4000 nms in a rocket

I just returned from a trip from our home in Southern Ontario to Victoria BC. My wife and I flew outbound over 1900 nm touching down in Elliot Lake, Thunder Bay, Brandon, Moose Jaw, Lethbridge, Penticton, Victoria and finally Delta BC. We took our time and had three overnight stays along the way for a total flight time of 12.1 hours. We fought headwinds all the way and dodged around some of the thundercells that spawned tornadoes in Manitoba. To climb over the Canadian mountains we flew at 12,000 feet in smooth air. The last hop was over the top of a solid layer of clouds. Our only reminder of the rugged landscape under us was the top of Mount Baker.

The next picture is one taken while descending to 6500 ft over the Frazier river.

We spent two days with my cousin, rv and rocket builder, Norm Younie, and then Diane and I toured Vancouver for three days.
My wife needed to get home so friend Wayne Hadath took her place in the back for the ride home. Wayne and I had both attended the RAA, Recreational Aircraft Assoction, meeting at Delta Airpark BC.
We cleared customs at Bellingham Wa, then flew southward to Seattle and then up to 11,500 to cross the mountains to our next stop Great Falls Montana. The next stop was Pierre South Dakota. On this leg we had crossed some of the most desolate and remote landscape that I have ever seen. Our next stop was South Bend Indiana where we ran out of daylight and stopped for the night. We flew 1700nms that day! It was an easy 1.5 hour flight home the next day. Our total time on the way home was 10.5 hours for an average airspeed of 193 knots. We did not have much in the way of tailwinds, to my disappointment, but we did pick up a bit of true airspeed as most of our trip was 9500 to 11,500 feet.
The following picture is taken south of Gary, looking north over Lake Michigan


4000 nm in an EVO rocket in a week, with time for sight seeing, what a plane!

Sounds like a great trip Tom - I like the first picture of the mountain sticking up through the clouds!

The mountain reminded me of an old Gary Larson cartoon where one airline pilot says to the other pilot " Say, look at those mountain goats sitting on that cloud!"

Delta Airpark

It was nice meeting you at the RAA meet in Delta Airpark (I was with Norman). What a nice rocket you have, articularly the gapless sealed control surfaces. I am also impressed with the 200kt at 55%. Correct me if I am wrong.
How is the kit quality and "ease" of building compared to an RV? How many hours to build it ?

Hi Pete
The kit was a quick build and comparable in hours to finish with a Van's quickbuild with a couple of exceptions. The tail is not prepunched and the canopy requires a bit more work as the frame is not as far along as the RV7 canopy frame is. I have flown both types and my preference is with the rocket. The upfront cost is higher but is offset by a higher resale price and the added performance. I find the EVO wing to be visually very attractive and it is much more stable in flight. My wife would never have been able to make such a long flight with the standard hersey bar wing as she suffers from motion sickness. We were not that sure how she was going to like such a long trip and since I could not guarantee a return time she booked a commercial flight home. When we arrived in Victoria she expressed regret that she would have to fly commercially home rather than in the rocket!! Priceless.