FIrst FLights

Congrats to John on the first flight of his new RV-7A! After 16 years kit #71342 became airborne 7/11/19 at Kenosha Regional Airport (KENW) in southeast Wisconsin. Due to clouds at 3,000 feet we had to keep the first flight orbits close in to the airport, which was interesting when at full power a lot […] Read More

Dmitry and Maximillian write in to tell us of the first flight of their new RV-7A! What an amazing airplane! Flight was as uneventful as we had hoped for and lasted for about one hour. The flight was performed by our friend and CFI Rolf Wengorz. Only a few minor squawks we have mostly ironed […] Read More

Congratulations to Magnus on the first flight of his RV-14! After enjoying building the aircraft for almost five and a half year it was finally time to fly. I built the aircraft in my garage, next to my house, mainly on late evenings when the kids had gone to sleep. I would not have been […] Read More

David Catt writes in to tell the world about the first flights of the new RV-8, which were piloted by David and Paul Shenton in the UK! First flight was 20 minutes duration with Paul Shenton as the pilot and went without out a hitch and no problems to report. This was followed by a […] Read More

Congrats to Patrick on the first flight of his RV-9! He writes to tell all of us: N631PB “Chuck” named after our Lab had its first flight today after six years in the making. What an amazing airplane! Thank you to all my friends and family who have been so patient with me over the […] Read More

Congrats to Patrick and Ian on their newly-flown RV-12iS! “My son Ian and I started building this RV-12iS in July of 2017 at Synergy Air with Ryan Marshall teaching us. We then took the project home and finally moved it to Creswell Airport (77S) two months ago. Today was a scary and exciting day. With […] Read More

Congrats to Tal on the first flight of an amazing RV-10! What an awesome day! My first flight was OUTSTANDING! I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am to have completed the biggest building project of my life! I’ve had the dream of building my own airplane since I was interested in flying. […] Read More

We’re starting to see newly flying RV-12iS airplanes in first flight reports! Joel writes to tell about his: “RV-12iS N319JL took the air today for the first time. Beautiful climb performance at 5500 ft density altitude. No squawks other than the need for a little rudder trim. Love the smooth-running Rotax 912iS.”

Congrats to Scott on the first flight of his new RV-7A! Scott has built a few RVs previously (RV-9A in 2007, RV-12 in 2015 and now an RV-7A), and wrote in to tell us about his newest: “I previously built several RVs with my last build a RV-12 E-LSA. I finished this plane with dual […] Read More

Congrats to Ralph, who writes to tell us: “First flight was a real thrill after working off and on for 16 years. The airplane leaps off the ground and is fun and easy to fly. I have been looking forward to this day and it finally happened. And yes, the tail number, N1976 is very […] Read More

Michael writes us about his first flight in his RV-8, which happened in December, 2018: I love this airplane! She flies straight and true. The controls are perfectly harmonized and the performance is spectacular! I have dual Advanced Flight Systems EFIS, remote NAV, remote transponder, remote audio panel and ADS-B in/out. Congrats!!

Congrats to Scott! He writes to tell us: 6-19-2019 4:30 EST Jenison MI. Riverview airport (08C). N518SD RV-9A sliding canopy took to the sky for the first time. N518SD is powered by a Lycoming 0-320 D3G 160 hp with E-mags, and 3 blade Catto prop. Installed GRT HXR 10″ touch screen, EIS and Garmin com. […] Read More

Steve writes us to tell about his newly-flying RV-9A. Congratulations, Steve! I am living proof that 70 is not too old to have a first flight. My flying skills were rusty, so I took advantage of the Additional Pilot Program. After a few hours of dual instruction, I now feel comfortable as PIC. The airplane […] Read More

Chandler wrote to describe the first flight of his RV-14A in April! What he doesn’t mention (so we will!) is that he’s since started working at Van’s Aircraft in our Aircraft Assembly Division. We’re happy he’s here! Great looking airplane, Chandler – Congrats! “It was a beautiful Friday morning and I had come in on […] Read More

Adam writes in to tell us of the first flight of the RV-7 he and his brother built! Congratulations! After 15 years, N631AK had its first flight today! I started the project in 2004 and built the empennage, but didn’t get serious until my brother Kyle joined the project in 2012. He flies an F-15C […] Read More

Congratulations to Brendon on the first flight of his RV-10! He writes in to say: “A flawless first flight from KPTK after a more than 7 year build! I learned a great deal building this plane and am now enjoying the incredible performance. I am impressed with the RV-10, it is everything I had hoped […] Read More

William writes in to describe the first flight of his RV-8! Congrats!! “0.7 hrs orbiting the airport. Plane tracked straight on the runway and flew beautifully under the control of my friend and high time RV-8 pilot Jerry Hajek. 2.3 hrs on the second flight, hope to get in 2.0 today, then change the oil […] Read More

Richard writes in to tell us about his new RV-14 first flight! “Two years start to finish (all slow build). Thanks to the support from all the professionals at Synergy Air in Eugene and my brother Randy for making the dream a reality. Options include a Thunderbolt IO-390, Hartzell composite prop and dual Skyview HDX […] Read More

Mike Collins writes in to tell us about his RV-7’s maiden flight! “Hurricane Amy” made her first flight 10-27-2018. The hardest part was wiping the RV grin off my face when I landed! I can’t thank Van’s enough for such a great kit and support. Options include 3-blade MT prop, Aerosport IO-375 with EFII System […] Read More