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Still in Fantasy Land

Veetail88

Well Known Member
I know it?s true, but I still cannot wrap my mind around the idea that when I?m finished with my -8, I?ll be able to do things I?ve never been able to do before. I?ve been building for 5+ years and fantasizing about the end result all along, but even though I can see the light at the end of the tunnel it still doesn?t seem real.

Apart from the recreational aspect, as a sales/project manager in the fire sprinkler industry, I have many projects that are a pretty good distance from home, many of which require an overnight trip just to get my eyes on a site for maybe an hour. So I?ve been running these little scenarios for years now and even though I should be flying by summer, it still feels like fantasy?..

I?ve done this little trip or others just like it many many times in a car. While it certainly CAN be done out and back in a day (a really long one), it just isn?t any fun, so I tend to overnight it. Man, what a waste of time.
So tell me, is it true? An hour out and an hour back? Is it really really true?

Signed,
Trapped in fantasy land



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When we were building, my wife gave me a big map of the use, which I mounted on a section of a Van's packing crate. I then put a string attached to an eye hook center in two hour circles. That really changed her idea of time and distance.

She would walk into my shop and start playing with that string and all the places we could go in just a few hours. Talk about a motivator!
 
More good news

I remember doing the same dreaming as I built the Doll. I drilled the first hole in the fall of 1997 with the goal of flying to Oshkosh 2000. Two years and seven months later I was flying her everyday so as to fly off the twenty five hour restriction in time for the Oshkosh departure. The day the wife and I left for AirVenture was the first time the Doll flew outside of the restricted airspace.

The trip to the big show went off with out a hitch. I believe there were only three RV-8s there that year. It was like driving the first C7 Corvette in town!

Now for the good news. Thirteen and a half years later, it still thrills me to fly her. I have made several non-stop trips between Oshkosh and my home field, 52F, (between Denton and Fort Worth) in as little as 4:40. Now think how long that would take to drive!

These are amazing airplanes. Stay in fantasy land, and keep pounding rivets.
 
Closer to 45 minutes if you just go straight across :D

I grew up in mid-Michigan and learned to fly there. One thing that was drilled into our heads was to NEVER fly across the lakes. 20 years ago I moved to the Carolinas and the locals tell me NEVER to fly over the mountains.

While I have no fear of the mountains, I still don't like flying across the lakes.
 
Apart from the recreational aspect, as a sales/project manager in the fire sprinkler industry, I have many projects that are a pretty good distance from home, many of which require an overnight trip just to get my eyes on a site for maybe an hour. So I’ve been running these little scenarios for years now and even though I should be flying by summer, it still feels like fantasy…..

It does indeed mess up your time/distance perspective. I recall getting used to the way the RV-6 devoured mileage when I started flying it in 1999. First return trip from S-N-F in 2000 I was putting the plane back into the hangar before lunch and was dumbfounded that I had eaten breakfast in Lakeland (ten hour drive). It was a bit disorienting.....and thrilling to think I had covered that kind of distance in my homemade airplane.

I too have a huge chart on the wall of the hangar with one, two, and three hour rings drawn on it. Fifteen years later, even though many flights are now "routine", I often take a few minutes to reflect on what we are able to accomplish in the freedom of our USA aviation environment.

Enjoy! :)
 
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Business flying

Charlie, a RV8 friend flys all over Texas for his job. I think he has put 570 hours on his RV8 in 3 years. It has helped him a lot. He still flys for fun, when time permits. :rolleyes:
 
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Flew that route plus a bit from Clintonville to Grand Rapids.Just over two hours in my six. Could do it in just over an hour going direct but the view around the shoreline is great (and that water is really cold).Besides, I get another hour of flying in going the long way around.:)
Sure beats an eight hour Chicago traffic drive!
 
over lake

live near holland mi. I agree over the lake would be hard to explain if you have trouble but i have crossed it several times my rational is on many trips i have spent hours with nothing but trees under me or other unlandable obsticales. i have to be able to see across the lake to cross it but i go around if i cannot. even if you have good visability but cannot see the other side the sky and the water blend and you have no horizon, i also wear a locator beacon around my neck and talk to flight service and give a pilot report when half way just so i am talking to someone during the time i would ditch if i had trouble. also fly high.
 
It's true!

I flew my new 7a from 8D4 (Sparta MI, near Grand Rapids) to KOSH for airventure in 1:14 wheels up to wheels down. I did go over the lake but that time included a climb to 12,000 feet, dealing with ATC, and flying the FISK approach into 36L. What a ride!

My rules for flying over the lake:

-Clear on both sides
-Life vest, on
-Lake crossing flight plan or IFR or flight following at the very minimum.
-Late in the season when the weather bouy in Lk Michigna shows +70 water temp.
-Absolutely no known issues with the RV.
-My self assesment is A+
-Risk management in every aspect is satisified.
 
Yes it's true

Jesse,

Yes it's true.

I live in the Wichita Kansas area and own a business here. I also own a business in Morris MN, right at 500 nm. Before my Rv7a (690 hrs sold) and my Rv10 (312 hrs) it would take me 12 to 15 hours to drive one way! Now I can fly up, have business meeting with management before lunch, then go to lunch with sales, meet back with management and sales then fly back home before 6:00 pm!! It's a long day, but really? Autopilot vs driving 12-15 hours?? No comparison.

My building buddy told me that these are Magic Carpets, and man, that is sooo true. Keep at it, it's all worth it!

Kenny Gene
Rv7a AWC 9-07 690 hrs sold 11-11
Rv10 AWC 10-10 312 hrs
 
My most recent billet (before coming down to Florida to learn how to fly the military way) was on the USCGC MACKINAW in the Lakes. I remember many a time sailing across the center route in any of the Lakes and thinking how unforgiving it would be to splash a plane down in them. Lake Superior was certainly the most unfriendly...currents, really amazing depths, vast expanses of nothing, water temps that would change 20 degrees in half a mile.

I flew an X-Air that I built from Cheboygan, MI to Mackinaw Island and it gave me the willies. But it got easier to do.

All that said, some have flown their single engine planes across the North Atlantic or from HI to the mainland. I guess we all have a different level of comfort and take risks that we find acceptable.

Like you, I'm looking forward to the day when I can go see family in Texas and be back home for dinner.
 
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These are amazing "time-machines" Jesse. It won't be "an hour out and an hour back", but it'll be about 5 hours less than driving!.
 
My rules for flying over the lake:

-Clear on both sides
-Life vest, on
-Lake crossing flight plan or IFR or flight following at the very minimum.
-Late in the season when the weather bouy in Lk Michigna shows +70 water temp.
-Absolutely no known issues with the RV.
-My self assesment is A+
-Risk management in every aspect is satisified.

.... excellent rules for flying over any of the Great Lakes.
 
Straight Lines brudda...

I know it’s true, but I still cannot wrap my mind around the idea that when I’m finished with my -8, I’ll be able to do things I’ve never been able to do before. I’ve been building for 5+ years and fantasizing about the end result all along, but even though I can see the light at the end of the tunnel it still doesn’t seem real.

Apart from the recreational aspect, as a sales/project manager in the fire sprinkler industry, I have many projects that are a pretty good distance from home, many of which require an overnight trip just to get my eyes on a site for maybe an hour. So I’ve been running these little scenarios for years now and even though I should be flying by summer, it still feels like fantasy…..

I’ve done this little trip or others just like it many many times in a car. While it certainly CAN be done out and back in a day (a really long one), it just isn’t any fun, so I tend to overnight it. Man, what a waste of time.
So tell me, is it true? An hour out and an hour back? Is it really really true?

Signed,
Trapped in fantasy land



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Gotta straighten that line out brudda, it's only 90 miles "feet wet"


Lindberg's great circle route map, circa 1927, retraced by Don Taylor in his T-18 :)

Don Taylor set the bar high for the rest of us Experimenters...
http://www.airventuremuseum.org/virtual/interactive/innovations/thorp/


Jon Johansen's 3 time Earth Rounder RV4

Pond crossings, big and small are all about preparation...
V/R
Smokey
32 blessed big pond crossings in a single engine fighter...
 
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Straight

The plane doesn't know its over water. I have crossed lake Michigan about 10 times now. It is big.. but get up high and enjoy the flight if all things are top notch.

I have a few buds that were nervous the first time or two...once you do it a few times it is kind of fun and now they enjoy it too. Of course a life vest, spot or plb, radio working etc. Be smart about it and stack the deck in your favour but don't be afraid of it.

Rvs are amazing.
 
Time Machine

Jesse,

I finished and flew the 6A last March and have 115 hrs on it. I'm in Baton Rouge. Mom, in Jackson, TN, started to decline in health about six months ago. Being able to convert an 8 hour drive to a 2.5 hour flight was remarkable. Not only were the wife and I able to be there as needed, but I was able to take Mom's 89 sister on several trips. Mother died in October. I can tell you, having your own time machine is worth all the hours/years building... especially when you use it build those bonds with friends and family.

John
 
Yes Jesse it's true. Four trips through the Carribean Islands, several times across the Rockies (at various points), across the Cascades a bunch. Nothing cooler than after a long flight and just before you button up the hangar you take a long look at the plane you built and how far you have just traveled in it. Now back away from the computer and finish that RV8. As Rosie always says, "Keep pounding those rivets, because it is worth it!"
 
Yep

Jesse, a good and true rule of thumb is 1:4 ratio...4 hours driving = 1 hour of RV'ing. So far, it's been true of both my -6A and now my -10....and sometimes even better.

Best,
 
Stay in the Fantasy Land Jesse

So I?ve been running these little scenarios for years now and even though I should be flying by summer, it still feels like fantasy?..

I?ve done this little trip or others just like it many many times in a car. While it certainly CAN be done out and back in a day (a really long one), it just isn?t any fun, so I tend to overnight it. Man, what a waste of time.
So tell me, is it true? An hour out and an hour back? Is it really really true?

Signed,
Trapped in fantasy land


Not necessarily true. Some day you may want to go around the lake on your way to a business meeting.



 
Vlad,

Nice shot of Silver Lake. Did you notice the ship wreck just off shore? On a smooth day like that it's easy to see.
 
Vlad,

Nice shot of Silver Lake. Did you notice the ship wreck just off shore? On a smooth day like that it's easy to see.

This one?





Doug Bell gave me the coordinates. Lots of beautiful women paddling around :D
 
Hmmmm I think you became a little distracted. The wreck is very well defined in the sand when the water is smooth. Just have to look beyond the eye candy.
 
For all the time saving going from Point A to Point B you will use as much time going from Point A to Point A. I am sure in the near future you will fly 100 nm from 57C just so you can fly into 57C for the fly-in breakfast. Enjoy doing so.
 
I have flown to Detroit from SE WI on business countless times although I have never flown directly across Lake Michigan. I always filed IFR and flew around Chicago airspace, although on one flight was able to fly directly over O'hare (it was about 4AM). The company I work for had an A36 Bonanza which I used for the business trips, alas it was sold during the economic turndown in 2009. I was able to use my RV for 1 trip before they shut me down due to liability concerns. I understand their reason but it sure was nice to travel there in about 2 hrs Vs 5+ hrs flying commercial (1.5 hr drive to O'hare) or 6 hr drive. My rules are simple, 1 engine = no trip over the big ditch, you go down there and are likely dead due to the water temp before anyone can get to you. The risk is not worth 15-20 minutes of my time.
 
X Country I guess.

Lots of good advice posted. I have several fairly long cross countries in my 8A to include Atlanta to OSH for the show 11 times. Some of those are in a different airplane and that was a slower airplane too -- Titan Tornado II. I wouldn't fly over the water for your flight to OSH especially not the first time or two. Not going to save all that much time. Plus, it's a lot of fun to fly along the shore of Lake Michigan.

It was even more fun when Miegs was open because you could easily get a transition along the shore from ATC and listen to all of the traffic around what was once a very busy corridor into and out of Meigs. It's still a wonderful sight to fly along the shoreline and see Navy Pier, Sears Tower, Northwestern U and other really cool sights like the former Playboy Mansion from the air. All of my flights have been along the western shore straight north from Gary along the shoreline at app. 1500' AGL with the exception of a couple where the storms were brewing over the lake and I had to thread my way around several restricted airspaces down low. You can't really count on getting a transition from ATC over the city when they are busy such as during OSH week. If you study the map carefully you can thread your way around all of the restricted airspaces down low over the lake or city and not need talk to anyone.

During OSH week you need to have alternate landing fields planned along your route because big storms can form very quickly. I could tell you several stories about that. Have untowered airports as alternates because you can get really busy in the cockpit very quickly if the weather turns on you. No need to have to worry about asking permission when the weather closes in. And the Chicago area is full of untowered airports with full service. Be prepared to land at alternate airports such as Fondulac and Appleton when you get there - especially if the weather is questionable. OSH will give priority to IFR approaches and sometimes you have to land and wait out the weather at Apppleton or Fondulac. Make sure you have the freqs and runway layouts written down close at hand or memorize them. I usually write them down on my hands in ballpoint. OK, I know, but I learned in the Army when we had nothing but maps and often bad weather to be pocking around in down low.

Hopefully some of the above is useful and can be used in VFR most anywhere you go. One last thing. If you are going very far plan for rest stops. Yeah, I have a urinal but sometimes it really helps to stop and take a break every now and then. Never know what airplanes you will see and more important, what characters you will meet along the way. If you plan for and think of long cross countries as just a series of landings it can keep you more focused on the task at hand and maybe even help from the temptation of "get home iteis " when you have a plan.

Good luck and try not to grin your face off after the first flight.
 
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