My trip to LOE this year began from my current base at Fredericksburg, Virginia, a week before LOE. I needed some minor surgery that would require support at home for a few days, so I chose to do it in Houston and test Paul?s (Ironflight) caretaking abilities. (He earned an A+ as a result!) The flight to Pearland airport in my RV-6 was event-free until the last 20 miles, when weather presented challenges up to my personal limits?but no further. The flight in the mostly cloud-free but hazy sky allowed viewing of many places I hadn?t seen before, like the Mississippi River from the air.
My companion, Bear, and I switched into Paul?s plane, Valkyrie, for the flight from Houston to LOE. This transfer raised the question of whether Bear and I earned the ?furthest travelled? award, as we DID travel the entire distance in RVs. Or not, as my plane only flew two-thirds of the distance. Since my plane (?Mikey?) and I had claimed furthest travelled (and ALL the prizes) at the Texas RV Fly-In last summer when no other RV showed up, I decided not to press the good will of the RV community by making the claim this time.
On the way to LOE, Paul indulged me with a stop at my previous base, Carlsbad, NM, so I could have lunch with old friends and have my former hair stylist change my hair style. Among others, Larry Pardue joined us for lunch, delaying his flight to LOE. Thus, Paul and Larry formed a 2-ship flight over the Guadalupe Mountains and I had the opportunity to try shooting photos of Larry and his plane. As we passed over the Brokeoff Mountains, Larry was also able to point out the location of the RV-6 crash last February. (The plane wasn?t found until after I left Carlsbad.)
After a hectic arrival (a six-ship group kept announcing their formation approach within minutes at the same time as about five other planes were sorting out our places in the standard downwind, which was actually slightly upwind, pattern?sometimes going out and making a few circles is the prudent path for the moment), we tied down and enjoyed the ramp activities. As I?m planning a complete panel overhaul, I spent time checking out and photographing RV-6 (and -7) panels. There can?t be a better place to study potential designs for future projects! We had expected to hike on Friday, but the late arrival and the on-ramp attractions delayed out plans. Of course, we couldn?t miss the beer call and joining other RV-ators for dinner.
We spent Saturday morning continuing the ramp socializing and panel investigations. Following the 15-ship formation passes, Paul, Larry Pardue, Alex Peterson, and another RV-pilot from Minnesota headed over to the aerial tramway in the Franklin Mountains. From the top of the tramway, we took a 40-minute hike with fabulous views to see the remains of a B-36 crash. Cherishing the opportunity to see interesting rocks/geology, some of us took the opportunity to exercise our brain cells as well as our muscles by pausing to investigate the outcrops on the way back. It is so nice to be back in the land where green stuff doesn?t cover up the important stuff (i.e., rocks)! We returned to LOE in plenty of time for more ramp walking and the evening banquet, but failed to win anything beyond satisfaction in supporting a good cause.
Most folks were rushing off on Sunday morning but Pardue, Dye, and I decided to check out the maar volcanoes about 20 miles west of the field. The road log proved ?challenging? but we found one of the craters. It turned out to be the smaller one, Hunts Hole. Nonetheless, it proved well-worth the trip by providing fascinating geology and an opportunity to just absorb a desolate part of the West. On the flight out of 5T6, we flew over the craters for photos and to figure out the driving route to Kilbourne Hole. Next year, we?ll make it to Kilbourne, the larger crater/volcano in the area.
As always, LOE was a wonderful weekend filled with hundreds of really fine folks. It is so nice to see old friends and to put faces to names of folks you feel you know already through the forum. My thanks to everyone who makes LOE happen and special.
Photos of Paul, Bear, and my journey to and at LOE are available at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/DrKarst/LOE2007HoseDye
Virginia to LOE
Great Report on Virginia to LOE trip
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