Tom Martin
Well Known Member
Last weekend Wayne Hadath in his sport wing F1, Gary Wilcox in his RV7 and I, in my EVO F1 made the long trip from southern Ontario to Taylor Texas to participate in the Rocket 100. We had a great time but due to weather had to leave early to get there and also get home later then originally planned.
Our return flight from Taylor was delayed Sunday morning until 10am local time due to fog. This meant that with RV speeds there was no way we were going to get home that night. We cross Lake Erie north of Sandusky Ohio, as there are quite a few islands along that route. I do not mind crossing the lake during day light, but it is below my level of comfort to do so at night. Thus we decided to spend Sunday night on the road and finish the trip the next morning.
Wayne and his passenger wanted to get home that night so we wished them well and off they went. His first leg, from Taylor T74 was to Richmond In KRID was an amazing 826.5nm which took 4.3 hours, for an average ground speed of 192 nmph. They started with a bit of a tail wind and ended with a headwind. We normally flight plan 190 knots, (in the rockets) so this number is quite real. They landed with the legal fuel reserves and spent 45 minutes on the ground fuelling up and making customs arrangements. The next leg to CYKF, Kitchener/Waterlloo Ontario, is not direct, due to the lake crossing, and is estimated to be 300nm which took 1.5 hours. They were concerned about day light on this leg and increased power to 24 squared and saw 200 to 205 knots.
They arrived at a local time of 5:15. If you take the time zone difference into account the total time for the trip including the stop was 6:15 hours. Everyone loves rockets for their look and performance but few people realize just how good they are on long cross country flights. Wayne’s total flight hours was 5.8 hours, going fifty miles farther then where I live. At RV speeds it took us 6.8 hours, just one hour more, plus an overnight stay. I did however save some money on fuel as I was burning over 1 gallon less per hour then the RV7 at 155 to 160 knot airspeeds.
Our return flight from Taylor was delayed Sunday morning until 10am local time due to fog. This meant that with RV speeds there was no way we were going to get home that night. We cross Lake Erie north of Sandusky Ohio, as there are quite a few islands along that route. I do not mind crossing the lake during day light, but it is below my level of comfort to do so at night. Thus we decided to spend Sunday night on the road and finish the trip the next morning.
Wayne and his passenger wanted to get home that night so we wished them well and off they went. His first leg, from Taylor T74 was to Richmond In KRID was an amazing 826.5nm which took 4.3 hours, for an average ground speed of 192 nmph. They started with a bit of a tail wind and ended with a headwind. We normally flight plan 190 knots, (in the rockets) so this number is quite real. They landed with the legal fuel reserves and spent 45 minutes on the ground fuelling up and making customs arrangements. The next leg to CYKF, Kitchener/Waterlloo Ontario, is not direct, due to the lake crossing, and is estimated to be 300nm which took 1.5 hours. They were concerned about day light on this leg and increased power to 24 squared and saw 200 to 205 knots.
They arrived at a local time of 5:15. If you take the time zone difference into account the total time for the trip including the stop was 6:15 hours. Everyone loves rockets for their look and performance but few people realize just how good they are on long cross country flights. Wayne’s total flight hours was 5.8 hours, going fifty miles farther then where I live. At RV speeds it took us 6.8 hours, just one hour more, plus an overnight stay. I did however save some money on fuel as I was burning over 1 gallon less per hour then the RV7 at 155 to 160 knot airspeeds.
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