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What did you do with your RV Memorial Day Weekend (5/22/2020 - 5/25/2020)

SPX

Well Known Member
Sponsor
Certainly some of us did something with our RV this weekend!! Let's hear about it...

Friday, my wife & I flew up to Aircraft Spruce in Corona to go get some RV wheel chocks. We went up at 4,500' and it was pretty bumpy. Coming back home, I flew at 5,500' and it was much smoother. Quite windy both in Fallbrook and Corona.

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Saturday, I flew down to Gillespie Field (KSEE) to help another VAF'er with some required dual instruction that he needed. From there, I headed up to Oceanside (KOKB) to get some "cheap" fuel ($3.80/gallon), then back to the hangar in Fallbrook.

Today was motorcycle riding day, so no flying.

We have a few more trips planned over the next few days too.. Should put another 7 hours or so on the RV between tomorrow and Wednesday.
 
Not Memorial Day up north of the 49th parallel, but beautiful evening to go out and get my night currency done. My local airport (CYQF, Red Deer) is usually staffed (Flight Service Station) around the clock, but Nav Canada has reduced service hours and now it is closed from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am. The airport is still open, they close one runway and leave the lights on for the main one. I had the place to myself and after a half hour flying in the area I returned for 5 stop and go landings. I haven't done stop and goes since my primary training, the airport is usually too busy for them. Net result, 5 decent landings and night currency for another 6 months. I took the opportunity to force myself to keep the nose wheel up more when the mains touch. I've been getting some nose wheel oscillations (side to side) lately and tonight was quite a bit better. I need to check my breakout force when I go into my annual next month.
 
More RV Grins

Saturday was a FLY the FAMILY event for Butch Harrell in his 6A at Milledgeville GA (KMLJ). His daughter and 5 grandchildren were passing thru on their relocation move north to the DC area. 5 kids under 12 - I flew over for crowd control.
Late afternoon the skies were smooth and Butch created smiles on Maci-Kate :



And then Ace :



and finally Daughter Blair :



A great day for all of them on their travels to reconnect with their dad - US Army.

Of course Butch displayed the RV Grin throughout.
 
Going to rat out the lunch gang. Nor Cal guys meet up at 2O1 for some long awaited socializing.
 
Cincy River Rats did an 8 ship Memorial Day formation flight over Glendale, OH (Cincinnati suburb). We?ve been doing this for several years. This year was a little different. There was no Glendale parade. Just the Memorial Service, reading of names, 21 gun salute, and Taps. We made 3 passes over town, then went out and waited for the call in for the Missing Man at the end of Taps. Residents of Glendale were told to stay home, but to go out in their yards and look up. Timing worked out and the air was uncharacteristically smooth. One of our members was shooting video with a GoPro, but I haven?t seen it. It was a beautiful day.

The day before - Sunday - my grandkids came out to the hangar for some family fun. We cooked on the grill, drove around on our golf cart, Yahama scooter, bicycles, AND went for a ride in the RV4. It was my 6 year old grandson?s very first airplane ride. He wanted me to fly upside-down (I didn?t). He said it was the most fun he had ever had - well, except for the Ninja Lego build he had just completed with his Dad (my son). The hangar is one of their favorite places to be. Mine too.
 
Moved from Bay Area to Austin

Not exactly the kind RV fun the OP had in mind, but it works. I started out at Reid Hillview where I've been based for the past two years. Flew down the Central Valley to Palm Springs. Quick stop for gas just below sea level then on to Deming, New Mexico. From there a straight shot past El Paso to Breakaway in Cedar Park.

All told about 9.5 hours in the air. Not the longest XC I've done, but the most I've done in one day. (Not sure I still had the RV grin when I arrived.) Afternoon over the desert was bumpy, but the weather was clear all the way through.

Departing the Bay Area just south of Reid Hillview airport (KRHV) and directly over Henry Coe State Park:

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Not exactly setting speed records with full fuel and full baggage:

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Hundreds of idled jets at Victorville in the desert south of Edwards:

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Overflying some mean looking territory near Mecca, California:

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Clouds and bugs. Must be getting close!

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On the ground at 40XS. Here's the future site of my hangar:

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Glad to be back with the family (they drove out the week before) and thrilled to be some place where the gas is affordable and all the neighbors actually like airplanes. Big thanks to Scott and Tanya Card and the other RVers on the field for all the help in getting here. Thanks also to any FlightBox and FlightView customers for their patience. Being here should make it considerably easier to grow the business.
 
A lap around Crater Lake and the Cascades

We took The Dirty Bird for a flight around Crater Lake(first time seeing the lake for my wife), a picnic lunch next to the plane at Sunriver, then through some Cascade peaks on the way home to KMMV.

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Not exactly the kind RV fun the OP had in mind, but it works. I started out at Reid Hillview where I've been based for the past two years. Flew down the Central Valley to Palm Springs. Quick stop for gas just below sea level then on to Deming, New Mexico. From there a straight shot past El Paso to Breakaway in Cedar Park.

Congrats on the move. I occasionally get to Austin to visit my employer. I?ll look you up next time through...
 
Fun with radios

The wife, Nancy, drove me from Baton Rouge to Lafayette Friday to retrieve 0JP from Avionics Solutions after getting IFR certification. We had some good Cajun food at the Bon Temp Grill and she headed home in the car. My take off was delayed because the cigarette type plug for my GPS got crushed by the canopy. One of the techs at the shop was kind enough to rig up a connection and I took off on the 30 minute flight back to BTR. Now, the tower frequency in LFT is 118.5 and in BTR it's 118.45. That's close, but it seems no matter how loudly you call they can't hear you in the BTR tower when you're on the LFT tower frequency. Those LFT controllers are nice folks though and they might be kind enough to relay the message through BTR approach that you're on the wrong frequency. I made my apology on the ground. The controller said they were dusting off the light gun just in case. John
 
Welcome

From there a straight shot past El Paso to Breakaway in Cedar Park.

Welcome to Breakaway ! If you've got the time, head on up to KTPL this weekend for some formation fun ... and say hi to a lot of the locals.
 
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