No....this isn't a spooky Halloween thread about a haunted place in the Lone Star State....it's just a quick report on a nice day of flying!
The "Texas Triangle" (as it was explained to me - I'm not a native, and still haven't quite met the requirements for citizenship after 25 years - something to do with saluting the Aggie flag...) is formed by lines from Houston to Dallas/Fort Worth, to San Antonio. This general area encompasses the major metropolitan centers of the state, and a majority of the population. (And they all want to get on the freeway at the same time!)
This morning dawned clear, cool, and calm over most of the state, and since we had rain on the coast much of last weekend, I felt the need to get some hours. It was certainly a VFR day, and visibilities were approaching 100 miles - there is nothing like seeing signs of the tall buildings of your destination city from that far out! I set out a little after 0900 from my home field (KLVJ) south of Hobby. A quick low level route to the west takes me clear of the Class B, and then it's up to smooth air at 8500', where I caught a small (10 knot) tailwind to meet the lunch bunch on the west side of Fort Worth. I'd never been in to Hicks (T67) before, and wish I'd had time to go look in some of those hangars - from the three T-28's parked outside one, to the pair of Yaks headed out in formation, it looked like a neat place.
I made that first leg in 1:26, and actually got there earlier than I expected, but Don Christensen was already hanging out, and we chatted as we waited for a few more RV's to arrive. Doug and Scorch made the excrutiatingly long flight (5 minutes) from their home base, Chris Pratt arrived, and then I got to meet "The Other Doug Reeves", flying his "Jellybean" LSA - an interesting package, which we examined closely after lunch. That Rotax started on the first cylinder - very impressive! Lunch and airplane talk - how can you beat that....It was a little weird sitting between TWO Doug Reeves....but the pie was worth it.
My original intention for the day (before I had heard about this lunch) was to fly out to my airpark and see if my lot was still there. The RV is so fast that adding the trip to Fort Worth was a minor diversion....so after lunch, I punched in 1T7, detoured around Carswell's Class D, and scooted on down to the Hill Country. Once again, the air was smooth above 4,000, and I settle in at 8,500 once again with a small headwind. Only 1:10 later, I was in the pattern for Kestrel Airpark, just north of San Antonio. The lakes and hills of central Texas really make me hope I can build my home out there soon - it is so nice to get away from the salt air and breath something tinged with juniper..... So far, I had flown a little more than two and a half hours, and covered quite a few miles. By car? Forget it - it's an all day trip - if you don't stop for anything but gas! By RV? Just a nice Sunday sight-seeing trip! I love taking off my shoulder harness and twisting around to really enjoy the bubble canopy on the -8. I know that a lot of folks really like fastbacks....but I have to admit that the "D" model Mustang was my favorite for a reason...
After stretching my legs and making sure that all of my grass and weeds were still there (and checking out some neighbors that are lucky enough to be building now), I launched for home. 7,500 worked fine this time, with just a touch of wind on the tail. Houston's skyline was visible from 90 miles out, temperatures were nice, winds were light, and there were very few bumps....folks, if you don't yet have your RV flying, you need to stop reading and get back out in the workshop to pound some rivets! I touched down with just a little more than an hour on the clock for the leg. Total for the day - just at four hours on the clock, a little less than four in the air.
As I was climbing out from Kestrel, the clock on the EFIS ticked over 300 hours total time on the engine and airframe. 300 hours in a year and three weeks. I checked my fuel records on Quicken, and in that time, I've spent almost exactly $7K for Avgas. That comes out to about $23/hour for fuel. add another $1/hour for oil, and I don't know how you can have a more useful transportation system this cheap. And as we were talking about at lunch, the airplane is free! You will probably get all your money out of it if you were ever to sell; you haven't spent any money on the plane, you have just moved it from your bank account to a different kind of asset.
What a machine...what a country....now where will I go next weekend?!
Paul
The "Texas Triangle" (as it was explained to me - I'm not a native, and still haven't quite met the requirements for citizenship after 25 years - something to do with saluting the Aggie flag...) is formed by lines from Houston to Dallas/Fort Worth, to San Antonio. This general area encompasses the major metropolitan centers of the state, and a majority of the population. (And they all want to get on the freeway at the same time!)
This morning dawned clear, cool, and calm over most of the state, and since we had rain on the coast much of last weekend, I felt the need to get some hours. It was certainly a VFR day, and visibilities were approaching 100 miles - there is nothing like seeing signs of the tall buildings of your destination city from that far out! I set out a little after 0900 from my home field (KLVJ) south of Hobby. A quick low level route to the west takes me clear of the Class B, and then it's up to smooth air at 8500', where I caught a small (10 knot) tailwind to meet the lunch bunch on the west side of Fort Worth. I'd never been in to Hicks (T67) before, and wish I'd had time to go look in some of those hangars - from the three T-28's parked outside one, to the pair of Yaks headed out in formation, it looked like a neat place.
I made that first leg in 1:26, and actually got there earlier than I expected, but Don Christensen was already hanging out, and we chatted as we waited for a few more RV's to arrive. Doug and Scorch made the excrutiatingly long flight (5 minutes) from their home base, Chris Pratt arrived, and then I got to meet "The Other Doug Reeves", flying his "Jellybean" LSA - an interesting package, which we examined closely after lunch. That Rotax started on the first cylinder - very impressive! Lunch and airplane talk - how can you beat that....It was a little weird sitting between TWO Doug Reeves....but the pie was worth it.
My original intention for the day (before I had heard about this lunch) was to fly out to my airpark and see if my lot was still there. The RV is so fast that adding the trip to Fort Worth was a minor diversion....so after lunch, I punched in 1T7, detoured around Carswell's Class D, and scooted on down to the Hill Country. Once again, the air was smooth above 4,000, and I settle in at 8,500 once again with a small headwind. Only 1:10 later, I was in the pattern for Kestrel Airpark, just north of San Antonio. The lakes and hills of central Texas really make me hope I can build my home out there soon - it is so nice to get away from the salt air and breath something tinged with juniper..... So far, I had flown a little more than two and a half hours, and covered quite a few miles. By car? Forget it - it's an all day trip - if you don't stop for anything but gas! By RV? Just a nice Sunday sight-seeing trip! I love taking off my shoulder harness and twisting around to really enjoy the bubble canopy on the -8. I know that a lot of folks really like fastbacks....but I have to admit that the "D" model Mustang was my favorite for a reason...
After stretching my legs and making sure that all of my grass and weeds were still there (and checking out some neighbors that are lucky enough to be building now), I launched for home. 7,500 worked fine this time, with just a touch of wind on the tail. Houston's skyline was visible from 90 miles out, temperatures were nice, winds were light, and there were very few bumps....folks, if you don't yet have your RV flying, you need to stop reading and get back out in the workshop to pound some rivets! I touched down with just a little more than an hour on the clock for the leg. Total for the day - just at four hours on the clock, a little less than four in the air.
As I was climbing out from Kestrel, the clock on the EFIS ticked over 300 hours total time on the engine and airframe. 300 hours in a year and three weeks. I checked my fuel records on Quicken, and in that time, I've spent almost exactly $7K for Avgas. That comes out to about $23/hour for fuel. add another $1/hour for oil, and I don't know how you can have a more useful transportation system this cheap. And as we were talking about at lunch, the airplane is free! You will probably get all your money out of it if you were ever to sell; you haven't spent any money on the plane, you have just moved it from your bank account to a different kind of asset.
What a machine...what a country....now where will I go next weekend?!
Paul
