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RV formation (record attempt) over Chiefs-Raiders Football game 2013

RV6_flyer

Well Known Member
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Go team go!!! This is quite a feat. Prayers for safety and a perfect formation to all! Herman and Maybell are watching:) Wish we could be there to support you but we are cheering you from the sidelines.
 
Have fun Rosie!

Thank you Seismo!!!! Just back (2311) from a GREAT evening sitting in the conference room in our traditional RV 'circle of friends' tell stories (mostly lies!) We have an 0730 Sunday ride to the airport then empty the hangar of 49 RV: Very cool to see! Maybe somebody here (Dulette?) with a camera can post some pics (ours broke enroute). Time over Target is 1200 CDT :) Rosie
 
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CBS Didn't show the fly over...

Did I miss something. I was watching the pregame and they never showed the national anthem or the flyover. :mad:

I hope someone posts some video of the flyover. CBS always finds a way to disappoint.
 
Did I miss something. I was watching the pregame and they never showed the national anthem or the flyover. :mad:

I too, turned on the game but, just as I feared, they usually don't show the national anthem unless it's something bigger like the Super Bowl.
 
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I took my daughter up for her first flight in 225WD this morning. I heard the flight check in with Lee's Summit unicom as they were returning from the flyover. Pretty impressive to check in with a flight of 49.

Dave
RV6 N225WD
Geeting ready for first condition inspection
 
Nice job guys. Very impressive that a bunch of guys in planes they built can develop the skills to fly 49 planes in formation over a major sporting event and show everyone that we are not all just a bunch of crazy people!

I have never done formation flying and was not really interested I it, but this has sparked something in me that I will look into once I have my 9a finished. Thanks

I lost my mother way to early from breast cancer and anything that can be done to find a cure is a great thing.
 
Chief's Fly Over

Very Cool...are most of the RVs from KC MO/KS area? How many were actually RV's?

Doug
OKC
Restoring RV-3
RV-9A Mazda 13B, FWF / Electrical (on hold to get the "3" flying)

From Rosie: All were RVs that included a couple of Harmon Rockets. Pilots (both male & female) came from everywhere including Maryland, Nebraska, Kansas (oh yea!), Colorado, Texas, Arizona, Wisconsin, Indiana, Nevada, Washington (state) and California just to name a few states.
 
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A WONDERFUL DAY OF FLYING...

...With 48 of my best friends!!!!! It's 2331 here in Goodland, KS and I wanted to get a couple of links up of today's flight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VImNBuJW3sQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2odfyIZWQo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFw1kbCvRyA

http://airpigz.com/blog/2013/10/14/videos-49-homebuilt-aircraft-build-world-record-formation-ov.html

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2013/10/13/4834310/arrowhead-stadium-flyover-video-pictures-raiders-vs-chiefs-2013

I'm sure there will be MANY more links of the 49-ship flyover at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City (Axel had a good one)...

We departed Lee's Summit for Colorado around 1800 local time (after the game) trying to get ahead of Monday's weather. We landed Goodland (GLD), KS at ~2030 (2:40 flight from KC) and are staying the night with friends Jim "Jimmyb" & Vicki Baker; we landed then called them (weather got the best of us)...Jimmyb was at the airport in 5 minutes :) We were supposed to land at Centennial (APA) in Colorado where we missed seeing friends Scott & Deb Mills :(

We are continuing home to California on Monday, and may stop at my FAVORITE airport on the way home: Telluride! Rosie & Tuppergal

PS: Keep poundin' them rivets because it's ALL worth it!
 
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Fantastic effort and performance guys! And for a great effort, a great cause. Incidentally, what a boost for experimental aviation and specifically Vans RV flyers.
 
A big THANK YOU to BeeGee, Ripper, Maverick, and Jazz and all the KC flight guys for organizing everything. Its a year-long task to pull this off with all the planning work that goes in coordinating all the logistics, sponsorship, and manufacturing the smoke brackets.

We raised over $25,000 for BCA and that is a really, really awesome thing to be a part of!
 
Formation Flight over Arrowhead

What can you say...WOW!
and I will say thanks for doing that. My mom passed away from this horrible cancer. Hey Mom - thnk about you every day.
 
I was lucky enough to be in the stands for this and can say folks all around me were wide-eyed and obviously awestruck (or they were drunk and having some vertigo...probably a little of both). :D

It was truly an awesome spectacle, and I have seen similarly large formations over KOSH a number of times. My thanks and hats off to the pilots for their tremendous contribution to the fight against BC. It just doesn't get any better than that.
 
Pictures!

Here are some photos from Saturday's practice and Sunday's flyover. As has been said, the KC Flight team did an incredible job on this event, and the total donation from their team is now $30K!!! BeeGee (Lead), Ripper (Promoter), and Mav (Maintenance Control) and all the KC Flight guys "left it all on the field", as did the entire team of pilots and supporters. It was an honor to fly with all of them! This post will have pics from Saturday's practice, and the next will have pics from Sunday's flyover. A great weekend of flying, supporting a great cause!

Cheers,
Bob (E1)

Line-up diagram
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Hangar "49"
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Lining up for takeoff...we did get them all on the runway!
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From the cockpit of J4
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From the cockpit of E2
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From the Lancair Chase
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Over the stadium during practice (look closely!)
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Uniform for the weekend!
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more to follow...
 
How do they do the wing tip smoke generation?

Here is a shot of the smoke cartridge holder "borrowed" from Bob Mills thread.

Not sure how they were activated.

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And another shot again "borrowed" from Cathy White Page----------looks like a bundle of wire hanging out of the cartridge?? Maybe electrical squib ignition?

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Sunday's Photos

Here are the photos from Sunday's flyover. Just a great effort by 49 teammates, working through some bumps to make if all come together over the target. And BeeGee hit the TOT to the second!

Inbound...bringing it all together
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Smoke on (from E2)
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They be smokin'!
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Over the parking lot inbound
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A series over the stadium (photo credit Reed Hoffmann)
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Photo Credit: KC Star
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Photo Credit: KC Star (Van's Through the Goalpost...its gooooood!)
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Photo Credit: KC Star (And the crowd goes wild...they really did...great group, great cause!)
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Are you ready for some football! And how 'bout a couple world records while your at it (Largest Formation, Loudest NFL Stadium)
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Great Group, Great Cause, Great Weekend of RV Flying for the cause!

Will put something together on the brackets and smoke canisters in a bit.

Thanks for all the great words of encouragement and nice compliments...Go KC Flight!!

Cheers,
Bob
 
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Really cool!!! (Drooling all over my keyboard)

Does anybody have a high res pic of it? I want to put it on my desktop.
 
I got a chill up my spine watching the video and listening to the engines...amazing, just amazing! Fantastic job!
 
Pink Smoke (or almost any color)

So how do you make pink smoke, you ask?

Well the smart guys at KC Flight have put a lot of effort into making this a reality. They sourced smoke canisters, then built brackets to fit their RVs. In the past 2 years of the NFL Breast Cancer Awareness Flyovers, they have fabricated at least 70 sets of smoke brackets. Mav (Richard White, RV Builder, A&P/IA) is the mastermind and lead on that effort. He welds them, paints them and fits them to each RV...custom fit! The entire KC Flight team works hard with Mav to make this happen.

The brackets are attached to the wingtip via the last 4 wingtip screws on the top and bottom of each tip. The measurements to those holes is the custom fit part. This picture shows Dula's tip in flight (same one Mike posted). There is a flat flange on the top and bottom of the wingtip, with a felt pad, through which the screws are placed. Then 2 small connecting pipes run aft and slightly outboard to the canister receptacles. All welded in place on a jig, then custom drilled, then painted. Tons of work for the KC Flight guys. There is also a small, adjustable flange that fits on the trailing edge of the wingtip for security and stability. You can see those in the 2nd and 3rd pictures.
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The canisters slide in the receptacle (tight fit), and are cotter-keyed in the front loop of the receptacle
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The wire to the firing squib comes out of the back of the canister, and most of us run that to a connection to the Nav lights. Some used small DB connectors, some used molex connectors, and some ran a pigtail from their outside mount Nav lights, and just twisted the wires. Everything gets taped down nice and tidy. This pic shows Stephen Cristopher's bracket ready to be wired (the wire to the squib is very long, its just stuffed in the tube till he cut it to length, wired it up and taped it down).
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To activate the smoke canisters, the call from BeeGee was "Nav lights on...off". The draw is miliamps, but we don't want to run 12V continuous through the small squib wires and connectors...that's why the "off" part of the call is there. The canisters are a one-shot deal. Once on, they smoke for 2 minutes...no off switch available.

Its a really neat little set up, and KC Flight has done Pink, Red/White/Blue, and even Yellow/Black (for Sprint Cup). Hats off the KC boys for some real creativity with this!

They have manufacturing pics too...maybe Ripper will share some of those too...neat stuff!

Cheers,
Bob
 
Just an outstanding effort by everyone!

That is a lot of work, getting enough qualified pilots, getting them and their planes at the same place at the correct time, getting the smoke canisters made up, wired up, and functioning.

Congrats to all!
 
"This site strives to be a stress-free, civil place for fans of Van's RV kitplanes to virtually network and solve building issues. The goal is that when you finish your RV and fly places, and meet in person the people you have talked with here, you will already kind of know them. First and foremost this site is about good people."

Thanks to RVMills for the invite, not to mention riding along on the afternoon practice flight! Amazing experience and amazing people!!
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Since I don't have an RV here in Kansas City I am a bit of an outcast! haha

Instead of being in the formation, my wife and I got to dress the formation prior to going over the stadium. Here is my perspective starting 2 minutes prior to pink smoke on!

http://youtu.be/G_p-R2i13HU

I am having to locate the problem plane, then find them on the diagram to get their call sign, then dress them on the radio, while looking up. Definitely some of the coolest flying I have ever done!
 
Awesome sight to see..

Living in Lees Summit I saw some of the practice and then the "pre-game" warm ups. Couldn't help but think "This must have been what some Europeans heard and saw during the war." Just a massive amount of planes getting ready for their run blocked up in groups of 4. Really a cool sight. Even cooler however was the return to base. Stood at my shop and watched a beautiful ballet of Flight of the Bumble Bee, as all the groups headed north and then broke right for the sweeping approach turn. Kuddos fellas...
 
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