What's new
Van's Air Force

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

Landing an RV-10 on a rough 2200 feet in the Baja

Wow, that really looked rough. Nice landing keeping the nose wheel up and still under the plane! Looks like a fun place to go.
 
Impressive

The vid makes your approach speed look insanely high. I know it's an illusion, but it looks a lot faster than the 65mph over the fence I use here at the 2100' home strip in the 6A. That might take some getting used to.

Let me toss this question out, Sean. As I get ready to shoot rivets on my bought-half-done -10 kit, I am wondering if I should plan on oversize wheels since 100% of my flights will originate and ultimately end on short turf. Trade-offs?

-Stormy
 
Camera View

Sean, I really like the way you have your camera set up. We can see ahead and also see you in the pilot's seat. That's a really neat way of capturing the action. Very nice!
 
The vid makes your approach speed look insanely high. I know it's an illusion, but it looks a lot faster than the 65mph over the fence I use here at the 2100' home strip in the 6A. That might take some getting used to.

Let me toss this question out, Sean. As I get ready to shoot rivets on my bought-half-done -10 kit, I am wondering if I should plan on oversize wheels since 100% of my flights will originate and ultimately end on short turf. Trade-offs?

-Stormy

I have the standard kit tires and go in and out of grass fields all the time. Some fields are bumpier than others, but I really haven't had any issues.

The only time I had an issue, was a grass runway that had a 3-4" crown at the center line. I went in first thing in the morning and there was still plenty of dew on the grass. I started slipping sideways due to the angle of the crown. I suspect larger tires may have had similar issues.
 
Let me toss this question out, Sean. As I get ready to shoot rivets on my bought-half-done -10 kit, I am wondering if I should plan on oversize wheels since 100% of my flights will originate and ultimately end on short turf. Trade-offs?

Stormy, You could keep the stock wheels, but mount standard 6.00 x 6 tires on them, as opposed to the low profiles 15 x 6 tires that come with the kit. 6.00 x 6 tires are approximately 17.5" in diameter, as opposed to the 15" of the low profiles tires. You would then fit the wheel pants to the larger tires. Just an idea, I haven't done it, but sometimes wish I did. My airplane does fine on smooth grass, but I miss flying into those rough backcountry strips that I used to visit.
 
The vid makes your approach speed look insanely high. I know it's an illusion, but it looks a lot faster than the 65mph over the fence I use here at the 2100' home strip in the 6A. That might take some getting used to.

Let me toss this question out, Sean. As I get ready to shoot rivets on my bought-half-done -10 kit, I am wondering if I should plan on oversize wheels since 100% of my flights will originate and ultimately end on short turf. Trade-offs?

-Stormy

I was heavy but close to 65. I had four skinny adults with bags and 42.6 gallons of fuel. My stall horn was going off at touchdown but not my AOA. I could have been a touch slower....but crosswind and some gusts were present so I traded distance for safety because I knew I had the distance for the speed I was going. 640 hours on the plane and I feel I know the speeds for the conditions. Always worth analysing though. I would not change the wheels or wheel pants. The RV10 is so good for so many things the trade off wouldn't be worth it. Just my opinion.
 
Awesome!

Looks like a great adventure. Are there rental accommodations there? Are they nice? How far down the baja?
 
Alphonsinas

Oh my god. What a great video of a place i visited decades ago before I was a pilot. I've always dreamt of going back by air. All you folks that have wondered about Baja: here it is.
 
Slide show of Flying Home to Baja

We have had a house at Alfonsina's for 37 years. We flew our Bonanza there from San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento on weekends for all those years. That was a 2000 mile round trip from Northern California which you can do on a weekend in a Bonanza:) A real piece of cake from SAN.

Now we drive from San Diego because the road, which used to require about 8 hours for the last 100 miles, has been made just great and because our RV12 doesn't have the range to get there and back if there is no avgas....PEMEX 87 octane won't work.

Here is a slide show I made of our trips down there that you might like. Tom V., an RV owner in Charleston, S.C. and also San Diego is a good buddy and he has made this trip with us.

https://vimeo.com/68383565 Use full screen and turn up the sound.

Please keep this place a secret! :)

EBB
 
I've flown the Baja about a dozen times but not in my RV yet. I have great videos of flying down there in my Mooney and in an ultralight just last week, but I guess I can't post those here. :(

Flying the Baja Peninsula is a fantastic experience. Try to do it someday if you haven't already.
 
Looks like there's about 12 or so airports in all of Baja, which is 700 miles long.
Which one is this? (Would like to go sometime):cool:
 
Looks like there's about 12 or so airports in all of Baja, which is 700 miles long.
Which one is this? (Would like to go sometime):cool:

This one is Alfonsinas. It is not labeled on most aviation maps. Rancho Grande is just 2 miles south and is much bigger but no where to park.
 
Last edited:
We have had a house at Alfonsina's for 37 years. We flew our Bonanza there from San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento on weekends for all those years. That was a 2000 mile round trip from Northern California which you can do on a weekend in a Bonanza:) A real piece of cake from SAN.

Now we drive from San Diego because the road, which used to require about 8 hours for the last 100 miles, has been made just great and because our RV12 doesn't have the range to get there and back if there is no avgas....PEMEX 87 octane won't work.

Here is a slide show I made of our trips down there that you might like. Tom V., an RV owner in Charleston, S.C. and also San Diego is a good buddy and he has made this trip with us.

https://vimeo.com/68383565 Use full screen and turn up the sound.

Please keep this place a secret! :)

EBB

Great pics! I have been going down for 6 years now. Thanks to Scott Schmidt for showing me the place in his 10. Your place looks really nice!
 
Rough places to land????

Hi all, I'm brand new to this site I don' even know if this is the right place to ask my question 😬 I'm planning on buying a RV4 and my question is= are the RVs really good for grass short runways? In real world what's the take off distance and landing distance in a RV4 with 180HP???? That will help a lot to make my decision on buying or not buying. I love the idea of aerobatics and the speed of the RVs. Also what's the fuel consumption on RV4 180HP??? Thank you so much in advance.
 
Hi El, I think your thread will get "lost" here in this position. Go to the home page. Scroll down to where you see all the pictures of the RV's. Click on the RV 4 picture. When that page comes up, you will see "new thread" in the upper left hand corner. Go there. (The RV 4 is a very tight cockpit. Make sure you go sit in one before you commit.):cool:
 
Back
Top