Romeo Victor

Flying to Cedar Key

2011-12-20T08:22:00.000-08:00

The Garmin 696 shows a little weather.

The nasty (39 degrees and raining) mid December weather in Memphis depresses me enough to load up the RV-7 and, accompanied by my wife, fly south until we can find some warm air. So, after checking the weather, I filed IFR direct to Cross City Florida. We stopped there for fuel, because our destination, about 30 miles southwest of Cross City, has no fuel.
Cedar Key is one of a number of islands located off the west coast of Florida. The city has an area of about 2 square miles. Fortunately, there is a small airstrip located on the island.

Leaving Memphis, we were on top of the clouds at about 5,000 feet. Early winter flying in the south is some of my favorite. The air is still relatively warm, with freezing levels up over 10,000 feet, making IFR trips safe and comfortable. This is a lot different from summertime flying, where large cumulous clouds are to be avoided. At 9,000 feet, the outside air temp was about 35 degrees, rising to the mid forties as we traveled south. For the most part, we enjoyed a very smooth ride.

Short final to KCDK

After refueling at Cross City, we made the short jump to Cedar Key in about twelve minutes. The 2,300 foot strip is in pretty good shape, and it's plenty long for the RV. How nice of them to have this landing strip just so we can come down and eat clams and hang out! As I mentioned above, there is no FBO or fuel services here, but there is a tidy little ramp to tie the plane down on.

Romeo Victor tied down

The island looks as tiny as it is. It's home to a little over 900 residents. The "aquaculture" here is primarily clam farming

Raoul ferries us to our motel in a golf cart.

We had made reservations for lodging, and the managers there are a nice couple named Raoul and Teresa. Raoul came to the airport in a golf cart to transport us and our few bags the two miles to our destination.

Our motel turned out to be a delightful change from the standard Hampton or Holiday Inn type accommodation. It reminded me of the little motels we stayed in when I was a child. The room was small but clean and comfortable. And Teresa and Raoul went out of their way to make us feel at home.

Although the skies were a bit overcast when we arrived, the warm temperature of Florida lifted our spirits. We stretched our legs and took a walk, covering the whole town in about twenty minutes.

Dinner was at the Island Hotel and Restaurant, a well known bed and breakfast and restaurant. The Grouper Piccata was excellent.

The next morning was sunny and warm. So we took advantage of the beautiful weather to take a more extended tour of the island on our bicycles. For lunch we stopped at Tony's to sample the world championship clam chowder. Definitely the best I've ever had.

That evening we were able to see the annual Christmas boat parade with "Santa Clams" on his own float. Finally, dinner at The Island Room, where I finally had my fill of clams. Stuffed again!

All too soon, Sunday morning came, and we winged our way back toward Memphis. A steady headwind of about 15 knots prompted a fuel stop halfway at Prattville, AL to stretch our legs.

All in all, it was a great way to escape the cold and spend a day and a half. We will keep Cedar Key on or list of favorite destinations.

For more pictures: Cedar Key Photos

Another Boston Terrier saved

2011-08-26T04:54:00.000-07:00

My daughter, Rachel, picked up this little guy from the Memphis animal shelter on Tuesday. On Thursday, I flew him to Tullahoma, TN to meet his foster, Sue Hall.

Mr Boston finds a home.

2011-07-01T20:27:00.000-07:00

This was a pretty short trip. I left Memphis and landed in Paragould, AR to pick up Mr Boston, a little Boston terrier bound for a new home.

Terry was the lady who delivered Mr Boston to the airport.

Mr B and I flew to Corinth, MS, where he was picked up by Tanya. He then continued on to his new home in Alabama.

Mr Bingley moves to Florida

2011-06-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

Mr. Bingley is a nine year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He got the old heave-ho after the arrival of a new grandchild in the house. Fortunately for him, there was a nice lady in Merritt Island, Florida who wanted him. So, we loaded up the RV-7 and Mr. Bingley was off to his new home.

I love small dogs like this. He made the long flight very well, even weathering a bit of turbulence on the descent through the Orlando airspace. As you can see, he's very happy to be home.

Ten Gallons Per Pound

2010-11-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

That's about what it took to fly Audrey, a whopping two-pound yorkie, from her rescuer in Greenville, MS to Corinth, MS where she will get all fixed up and ready to ultimately be adopted. She sure is a cute little thing...and very friendly! Here are some pics of the participants.

Louise Burnside, of Burnside Kennels in Greenville, MS

Tanya, daughter of Janet Seago in Corinth.

Yours truly and Audrey

Sevier County Choppers

2010-10-31T08:38:00.000-07:00

There is a guy the same age as my daughter sitting beside me wearing a baseball cap telling me what to do. Hunter Robinson is my instructor, and I'm now at Sevier County Choppers in Gatlinburg, TN working on my helicopter skills. If things go OK, I'll get my commercial helicopter add-on rating some time in the next few months. It's an add-on rating for me since I already have a commercial pilot certificate (required when one gets a flight instructor certificate). The countryside around Gatlinburg is beautiful, especially this time of year with the leaves changing color. So, Mary came along with me to do some hiking while I'm busy hovering.

One of our off-airport landings was to a hilly pasteur with a few cows milling about. I think one of them had a sign around his neck that said "eat more chikin."

Time For Choppers

2010-10-16T04:18:00.000-07:00

I've always been fascinated by helicopters. I just never found the time to devote to actually learning to fly them. That changed this month when I cashed in some Delta Sky Miles for a ticket to Vancouver, then caught a bus to Whistler in British Columbia where I was met by Eric Ridington. I spent the next five days immersed in helicopter training. Eric hosted me and two other people at his home in Pemberton. He then spent his days giving us lessons in his leased Robinson R-22 helicopter. He is doing this, in part, to build time. In fact, he is not allowed to charge for his time, as he only holds a U.S. flight instructor certificate. So, we paid the cost of the helicopter lease plus expenses, and we were able to train at a substantial discount. Eric turned out to be an excellent instructor. He obviously loves flying, and that makes him my kind of guy. This was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had in aviation. Being able to fly around the Canadian mountains while training was almost indescribable.

The Pemberton airfield is situated in a valley just east of the mountains where the Whistler ski resort is located. This makes for a spectacular background for flying. It was worth the trip just for the view. For some video of my week, check out the link to my Mobile Me website.

Big Dog, Little Airplane

2010-09-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

Sassy is an 81 pound Bull Mastiff/Boxer mix who has found a new home in Antlers, Oklahoma. The mission I had today was to get her there from Pulaski, TN. To tell you the truth, I wasn't absolutely certain that I could coax an 81 pound dog into position in Romeo Victor's available space. So, I decided to fly to Pulaski rather than have Jerry of Jerry's Rescues drive the four hours to Memphis and risk not being able to fit the dog in the airplane. I figured if Sassy wouldn't fit, I wouldn't have to feel too bad about leaving her with Jerry since he would not have to drive eight hours for nothing. This added two hours to my trip but gave me peace of mind.

Thankfully, it worked out just fine. Sassy is a very well-mannered, lovable dog. Here she is with Jerry of Jerry's Rescues. Jerry said that a lot of people shied away from Sassy because they thought she had pit bull in her, but this is not the case. She may look a bit intimidating, but she has a marshmallow personality. So, Sassy gets a first-class ticket in N323RV to her new home in Oklahoma.

The day was good for flying, although it did require my instrument skills, and I had to file IFR for all three legs of the trip. I made it to Pulaski in an hour, including shooting the GPS approach to runway 16 at Pulanski. Jerry showed up with Sassy right on time, and Randy Jones, the airport manager, came in on his only day off just to fuel my airplane for the trip to Oklahoma.

One airborn, Sassy settled down nicely, occasionally sitting up to check out the scenery.

I used the harness that Jerry supplied me to secure Sassy to the baggage bulkhead. This limited her forward movement so that she couldn't interfere with the flight controls.

If I had this dog, I wouldn't be afraid to take her along with me in the plane.

My trusty Garmin 696 depicts some nasty weather south of us, but we never hit a bump. It took almost three hours to cover the distance from Pulaski to Hugo, Oklahoma. I chose Hugo because the runway at Antlers is listed as in "poor condition" on the airnav.com website. Also, the winds which were showing as 19 knots gusting to 27 knots, were directly out of the north, favoring the north facing runway at Hugo.

Rie is Sassy's new mom. Sassy jumped right into the back seat of her car, and off they went. I think she's found a new home.

I fueled Romeo Victor, filed a flight plan, grabbed a diet coke and winged off back to Memphis, arriving at about 2:45 in the afternoon. It's been a busy week of flying, since I made the trip from Memphis to Goshen, Indiana two days prior to this trip to retrieve my friend, Wayne Breeden, who delivered a helicopter to its new owner there. And I still have a trip to Columbus, Georgia coming up this week!

Escape from the Memphis heat.

2010-08-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

Heat indexes exceeding 100 degrees are not uncommon this time of year in Memphis. So the Missus and I decided to fly north about 685 nautical miles to the tip of Michigan to cool off at Mackinac Island. That's pronounced "mack in aw." This was a great trip, and we will return there when it's stinkin' hot in Memphis. For the pictures check out my Picasa link.

This was the longest single leg I have flown in the RV-7. I generally like to keep flights to two and a half hour legs, but with all the deviating around weather, it was just over four hours to our fuel stop just short of Mackinac. If you fly into Mackinac, I would suggest a late morning or afternoon arrival in order to avoid the fog which sometimes enshrouds the area. Since there is no fuel at the airport, we landed at Pellston, 18 miles to the south, for fuel before continuing to Mackinac. Once there, we were directed over the radio to a parking place, although we had to steal tiedown ropes from the adjacent space. There was no tiedown available for the tail, so I screwed my own tiedown into the rocky earth to secure the tail. The tiedown/landing fee was $42 for three days.

I had called the airport from Pellston so that we wouldn't have to wait so long for the carriage which would take us to our hotel. Turns out this was a good idea. The carriage driver was sort of surly, but I might act the same way if I had to stare at two horse butts all day.

I'm too cheap to drop the cash to stay at a place like The Grand Hotel - you could expect that from a guy who built his own airplane, I guess. Our hotel was called Harbor View. It was very nice at about $200 per night, including a pretty good continental breakfast. Kind of a weird room though, with sloping angles in the ceiling, a great big jacuzzi right in the middle of the room and two bathrooms with showers at either end of the room. Mary loved the two bathrooms.

There are no motorized vehicles of any kind on the island. Bicycle is king here, and there are literally thousands of them. Our hotel rents the basic single speed bikes with coaster brakes. You could elect to rent from one of the local bike shops if you need a fancier bike with multiple gears. I'm accustomed to a carbon frame bike with clipless pedals which I speed around Memphis on, but it would be wasted here as there are few hills, and speed is limited by the large amount of bike traffic dawdling along on the roads. We managed to get some good excercise pedaling along on the hotel bikes.
We biked over to The Grand one morning, but we were not allowed to enter or approach the hotel. They have plenty of security to keep the riff-raff away. I understand they will give you a guided tour of the hotel for $10. Fat chance! I guess if I were paying to stay there, I wouldn't care for gawkers enjoying all that atmosphere for nothing! I actually thought the sign outside was a joke. It ain't no joke, Bub. After 6, you need a coat and tie, and no slacks for the ladies. And I thought I was prepared by bringing a shirt with a collar!

We were thinking of going to The Grand just for dinner, but, needless to say, I did not have the appropriate attire. Having said all this, I may have to sneak back up to Mackinac during the off-season when rates are more reasonable just to stay at The Grand.

We did manage to find some good places to eat. We were directed to "The Yankee Rebel Tavern" by the staff at our hotel, which was OK. Much better was "The 1852 Restaurant" at the Island House hotel which was just next to our hotel. I recommend this restaurant if you want a little more atmosphere. Also very good was "The Pink Pony" in the Chippewah Hotel downtown. We had a table with a nice view of the bay. Mary wanted to dine at "The Carriage House," but we could never get reservations at a time we wanted.

I never knew this was the fudge capital of the world. There must be a fudge store every 10 feet when you walk down the main street. Fudge is not my weakness, but I did spring for a half pound of English toffee, which IS my weakness! With all that biking here, I guess we need some calories to keep our asses from getting too small!

The weather was just what I hoped for - nice and cool. It drizzled a little bit late one afternoon, but very nice otherwise.

All too soon, it was time to wing our way back to Memphis. We stopped in Danville, IL just to break the trip up. I met a nice man named Larry there who has just completed his RV-7A. You can't go anywhere without meeting RV builders!

If it's hot where you are, consider Mackinac Island as a place to beat the heat.

Oshkosh 2010

2010-08-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

My friend, Tom and I made it to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the annual aviation fly-in. The crowds were down a little bit this year, presumably due to all the wet weather this year. Still, we had a good time, and I saw a lot of old friends.

I'm not in the market for much stuff this year since I'm not building an airplane, but I still enjoyed seeing all the airplanes of all types.

For a bunch of pictures, check out the link.

AJ (AKA "Chester") goes to Hattiesburg

2010-06-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

Condemned to death, AJ, a one year old Lhasa Apso was rescued by Roberta Harding of the Bluegrass Shih-tzu Rescue organization in Lexington, Kentucky, transported to Memphis by ground by a lady named Glenda (sorry I don't know her last name), fostered (and renamed) by my daughter, Rachel for three days, then airlifted by me in my RV-7 from Memphis to Hattiesburg today. I was met by Linda Chance in Hattiesburg who will teach AJ some manners before he is put up for adoption in about thirty days. The picture shows Linda and the lucky dog. There sure are a lot of nice people who care about these animals!

Ladybug Fly Away Home

2010-05-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

I picked up a nice little kitty from Athens, GA and brought her back to Memphis. We had to divert to the Tunica airport because of some horrendous mid-day thunderstorms.

Next morning it was off to Mesquite, Texas on the outskirts of Dallas to ferry Ladybug to her new home and pick up a little sight-impaired dachshund named Harvey. He's bound for a new home in Virginia, but he will spend a few days with my daughter's boyfriend, Jonathan, who is kind enough to foster him until his next plane ride

.

Harvey seems to like people, and it appears that he forgot how to bark. That's my kind of dog.

It's time for summertime flying again. In Memphis, that means playing cat-and-mouse with thunderstorms. Fortunately, the handy Garmin 696 makes avoiding these monsters much easier.

Buddy Moves to Chicago

2010-01-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

After a week of skiing with my kids, I had a bit of a flying jones. Another doggie rescue flight was just the right fix.

This little pup ended up in a bad situation when he was no longer welcome in his home. So, off to the animal shelter he goes. Once again, an amazing network of people came together to find a new home for Buddy. Jacolyn Dadles contacted me via the Pilots N Paws website to get the ball rolling.

I left Memphis at about 0730 this morning, arriving about an hour and a half later at the airport in Wetumpka, Alabama. Mary Bray brought Buddy to me having rescued him from his uncertain fate. Buddy seemed a bit frightened at first, but settled down during the flight. He was a pretty good co-pilot, accepting treats and letting me pet him through the bars of his cage.

Enroute to Bowman Field in Louisville, I passed right over my birthplace of Gadsden, Alabama, "Queen City of the Coosa Valley."

Being from Alabama, I doubt that Buddy has seen much snow. This nice man at the Louisville airport FBO walked Buddy around for a bathroom break before his continuing journey to Chicago.

Elizabeth O'Connell had volunteered to foster Buddy if necessary, but Paul Berliner was able to make the trip from Chicago to Louisville in his Cherokee to meet me so that Buddy made it all the way to his new home in one day.

After refueling, I took off for Memphis. It was nice VFR weather the whole trip - not a ripple in the air the whole way. I got back a little before 3 in the afternoon. Tomorrow, it's back to work for six nights in the E.R.

Lab Puppies to Nashville

2009-12-27T06:43:00.001-08:00

I made another animal rescue flight, ferrying 4 little lab puppies from Memphis to Nashville. Ferocious winds aloft made the trip from Dewitt Spain to John Tune airport a quick event with groundspeeds in excess of 230 kts (about 275 mph). The return trip, of course, was correspondingly slow.

Thanks to Linda Merideth and her "Arrf" rescue group in Mississippi for saving the pups and to Betty Mancini for driving them from Greenville, MS to my airport.

Romeo Victor To The Rescue!

2009-11-13T19:41:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, there were some very bad people who managed to make a living by selling puppies at a Mississippi flea market. These animals were not well cared for, to say the least. They also managed to abuse a few children along the way, resulting in the death of one. This atrocity was exposed and arrests were made. A popular television program, "America's Most Wanted" has recently shot a story about this because the culprits, Janet and Ramon Barreto, are now fugitives. During the filming of the story, a number of animals were borrowed from the Tupelo animal shelter to play the parts of some of the puppy mill dogs. One of the program's producers is Cindy Miller, who decided to find homes for all of the "actors" rather than return them to an uncertain fate at the animal shelter. One particular dog, a six year old shih tzu named Benjamin, was destined for a home with Cindy's friend, Andrea, in Columbia, South Carolina. The problem was how to get Benjamin there. I think you know where this is going.

When I was in Tampa last week, I met an administrator for the internet-based group, "Pilots N Paws." They have a forum where those needing to transport rescued animals can list the locations and desired destinations of the animals. Pilots on the forum can peruse the forum and volunteer their services to transport these critters. Experimental aircraft such as mine are no problem, unlike the other charitable aviation groups, which will not even let us carry a donor kidney. Since Pilots N Paws is a registered 501c3 corportion, all expenses incurred are tax deductible.

So, Cindy put a post about Benjamin on the web site. I read it and volunteered to take the lucky pup for a ride in my magic carpet to his new home.

I left on Saturday morning and arrived at Tupelo around 8:30. Becky Paul from the Tupelo animal shelter arrived at 9:00 with Benjamin. After a brief introduction, we packed Benjamin into my carrier and loaded him into the baggage compartment of Romeo Victor. I removed the passenger seat to make loading and unloading the carrier easier.

By the way, a Petco 300 carrier is the largest size carrier that will easily fit in the RV-7. Benjamin could actually have fit into a smaller carrier, but this is what I had, and it worked very well.

As soon as we lifted off, Benjamin turned his back to me and appeared to go to sleep. There were no accidents involving doggie excrement or other bodily fluids. He was the perfect passenger.

The weather was perfect, with a nice 15 knot tailwind going eastbound. I decided to fly to Aiken, S.C. rather than Columbia in order to avoid all the air traffic going into Columbia for the football game between the Gamecocks and the Florida Gators.

Andrea and her daughter arrived shortly after I did, bringing my lunch with them. Benjamin emerged from his carrier and took right up with his new family. He likes to be petted and obviously enjoys human company.

So, Benjamin became my first non-human passenger. It was a nice feeling knowing that I had a part in delivering him to his new home with a loving family. However, the real hero here is Cindy Miller, who found homes for Benjamin and fifteen other residents of the Tupelo animal shelter. Thanks, Cindy.

I Love This Airplane

2009-11-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

On Thursday of this week, I got up at 0 dark thirty and launched for Tampa to squander a couple of days at the AOPA Aviation Summit.

It was a great excuse to get a few hours in Romeo Victor. I contacted Memphis approach control after departing from Dewitt Spain, and a familiar voice greeted me by name. My friend, Roman Greene asked where I was off to and wished me a good trip. I had a nice tailwind the whole way, with ground speeds right at 200 knots (about 230 mph). I love watching the sun come up from 9,500 feet.

I was able to fly a direct route to Plant City, Florida because there are no restricted areas along this part of the west Florida coastline, unlike the panhandle area with all its military bases and training areas. As long as you stay within the ADIZ, which is clearly outlined on the Garmin 696, you don't have to worry about meeting one of our country's enforcement jets. I don't mind a short route out over the water.

I enjoyed me two days at the AOPA convention in the convention center. I was able to attend some interesting forums with topics on travel and pilot proficiency. I met up with an old friend, Dave Hirschman, who writes for the AOPA Pilot magazine. I bought a couple of inflatable floatation vests, so you can guess what I'm planning to do soon.

I left Saturday morning and made it home in time for a bike ride before the Alabama game. Roll Tide!

Carlsbad to Memphis

2009-10-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

http://web.mac.com/rv8apilot/iWeb/Trip%20Pictures/Carlsbad%20.html

Click on the link above to go to more pictures from the Carlsbad trip. We picked New Mexico to visit because it had the best weather in the country. But wouldn't you know it, the weather turned stinky just in time for our return to Memphis. As you can see on the Garmin, the weather around Dallas and south of there was nasty. Fortunately, we were able to deviate to the north and avoid any significant weather, although our IFR skills were required.

So, we left Carlsbad mid morning, and landed in Oklahoma City at Sundance airport about two and a half hours later. After a delicious lunch consisting of crackers and a diet coke, we were back in the air enroute to Memphis.

Pardon me, but is that bat guano on your shoes?

2009-10-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

We started the day by taking the hike up to the cave at Slaughter canyon. This was a nice, steep half-mile hike to the guided tour of one of the "unimproved" caves in this area. There are some great formations in this cave, and the two park rangers did a great job as guides. The most impressive formation is called "The Clansman."

Hiking back down after this tour, we drove over to the visitor's center at Carlsbad Caverns, and did the tour of the "Big Room." This was just incredible. I can't believe I've gone my whole life without doing this tour.

We had a little time left after this, so we decided to take a short flight to photograph some of the local mountainous geography. The weather was great with light winds, and this made for some nice photos. This is El Capitan, the peak near which we were hiking yesterday. It's impressive both from the ground and the air.

Just for the heck of it, we flew a practice ILS approach back into Carlsbad. Everything in Romeo Victor is working just fine.

Guadalupe Mountains National Parks

2009-10-24T19:55:00.001-07:00

It's about an hour drive from the Holiday Inn Express in Carlsbad to the visitor's center at Guadalupe Mountains National Parks just across the state border in northwest Texas. Despite being about 3,500 feet above sea level, the terrain around Carlsbad is pretty flat until you get to the mountains to the south and west. The hiking trails in this area offer anything you want, from short and flat to steep, long and rocky. We chose two short hikes for the day. The first was called Devil's Hall and was 4.2 miles round trip. This was a moderately intense hike and included a bit of scrambling across rocks.

The afternoon hike was another 4 mile round trip up McKitrick Canyon to the remote lodge built by oil tycoon Wallace Pratt in 1931.

We're beat after this. Back to the hotel for showers, dinner at a local eatery, then time for rest.

Better Weather

2009-10-24T05:05:00.001-07:00

Friday, the 23rd of October. I rearranged my schedule so that I could be off an extra day. It's overcast outside, but the weather briefing shows no significant weather to the west. So, I filed IFR to Gainsville, Texas. This is about half way to out destination of Carlsbad, New Mexico.

We loaded up Romeo Victor and got our clearance on the phone at the end of the runway. After a brief pause at 2,000 feet, the controller cleared us to 5,000 feet and then out final altitude of 8,000 feet. This put us in bright sunshine on top of a white undercast. Unfortunately, the wind is not in our favor today, and we crept along at around 130 knots most of the way.

We arrived at Gainsville about 2 hours and 45 minutes after departure. The winds were strong and gusty, but they were only about ten degrees off the runway heading, so it was a pretty easy landing.

After refueling and stretching out legs, we continued on westbound, arriving at Carlsbad in mid afternoon. The weather was perfect with light winds and a temperature around 75 degrees. The nice lady from Enterprise brought us our car, and we were ready to go.

Bad Weather

2009-10-24T04:34:00.001-07:00

Romeo Victor is well-equipped for instrument flight, or "instrument flight rules." I am instrument-rated, and I have the currency requirements under the federal regulations to fly under instrument conditions. However, sometimes you just can't go. Flying on instruments does not mean flying into thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are associated with weather systems such as the one shown here which stretches from Mexico to Canada. We want to go back out west for a few days to hike and see the area around southern New Mexico. The weather depiction on the trusty 696 shows it ain't happening on this day. The system is moving to the east, so tomorrow should be fine.

Memphis To Santa Fe

2009-08-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

For more pictures, go to:
http://web.mac.com/rv8apilot/iWeb/Trip%20Pictures/Santa%20Fe.html

I had a week off, and I was itching to take Romeo Victor on a long cross country. The ideal cross country for me is under 800 nautical miles, or about two legs of two and a half hours. This allows us to arrive feeling fairly energetic, ready to explore the local area. We wanted to go somewhere different. We wanted cooler weather, hiking, biking and sight-seeing. We found our destination west of Memphis in Santa Fe, New Mexico. So,on Thursday, August27, 2009, The Missus and I loaded up the seven and filed IFR to Borger, TX. This was longer than I like for the first leg, but the weather around Oklahoma City was stinky, and I decided to go past the bad

weather before landing. The thunderstorms around this area were easily avoided using the Garmin 696. I had a slight headwind going westbound, but the fuel-sipping Lycoming engine running lean-of-peak gives me plenty of range (about five and a half hours with full tanks).

The folks at the FBO at Borger were very friendly, sending us off in their courtesy car for a lunch a the local Subway. Fuel was $3.69 per gallon, not bad at current market prices.

Continuing on to Santa Fe, we went VFR at 10,500 feet. I decided to fly to the southwest in order to approach Santa Fe from the south. This avoids the higher mountainous terrain to the east of Santa Fe. As it turned out, I didn't have much choice because there was a pretty good thunderstorm to the southeast of Santa Fe moving directly across our path. Using the 696, I deviated about 20 miles further to the south before turning inbound to Santa Fe. The dark wall of clouds on our right correlated with lots of red, yellow and lightning bolts on the Garmin display. It was a bit bumpy on the back side of the weather but we made it to the airport without penetrating anything significant.

We were met by a vehicle at the taxiway which directed us to parking at Santa Fe AirCenter. The lady driving the vehicle helped us with the canopy cover and called to have our rental car brought to the airplane. The car was there in about two minutes. This is a very nice FBO, and I recommend it if you fly into Santa Fe.

We drove the few miles into Santa Fe and walked around the downtown plaza area where there are lots of tourist shops. There is some history in this town that predates even the pilgrims at Plymoth Rock. Santa Fe was originally discovered by Spanish conquistadores in about 1600 as they moved up from what is now Mexico. We toured the old church called San Miguel which was built around 1600 and destroyed by the Pueblo revolt in 1680. It was then rebuilt in 1710. We also checked out the Cathedral of St Francis, built in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Leaving Santa Fe, we traveled north, passing a number of Casinos run by the local Native

Americans and arrived at our hotel in White Rock, just a few miles from Los Alamos. We decided to stay here because it was central to a lot of the places we wanted to visit. We were only a forty minute drive to downtown Santa Fe from here with lots of hiking just a few minutes away. We checked into the Hampton Inn and had dinner at the one local restaurant, The Bandelier Grill. Not too bad.

Friday morning we awoke to a cloudless sky. We drove about ten miles to Bandelier National Monument, paid our $12 admission fee and went to the visitor center at Frijoles Canyon for a briefing from a very nice and helpful lady. This area is an archeological excavation of the home of hundreds of Ancestral Pueblo people who lived here since at least the year 1200. There is some evidence of human activity in this area dating back more than

10,000 years. This was a nice hike along a valley surrounded on both sides by cliffs. The south-facing cliffs were excavated into caves which were homes to many of the people. Others lived in structures on the valley floor. We toured the cliffs then hiked another half mile to Alcove House, which required climbing ladders to a height of 140 feet off the canyon floor.

After lunch at the deli located at the visitor center, we drove about ten miles to begin another hike at Cerro Grande. This was about four miles round trip up a fairly steep trail to a height of 10,100 feet MSL.

Finally, we drove the few miles into Los Alamos for tour through the free Bradbury Science Museum. This was all about the Manhattan Project, detailing the development of the atomic bomb. They did this in 27 months. Truly amazing stuff.

Saturday we drove to Taos, about an hour and a half to the north. There we rented a couple of bikes at Gearing Up Bicycle Shop, another place with friendly, helpful folks. After biking for a couple of hours, we ate lunch then returned the bikes and toured the town on foot. There are lots of shops selling all sorts of tourist stuff. I picked up a couple of tee shirts and a dream catcher for my daughter.

After this, we drove up to the Taos ski resort just to check it out. We rode up the one operating lift (ten bucks per person) and talked to a lady at one of the mountain side condo rentals about maybe coming here this winter. This looks like it would be fun to ski, although Taos lacks the high-speed deta chable lifts that I'm accustomed to in Park City, Vail and other bigger resorts.

We wanted to tour the Taos Pueblo, but it was closed, so we drove down to the Taos airport where I talked to a very helpful FBO attendant named Gary about flying into Taos in the winter. With the right type of weather, and the possibility of heated hangar storage for Romeo Victor (fifty bucks per day), I might be able to swing it.

Just a few miles from the Taos airport is the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, another must-see spectacular site in this area. We walked half way across the bridge to an observation bridge where one can stand and take pictures. An eighteen wheeler thundered past while we were standing there, making the whole bridge shake. Yikes!

After the drive back to White Rock, we decided to go to Buffalo Thunder Casino for dinner at Turquoise Bar and Grill, inside the casino. They have a ten dollar prime rib that is very good. I managed to part with about ten bucks to feed the poker machine before leaving. I did not inherit the gambling gene from my dear old dad who truly was a craps-playing gamer by nature.

Sunday morning we made our longest drive, passing through Santa Fe, continuing on another twenty miles or so to Kasha Katuwe National Monument for more hiking. I don't know how many times I can say "spectacular," but it certainly applies to this place. There is about a two and a half mile climb through a narrow canyon to a mesa with breathtaking views. It was rigorous enough that we decided to head back into Santa Fe for lunch. We chose The Ore House near the plaza. This turned out to be our best meal of all the New Mexican meals that we had. I recommend the Poblano Relleno. Delicious!

Sunday afternoon we returned to White Rock. One thing we discovered was a spectacular (there's that word again) view just a couple of miles from our hotel where an overlook was situated above a large gorge where the Rio Grande runs through. Here I am standing there in one of my souvenir t shirts!

Sunday night it finally rained on us, so we stayed in at the Hampton and ordered pizza from the place right next door. Free delivery!

All too soon, Monday morning arrived and it was time to go home. The weather was pretty good although there was a weak front stretching across the mid part of Oklahoma with an undercast of clouds a good part of the way. So I filed IFR to Sundance, Oklahoma, on the north side of Oklahoma City. The FBO at Santa Fe let us drive out to the airplane on the ramp to load up, and we departed at 0800 local time. The trip home was uneventful, consisting of two legs of two and a half hours each. Mary read her Kindle and I listened to XM radio most of the way. We ate lunch in Oklahoma City with the aid of a courtesy car from the nice folks at the Sundance FBO.

It's always nice to get home, but we're already thinking about the next trip!

Painting an airplane

2009-06-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

Progress is slow but sure, moving toward completion of the RV-7. We finished up painting yesterday with the fuselage clear coating as the final step. I guess I should change the name of the blog to "Romeo Victor" once the airplane is flying. I now have a checklist of about a hundred things that need to be done before first flight, hopefully a few weeks from now.

The Seven Gets A Panel

2009-03-08T14:19:00.001-07:00

I finally put the finishing touches on the instrument panel for my RV-7. It came out great, if I do say so myself. The gray plastic overlay with engraving kept me from having to paint or attach those cheapo labels to the panel. Now it's on to the finishing details, and there are about a million of those.

A Trip To The Cradle of Aviation

2008-10-16T16:21:00.000-07:00

The missus and I wanted to go somewhere this month, and we settled on the North Carolina coast as a destination. One of the great things about having your own personal airplane is being able to plan a trip on fairly short notice, and then being able to fly right into your destination (as well as not having to take off your shoes and suffer the indignity of being herded like a goat through all that "security." Hey, Mr Homeland Security, I was carrying a big knife strapped right to my belt on this trip!) The weather turned out to be very favorable for our trip. On Tuesday, October 14th, we left on our vacation. I filed IFR out of Dewitt Spain because of en route ceilings of 3,500 ft. My route took us over the Great Smoky Mountains near Knoxville, so I claimed 9,000 ft on the way. Since the trip from Memphis to Dare County airport is right at 700 nautical miles, we stopped at Foothills Regional airport in Morgonton, N.C. This was a good choice, as they actually put down the red carpet for us as we stepped down out of our aircraft. I guess it was worth it to them, seeing as how I made an enormous purchase of 20 gallons of avgas. Anyway, MRN is a nice airport if you happen to be looking for a place to refuel and rest for a bit.

Continuing on, we flew in nice VFR weather. I called up Washington center for flight following, just to make sure I didn't stray into any of the restricted areas around Kitty Hawk. The controller suggested that I fly inbound on victor 189, an airway which avoids the restricted airspace. We had debated whether or not to fly into the First Flight airport, but decided not to since we would have to move the airplane after visiting the Wright Brothers memorial and museum. There is no fuel or security at this airport, although it would be neat to land at the site of the actual first flight of the Wright Flyer. The airstrip is about 100 yards from the now-famous site. We opted instead to land at MQI, Manteo airport. This is a full-service facility about ten miles south of Kitty Hawk. Nice and clean, and the fellow at the FBO there was very helpful suggesting good local restaurants.

We checked in and picked up our car, a Dodge Caliber. I'm confused about the mission of a vehicle such as this. It's smaller than a sedan, top heavy, ugly and slow. Maybe I'm just spoiled by my 330i, but I think this is the most anemic vehicle that I have ever driven. At any rate, it's good enough to plod around the outer bank as our vacation vehicle.

I have never visited this area before. I guess I should not have been surprised to find the beach ultra-developed. A good bit of it is pretty ugly, with strip malls and fast food places everywhere.
But I guess this is what you get where people come to vacation. Lots and lots of people. Fortunately, we arrived at the beginning of the off season, which starts in early October. I can imagine what it's like in the middle of the summer with throngs of people everywhere. The down side of the off season is that some of the things I wanted to do were not available. I wanted to rent a Hobie Cat sail boat, but they had just taken them out of the water and were not renting or running their school any more. The guy there was very nice, but he explained that they just didn't have the crowds to support the business. Guess you can't have everything.

Our hotel was the Hilton Garden Inn. Situated on the northern end of Kitty Hawk, this is a nice, new hotel. We sprung for the ocean view room on the 5th floor, which afforded us a spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Hilton has a fishing pier for its guests. I didn't bring any fishing tackle, but that was easily remedied by a trip to a tackle shop just down the street from the hotel. I spent a few hours each day fishing off the pier. Using shrimp as bait, I reeled in a bunch of bluefish, spots and trout. I released everything I caught, so I didn't have to worry about cleaning fish. I met a lot of nice folks on the pier. I guess that's what happens when you fish on a pier. One fellow was there with his kid, and they watched me bring in a couple of fish using the shrimp. I donated a few shrimp to the kid and chatted with his dad. Turns out his name was Michael Cox. He tells me that he likes to hang out in Kitty Hawk and write. He writes horror novels, and he wrote a book called Souls Eternal, which is a vampire story. I went in and found it on Amazon.com. Neat!

We spent the morning of the second day at the the Wright Brothers museum and memorial. This is a great treat for an aviation nut, especially a homebuilder. The park service has done a great job of preserving the land where the first flight was made. They have reconstructed the hangar and living quarters on the site, and a museum is there with small exhibits and a small bookstore. There are several daily half-hour lectures which detail how Orville and Wilber ended up coming here from Dayton, Ohio to fly gliders and ultimately a powered airplane on December 17, 1903.

I rented a bicycle and took a two hour cruise of the area on Thursday. North of Kitty Hawk is a town called Duck. Nicely developed with several good restaurants. There are a zillion homes built on the beach in this area and northward all the way to the Virginia border. They are all very upscale and in the range of 5,000 - 6,000 sq ft. It would be nice to rent one for the whole family (or two or three families).

There are plenty of restaurants, everything ranging from Hooter's and Outback to more expensive places. We got a tip from the guy at the bike shop (a former restaurant owner) and ended up a place called Colington's. It's in an old Victorian house. Nice atmosphere and great food.

Friday came all too quickly and it was time to go home. The weather was a bit more intimidating on the trip home with IFR conditions all the way to middle Tennessee. There was a frontal area extending across our path associated with a fair amount of level two and three precip showing on the Garmin 396's XM weather display. I filed IFR to Morgonton and we left at about 9:30. We were in the clouds most of the way, and checking the metar at our destination, I saw the little red flag on the Garmin. Weather was visability 1 mile, 100 ft ceiling in rain. I wasn't going to get in there on any of the three published approaches, so we changed our destination to Knoxville, which was considerably better. I was being vectored for the ILS approach, but I broke out of the clouds at about 2,500 ft AGL, and the controller gave me a visual approach to Rwy 5R. The place was pretty busy, and I realized it was the day before a Tennessee home football game. Still the lady at TAC Air (the nice, big FBO there) gave us a crew car so we could go get some lunch before continuing on to Memphis.

We were able to leave VFR, and we were back in the sunshine with a slight tailwind in about 20 miles. We were back on the ground at Dewitt Spain about two hours later, just under 5 hours of flying time total for the day.

We had a great time, and I would love to return to the outer banks of the North Carolina coast for a longer stay. Next time I'll do more fishing. I had forgotten how much I like fishing. When the RV-7 is finished, Mary and I will certainly put this area on the list of places to go.

MORE PICTURES

JC
10/18/08

The Seven Gets An Engine

2008-10-06T05:27:00.000-07:00

A big, white box has been sitting the the back corner of my hangar for the past ten months. Yesterday I decided it was time to unpack its expensive contents, a brand-new IO-360-M1B fuel-injected engine from Lycoming. I have never in my life seen anything packed like this. They sealed the engine in thick plastic then poured expanding foam around the whole thing so that I had to chisel away the box and foam to expose the engine. I picked it up with my engine hoist and rolled it over to my work area. Now I can get it ready to put on the engine mount. I have to put on a few fittings, install the prop governor and replace the magnetos with my P-mag electronic ignitions. This is the fun part of building. I got so sick of working on the damn canopy this summer that it's nice to have something different.

Visiting our old friends in Alabama

2008-09-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

It took my trusty Garmin 396 with its nifty weather radar to get us down to the Shelby County, AL airport on September 19th. A large area of moisture coming up from the Gulf of Mexico was situated across our path. I filed IFR going directly south out of Memphis. Air traffic control was very accomodating to our deviations around the weather. The graphic from flightaware.com shows the area of weather we had to avoid. The weather was moving to the northeast, so it was easy to come behind it using the Garmin.

We had a nice visit with our friends Carol and Dick Keydoszius. Patty and Larry Duncan showed up the next day. I even managed to get in a little dove hunting and fishing on Saturday morning.

We did it - Memphis to Oshkosh (and back!).

2008-08-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what we were thinking when we decided to do this. I believe it went something like this. James: "Some day we should fly the Aircam to Oshkosh." Me: "Well, let's do it now, before I get any older." If we had spent much more time debating it, we probably wouldn't have done it. Tooling along at seventy-five mph at 500 feet above the ground is great for local sight-seeing and photos. But a 530 nautical mile cross-country is a little tough on the behind, especially when one is accustomed to hundred eighty mph plus speeds in the RV.

James checked me out in the Aircam, a twin-engine, tandem-seat machine with open cockpits and fabric-covered wings. I have a multi engine rating and a tailwheel endorsement, so I'm legal to fly the aircraft. The first thing you notice about flying the Aircam is its astonishing climb rate. At full power (just over 5,000 RPM's), a healthy tug on the stick is required to achieve the desired 70 mph for climb. This gives one the feeling of a very rapid ascent in an open-air elevator. I think I left my stomach on the ground on my first takeoff. Cruise flight and turns are simple, albeit the stick forces are heavy, and slow turns are called for. Leveling out often requires the stick to be moved in the opposite direction, and there is a feeling of the wing flexing somewhat during more rapid turns or gusts. The landing pattern calls for a much steeper descent than I am accustomed to, as the Aircam has lots of drag to cancel out all that thrust of the two 100 hp engines. Power is held into the flair, then reduced as it levels off. Wheel-landings require just a nudge forward on the stick at touch-down. Our particular airplane has a bit of a shimmy in the tailwheel which makes three-point landings on a hard surface a bit uncomfortable.

I love flying this thing. Despite my comments above, it was not hard to convince me to take this trip. The front seat is like an out-of-body experience, with nothing on either side except a view of the world above and below. The wind screen is very effective, making for a non-windy, pleasant ride. We both wore helmets with built-in headsets, but the front guy could actually wear a baseball cap and a standard headset. The back seat experience is not quite as much fun, since the GIB (guy in back) gets battered by wind, especially at higher cruise speeds. The roar of the engines for the GIB is deafening without serious hearing protection. James had the ear seals and speakers replaced for the helmet we used in the aft seat, resulting in a marked improvement. Active noise-cancelling would probably make it even better.

So, after establishing my proficiency, I was added to the insurance policy, and we were ready to go. We could not depart until late in the afternoon on Wednesday because of James' work schedule. After a pre-flight and packing, we lifted off at about 4:30 P.M. Pictures of the flight are posted here.

Flying northward along the Mississippi river, we passed over fields of soybeans, cotton and rice. Flying low over rice fields conjures up images of Huey's skimming the surface of fields in a far-off land from another time. Nobody shooting at us here. The only danger exists in power lines strung across fields and the occasional crop duster maneuvering below us. People would occasionally wave at us, but I was amazed at the number of people who didn't look up when we passed right over their heads.

There was a large area of weather strung out over Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Our plan was to fly as close to it as possible, spend the night and let the weather pass over us as it moved to the southeast. We hoped to make it about two hundred miles before stopping. As we approached Mt Vernon, Illinois we began to pick up some light rain. By the time we entered the pattern at Mt Vernon, the rain had picked up quite a bit. The voice on the unicom frequency welcomed us and directed us to the large hangar on the ramp so that we could get out of the rain. The gentleman at the FBO allowed us to actually taxi into the hangar, a welcome event given our open cockpit situation. He then gave us a courtesy car and directed us to local food and lodging. Mt Vernon is the place to stop if you're in that area!

Departure the following morning was delayed about a half hour by a balky left engine. Cold starts were a problem during the remainder of the trip, as the Rotax 912 seemed to suffer from some carburetor issue, possibly a sticky float valve. There was a broken ceiling beginning just north of Mt Vernon, and we ended up on top of a cloud deck, cruising VFR at 2,500 feet. This, according to James, was a record altitude for the Aircam. The Garmin 396 with XM weather which I had attached to the rear of the front seat showed Decatur, Illinois reporting clear skies, although every other airport within two hundred miles was showing IFR conditions with two hundred foot ceilings. Sure enough, arriving at Decatur we found clear skies in an area confined to the airport and the surrounding three miles. After refueling and one more stop at Watertown, Wisconsin, it was time for the approach into Oshkosh. We had another gremlin to deal with in the failure of the display on the Aircam's GPS-Com, an Apollo GX-65. This meant that we could not use it to navigate, and we could only change radio frequencies by turning the unit off and then back on, since the display would come on for a few seconds - just long enough to enter a new frequency on the com radio. In addition to our radio woes, our backup GPS, the Garmin 396, suffered a broken power cord, so we could no longer charge the battery via the Aircam's twelve volt outlet. The unit would die after about three hours of continuous use, so we had to keep it turned off most of the time.

The approach into Oshkosh during Airventure week usually involves proceeding to a waypoint called "Ripon," then being directed by controllers on the ground to either enter a holding pattern or proceed inbound to Oshkosh. Having done this several times, I consider this one of the scariest events in aviation - right up there with a non-precision approach at night. Flying a rectangular holding pattern with seventy-five or a hundred other airplanes is just no fun for me. Today, however, we were taking a different route into Oshkosh, as we had been approved ahead of time to land on the ultralight strip, a twelve hundred foot strip of grass just west of the south end of runway 36 with three hundred foot displaced thresholds at either end. James' superior short-field skill would be needed for this landing, so he flew the final leg. I tended to the 396, stretching the battery life to the very end and directing James to the runway. Turning a left base for the northwest-facing grass strip, I was sure we were too high and way too fast. I was a bit frightened at this point, but James put the Aircam right on the numbers and braked hard, leaving plenty of runway to spare.

We made our way from the ultralight strip to the large building where our friend, Al Mojzisik has his display set up to sell his Lift Reserve Indicator, a nifty gadget placed on aircraft instrument panels which indicates angle-of-attack, a critical measurement which reveals how far from stall the aircraft wing is. After five P.M., Al ferried us over to the campsite where he has a rectangular tent-like structure erected which is large enough to shelter about four smaller tents within it. We dined at the campsite that evening on Corky's barbeque which James had shipped from Memphis. The best part of the trip is seeing and talking to the guys that camp around Al's little compound. There is always a fire, some beer and plenty of outlandish conversation.

We did the usual tour of Airventure on Friday, checking out all the airplanes and gadgets that caught our fancy. This year, James was fixated on an airplane called a "Chipmunk," a tandem-seat military trainer from decades ago while I concentrated on biplanes such as the Pitts. My purchases included seat cushions for my RV-7 from Oregon Aero and a directional gyro and artificial horizon for James' Cessna 150.

After a second night in the tent, my old body was yearning for its own bed. So we decided to cut our stay short by a day and depart on Saturday afternoon. A new power cord for the 396 made the trip home completely uneventful, even without a functioning radio in the Aircam. I was able to spot deer along the edges of fields in Illinois and Missouri on the way home. Eight hours and five stops after leaving Oshkosh, we touched down back at Dewitt Spain. The sweltering heat welcomed us home. Checking weather on the 396, it was eighty degrees back in Oshkosh.

We both agree that this was a great experience, but we have no intention of repeating it. The Aircam is a wonderful bird, but I would prefer brief flights at tree level. I'll stick to the RV for cross-country excursions.

Flying below treetop level

2008-07-28T06:05:00.000-07:00

Most of the time flying means screaming along in my RV-8A at 200 mph going cross-country at 8,000 feet en route to some important destination (like a tennis match against my arch-rival, Larry in Birmingham). Lately, or should I say, as I get older, I kind of like sauntering along at low altitudes, checking out the flora and fauna from above. What's the big hurry, after all? My friend, James has the perfect vehicle for sauntering in the Aircam, a twin-engine (two robust, water-cooled, four-cycle Rotax 900's) tandem seat aircraft, designed for photographic missions over the jungle, where an engine failure in a single engine plane would be unfortunate. This week James and I are going to test our endurance for sauntering with a trip to the annual overdose-of-anything-aviation extravaganza in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since it's 530 straight-line miles one-way, and our top speed will not excede 75 mph, we should have plenty of time for our passion for low-altitude cruising.

First Solo For Alex

2008-07-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

I remember his first bicycle solo. I remember his struggles with the clutch while teaching him a standard shift in a Jeep Wrangler. On July 26, 2008 I opened the door and stepped out of the Cessna 150 and watched while my son made his first airplane solo. My experience is that most people bounce the 2nd or 3rd landing, but his were "greasers." I don't know who was happier, him or me. I had always hoped that my children would one day express an interest in flying. Maybe that's why I've maintained my flight instructor certificate for all these years. Now if I can just get my daughter soloed (we've had an issue with her medical certificate), all the Carters will have at least student pilot certificates.

A Big Bird Visits

2008-07-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Cessna reps flew a Caravan into Dewitt Spain. I believe it is being sold to a person locally. The crew was very friendly, and they let me sit in the left seat and smell the new interior. Dual Garmin 1000's, all leather - very nice!

The Smith Mini

2008-07-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

Lately I've become interested in open cockpit airplanes. Sometimes the neatest things are right under your nose. I saw this Smith Mini parked outside of Lee Andrews' hangar today. It's a cool little biplane with a C-85 engine in it - the same motor that drives my Cessna 140.

I finished up the canopy frame on my RV-7 project. I dug out the canopy from the big finish kit box that has been sitting in a corner of my hangar for six months. Time to start trimming the canopy.

Air Rachel

2008-07-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

Today was the day to go back to Tuscaloosa to pick up my daughter, Rachel. My kids are spoiled. They don't think it's any big deal to have Dad run them around in his airplane just so they wont have to do all that driving. Not that I mind it. It's just that they've always known airplanes, and it's nothing new or exciting to them. I don't see me changing anything, so I guess I'll just keep spoiling them.

I have logged 12 hours of cross-country time in the last 3 days with two trips to Tuscaloosa and one to Texas. That's a good bit for me. It's eating in to my building time, although I did get a couple of hours in on the dreaded canopy frame today.

A Trip To Glo

2008-06-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

It's two and a half hours from Dewitt Spain to Northwest Regional airport near Fort Worth, Texas. This is where I accompanied Bill Snapp a few weeks ago to drop off his RV-8A for its paint job. This morning, Bill and I ferried him back to pick up the finished product. Nice morning for flying - not a ripple in the air. Grady at Glo Paint did a nice job. We took a few air-to-air photos on the way back.

Checking Out SPOT

2008-06-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist ordering a SPOT (satellite personal tracker) after seeing it on Doug Reeves' website. This little gizmo sits up on the glareshield of Juliet Charlie and tracks our progress by GPS coordinates. It will send a signal which causes an email or text message (or both, if you prefer) to any number of people or mobile phones that you designate when you set up your account ($99 per year plus 49.95 for the optional tracking function). In addition, it has a "911" function which will summon emergency help and a "help" function which will send a predetermined message to another designated list of recipients.

So I flew my daughter, Rachel to Tuscaloosa today and dropped her off at Bama Air to visit with some old friends for a couple of days. When I got back, I checked out my message page to show the track that I had sent via SPOT.

The Garmin 396 also got a workout, helping me navigate around some scattered thunderstorms.

Tomorrow I'm ferrying my friend, Bill Snapp to 52F (near Dallas) to pick up his newly painted RV-8A.

Banging away at the canopy frame

2008-06-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

The RV-7 project is going sooooo slowly. I understand that the canopy is probably the toughest part of the whole project, but it's agonizing how you have to massage everything to get the thing to fit. It seems I'm having better luck with it than some though. I was reading on Doug Reeves' forum this morning and came across a post which made me feel real compassion for one of my fellow builders. Here's a quote from his post....

All I've learned is that there is a significant difference in the first weldment and the second one. I've about got it finished and it looks much much better but the rear skin is probably 1/16" high. I'm gonna go back out in the garage after supper and finish riveting the last of the canopy re-inforceing kit. Please pray for me....

I respect these guys so much. No one who has not built an airplane knows how much effort, stamina and dedication this takes. I'm impressed if you have done this. You're my kind of guy.

2008-06-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

My neighbors, Steve and Barney finished their rebuild of Barney's RV-3. Here is the one-day camo paint job they did on it this weekend. Looks good for what it is. They're thinking about a shark's head on the front.

I gave an RV ride to Bud Smith, an RV-8 builder from Palm Beach, FL. He's in town with his daughter who is visiting Rhodes college. It's great to talk with builders who are half way through their projects. I hope the ride gave Bud some motivation. He seemed to enjoy it. I don't think he had ever been upside down in an airplane before.

The Spezio Tuholer

2008-06-19T05:58:00.000-07:00

My friend and neighbor, Steve Price, brought his Spezio Tuholer to Dewitt Spain after losing his hangar at West Memphis. He let me fly it after about two minutes of ground instruction. This is a sweet little airplane. Too bad he's selling it. I would buy it myself if I had any hangar space left to store it in.