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First Flight Reports

Jonathan Elliott’s RV-7 | Dunedin, New Zealand RV-7 #72430

Nice work, Jonathon on your new RV-7! He writes in to tell us all about his new airplane: After a 3 year build my RV-7 took to the skies yesterday for the first time. Happy to say we had a successful first flight and it’s flying perfectly. Hands off straight and level, can’t ask for […] Read More

Alexander Cole’s New RV-14A | Oviedo, FL RV-14A #140509

Congratulations to Alex on the first flight of his new RV-14A! He writes: N14YZ had her first flight on April 13, 2021 – she flew almost perfectly and I could trim for hands-off flight. Thankfully, the day was uneventful, but likely because of all the preparation and planning that went into it.  First, I’ll have […] Read More

Ryan Wuerz’ RV-14A | Picayune, MS RV-14A #140200

Congratulation, Ryan on the first flight of your new RV-14A! After spending this past week with Mike Seager, this morning’s flight was a non event. Just a couple minor squawks: – Need a snubber on the MAP sensor – Slightly heavy left wing (may be too early to call?) Aside from that – she ran […] Read More

Stephen Taylor’s RV-12iS | Auckland, New Zealand RV-12iS #121063

Congratulations to Stephen on the first flight of his RV-12iS! He writes: I have been beavering away for 3.5 years to complete my RV-12, ZK -TSP (Taylor Steve & Pam ). After some frustrating days/months, programming the Garmin GX3, we managed to sort the issues, with the last one being the fuel pressure. By the […] Read More

David Stukus’ RV-10 | Exeter, Rhode Island RV-10 #42074

Congratulations to David on the first flight of his RV-10! He writes: With the sure and skillful hands of the very talented Vernon Darley, N4400k broke the sure grip of gravity, and took the sky for the first flight. The push of the throttle brought to life the amazing Io-540, and with great excitement the […] Read More

Jereme Carne’s RV-7A | Worland, Wyoming RV-7A #74579

Jereme wrote in to let us know about the first flight of his RV-7A: 3/9/2021 marks the day that N187E became a true airplane. After getting back from transition training I had some last minute things to do to the aircraft to get her ready for flight. I had a slight brake leak on the […] Read More

Heinrich Grafenhorst’s RV-7A | Bremen, Germany RV-7A #74317

Heinrich wrote in to let us know about the first flight of his new RV-7A: Hello, After five years of building, I had my first take-off. The aircraft flies great! It´s a cheap version of the RV-7A with an overhauled O-360 A4M engine and a fixed pitch prop. The panel is very simple with an […] Read More

Bruno and Salvo Sanna’s RV-7 | Toulouse, France RV-7 #72121

Congratulations to Bruno and Salvo! They write: Started to build a long time ago (2004) and a long stop since January 2018. Finished the aircraft last December (2020). We built this fabulous bird together, father and son, and did the first flight together as well! All went very well as expected. Van’s team provided perfect support and […] Read More

Dave Shipley’s RV-14A | Yates City, Illinois RV-14A #140655

Congratulations to Dave on the new RV-14A! He writes: I started building the Empennage kit at the end of September 2019. I found it to be easy and had it completed by November 2019. I received the Quick Build Kit end of February 2020. I received my airworthy certificate on December 6, 2020. This was […] Read More

Steve Weinstock’s RV-10 | Schaumburg, Illinois RV-10 #40230

Congratulations to Steve on the first flight of his RV-10! He writes: First flight occurred on August 21, 2020 in the early afternoon, on a sunny, beautiful day. It went well, with only a few settings on the EFIS needing adjustment and a slightly heavy right wing. After the 40-hour flyoff, it was painted, and […] Read More

Greg Ramola’s RV-7 | Orlando, Florida RV-7 #74111

Greg wrote in to let us know about the first flight of his new RV-7: This has been the most rewarding experience of my life. What a fantastic flying airplane. This RV-7 is my first build, and won’t be my last. It’s powered by a Barrett Precision Engine built IO-390-X running dual electronic ignition and […] Read More

Brian Weselmann’s RV-10 | Edgewater, Florida RV-10 #41332

Congratulations to Brian on his new RV-10! He writes: Aircraft flew as advertised. Really happy with the performance, typical RV grin!! Powered by IO-540-C4B5 with Bendix fuel injection and mags. Dual Dynon HDX panel with Avidyne IFD 540 GPS from Advanced. Painted aircraft during Covid downtime. Phase 1 flew off. My second RV. First flew […] Read More

Skip Popiak’s RV-10 | Thompson, Connecticut RV-10 #40819

Congratulations to Skip on his new RV-10! He writes: After taking a 7 year building hiatus (to put 3 children through college) my RV-10, kit 40819 N384WP, took to the air. The build was a most enjoyable and rewarding experience due to the excellent design and support of everyone at Van’s, Thanks. Can’t wait to […] Read More