Georgia (1GA0) to Colorado (KTAD) and Back in a 9A
 

My wife and I flew to Trinidad, CO from Coastal Georgia for a weeks visit with our niece and her husband. Trinidad is fairly flat and at about 6000 ft. The real mountains, which I avoided, are about 20 miles west of town. My niece and her husband manage a ranch located at 9000-10,500 ft. We trout fished in the streams, listened to the Elks bugling in the evening, and just relaxed and enjoyed the family.


Trip highlights: Cruised at 7500 to 8500 ft. most of the way depending on direction and clouds. VFR all the way.

1184 nm in eight hours both ways (2368 total). That's flight hours of course. We did sit out some rain on the way out and had to stay over an extra day.

Averaged 150 kts. (172 mph) ground speed, that includes climb, descent, cruise, and restricted airspace avoidance from time to time. Most of the time we were cruising at 160-170 kts ground speed. BOTH WAYS.

EZ Pilot single axis autopilot with a little manual elevator trim and there is very little work load in the cockpit. Just look for traffic and watch this beautiful country of ours go by. DO NOT forget to put an autopilot on your panel, you will not regret it. EZ pilot works great, and I recommend it, but other models are great also.

Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Colorado. You guys in Oklahoma need to plant some trees next to those cows and oil wells. Did you know that Muscogee, Oklahoma has a submarine located there? I didn't get a chance to figure out what it's doing there or how it got there. We actually spent the night in Muscogee. We got there after hours and called the after hours number and was provided with a number for the local taxi. Two guys from the local wrecker service picked us up in a pick-up truck. Both had overalls and told us fish stories of 60 pound catfish in the local area. Haven't had that independently verified yet. The "taxi" guys were really nice and real characters. They took us to 3 motels cause they were all booked due to a large tractor and equipment auction. I'm serious. Great place to stop with great folks at the FBO also.

I could go on and on about the different fuel stops and the great people we met along the way, but will save that for a future post.

If you are building an RV9(A) or any model, be sure to plan some long cross country trips and stop at the small towns and airports. It will renew your American Spirit; what a great country we live in. Keep on pounding, it is really worth it. take care

Great report Jack.
 

Next time just come on over the rockies and visit us in Oregon.

Kent

Will do
 

Kent: thanks for the invite. Next time I'll get some mountain flyin training and head up your way.

From beautiful Eagle Neck, across this great land, to magnificent Colorado. It's almost magical, what these airplanes can do. Great write-up Jack!

So, how DOES it feel to be living the dream?

feels great
 

Feels great. It's nice to walk 10 steps to the hangar and go. Also great to be able to do maintenance without having to drive to the airport. take care, Jack

Thanks for the inspiration, Jack! The closer I get to "flyin' time" in my 9A, the more I appreciate reports of the real thing. Great report.

Terry Ruprecht
Mahomet, IL
RV-9A, QB fuse

Jack,

Great report. We built the house at 34 Eagle Neck Drive and lived there almost 5 years. Great memories.

We'll be on St. Simmons Jan - Mar 08. Hope to see you while visiting old friends there.

Dick & Vicki Sipp
RV10 N110DV
Finishing freenzy

Nice story. Glad to hear that someone enjoyed being in Oklahoma. Apparently, they took a wrong turn and brought her right up the Arkansas River and just left her there...just kidding. I once had to set down in Muskogee at night due to inclement weather. I decided to walk to a hotel...heck should be one within a couple or three miles, right? Nine miles later, I finally made it to the hotels. I think I also had to go to three different places to find one that wasn't full. I'm sure those guys would have loved to take you noodling. I'm not brave enough to do that, myself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodling

Grant Cassady
Tripacer N8142D
RV6 N9HJ (flew 300 hrs) sold
RV6 project purchased

Great Trip Story
 

Jack - They do cruise nice, don't they. I agree on the auto pilot it make the trip easy and fun.

The sub is the Batfish.
Pretty distinguished...http://www.ussbatfish.com/batfish-main.html
Well worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood.