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Journey Of A Lifetime (long)

Fly Over?!!

...You should have stopped! We would have put you up for the night, bought you dinner and provided brilliant conversation. Also we could have let you
look at the worlds fastest RV-9A. Oh well, maybe next time. We sure have enjoyed this thread and seeing your trip and all the adventures.
Thank you again! Allan..:D:D
 
Day Thirteen. Warming Up!

I booked two days at the hotel can't beat the promotional price of $59+tax. Where else in California you can stay for that money? Plus they will be opening a restaurant in the lobby tonight. I need to heat up a bit. Several days ago I didn't have enough clothes in Alaska to keep myself warm and now temperature barely passed balmy three digits. The vicinities near El Centro NAF are well worth exploring.

Topped off with very affordable gas I took off. Initially thought of landing at Calexico International for a haircut.





It didn't work out and I traced border fence westbound for about 30 NM. Our southern neighbors have some interesting infrastructure there.





Then the fence transformed into a wall. Jacumba!








L78 is an airport right by the Great Wall Of Jacumba.





As soon as I landed and deplaned a border patrol SUV passed by. I waved. Then walked toward the wall. Pretty impressive engineering.








Patrolman returned in 10 minutes. I waved.





I didn't wait for him to come third time. Finished a bottle of water, jumped in the cockpit and engine started on twentieth blade. Vapor lock. I gained some altitude and tracked an abandoned railroad. Few in the world were that dangerous. Do you see the derailed cars at the Carrizo Gorge?





Very impressive trestle.


 
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Day Thirteen. Airports Below Sea Level.

Abandoned rail road tunnel.





I wandered around Borrego Valley trying to find a landing strip within a walking distance to some source of moisture. Aqua Caliente Springs? Pretty place but far from a habitat. I will be baked before I walk to the closest shack. How about Ocotillo L90?




Two runways claimed to be decent dirt on both let's see.





Kind of soft and rough I will leave it for tailwheel guys to brag. Out!





Salton Sea KSAS was just for the logbook there is nothing on the field. The elevation is minus 84 feet. Sort of like mini Death Valley and it felt like a little inferno.







If I shut down the engine here it would probably take the whole day to cool it off for restart.





I definitely need a snack and a beverage. Around Salton Sea I go toward Chiriaco L77. I've been there three years ago and I know that place.





It's a truck stop and a gas station with a well stocked food mart.


 
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Day Thirteen. On A Prowl.

With belly full of fast food I am on a prowl. Squeezed between restricted areas and MOAs I can't go much higher.



It's getting warmer and warmer. 102F.





How about a touch and go on a dry lake bed? It looks smooth from couple hundred feet but not so in the flare.





Calipatria State Prison. The prison where electrified fence kills escaping inmates instantly. That's what Wikipedia says...





An active rail road.





Sand Hill Navy Aux Field. It's not active and there is a good read about it http://members.tripod.com/airfields_freeman/CA/Airfields_CA_ElCentro.htm did I mention it's hot?





Enough heat for today I finally warmed up.
 
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Day Thirteen. By The Pool With Ospreys.

Extreme aerial tourism is coming to an end. Time to land and have some liquified matter.





Am I taking somebody's spot? There are at least six ones like this some are greasier then the others.





It took me 5 minutes to secure my airplane and another 5 minutes to run to the pool via beer fridge. Cold beer, warm pool... I am surely missing something here... "Wish Upon a Pike" and a mighty roar came :D





An armada of V22s Ospreys flew in to refuel. Two, four then another one... six!!
These are quick suckers two fuel trucks were working hard with one on standby.





Man that was epic. Sitting by the pool with a cold beer watching and listening to the roar of turbines, with smell of burnt jet fuel and a cloud of dust!! Indescribable feelings of thoughtless youth! Thank YOU you know who you are for recommending a place like this. I owe you big time!





In couple hours I went to the restaurant I was hungry as a marathon runner. Ordered steak. And drink. Then more. The restaurant was surprisingly empty. When I asked for a bill the waitress said everything has been taken care of and she didn't disclose by whom. Have a good night. Tomorrow's route was already plotted. :D
 
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This is the point of the trip I've been waiting for. The mysterious west! Kudos Vlad, Kudos!
 
The Carrizo Gorge Railway is not "abandoned", it is just out of service. Abandonment connotes a legal action and approval by the Federal Surface Transportation Board, which is not the case and has not happened with that railroad. It possibly, though one could speculate on the probability, could be placed back in service some day.
 
The Carrizo gorge trestle

After seeing a lot of interesting objects and places that Vlad has shown us I sometimes research to get more info. There is now a plan in the works to rebuild that "Desert Railroad" which was part of the old San Diego and Airzona RR line and will run trains from San Diago thru Mexico and back into the Imperial valley of California. A search of U-tube will show a trip through the tunnels and over the trestle. Even some close ups of those wrecked rail cars. I must admit I have learned a lot of very interesting info about the USA through Vlads adventures. :)
 
Is this Yuma, AZ??

Extreme aerial tourism is coming to an end. Time to land and have some liquified matter.





Am I taking somebody's spot? There are at least six ones like this some are greasier then the others.





It took me 5 minutes to secure my airplane and another 5 minutes to run to the pool via beer fridge. Cold beer, warm pool... I am surely missing something here... "Wish Upon a Pike" and a mighty roar came :D





An armada of V22s Ospreys flew in to refuel. Two, four then another one... six!!
These are quick suckers two fuel trucks were working hard with one on standby.





Man that was epic. Sitting by the pool with a cold beer watching and listening to the roar of turbines, with smell of burnt jet fuel and a cloud of dust!! Indescribable feelings of thoughtless youth! Thank YOU you know who you are for recommending a place like this. I owe you big time!





In couple hours I went to the restaurant I was hungry as a marathon runner. Ordered steak. And drink. Then more. The restaurant was surprisingly empty. When I asked for a bill the waitress said everything has been taken care of and she didn't disclose by whom. Have a good night. Tomorrow's route was already plotted. :D

What airport is this....Yuma?
 
> I wandered around Borrego Valley trying to find a landing strip within a walking distance to some source of moisture. Aqua Caliente Springs? Pretty place but far from a habitat. I will be baked before I walk to the closest shack. How about Ocotillo L90?

For future reference, there's a very small market within walking distance of Agua Caliente. It's at the entrance to a campground. A little further (but still walkable) in the campground are some swimming pools.

I've landed at Agua Caliente before and had to get an ice cream at the market to stay cool. It's a nice out-of-the-way place.
 
It does require some skill to take pictures while landing an airplane. Impressive ...

Have you seen other strips he has landed on? Certainly very impressive and a good examples that nose gear is not as vulnerable as some believe it is.
 
It does require some skill to take pictures while landing an airplane. Impressive ...

Joe not much skills required to press the camera pushbutton. In no traffic calm winds and stable approach environment it's a split second you just grab and shoot in blind (distraction of a finger not more :)). Camera all preset in auto mode. More often then not the pictures come blurry.



Plus I am flying an RV9A it's like having a built-in autoland feature trim it and relax. Keep her flying over the runway till she doesn't want to stay airborne anymore. Nothing impressive here. I imagine how comfortable are guys with autopilots. ;)
 
Curiosity question for you, Vlad. Used to land on very unimproved dirt roads, not paved ones. You've landed on a few paved roads. How does the airplane handle when you encounter a road that has the center higher than the edges so water will run off? I think many, if not most, modern paved roads have this kind of camber to them. I would naturally suspect the castoring nosewheel might want to wander pretty easily away from the center of the road.

What has your experience been?
 
Road camber negligible

Curiosity question for you, Vlad. Used to land on very unimproved dirt roads, not paved ones. You've landed on a few paved roads. How does the airplane handle when you encounter a road that has the center higher than the edges so water will run off? I think many, if not most, modern paved roads have this kind of camber to them. I would naturally suspect the castoring nosewheel might want to wander pretty easily away from the center of the road.

What has your experience been?


Mark, the road camber is no factor there are so many other things to worry about i.e wingtip clearance from signs and poles, a pocket to clear the road etc. You can't just land on an empty paved road except in Alaska and Montana so my total paved roads count is less then a dozen. However couple years ago I noticed a overcambered surface but couldn't do full stop because of incoming traffic. Therefore no report or experience on free castering. I would guess it's negligible and wouldn't affect nose wheel steering :)
 
Mark, the road camber is no factor there are so many other things to worry about i.e wingtip clearance from signs and poles, a pocket to clear the road etc. You can't just land on an empty paved road except in Alaska and Montana so my total paved roads count is less then a dozen. However couple years ago I noticed a overcambered surface but couldn't do full stop because of incoming traffic. Therefore no report or experience on free castering. I would guess it's negligible and wouldn't affect nose wheel steering :)

Vlad, What about telephone lines and power lines? They're everywhere here in the lower 48---and you'd never see them. Maybe not so in Alaska??? But you mentioned Montana?:eek:
 
Don,
The power and telephone lines are visible just avoid them. FAA publishes a very nice guide on off-airport landing how to determine where to land. We were handed a copy during our "mild ramp check" in Fairbanks. Although it's centered toward bush flyers I've found it quite interesting and useful.


Vlad, I hear you, but let me tell you what happened to me a couple of years back. We were flying very low over a big lake in N. Carolina. Looking back over our shoulders, we saw these power lines stretched across the water. Never saw them in front of us. How we missed them, well, I guess God was watching us---we should both be dead. That guy never flew with me again, and I can't say as I blame him. AND I don't do that anymore.
 
Don,
The power and telephone lines are visible just avoid them. FAA publishes a very nice guide on off-airport landing how to determine where to land. We were handed a copy during our "mild ramp check" in Fairbanks. Although it's centered toward bush flyers I've found it quite interesting and useful.

...Scan that publication, and post it. I would like a copy if possible. Thanks, Allan...:D:D
 
Imperial

Using skyvector.com you can find a satellite view of any airport. On the one for IPL you can see the motel where some of the pictures were taken. Across the fence from the ramp.
Skyvector can be very useful in looking up restaurants, motels etc that are near airports. It doesn't do a very good job on airport restaurants.
 
Surface

Vlad,

The various unpaved runways you used in AK all seem to have gravel surfaces with nothing looking bigger than an inch, smooth, and pretty flat. Would you say this is true for most of the "dirt" runways in AK, Yukon, and BC? (I'd inquiry locally, anyway.) This is good news for using my -7 more extensively in AK, having landed only at Beaver Creek for customs and being pleasantly surprised that the small aggregate makes it nearly paved. Here in Idaho, 2-3" rocks and varmit holes are expected and the reason RVs have little back country access.

John Siebold
Boise, ID
 
Vlad,

The various unpaved runways you used in AK all seem to have gravel surfaces with nothing looking bigger than an inch, smooth, and pretty flat. Would you say this is true for most of the "dirt" runways in AK, Yukon, and BC? (I'd inquiry locally, anyway.) This is good news for using my -7 more extensively in AK, having landed only at Beaver Creek for customs and being pleasantly surprised that the small aggregate makes it nearly paved. Here in Idaho, 2-3" rocks and varmit holes are expected and the reason RVs have little back country access.

John Siebold
Boise, ID


John,

I wouldn't say most but rather some have a "Beaver Creek like" runways where the treated gravel feels like paved i.e. Burwash, Carmacks etc. My wingman flew an RV6 and he complained he got his nice paint chipped on the tail. Runways like Bettles, Dawson City and Coldfoot are long but the gravel is loose so it flies from under the wheels and prop wash. It could cause a ding or two on horizontal stab. Nearly all unimproved runways I flew in are suitable for our small wheels but some of them need RV9 wing and a nosewheel. :)
 
Day 14. Along Southern Frontier.

On a nice and warm Californian morning I saddled my pony and started moving from Imperial County Airport (KIPL) eastbound.



I asked Yuma Approach if I can follow the border to Nogales via R-2301 got a negative and went around.





I've flown through these woods couple years ago and remember the military is very active here.





By 8 am it was already hot down low I climbed to 60 degrees Fahrenheit and stayed there till I reached Gila Bend (E63).





Local Sheriff was there on his business. I didn't stay long. The little terminal building didn't have an operational cooling system. Gila Bend has pretty intensive traffic both flight schools and the military.





I dodged couple of buildups south of Tuscon then entered a tight corridor by Sierra Vista. If you ever go this route watch out. If R2303s are hot and Miller Peak is wrapped in clouds you have very limited options.





Naco is one of the crossings on the busiest border in the world. It's patrolled heavily.




Not far from there lies a deep copper mine a sight to see.





Douglas, Arizona is another crossing point. It has an airport and you can't fly runway 03 pattern without clipping the border.





This is Mexican town Agua Prieta as seen from right base Runway 03.


 
Day 14. Along Southern Frontier (continued)

Douglas Municipal Airport has a poor runway. A lot of loose chips of concrete everywhere you have to watch closely. Newly appointed airport keeper Alex showed me a hangar with an Antonov AN2. He strongly discouraged me to walk to town in this scorching heat. They don't have a courtesy car there.





I grabbed couple of water bottles and dispatched shortly.





I made a corner by Alamo Huego Mountains. Didn't see any CBP vehicles.





That's how the border corner looks. Ranches on Mexican side and nothing on ours.





I made another turn and headed toward El Paso, Texas.










Flight time was over 1.5 hours I need a stretch and some calories. Fibens E35 looks like a nice spot. There should be a McDonalds restaurant within a click.








Alfredo Olivas, the owner of Olivas Aviation, gave me a ride to town and picked me up in 20 minutes. Good man. Stuffed with BigMac, I intercepted Rio Grande and was very motivated to follow it all the way to Gulf of Mexico...
 
Day 14. Along Southern Frontier (continued)

I flew along Rio Grande at 1,000 feet for about 20 minutes. I still can see the protective fence, patrol cars and some sensing equipment along the border.





Then it just became desolate.





A hundred miles or so I saw nothing along the border. In Valentine MOA by Sierra Vieja I noticed what seems to be a large drone but I wasn't sure. There was no radar coverage I sidestepped farther and gained some altitude. After almost two hours of border sightseeing I landed at Presidio TX (KPRS) to recharge the batteries.





A local pilot showed up at the pumps. He said he is building an RV10. During those 30 minutes I was cooling off he gave me a very extensive briefing on Big Bend. He told me the difference between Big Bend State Park and National Park. He also pointed me to some "must see" places. Thank you Sir much appreciated I suspect you are not wasting your time pounding keyboard as many of us. Here is Big Bend Ranch if you fly low over it they will come to pick you up. There is a lodge and a bunkhouse but you have to bring your own food.





I flew over Solitario, around it and circled inside it. Then via Santiago Mountains. Very impressive rock formation.








Passed Saint Helena Canyon a sight to see.





The sun was setting, I dropped down low and skimmed Rio Grande.



I was sweating down low till I hit Pecos River where the airspace became dotted. I climbed to two thousand feet ducked under the shelf of Laughlin AFB airspace and landed at Del Rio, Texas (KDRT). Walked to town, booked a hotel and called the day. Nearly 11 enjoyable hours of extreme aerial tourism.
 
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...you can't fly runway 03 pattern without clipping the border.
Last year when I flew over El Paso, the iPad that I use for navigation dinged at me. I glanced down and on my ForeFlight screen, it said "New Message". I ignored that and pressed on to Midland. That evening, I looked at the message. It was from Verizon and read, "Welcome to Mexico! Upgrade your cellular plan for international service." LOL!

I hate to intrude my humble self on this awesome thread, but here's a short 3 min. clip video that my Virb Elite tail cam took in the El Paso area. I was flying Eastbound over the Southern tip of the Florida Mountains near Deming. I can't do beautiful photos like Vlad posts, but I have some video. I hope some of you enjoy it. This is why we fly. Music by the Gipsy Kings:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/42e79yitk4gjfym/Florida Mountains.mp4?dl=0
 
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Day 15. Turning North.

It feels so good when you are well rested. The hotel transported me to the airport the only FBO guys were already busy at 7 am. They said I owe them nothing. I grabbed several bottles of water and was airborne in no time. I was in the mood to finish tracking southern border I was in the mood to land on three islands I was in the mood to clock at least 8 hours in the air all today. There is a sliver of airspace by Laughlin AFB where you don't have to talk to them while in transit. I am staying on our side of Rio Grande enjoying the views. Birds are still sleeping.





Rio Grande turns sharp and I go with it.









Hi officer nice binoculars.








Piedras Negras crossing point. Their side to the right





our side to the left it means my course is set correctly.






Let me get around this border guardian. I don't want to get caught in his cables.






You can't see the tethering rope on the picture but it's there and it's visible.





1.8 hours leg is over and I am in Zapata County airport (KAPY) it's in triple digits again. One of the airport trailers has an operational shower and climate control set to 75 degrees. I chilled there half an hour doing nothing. An elderly gentleman came and asked me to move the airplane he had some trucks coming soon. Okey.


 
On a nice and warm Californian morning I saddled my pony and started moving from Imperial County Airport (KIPL) eastbound.


This looks like Glamis/Imperiel Sand Dunes . I've riding off road there. So much fun. Looks so different from the air.

Awesome trip Vlad. Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
 
Day 15. Turning North. (cont)

After Zapata I still had some stamina to lay low. Then it just became unbearable and after 20 minutes watching the hi tech border I quit. I climbed to cooler and more stable air and recuperated.




On top of Laredo, Texas down to Valley International by Brownsville I hit the Gulf of Mexico.








I have a deep respect for you guys flying in these latitudes early August. In Alaska I told myself I can take heat over cold any day but now I would like to take my words back. :D
Here comes Padre Island I need to find a suitable and firm enough beach to land on.








Tide is low but the outer shoreline is all messed up. How about the inner?





Wind check? Awesome straight on the nose over ten knots. The surface is not perfect and kind of soft I rolled on mains for a quarter mile, took off then made another pass to capture those ruts from my mains on the camera.




Another island scored. Let me treat myself with a landing on some fine concrete. Here comes Port Mansfield airport T05.





You gotta be kidding me? The airport shack is locked?! I won't type here what I thought and what I spelled it scared two hares. I turned my airplane to the wind, opened the oil door to help with engine cooling and used half of my water on myself :D
 
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Day 15. Matagorda, KLBX and Galveston.

Engine started on 30th blade. Then there were Corpus Christi TFR and fires.









Abeam Matagorda Island the temptation became high. I still have the unused invitation to land there from 2 years ago and I can dig it out of electronic archives if somebody questions me. Right descending turn... looks like nobody around...




Matagorda island is conquered.





An energy drink didn't help much. Neither a snack of potato chips. Next stop will be Texas Gulf Coast Regional airport. Tanks are nearly dry and hunger is slowing down my two remaining brain cells. Look what I see at the ramp An Aluminum Wizard! Wow I thought only Massachusetts RV builders could do it.













I had a great soup at a Mexican restaurant and sprinted out to Galveston where I was planning to overnight. Galveston Tower understood my mumblings and sent me directly to the numbers.





Highly rated FBO was just rated highly. I sat in the terminal for an hour waiting for a crew van. It never showed up so I walked couple miles. Payed dearly for a night of comfort. But it's a vacation and hotels were preplanned. Had a burger and a drink at a beach joint, dragged my feet back to the hotel and fell asleep with TV on. :D


 
My employer has a facility located smack between Gila Bend Muni and the Air Force Aux field. I'm curious if you got any pictures of it? It's just southwest of the muni field.

If you stand on top of the product packaging tower at night you get the airport beacons right in the face--of course you can tell the Aux field by the double white flash.

In the background of the shot above you can see the local gas turbine power plant. I think there's a paper mill off to the southwest closer to the Air Force field too.

By 8 am it was already hot down low I climbed to 60 degrees Fahrenheit and stayed there till I reached Gila Bend (E63).





Local Sheriff was there on his business. I didn't stay long. The little terminal building didn't have an operational cooling system. Gila Bend has pretty intensive traffic both flight schools and the military.
 
A Book?

.........I loved it all! With very little more effort, this is an E-Book, and I would buy one. Thanks Vlad....:)
 
You going to need to take another Vladventure

Vlad you wouldn't believe how many times a day I check to see if you posted a new episode. And really sad when you miss a day. I'm getting scared, your almost across the Mississippi. I know know I'm going to have withdrawal symptoms when you get home. :eek: Without a doubt your best adventure.
Thank you for the incredible motivation .:D
 
Vlad, Thanks for all the reports. I have a similar extreme aerial tourism trip on my bucket list now, and you are to blame:
 
Day 16. Higher Altitudes.

In the Galveston hotel I slept and slept then more. Ate their attached to the ticket tasteless breakfast and took a short two mile walk to the airport. It was Saturday.
A moster storm was raging for days in Luisiana flooding the coast and throwing tentacles of convection to the north. I plotted deviation routes and left the island. Sneaked under the first still developing chain of weather by Houston and kept heading northbound.








Fought off two chains of weather and got entangled in the third. With oxygen on top I go. Can't get the right approach frequency. By the time I contacted Center I was already near the limits of VFR airspace. Just a bit and I am over it. Just a bit...




Don't do it at home without an oxygen mask. Altitude chamber at his worst and Center wasn't happy about it. I promised myself to fill the necessary form. The interesting thing is that a high time carbureted engine driving a wood prop can get you to these altitudes and in some instances even higher. Who said he doesn't like the 9?
On my way around the weather I landed at Magee, Mississippi and Enterprise, Alabama. Took a crew car for a spin around the Alabama town you can't get lost there a road is just a huge circle you are coming to the airport from any direction. I also saw some very interesting runways. Do they race helicopters there? How can I get a permission to land at a heliport?








The day of Cloud Battles was nearly over I managed to reach the west coast of Florida.





A relaxed leg to Tampa was terminated by arrival of a huge storm which grew out from nowhere. Winds by Peter O'Knight were blowing in all directions. I firewalled the throttle and plopped in the middle of the runway bouncing like a tennis ball.





I was met by my good friends we quickly secured the aircraft and they hauled me away. Life was good again.








Tomorrow I will be exploring the State of Florida. They have a lot of fun places there don't go away ...
 
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You better exercise the NASA form for the "get out of jail free card" or they may start a suspension action for exceeding 17500 while VFR. I would be sure to fill out the form and mail one and keep the strip that comes with it.

A guy in a Mooney did the same as you over the front range of the Rocky's and caught all kinds of grief, that could have been avoided with the NASA safety form.
 
Wow...

Heart pounding reading this. Are you instrument rated but the plane isn't IFR "certified" so you don't file? I would like to know what you end up going through with the FAA after this? If anything?
 
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