What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

CA to GA May 2019

pilotkms

Well Known Member
Just flew my 7A back from CA (KCCB) home to GA (KPXE). Over 1800 miles. Departed Saturday morning at 6:30 with hi cirrus clouds. The SoCal mountains are still snow capped.
DC14406B-A6C8-40A8-B2A9-94D52414BBB3-M.jpg

Relatively smooth at 7500?. Light Turbulence started just east of Lake Havasu. It increased to moderate turbulence over Prescott. Slowed down & Tightend up the safety belt. First stop for gas at St Johns AZ (KSJN). BIG windshear @ 100? agl, confirmed by a 210 pilot that arrived just before me. Landed ok. St Johns is a nice stop but in the middle of nowhere. Gas & go.
Back into turbulence which had become heavy moderate. Rocked & rolled all the way past NM and landed at Hereford TX (KHRX).

IMG_7131-M.jpg
Note the windsock. Nice crosswind of 260 @ 25, gust to 35. Landed on 20. Not pretty at all. Experienced large side forces on the mains. Glad the tires didn?t separate from the wheels. Spent the night at the local Best Western as the turbulence to get there was very tiring. Tornado line had developed west of Hereford and thunderstorms were east that afternoon & evening.
Morning skies were clear and winds were calm at daybreak.

IMG_7139-M.jpg

With storms lined up out of LA & up thru Miss, I decided to divert to Austin TX (KEDC). Flew an hour & half south and Austin was clouded over. Landed at Lampasas TX (KLZZ). And hung out for 2 hours.
Austin opened up and I continued on and did a long straight in to 13 with calm winds. A welcome relief from the winds at the prior airports.
My sister lives in Austin and she was there to see me land and take these pix.
68D90D21-F691-4126-8191-BA89F04A3AB7-M.jpg
.
3EC68F4F-E18A-48C7-86AB-8A318A1FF83D-M.jpg
Note the GIANT planeport where they unload you protected from the rains that occur here frequently. They use a tug to move the plane to transient parking. The lineman are very helpful and assist with anything u need. They helped me put my cover on.
Austin is BBQ territory so took my sister to one of our favorites, Coopers Downtown. Beat the crowd. This pix taken when we left - 20 people in line with 20 more outside the door.
DF00C4A5-2427-4ED2-9ED2-40BB17C524A4-M.jpg
Definitely worth any wait. Yumm.
Monday morning was very overcast and big winds were forecasted to start at 1:00, the same time when the clouds were supposed to clear. That didn?t happen. Big holes did stream over at 1:30 so I departed at 2:00. Escaped up to 7,500 and found the ride amazingly smooth. Had a 45kt quartering tailwind that pushed me forward an additional 27 kts.
IMG_7155-M.jpg

Flew east at 150 TAS (2420 rpm & 20? at 7.1 gph). Next fuel stop was Vicksburg Miss (KVKS). The flooding of the Miss River was evident as I flew over. Topped off with 18 gal and 27 minutes wheels down to wheels up. Last leg to get home. 90 degrees at liftoff so I went up to 9,500? where the temp was 57.
With night approaching I decided to get Flite Following for added safety. ATC later advised that the Restricted areas east of Columbus GA had been released and I could maintain course staying above 8,500?. Took a couple of pix of the sunset to the rear.
68D26D9C-AE55-46CA-BB5D-0C9716340B66-M.jpg

IMG_7162-M.jpg

Near home port, I Clicked the CTAF and got the lights on. Touched down at 8:30, coincident with the official sunset. Dead calm and made a perfect squeaker landing. Good to know I can still do them. Another awesome trip (7th cross country in 2 years) in my RV, BUILT IN MY GARAGE!!
The satisfaction & Grin just keeps happening.

Summary:
1,846 miles per ForeFlight
99.0 gallons of gas. 18.6 kt/ per gallon. $459.39 @ 5 stops. Avg $4.64 per gallon.
3 days flying. 14.2 Hobbs, 12.6 Tach. Avg speed based on Hobbs 130 kts per hour.
1 Qt of oil.
1 hotel nite.
1 nite with Family
1 dinner.
10.0 on RV FUN meter

IMG_0777-M.png

Thanx Butch
 
Sweet! Were you unable to climb out of the turbulence? I usually try to fly higher when I hit the bumps.

-Marc
 
Why not higher?

I was also wondering if there was a reason you didn't climb?? 9500??
There is a lot of higher terrain out west, but if you can get on top of the mechanical turbulence it can smooth out a bit.
Great to read about these trips, makes me more confident as I look for my "perfect" RV.
 
I don't have any pretty pictures, but I did make an 1100 NM round trip today to carry my son to see his Grandparents in Texas. Departed Cartersville, GA at 8AM, dropped him at KSLR (Sulphur Springs) at 1:00 EST, and back on the ground at Cartersville by 5:00 EST.

Even better, I stopped at my favorite Cajun restaurant in Acworth, GA on my drive home from the airport and took care of my food and drink deficit. ;-)
 
Higher ?

Why not go higher to escape the turbulence?
There was a Sigmet for both lo & hi level turbulence that day over Arizona and New Mexico. Just figured I had to slug it out. I agree that climbing higher can be a smoother ride. Just didn?t try it that day.
 
thanks for sharing, Keith

I always enjoy these trip reports. It gives me ideas and helps in my planning for future trips.

As I was reading - I recognized the plane and realized it was my friend, Keith - whom I met at OSH last year. Thanks for sharing your adventure and I hope to see you and many other RV friends at OSH 2019!
 
Thank you Keith! Being on a couple hundred miles leash for about a year I do miss long hauls. Your write up is highly appreciated. I remember I showed up at Ironflight place in NV and complained about turbulence. Paul educated me well.

At Hereford a nice lady wearing cowboy boots fueled my airplane once. Do they still have that funny smell on short final?

How is the fuel ramp at Vicksburg? Did you taxi to it or had a truck? :D
 
Smell ?

Well Vlad, I know u?ve been to Hereford cuz that funny smell is definitely there. They don?t call it the Beef Capital of the World for nothing. Cowgirl not there for me.
The runway at Vicksburg was good asphalt, but as u apparently know the ramp to get to the gas pumps was a little rough. I taxied over to the pump ever so cautiously.
 
Great write up, thanks for posting.

Were you VFR the entire trip? I flew from KTOA to NY, 2,104SM last July, all VFR. We are truly blessed in this country, to enjoy the freedom of flight, as we do.
 
Great Write Up

Thanks for sharing the southern version of what I'm getting ready to do in the North.

Left Alaska on Friday the 24th, in Idaho at present, getting my RV worked on. Then heading east to KMEY, KFFA and a visit with Vlad. Visit Capt John next before return to west and then Alaska.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
Back
Top