10,000th Van’s RV Aircraft Flies

December 5, 2017 - David Porter, EAA 745227, became the owner of the official 10,000th Van’s RV aircraft to transition from a collection of parts to a flyable airplane when he reported the recent first flight of his RV-7.

David, who is the president of EAA Chapter 1071 in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, spent 3-1/2 years building his RV-7 from the standard kit and it’s equipped with a Lycoming O-360-A1A, a Hartzell blended airfoil prop, GRT/Garmin VFR avionics, and seats by Flightline Interiors. David’s first flight was on November 24.

An experienced CFI, David is a relative newcomer to RVs.

“I had never considered building an airplane until one day in late 2013 when I got a ride in the back seat of an RV-8,” David said. “It was my first time in an RV and I was amazed by the performance. I immediately started running calculations about whether I could afford to build an RV. Before long, I ordered an empennage kit and sold the Piper Warrior I had owned for several years.”

 Van’s Aircraft began selling RV-3 plans in 1973, with a new RV taking to the air every 1.6 days for the past 44 years leading up to this milestone.