9,000th Customer-Completed Van’s Airplane Flies in Denmark
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Thomas Damm and his new RV-8, the 9,000th Van’s kit plane to fly. -
Damm gives the thumbs up following first flight of his RV-8.
April 14, 2015 - Van’s Aircraft, Inc. has announced another major building milestone this past week as Thomas Damm, EAA 534298, of Billund, Denmark, flew his newly finished RV-8 Mistress II for the first time on Thursday, April 8. That was the 9,000th customer-completed RV to fly, according to Van’s.*
A pilot for the Scandinavian Airlines, Damm acquired the kit from a friend and spent the last nine years, three months building the airplane. “On the first flight I saw 170 KTAS at 5,000 feet at only 24'/2400 rpm,” Damm wrote in his first flight report. “You guys produce great airplane kits!” Damm is a member of EAA Chapter 655 located in Stauning, Denmark.
The airplane is powered by a Superior XP IO-360 turning a Whirlwind 200RV constant speed prop. On the panel, according to Van’s, is a mix of round gauges and a small Dynon D1, with a Garmin 296 and a SkyDemon MD GPS. Damm added custom Grove airfoil-shaped gear legs and Show Planes’ Fast Back canopy kit.
According to Van’s, 9,000 RVs with an average wingspan of 27 feet parked wingtip to wingtip would form a line of aircraft 46 miles long, occupy a rectangle measuring about 151 acres, and generate 1,620,000 hp (at 180 hp each).
*Note: At the time of writing, the Van’s “Hobbs meter” had increased to 9,006! Learn more.