FIrst FLights

Rick and Tanner wrote in to let us know about the recent completion of their RV-10: First flight was awesome with our RV-9A following along and a great sunset!

Congratulations to Robert on the new RV-10! He writes: My RV-10 journey began on September 15, 2011…Nine years, two months, seventeen days and 3000+ hours of labor, N464RL was born! On hand for the first flight were three generations of Aviators. My Dad and I flew the maiden flight together with my son taking care […] Read More

Robert wrote in to let us know about the first flight in his RV-8A: Some specs: The engine is a Titan IO-370 with 9.6 CR pistons, rated at 200 HP. Ignition systems are dual Light Speed Engineering PIII and the prop is from Whirl Wind Aviation, a 200 RV. The fastback kit came from Show […] Read More

Congratulations to Alex on the first flight of his RV-8! He writes in to tell us: After 5 years of detailed construction, I was stunned to find myself flying such a perfect machine! Everything worked absolutely perfect, very responsive controls and very stable flight. I want to thank Victor Mejalenko for helping me on the construction and […] Read More

Luis writes in to tall us about the first flight of this RV-14A! My new RV14A is a pure joy to fly. It tracks true and zero issues came up during the first flight. I would love to take credit but it has to be due to the incredible precision of the kit. The picture of […] Read More

Congratulations to Mark, who writes to tell us about the first flight of his RV-10: It began as a dream. I took the demo flight at AirVenture 2016 with my wife. She had to approve before we committed to this project. I actually sat in the back so Mike our amazing demo pilot could dazzle […] Read More

Congrats to Mark on the first flight of his RV-10! He writes: After exactly five years and one day N25CM took flight from Stark’s Twin Oaks Airpark outside of Portland, OR. My dream to build an RV began back in the late 70’s when, as a child, I saw kit plans being advertised in Popular […] Read More

Sam kept it short and sweet for his first flight report: uneventful, easy plane to fly. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Enrico on his new RV-8! He writes: This morning, after 50 months of building time, shortly after my 50th birthday and a pandemic rolling over the whole wide world, my RV-8 became an airplane! A huge big thanks to the experienced RV-8 pilot Luca Perazzolli, my mentor and master, who kept me motived […] Read More

Congratulations to David, who writes to tell us about the first flight of his RV-4: My RV-4 received its airworthiness certificate on January 29, 2021, and flew for the first time the next day. The serial number is 2120, and it began life when the empennage kit was delivered to a customer in Virginia in […] Read More

Congrats to Scott, who writes in to report: Thanks Van’s for everything! Flew perfect out of the gate! Special thanks to Bruce Bohannon and Ken “Bender” Jefferson for transition training. 

Erik writes in to let us know about the first flight of his new RV-14! After spending 8 years slow-building a slow-build RV-14 kit, I had my first flight in N276EM on December 24, 2020. The flight was short and (mostly) uneventful. I want to say that building it was just as much fun as […] Read More

Congratulations to Denis on the first flight of his RV-7! He writes: Well… three years after the first flight I still have that grin on my face ( too large to fit any pictures !). It took just under seven years to build and it was worth every penny ! An adventure of a lifetime with […] Read More

Congratulations to Randy on the completion of his RV-10! He writes: From the day I drove the 1st rivet till the day I picked up my plane from the paint shop (final step) was exactly 4 years, to the day! Building has been an incredible adventure. From the people you meet to the immense sense […] Read More

Congratulations to Darry on his new RV-7A! He writes: I always wanted my own airplane but certified airplanes are expensive. I discovered the amazing Van’s airplanes and ordered the tail kit. Four and a half years later, she took to the skies over North Houston. I’m part of the local EAA Chapter 302 and they were […] Read More

Congratulations to Robert on the first flight in his RV-8! He writes: Well, almost 11 years to the day my RV-8 project took to the air. Life and work sometimes get in the way but I wasn’t going to quit till it was complete. My RV-8 is a slow build kit with the ShowPlanes fastback […] Read More

Congratulations to Jeffrey on the first flight of his RV-10! He writes: My family has put up with 3050 build hours over 4 years, 5 months, 12 days answering the questions from countless numbers of people who when they tried to tell them that their dad/husband was building a plane had to be convinced that […] Read More

Congratulations to William on the first flight of his RV-14A! He writes: Sorry it took so long to report first flight. First flight was on March 1st, 2020. This plane flies beautifully. Thanks to the guys at Van’s for a great design and particularly Scott McDaniels for every post he has ever written in Van’s Airforce […] Read More

Congratulations to John on his new RV-7A! He writes: It’s been a long road. Well, I did do a s-l-o-w build. Was ready to fly on 12/29/20, but two stormy IFR days made me put it off until the new year. Flies great. My wife took the pictures.

Congrats to Ed on the new RV-7! He writes: One day the to-do list got down to zero, and it was time to fly! I was nervous of course, but it was a non-event, handled, and flew perfectly. I kept her light, 180 hp IO-360/Hartzell prop, basic VFR Garmin panel, and painted interior – weighs […] Read More