Leadville, Colorado trip

[iowaflyer]

I crossed an item off of my "bucket list" this weekend and flew from Council Bluffs, IA to Leadville, CO in my RV-4 to visit relatives. The weather was perfect and the flight was completely uneventful. Had a nice tailwind on the way home--3:30 trip time and only used 26 gallons.

I was amazed how well my -4 performed. I was climbing out of KLXV at ~800 fpm this morning.

I wasn't successful in inserting pics, but the link is below if anyone is interested.

https://picasaweb.google.com/104143063736140259545/PicasaPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCITdmPmqh426-gE

BTW, Kudos to Aerox for a great oxygen system and also to Dynon for quickly replacing a battery and making sure it arrived prior to the trip.

 

[ccsmith51]

Congrats, very cool!!

 

[helodriver]

Great pictures

It's on my list as well. One of these days. I also want to go to the lowest airport, Furnace Creek (L06), CA.

 

[DakotaHawk]

Congratulations! Leadville is "not that big a deal" for these overpowered machines we fly. Two trips to Leadville under the belt have made me a believer in the benefits of horsepower.

Furnace Creek (Death Valley) is also a nice airport to knock off of the list. Landing there in Fall / Winter is probably better than when I landed there - in early August. It was 115F when we opened the canopy! After performing a quick experiment to determine the evaporation rate of fluids on hot ground, we decided to bypass the walk in to town for a burger. Back up to 12,500' where the temperature was much more comfortable!

 

[ShannonEvans]

Congratulations! Leadville is "not that big a deal" for these overpowered machines we fly. Two trips to Leadville under the belt have made me a believer in the benefits of horsepower.

Furnace Creek (Death Valley) is also a nice airport to knock off of the list. Landing there in Fall / Winter is probably better than when I landed there - in early August. It was 115F when we opened the canopy! After performing a quick experiment to determine the evaporation rate of fluids on hot ground, we decided to bypass the walk in to town for a burger. Back up to 12,500' where the temperature was much more comfortable!

But for a real challenge fly into Leadville in a 1957 C-172 with two fat guys on board.. Did that on Oct 1. Leadville is a great trip & the fall colors are wonderfull. A trip all pilots need to make.

 

[Greg Arehart]

But for a real challenge fly into Leadville in a 1957 C-172 with two fat guys on board.. Did that on Oct 1. Leadville is a great trip & the fall colors are wonderfull. A trip all pilots need to make.

I lost a 1961 C172 and good friend (co-owner on the airplane) off the end of the runway at LXV in 1982 because of an overloaded airplane. And I know of at least a couple C152s that were flown in and couldn't get out except with a pilot and minimal fuel. One reason I have a bigger engine in my RV-9....

That said, indeed the flying around central Colorado can be magnificent.

cheers,
greg