FIrst FLights

Congratulations to Jeff on the completion of his RV-7A! He writes: All went well. Seems to be well balanced. Flies level when trimmed. Feels good but different from my RV-7A

Congratulations John! Building an RV-14 in Malaysia for Australian registration was always going to be interesting especially with the plan to include a ferry tank from the start so she could be flown to Australia via Christmas Island. With a full lockdown, normal jobs were not possible and building became a full time occupation 10 […] Read More

Congratulations to Raymond on the completion of his RV-6. He writes: It’s difficult to explain why it took me nearly 27 years to get here but my commitment to completing this project never waivered. Just as many RV buliders experience, life events contributed to a lengthy build. But along the way, this project actually provided […] Read More

Thomas wrote in to let us know about the recent completion of his RV-10: For first T/O held it on the ground until 87 kts indicated airspeed. Climbed to 3000’ began circling the field at 24 in-Hg and 2400 rpm (MP and Tach). Noted CHTs were running over 400°F backed off to 23 in-HG and 2300 rpm. CHTs […] Read More

Congratulations to Brian on new RV-7! He writes: After 7 years and almost 500 hours, my first RV-7 was destroyed by a 500 flood at my home airport. When I began building the replacement, I decided to fix a few things as well as copy some modifications from the original RV-7: Small (RV-8) rudder, F1 […] Read More

Congratulations to Scott on the new RV-14A! He writes: The first flight was at San Bernardino (SBD) airport in Southern California. My Son, Joshua, did the first flight and everything went perfect. Flew over the airport area for about 1 hour. We are now about 15 hours into phase one. Thanks to everyone at Van’s […] Read More

Congratulations to Bill on the new RV-7! He writes: Sanity is a dream come true … ! My quick slow build finished up this spring and waited patiently for me to get a tailwheel endorsement, then took to the skies this month. All I ever expected and more! Aerosport IO-360, Catto 3 blade, Dynon Avionics. […] Read More

Tim wrote in to let us know about the completion and first flight of his RV-12iS: After 4+ years of building (including a 4 month COVID delay) I took N520TG to the air for the first time today. It flew fantastic. All the numbers were right on the POH. Special thanks to Tony Kirk in […] Read More

Congratulations Jay! He writes: This the 54th RV I have built in 25 years. My personal 5th RV. Two RV-6 and 3 RV-8s. I have over 2500 RV wonderful hours in my log book. Started building my first RV-6 on July 15, 1995. Finished that kit 10/27/1996. I thought the task was fun and easy. […] Read More

Congratulation to Cory on the beautiful RV-10! The first flight was a pretty short flight around the pattern. I had a few software squawks that I was a little uncomfortable with. A couple quick adjustments and the second flight was 2 hours. Really glad I got 5 hours of transition training with Alex of RVtraining.com. […] Read More

Rob wrote in to let us know about the completion and first flight of his RV-14A: Thanks to test pilot Dave Wohling and chase pilot Dave Taylor. The aeroplane flew beautifully and I am extremely happy with it. Special thanks to Toni for her patience and to Ryan, Linz, Dave and all who helped with […] Read More

Congratulations to Yvar on the first flight of his RV-14! He writes: First flight June 16th 2021 HB-YSI without defects encountered. Aircraft is very pleasant, fast, stabil to fly without trim issues. After 20h I’ve finished all the Flight Test. I’m happy to fly in the Swiss Alps. It was the third RV… Many thanks at […] Read More

Congratulations to Steve Thorne and the whole flight chops crew on the completion of their RV-14 project! On a perfectly clear and calm morning Dave launched for what was a mostly snag free first flight. We’d calibrated the Garmin G3X touch screen VSI tape to max out at 2000 FPM assuming that was more than enough […] Read More

Greg and Lori wrote in to let us know about the first flight of their RV-14A: N213GB took to the air on Feb. 23, 2021 after 5 years and 2400 hours of build time. First flight was thankfully uneventful, lasting about 40 minutes. Several minor squawks, all having to do with software settings and calibrations. […] Read More

Congratulations to Wayne and Kathy on the first flight of their new RV-7! They write: Our plane was started as a 6/7A in Jan 2000 by a guy in Long Island, NY. He got it to the finish kit stage and stopped working on it in 2007. We bought the airframe in his estate sale […] Read More

Congrats to David on the new RV-8! He writes: Over many years of building that included 2 (very long) combat tours in Iraq, 2 house moves and life that got in the way of my passion to complete my plane. On June 24, 2021 the plane took to the air at the hands of Mike […] Read More

Congrats to Tom on the new RV-10! He writes: N653TM took to the air June 6, 2021! The perfect ending to just shy of 3600 hours of build time. With the expert help of my good friend Rick McBride, the build was a great learning experience and very satisfying! (Although both Rick and I are […] Read More

Congratulations to Darin on the first flight of his new RV-10! He writes: On June 19th, 2021 N88DA took to the skies for the first time. The takeoff was smooth and clean with no unusual flight characteristics. 30 minutes of high power circles above KPLU were a thrill but also blessedly uneventful. I brief slow […] Read More

Mark wrote in to let us know that he has completed and flown his new RV-6A: First flight was a quick 30 min followed by a positioning flight of 10 min for the test program . Rough idle problem with my IO-320 slowed progress but the test flying and permit to fly was issued 20 […] Read More

Congrats to Darwin on the completion and first flight of his RV-7! He writes: A little late reporting but my 2nd RV-7 took flight in April of 2020. Equipped with a Lycoming/Barrett Precision IO390 and Whirlwind RV74 prop – the plane is quite the performer. Only minor issues to work out. Flew the plane for […] Read More