RV8A First Rivet to First Flight

Hey there everybody,

I came across this video on youtube of the build and first flight of an Van's Aircraft RV8A. Pretty nice video. Pretty cool to have the support and help of friends and family. I know the thrill that this guy is experiencing, since I felt the same thing when I completely rebuilt my RV4 and flew it for the first time. My RV4 gained 12 mph from before, thus, the RV grin. Hope you all enjoy this video as much as I did.

RV Grin at Thirteen

I have certainly been enjoying talking to my 13 year old son about life and things in which he is interested like baseball, basketball and xbox. And flying. FLYING??? Really?? That is so cool!! Yes, we actually had our first father / son hangar talk. Wow! Can I just say, I really enjoyed that alot! I think every aviator father dreams of sitting in the hangar, or around the campfire at a fly-in, just talking about airplanes or flying with his son.

A few months back, my son received a Phoenix Flight Simulator for Christmas, and he started flying the RV4 on it. Before the end of the day, he could fly loops and rolls, figure eights, hammerheads, and just about anything at all. In fact, he could outfly me hands down.....scary! As a result, the RV discussion was born. "Dad, I want an RV4", he said. I was thinking two things at that point. First: How totally cool would it be to have my son at age 17 fly wingman with me in our RV's and fly off for that $100 hamburger. How absolutely wonderful that would be!! Then, secondly, I thought: Well, lemme just cough up that extra $65k I have lying around and make that happen for you son. But I didn't say that one. So, I told him, "I have an idea, son. Why don't we purchase the RV one section at a time, as we have saved up the funds, and then we could build it together." You should have seen the smile on his face. It was so incredible to see an RV-grin on a thirteen year old. Can you tell that I am just beaming on the inside?

So, our quest has begun. We are in search of our first RV tail section. I think that we are going to try and find an RV8 tail that someone has ordered and has decided not to build. My son and I are truly excited to embark on this journey together. It may take a long time and alot of bucks to accomplish the final task, but the journey getting there will be PRICELESS!