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America the Beautiful

Thanks for the amazing write up of this epic adventure. I'm going to need to retire before I can do a 5 week trek!
 
Am I the only one who subconsciously inserted the sound of a slide carousel advancing while scrolling down from picture to picture on the last two posts?

Nice photo essay, Scott. And thanks for sharing every part of this mission at a very personal level. It offsets the all too prevalent internet anonymity one normally finds.
 
Do you even Diary an Old Soul, bro? ;-)

"But for over one week, I woke up to the same sad sight, and with it, to an inner tumult that manifested itself with bedsheets torn back in great haste: I woke up looking out through my own bedroom window, not knowing where I was or where I was going, feeling an immediate and urgent impulse to get up, pack up, crank over, and blast off to another place I knew not where, but I could definitely feel that place clutching at my heart and pulling me desperately inward toward itself, like a colorless gray morning fighting for the light of dawn to bring meaning and purpose to a day that seemed to have none:"

A dim aurora rises in my east,
Beyond the line of jagged questions hoar,
As if the head of our intombed High Priest
Began to glow behind the unopened door:
Sure the gold wings will soon rise from the gray!--
They rise not. Up I rise, press on the more,
To meet the slow coming of the Master's day.

Sometimes I wake, and, lo! I have forgot,
And drifted out upon an ebbing sea!
My soul that was at rest now resteth not,
For I am with myself and not with thee;
Truth seems a blind moon in a glaring morn,
Where nothing is but sick-heart vanity:
Oh, thou who knowest! save thy child forlorn.

-Geo. MacDonald
 
I have refrained from posting on this thread. However, I must state this is the most profound introspective writing I have ever read!

I read each post with anticipation. . .walked away from reading for many weeks. . . finally came back and started reading again. Having now completed this vicarious journey, it is ironic in deed that I am sitting here reading these final posts while the haunting sounds of Bruce Springsteen's "Paradise" echoes from my computer speakers. All I am left with is a reiteration of Sam's word. . .

WOW!!
 
The what ifs are fascinating.

I'm officiating at my son's wedding next week and in my "monologue" I note that what often brings us to a particular moment could only result from those moments that seemed like the end of the world at the time.

What if a wife hadn't walked off with the town insurance agent way back when? What if the economy hadn't collapsed and I had to move? What if I hadn't taken a job in a lonely town where I'd meet the woman I've been married to for 32 years? What if my son wasn't bullied out of school and forced to go to another one where he'd meet a certain girl. Etc. Etc. Etc. If any thread is pulled, we are not where we'll (hopefully) be in a week?

Same thing in aviation. What if I didn't mention over coffee with my twin brother once I had a dream to fly that wouldn't be realized? What if he hadn't sold his pharmacy business and had some extra cash? What if he didn't pay for flight lessons? What if a guy didn't say offhand once, "you know you can build your own airplane?" What if a VAF guy hadn't remembered a 2007 article that was the answer to my loss of my medical certificate? What if I'd never heard of VAF?

Some think a deity is involved. Some think it's **** luck. I know every day is a darned close call.
 
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Enjoyed the trip Scott. I am a brother in Christ and appreciate your dedication to God. Beautiful 8 which is also my ride of choice.
 
Thanks Scott for your great write up on your trip around American the beautiful.
I'm not a religous person but I thoroughly enjoyed your style of writing and had me craving the next instalment. Not being from your part of the woods it was great to see the back doors of America. Between you and Vlad's adventures you both certainly are well traveled and enjoying your means of transport.
Your RV 8 is a real show stopper from the pictures and if my RV 14 can be half as good looking as yours when I am finished, I will be most happy.
Great job alround.
 
Fast forward about a year. I still think about Scott's epic trip and documentary and wonder what he is up to.

Wondering if he possibly is in the process of creating a sequel?
 
I was thinking the same thing. I continue to be inspired by this story, and have something similar in mind for my (retired) future.
 
Sure enjoying the story and those great photos.

Modest recommendation: on tiedown knots, ditch those knots that you're using, they won't hold up to a real blow. They'll slide up the rope and things will get sloppy and loose and the plane will start rocking and eventually something will break. Instead, use three half-hitches after pulling the ropes just as tight as you can get them -- don't use chocks while doing this. I tie one main, then the other one, cranking down on it, and then the tail, pulling the plane back as I do for more tightness.

When the length of the ropes permit, I double-up the rope. The idea is to gain more stiffness. Anything to keep the plane from moving around.

I learned this after some 100+ mph winds at the Boulder Airport in 1981 or 1982. We lost about a dozen airplanes. I walked among the wreckage examining what failed, and among the survivors, examining what worked.

Dave

David,

Could you elaborate a bit on what worked and what didn't?

Jerre
 
Saw his plane in VA

The week before OSH I saw his plane on the CJR ramp. Earlier, I went out to look at it and saw a very nice RV8 that looked familiar. About an hour later this fellow comes and I recognized his face from his posts last year. Then we introduced ourselves. It was Scott on his way to the Battlefields in PA. His RV8 Descending Dove looks like it was just built and painted. A great looking plane. Anyway, he was off in a few minutes later on a left downwind climb out. A great looking plane with a nice sounding engine.
 
David,

Could you elaborate a bit on what worked and what didn't?

Jerre

Jerre, you just quoted what works. The only additions would be to avoid polypropylene or nylon ropes. Get polyester. Also avoid straps and hooks.

Dave
 
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Did anyone happen to save either of Scott's write ups? I really quite enjoyed reading them for some build motivation. I'm assuming he deleted all of his posts due to photo hosting.
 
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