The RV News Roundup
A site catering to the lifestyle of building, flying and socializing
about RV kitplanes. Pushed out M-F 1300Z(ish).
photo by doug
reeves (unless noted on image)
Thu Jul 24, 2008
1646z
update ●
TruTruk took a lightning strike last night and their phones are down -
might be down for a day or two. Email is working.
Thu Jul 24, 2008
1234z ●
First Flight: Chris Ryan RV-4
"Airplane has an O-320, Sterba prop, Dynon EFIS, and weighs in at
937 lbs. The only bad part of the whole thing is first thing on the 20th
I had to start a 4 day trip at work!! This last 4 days has been
torture!"
● Aden Rich is Assembling An
ECi Titan Engine...and documenting the process in a blog.
He is 'Aden Rich' in the forums, his latest update in a thread talking
about the assembly
is here, and his blog can be found by going to
this link.
● Bret Smith is Assembling an
ECi Titan Engine Also...he is 'smithhb' in the forums and his
build log for the engine can be
found here. (updated 7/20).
VAF Family ●
Little RV Grins ...Kurt Klewin "It's not just the big boys that get all the RV
Grins..."
Motivation ●
Doug Meloche's RV-6 (230 hrs)
"Some pictures of my RV6 after I flew it from Philly to Moses Lake
Wa. I was trying to get to Seattle but had to settle for Moses Lake for
a couple of weeks waiting for Puget Sound weather to cooperate."
C U
R R E N T H O
T T O P I C S
Gatherings at OSH RV- 389
... being discussed in the forums.
Ongoing Maintenance Issues ●
Becoming One with your Airplane...by Ironflight "No I am not talking about the perfect union of pilot
and machine, effortlessly sliding down final for that smooth touchdown
when you can't even tell if you've landed or not....I'm talking about
those times when your body is formed around the bumps and protrusions of
the fuselage/cabin; sharp, pointy things poking you in places that
shouldn't be damaged, muscles straining to support yourself in some
un-natural position required to turn a bolt, or remove a screw! I had
this thought while checking the torque on my landing gear bolts this
afternoon (a task unique to the -8 models, thankfully!)."
continue
Advertiser's Corner
...sent in by the advertisers of this
site.
●
Brown Tool Summer
Specials...sent in by
Michael Brown "We are having a tremendous “Summer 2008 Sale” just in
time for Oshkosh. Many of the items in our sale flyer were selected
specifically for the RV community and special sale pricing is good thru
30 September. We have a huge on-the-shelf inventory available for
immediate shipment and as always, we offer FREE Ground Shipping for
orders over $95 shipped within the USA."
www.browntool.com
pg1
pg2
pg3
Wed Jul 23, 2008
1200z ●
406MHz ELT - Fast Facts ...by Mark Briggs
"Seems that ELT's are a hotly debated topic around here.
The intent of this topic is not to add fuel to the fire, but rather to
share some factual information that I hope will help folks who are going
to purchase an ELT. A recent thread on a "cheap 406MHz ELT" contained
some information which might be misleading and could potentially lead to
one of us not getting what we expected in a purchase transaction. Since
nobody needs this kind of hassle in their lives I thought I'd get some
of the facts out on the table in hopes ELT buyers will become better
educated consumers.
Firstly, let's talk TSO's (technical standards orders). A piece of
avionics gear that meets a particular TSO in fact meets a specific set
of design and performance characteristics, as defined in the TSO
document. In the case of ELT's there are three TSO's that commonly
apply:
1) TSO C91
2) TSO C91a
3) TSO C126
Of these TSO's, C91 is the oldest, the original. I don't know about
other jurisdictions but I do know in Canada it is no longer legal to do
a new installation of a C91 ELT, so even if you were to purchase a used
one it would be illegal to install it in your spanky new RV."
continue
●
Formation Pics Courtesy Donna Spillman
"These are the Famous Airshow Aerobatic Maverick RV-8
Team.......Showing that they have the 'right'stuff'. Home base is
Spruce Creek, Florida. Pilots are: Bob Gandt, Dave Commock, Ron Keilin,
Jim Weldon.. They were all built here at Spruce Creek by these
guys, previously, the Marchetti Airshow Team... The Mavericks
Rock!!!!!!"
● Forum Image Number Increased. I increased the number of images you can have in a post to (10).
If you use
one of the
thousands of free places on the web to host images, you can
quickly insert images into a post by surrounding the URL they give you
with [IMG] and [/IMG] tags. In most of these sites, you upload the
image and look for the 'Direct Link To Image' URL. TIP: Make the
image 800 pixels wide or less for
best viewing in the forums - it preserves the proper word wrapping.
For example, copy/pasting the text below into a post will result
in this - I use regular old Notepad to get it squared away before I
post it.
I added this blurb to the 'how
to insert images' document - link at top left corner of every page
in the forums.
Milestones
●
Box w/a 180hp In It...Chad Jensen "We can put the rumors to bed, kill the suspicions of
alternatives, and end all fears that I would never make up my mind. I
have an engine! My O-360-A1A showed up at work today...
It's ready to bolt on the airplane as it is, but I always wanted a
silver and red engine, so it will be painted before I bring it home.
Also have the starter, alternator, mags and harness (of which I am
pulling one for a Plasma III...anybody need a non-impulse 4370 Slick?
I'll be selling one...), fuel pump, and carb.
It's not a new engine (but only 252 since new), but rebuilt (after
a prop strike and inspection) with a new ECI crank, and all yellow
tagged parts and accessories. Lycoming and ECI combo engine.
Phew...I feel better now."
Ongoing Maintenance Issues ● Q:...Doug
Preston, "Would appreciate feedback on brands & ply of
tires & tubes for the
RV-10." A: ...Scott Schmidt,
"I replaced my tires with the Goodyear Flight Custom III's with
Leakguard tubes all bought at Desser. I have been very happy with the
performance to date so far. They seem to be wearing incredibly well. I
will have to look at my log book but I replaced them somewhere around
300 hours and now have 100 hours on the Goodyears and notice a huge
difference. I also have noticed that the new tubes don't need air nearly
as much as the stock ones from Van's do."
continue
Building Tips / Techniques/ Mods
●
1.3 kt Speed Gain...Bob Axsom "From another thread I was informed that
Gaffer's tape
would be best for a temporary speed mod to close the bolt access
openings in the rudder and elevator of our RV-6A. I completed the
installation today after a lengthy "cut, try and replace" process. It
truly is a learning experience. I test flew it today at 6,000 ft density
altitude per the www.us-airrace.org
handicap procedure and inserted the three speeds and tracks into the
National Test Pilot School spread sheet. The resulting speed was 182.6
kts which is a 1.3 kt increase over the previous high speed
configuration. Inspection of the tape after the flight showed it to be
the same as it was before starting the engine - thanks for the
recommendations."
Tue Jul 22, 2008
1217z Want an
example of how known RVs are in the world? Yesterday morning I
went to the post office and a guy noticed the
SteinAir shirt I was wearing.
Don Hawkins of
J3 Aviation, Inc. says to me, "You work in aviation?" I told
him I did a site on RVs and he goes, "Oh, RVs...know all about those.
We sell encoders, antennas, connectors and other stuff that some of you
guys/gals use."
During lunch, I ran up to O'Reily's Auto Parts to get some stuff for the
cars. The gentleman behind the counter swiped my card in the
machine and said, "Going to OSH, Doug?" My first thought was 'boy,
this database is good', but after a few moments and a few more words I
discovered his son is building a RV-8, he knew about the site, and was
himself working on a Pietenpol project. Small world, huh? GA
is alive and well right down the street - made two stops and talked
about airplanes at both of them.
Have a swell Tuesday.
●
Cost Conscious...by Rick Galati "With 220 TT, my -6A "Darla!" has been flying for over
3 years now. I decided to maintain a (mostly) Nuvite polished aluminum
finish not so much to save weight but mainly because my wife balks at
endorsing a multi-thousand dollar paint job. What is painted was done
over a couple of years by bringing parts home from time to time to apply
Acry-Glo. That kept down time to a minimum and is one reason I made the
empennage tips removable with screws and nutplates." (more
pics)
●
Mike Rhodes' RV-9A Canopy Construction Photos ...link in reply by
Mike Rhodes
"Having recently finished my tipup canopy (and it cracking during
construction), I have come to think of the canopy material like clear
shipping tape. It can be strong as all get out, but nick it in the wrong
way and it tears like toilet paper! Like you, I could hardly break
a trimmed off scrap by folding it in half! But I accidently drilled a
couple holes with a standard #30 drill instead of a plexiglass drill....
and BOTH of those holes developed a 4" crack about 10 min after
drilling!!!!
-Keep the canopy over 80 deg F when drilling/cutting,
-ONLY use plexiglass drill bits,
-Jig capture the parts so they don't move around when cutting,
-Sand all cut edges so a crack doesn't propagate,
-Use a 100 Deg grinding stone after cutting countersinks,
-Take your time!!
It's not a difficult task... just tedious."
VAF Family ●
RV Friends Are The Best Friends...by BuckWynd "I was a bit down and de-motivated. It was humid and
over 90 degrees in my hangar workshop, and I didn’t feel like crawling
deep inside the fuselage to run the static line through those rubber
grommets in the aft bulkheads. But it wasn’t just the heat and humidity.
For some reason I just didn’t feel like doing anything on the airplane.
I walked out into the slightly cooler air outside my shop and looked at
the sky. I wished I could be up there. (I’m “between airplanes,” as they
say, and for the first time since I was 19, I have no airplane to fly
whenever I feel like it.) A high scattered layer shielded the direct
sunlight, but a nice “heaven shaft” of sunlight was poking down though
the clouds in the distance. Everything was calm and still, but it felt
like something was going to happen. And it did."
continue
●
Mel
Asberry: Mr. 3,000
Mel is about to cross over into the 3,000 posts club in the forums.
He is a DAR here in N. TX, was the guy who did the final inspection on my RV-6, and
knows the regs like the back of his hand. Trust Mel.
●
New Owner: Bill Riggs
"I am the proud owner as of Jan. 2008 of Robbie Attaways RV-6 Flew
it home from Phoenix AZ after the purchase in approx 9 hrs of flight
time to my home base of Louisa, VA. (LKU) As you must know I am enjoying
the airplane beyond my expectations. There are three other RV-6's at LKU
so you can imagine how much fun we are having on weekends. Drop in
we are usually there every weekend."
Video ● 58 Minute Video of James
Clark's RV Photo Mission...from the cockpit of James' RV (written up in the new Sport Aviation).
Lots of straight and level, but if you have the magazine, or an interest
in what goes on in a photo shoot, this is something to watch.
Building Tips / Techniques/ Mods
●
Keith Schult's Center Console
"I fly a 6A and wanted the center console. I personally haven't had
issues with space or width but it is a little tight for very large
people. I am 5'9", 175lbs., and it works fine for me. I fly 90% of my
cross countries alone though for the breakfast runs I almost always have
a passenger."
●
Tracy Hallock's Center Console
"This is the center console and arm rest for my RV-7A. I wanted a
center arm rest, but it could not come too far forward because I have
the manual aileron trim. I was going to make the arm rest out of
aluminum, but, I could not figure out how I was going to get nice
rounded corners at the front of the arm rest. The logical solution was
to do it in fiberglass. Also, have you checked the price of aluminum
lately?
After the arm rest was done, I decided to build a fiberglass center
console. I need a fuel return for my rotary, and I did not want to spend
$200 for an Andair dual valve. The manual elevator trim, makes it hard
to put the two fuel valves within reach without adding a center console.
The back cover for the center console allows me to hide the cable loop."
●
Bernie Daenzer's Center Console
"...ours is work in progress, almost finished. armrest made
out of the temporary stabilizer bar that held the qb fuse together.
modded a DJM throttle quadrant to be used for throttle and prop.
mixture will be a vernier in the big hole on the right side in the
console. left holes are parking brake and oil cooler shutter.
fuel selector and touchpad are placed in the center."
Advertiser's Corner
...sent in by the advertisers of this
site.
● EliteETC Special: $5 Off Oil
($5.00 off a case of Elite or the two Mobil 1 motorcycle oils - check the
web site for details) Please be sure to come by the outdoor
exhibit at OSH - #307......
http://www.eliteetc.com/
Mon Jul 21, 2008
1146z Our family
spent the weekend in Waco. Susie's brother is turning 60 and we
went to the surprise party that his wife threw for him. Cold beer,
BBQ and a band with a pedal steelw
player - I do love to hear a live pedal steel. It was the first
real travel test of the Honda Accord, and it went well. No
complaints. No flying, but lots of airplane talk (I'm the relative
who built the plane in his garage). Like you've never heard
that....<g>.
Sunday morning we went to mass at a Waco nursing home, the one Susie's
grandmother use to live at. It was Sister Josephine's last mass
there, as she is returning to New Orleans after being relocated to Waco
when Katrina struck. Seeing this wonderful woman, 80-ish years
young, walk up to the front of the room with her walker and then give
one of the most heartfelt speeches I've heard was absolutely the
highlight of the weekend. If I have 1/10th the energy this woman
has at her age I'll be amazed.
Every now and then I'm asked to explain why I ask the moderators to
remove eBay listings in the classifieds. The short answer is eBay uses a bidding model,
but I choose to promote rewarding the folks
that check the classifieds frequently. Few things make me
smile more than somebody listing an item a little low deliberately just to
spread a little 'VAF Karma' around, and then seeing 'SOLD' in a reply
about five minutes later. I find this approach more neighborly than a bidding
contest, and we all know the world is competitive enough. Anywho, that's the reasoning if you were wondering....
MacNab, Larry and Pete's items below should keep you occupied with RV
thoughts for the next thirty minutes or so (be sure to click on the
photo link in MacNab's post - my California loving wife especially liked
those!). Keep a spreadsheet or something up so you can hot-key
over to it when the boss gets near <g>.
I hope you had a great weekend, a cold beer and some BBQ, and got to spend some
quality time with your RV
plane or project.
Mr. 60
● RV White Pages Updated....courtesy
the Jeweler.
We've topped 2,500 listings. There is now contact
information for 2,512 RV builders/pilots in 26 countries. I'm
really proud of the RVWP section, as it is what started the site over a
decade ago.
●
Backpacking By RV-6...by MacNab "We finally did something with 'our little time
machine' that we’ve been wanting to do for a while now. We loaded up our
backpacks and put them in the back of our RV and flew 425nm to Visalia,
CA from our home base at Phoenix, Deer Valley, over the weekend of July
11-14 (yes, it was a long, fun, weekend). We picked up an economy rental
car at the Visalia airport for $16 dollars a day and drove it to the
trailhead in Mineral King Valley, at the southern end of the Sequoia
National Park. From there it was all uphill to Eagle Lake, situated a
little over 10,000 feet on the west side of Mineral King Valley. From
sweltering 100's in the San Joaquin valley to 70's in Mineral King. It
was very pleasant and relaxing."
●
RV Delights...by Larry Pardue
"RVs are delightful and
versatile airplanes. They are good for aerobatics, rides, travel and
throttling back to 4 GPM for local scenic flights. When you think of a
reconnaissance and photography aircraft, the RV with its low wing
combined with a non-opening canopy isn't what would immediately come to
mind though.
Surprisingly I find mine is used a lot for those purposes though, and
really works fairly well. When something interesting is happening I like
to be in on it but normally you can't go to those interesting sites from
the ground. From the air, you almost always can see what is going on.
The missions are many; perhaps a forest fire, where your Garmin 496
shows you exactly where the area of interest is. Just go right for the
center of the TFR and stay above the restricted altitude."
●
The Neighbor Kid ...by Pete Howells "Steven is the neighbor kid. He was the one that was always in
the garage when I was building the plane. He asked all the questions,
never got in the way and could hold stuff when you needed 3 hands. He
can carry on a conversation all by himself and can quote lines from
every movie he has ever seen. He's also a speed skater, like the olympic
kind. For his young age he is very good, to quote Will Farrell "he's
sort of a big deal".
●
Show us your (custom?) center console......by Jon Clements
"I posted some progress shots of my 7 on the forums a couple of
weeks ago and I have had a fair bit of interest in my center console /
throttle quadrant set-up so I figured I would start a new thread on the
subject....I am sure there are lots of builders out there thinking about
throttle quadrant set-ups and the possibilty of center consoles. Here's
mine almost finished (accommodating keyswitch, Andair 4-way LR fuel
selector and Vans RV-8 Throttle quadrant)........show us a picture of
yours....."
Motivation ●
Show us your -7/7A Panel...Jon Clements
"This is an in-flight panel shot of a friends RV-9 (Hugh
Satchell - NSW, Australia)....gives you a good idea of the visibility of
the standard GRT's and the Avmap in daylight (not direct
sunlight).....FYI."
●
Hugh Satchell's RV-9...by Jon Clements "Here's a couple of photos of Hugh Satchell's RV-9
(located in NSW, Australia) with Sam James extended Cowl. This is a
great looking bird. Dare I say (I am currently building a 7 so I am
allowed to express this opinion) that from an aesthetic point of view it
looks better than the 6 or 7 due to the longer wings which look more
"proportionally correct" rather than fat and short! This bird now has
around 100 hours on the Hobbs.....superb. Great work Satch!"
●
New -9A Project Owner: Joshua Wesley
"After some light negotiations, I have purchased a Van's RV-9A from
my father. As you can see from the photos the epenage and wings are
complete, and I can get in the fuselage and make airplane sounds. This
projects been on hold for a while, infact most of the rivets were bucked
by me back in high school!"
Fri Jul 18, 2008
1136z My ISP's
email server hiccupped Wed evening, so I didn't get the usual volume of stuff
in the old inbox when I woke up Thursday morning (they fixed it about 1000 the next
morning). If you
tried to send me Viagra ads or stock tips during that period I probably
didn't receive it ;^).
Have a happy, safe and RV-filled weekend!!!
● RVators In The News: Matthew
and Sandi Brandes Matthew took an 86 yr old WWII vet for a birthday
flight in he and his wife's RV the other day. Local media were on
hand and shot
this video and filed
this report.
Both Matthew and Sandi are great folks, and you can't get a better top
story for the weekend than this.
● Golf Resort Near OSH...from
RV owner and golf resort manager
Doug Bell. "After talking with Doug a while back about my resorts
location in relationship to Oshkosh and possible attendees I thought it
may be worth posting this...
I run a 36 hole Golf resort in
Manistee, MI, which is due east of Oshkosh
on the shorline of Lake Michigan. We have a very nice
42 room Hotel on site. When I
have flown into Oshkosh the last 3 years in my RV8, I have been on the
ground parked and out of my plane in 45 minutes.
This is flying across the big lake between Big Suable Point (10 miles
south of me) and Menomenee, WI and heading south around Fondulac and the
Ripon entry. This is also leaving here (Eastern time) at 7:15 am
and arriving as soon as the field opens at 7am Central time.
Manistee Blacker Airport is a very nice field with tie downs and
fuel available and we can provide transportation to and from the field
from our Hotel.
So, If anyone flying to Oshkosh would like to have a stop over
location we might be a perfect fit.
If anyone is interested in staying with us during Oshkosh and
flying over in the morning and back over here after the airshow... it is
a short enjoyable flight. Think of it....you could leave a cool
comfortable room with courtesy transportation to your plane here....fly
over to Osh and be drinking coffee and eating donuts at the Warbird Cafe
by 8:30 am as the campers are just heading to the showers....enjoy the
hot day and show, then fly again and be back at the Resort enjoying the
outdoor or indoor hot tubs and pools or get a late emergency 9 holes in
before it gets dark here at 10pm eastern time. And then you could do it
again as many days as you would like. We also have a great bar in the
Hotel and a Grille in our Clubhouse. If any co-pilots want to stay
behind one day and chill at the pool all day...not bad either.
So here is the link to our resort
www.manisteenational.com
Here is the Airnav Link to Manistee Blacker Airport
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KMBL
We have very good availability every day of the week except for
Tuesday night. Our rates are reasonable to start with and
any RV'ers or flyers for that matter will get a
better deal.
Personally I am planning to fly over Tuesday or Wed morning for a
few days... Call me if this sounds like it may work as an option
for any of you either staying during the show or as a stopover so you
can go in early in the morning and I can answer any questions for you
and get you some pricing. You will see some more golf information
from Doug or myself soon.
My number at the resort is (800) 867-2604
or (231) 398-0123."
__________________
Doug Bell
RV 8 N266WB
Manistee, MI
● OSH Fuel Discount: Hot
Springs, SD...brought to my attention by Larry Vetterman "HOT
SPRINGS (KHSR), located in the beautiful southern Black Hills will
reduce the Avgas fuel price during Oshkosh week, to $5.33/gal., credit
card self serve price. HSR is an uncontrolled airport with unicom
(122.8) and is very easy to get into and out of. This price will be in
effect from July 25th thru August 4th.
Larry D. Vetterman
AKA Vetterman Exhaust Inc."
VAF Family ●
Welcome To
The VAF Forums: The
following accounts have registered over the past (7) days.
Welcome!
● Why I Want (2) AFS Screens
in My New Panel
William Curtis just posted some pics of Rob Hickman's newly flying
RV-10 in
this and
this thread. Rob of
Advanced Flight
Systems fame. I'm putting two of these same screens in our new
RV-6 panel, and am really looking forward to it - especially after
seeing them in flight!
click to enlarge this
pic to 1024
pixels. Rob Hickman photo.
(more
pics)
●
Hilarious Replies...starts as a post about bug spray shortages
around OSH and turned into a series of jokes about mosquitoes.
Thread creep, but in a funny way.
● Plane seized, pilot fined
for crossing Canadian border(aopa)
With reports of large hail, 60 mph gusts, and possible tornadoes
crossing Robert Alexander’s flight path and intended destination near
the U.S.-Canada border, he made an in-flight decision that would take
him out of the storm system’s path. But that decision cost him.
Read More >>
Milestones
● Jim Pappas: RV-6A Owner
"Chad busted me pretty quick when I changed my signature tonight so
here goes. I flew out late last week to LAX and bought a flying
RV6A in California and Rosie and I flew it back to IL. I had to
get out at Salt Lake and fly home commercial but Rosie brought her home
Saturday. She's a beauty and she flies wonderful, thanks Bill.
I hope I never get this grin off my face."
__________________
Jim Pappas RV6A flying
(congratulate)
● Flying to Jail...RV Style
Every few months I get a small side job doing some photo work for an
architectural firm. They build jails and courthouses in various
cities around Texas. Yesterday I woke up 0500, packed, and flew
the RV down to Temple to do a quick shoot of a new county jail being
completed in Belton. Downside of course is spending a few hours
walking around a jail - very depressing. Upside is getting to fly
your plane to work. A Van's RV with a good dual-axis autopilot, is
simply the best travelling machine on the planet (imho).
The highlights:
- pancakes and bacon at the Blue Hangar Cafe
- on autopilot 60 seconds after takeoff and a smooth ride
- XM WX rocks
- 46 minutes wheels up / wheels down ('bout same back)
- 60ºF at 5,500'
- at the jail by 0900
- flew VORs to keep the IFR stuff in my head
- straight in fast final (Citation 8 miles behind me)
After we got back and shut down,
we had lunch at the Blue Hangar again. Joe Ferraro walked in
around 1pm about to start a TW lesson over at the flight school.
Visited for a bit and set plans for getting together later in the
afternoon over at Charlie Kearns's RV-8 project to see the wiring
that he has recently completed (and field test a Shiner Boch). Danny was down
at the hangar going over the Doll's engine compartment. He
re-cleared the wingtips and spinner and polished the prop - getting the
girl all ready for the big show. Since I had a camera, I loaded it
up a bit with a tour of Danny's engine and Charlie's wiring. If
you're building an -8 you might find some of these helpful.
Have a great Wednesday.
●
Some Air to Air Work By Pete Howell (many pics)
"Kate and I went up tonight to continue her "training" and swap air
to air photos with Peter Fruehling. I know his pics will be better than
mine, so I figure I can get a few points for posting first."
continue
●
Many New First
Flights Reported On Mother Ship (special congrats to
AFS's Rob Hickman
on flying his RV-10 Monday!)
"As of July 15, 2008 5,780
RV aircraft have been
completed and flown!"
Listed by Model RV-3 257
RV-4 1265
RV-6/6A 2283
RV-7/7A 623
RV-8/8A 811
RV-9/9A 393
RV-10 146
RV-12 2
Tue Jul 15, 2008
1103z So, I woke
up at 0530 and walked upstairs to the office...and this page was down
(forums on a different server were up). I called the ISP and their
tech said, "Yeah...we're rebooting one of the servers right now.
What's the IP address? Yep, that's it." What a
way to start the day <g>. All better now.
I gotta fly to Temple, TX and back this morning for a side job photo
shoot. Love that RV! Hope you have a really nice Tuesday.
●
Flying Into OSH? More Info Available...brought to our
attention by Gary Baker.
"As I am getting ready to fly into OSH in a few weeks (again), I
have been following the other threads about practicing slow flight, etc.
This is all great information and everyone should be practicing. A few
people have asked questions that they said were not answered to their
satisfaction in the Notam Booklet. I would like to direct anyone needing
additional information re flying VFR into OSH to the AirVenture.Org
website section:
http://airventure.org/atc/. This contains airborne photos of
the areas around Ripon/Fisk, as well as expanded info for the Notam. I
hope this section helps some understand and visualize the area.
My added 2 cents for everyone flying in who have passengers:
Include them in a briefing of the expected conditions and ask them to
back you up on the flying and looking for traffic. Remember to always
Fly the Aircraft! If there is more than one person in the cockpit,
divide up the airspace to watch for traffic. Try to point out traffic
using the clock system and reference something that stands out, whether
it is clouds in the distance or the aircraft is directly a water tower
on the horizon, for example.
For non-RV four-seat aircraft: Have a backseater always
double-checking the instruments, especially the airspeed for the
configuration. That person might not be able to see forward out the
window as well as the people in front, but he will be able to take in
the instruments sometimes more quickly than the PIC. I spent five years
as a flight engineer and many times I pointed out something that the two
pilots had not yet noticed on the panel, because they were fixated out
the window. During check rides with a jumpseater, I have things pointed
out to me that I had not yet noticed for the same reason.
I have been flying into OSH every year since 1980, having missed
three years, but have always filed IFR and flown the VOR 27 or 9
approach, camping in the North 40. If anyone has any questions regarding
those procedures, I might be able to help answer them."
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