take this on, including […] Read More

Steven Robert Noneman’s RV-7A | Columbus, Montana RV-7A #74393

Congratulations to Steven! He writes: The first flight of my RV-7A, N974NA, was completed on April 8, 2022. That flight realized a lifelong dream that started when I was an aerospace engineering student at the University of Cincinnati. As a UC student I started in Huntsville, Alabama, a 40-year career with NASA in 9/74 (note […] Read More

Mark Santoleri’s RV-14A | West Chester, Pennsylvania RV-14A #140561

Congratulations Mark! N94MS received its airworthiness certificate on March 7, 2022. On March 20, 2022 it had its first successful flight. The Thunderbolt IO-390 exp 119 and Hartzell 3-blade composite performed amazingly well. Thanks Van’s for great design. As a repeat offender this kits went together very quickly. Thanks to my many friends for their help […] Read More

Chris Hrabe’s RV-9A | Eden Prairie, Minnesota RV-9A #91756

Congratulations to Chris on his new RV-9A! He writes: Dear Folks at Van’s, I’m pleased to announce that the thirteen-year build of my RV-9A, S/N 91756, N111CT was recently finished, and the first flight was performed on January 11th with the very capable Mr. Tom Berge at the controls. The flight went quite well and […] Read More

Thomas Murray’s RV-14A | Oswego, New York RV-14A #140698

Congratulations Thomas! He writes: Most people say this is a show plane. The color is custom, a mix of glass flake sapphire of the crystal alliance series, a one of a king paint job. The color changes from black to blue and a few different colors in between. Full IFR panel, two Garmin G3X touch, […] Read More

Glen Palmer’s RV-7 | Toronto, Ontario RV-7 #74641

Congratulations to Glen on his new RV-7! He writes: I thoroughly enjoyed building the aircraft. I learned so much and gained so many new skills. There was frustration but more often a huge sense of accomplishment. Much of the enjoyment of the build came from having an incredibly supportive wife. She encouraged me to start […] Read More

Jim Sackreiter’s RV-14A | Brenham, TX RV-14A #140648

Join us in congratulating Jim on the maiden flight of his new RV-14A! “First flight was at 2:22 on 2/22/22. It was short due to an oil temperature indication anomaly. After re-terminating the wires to the temperature sensor another, longer flight was successfully flown.”

Paul Mantegna’s RV-7 | Palo Alto, California RV-7 #74884

Congratulations to Paul and Kacy on their new RV-7! Paul writes: Kacy and I purchased our RV-7 kit just before the pandemic hit while we were both in New Zealand, her for work and myself for leisure. Work from home allowed me to sneak into the garage between meetings to keep the pace high during […] Read More

Denis Rottler’s RV-9A | KTRL - Terrell, TX RV-9A #92111

Congratulations to Dennis! He writes: I bought an RV-9A kit with quite a bit of the heavy lifting already accomplished in January 2019. After working in my garage for 2 years and 9 months, I was able to move the completed fuselage and all the bits and pieces to my hangar at KTRL. Two months […] Read More

Paul Dolley’s RV-12iS | Waikato, New Zealand RV-12iS #121263

Congratulations to Paul on the first flight of his RV-12iS! He writes: 18 months to the day after pulling the first rivet, the first flight of ZK-DOL was carried out by Bill Henwood , which all went smoothly and without a hitch. With the late summer weather holding on we were able to complete the […] Read More

David Ross’ RV-7A | Edmonton, Alberta RV-7A #74829

Congratulations to David! He writes: Slow build C-GCOA was completed almost exactly two years after the tail kit arrived but delays with the paperwork over the Christmas holidays meant we couldn’t legally fly it until February 12. First flight was flawless and conducted by my building partner Gene with myself monitoring the engine gauges and […] Read More

Brian Trepanier’s RV-7 | Monroe, Georgia RV-7 #74394

Congratulations to Brian on the first flight of his RV-7, he writes: I flew my RV-7 for the first time on March 1, 2022. She flew perfectly with no anomalies noted on my first flight which was about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I built this airplane from a slow build kit over the past […] Read More

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