John Salak recently flew his RV-12 for the first time. Here’s what he had to say: First flight was just over 10 years from the start of building. I made an early decision to go EAB because of the Honda 110 engine and installing an Avidyne IFD540 navigator. 100% custom wiring and panel (Dynon Skyview, […] Read More
Doug Hine’s RV-10 recently took the skies for the first time. Here’s what he had to say: After 6 years and 1 month, 235MM took to the skies. Beautiful Colorado morning. Pikes Peak in the background. Definitely had the “RV Grin” upon taxiing back. Thanks to Tom and Shawn for their advice and an occasional […] Read More
Stefan Schroeter’s RV-10 has gone aloft for the first time. Here’s more: My RV-14A wasn’t in the air yet when I let myself be persuaded to join a building project for a four-seat RV-10 as part of a building community. Based on my experience building my RV-7 and two RV-14s, the build was supposed to […] Read More
The Gentry and Brown RV-10 has flown! But there’s more to the story: One couple moving across states in Australia to build their dream, an RV-10. Why move? A number of reasons: The house in Perth Western Australia was not big enough and no real carport that was sealed. The nearest airport was 40 km […] Read More
“Today was a good day” for Mike Mitchell and the first flight of his RV-14A. Here’s more of the story: Throughout the entire build process, the goal is always a completed and fully functional flyable aircraft yet the finish line seems to sometimes stretch beyond reach. Until the day you tell yourself, “it’s time to […] Read More
The Wakeham/Nayeri RV-7 just flew in the U.K. The brief (!) report is as follows: Flew exactly as expected, raised a few eyebrows on the spotters group as the portable ADS-B was programmed as an [Airbus] A320!
Raymond Labonte’s five years of building paid off with a first flight of his RV-14: After a 5 year and 4 days build RV-14 serial number 140800 was launched for its first flight from the Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport on 10/11/25. All went as expected and proved that 5 years of effort was well worth […] Read More
Matthew Rivard made it two 10s in two days to get to first flight. Here’s more: I completed the first flight of my RV-10, N238MJ, and I’m happy to report it was entirely uneventful, with everything going exactly as planned. The aircraft performed perfectly in all phases of flight and flew true right out of […] Read More
Greg Hartt’s RV-10 has flown for the first time. Here’s the story: After 5 long years of building and a few months of waiting on the FAA, I was able to obtain my airworthiness certificate and hold the first flight a couple days later. I had to wait from some ceilings to open up but […] Read More
Paul van Sandwyk’s RV-6A has completed a 32-year build odyssey to become the latest RV-6A to take flight. Here’s his story: At Oshkosh in 1992 Jerry VanGrunsven took me up for a “free” ride in Van’s demonstrator. Shortly after I purchased the plans for RV-6A #22320. The empennage kit was shipped, by sea, in December […] Read More
Thomas Davidson flew his RV-9A for the first time, and earns his way into the “man of few words” finals for 2025! He says: Flew straight and true, stall performance as expected. Very fun to fly!
Sometimes life throws you curves balls during a build, but Ron Ingram did not shy away from the challenge. He shares a little about the build of his new RV-6A. In 2002, I decided to take the plunge and build an RV-6A. I had already started the work on a Dragonfly, but the RV was […] Read More
A lot of help went into building Michael’s Truett’s RV-9A. It is #1200 of the RV-9 series to be completed! He shares his story and build dedications. I began my RV-9A build when I first retired in 2018, with the full support of my loving wife Denise. This was my retirement project, which also included […] Read More
Richard Raymond’s RV-14A took to the skies and is a painting the horizon red. He shares a snippet of his story. After just over three years of slow building, another -14A joins the list of flying aircraft. My sincere gratitude to all my assistants and the good folks at Van’s who produced a stunning kit.
Gregory had the whole family help with this build, even his pregnant wife was alongside him setting rivets. Lombard tells the rest of the story: I started building in January of 1998, three months after getting married, and not coincidentally four months after getting a ride in an F-104 Starfighter. I’ve raised 2 kids and […] Read More
Jeff Dingbaum’s “no surprises” RV-14A joins the flying fleet of RVs after nearly a decade of “family first” building. Here’s the story: The first flight of N3299A was a long time coming, over 9 years. Life and family came first and sometimes a successful work session was a rivet or two. Thanks to my wife […] Read More
Knut Hentzschel persevered through 14 German winters — what better way to distract yourself than to build an RV — and reaped the reward of his RV-9A’s first flight. Here’s the rest of the story: Finally, after 14 winters of building (my interests were different in the summer), my RV-9A has taken to the skies. […] Read More
Larry Larson joins the ranks of the milestone makers, with the first flight of his RV-7A. Larry has been active on Van’s Air Force and an occasional contributor to Kitplanes magazine. Here’s his (short) story: It took 12 years. Talk about slow build. You all know her as Lucy. I’ve been in the community since […] Read More
Thomas Klammer just flew his RV-10 “retirement project” for the first time. Here’s the story: I am a private-pilot, SEL, with an instrument rating. I earned my PPL about 15 years ago, and have 600 hours, half in C-172s and half in Cirrus SR-22s. All my flight time was in rental aircraft. After 10 years […] Read More
Allen Maris watched his RV-7A make its first flight from the ground, a heart-in-throat feeling to be sure. He writes: After 8 years of on-and-off building, the garage project finally became a plane. A close friend and qualified test pilot did the first flight. Watching it take off was surreal—seeing my plane in the sky […] Read More
