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RV-1 Tour: Alabama and Georgia

DanH

Legacy Member
Mentor
The RV-1 will start across the country this week on the first legs of its national tour. Sun'nFun opens March 27th, so the schedule gives us two weeks for ferry flights. Should be plenty of time, even with the South's sometimes crazy spring weather......but keep your fingers crossed.

Initial destination is 08A, Wetumpka, Alabama. I'm told the Texas crew will fly the leg Tuesday, perhaps Wednesday, behind a wet patch currently moving across the Gulf states. Expect updates here.

Everyone is cordially invited to attend an RV-1 hangar get-together Thursday evening, hosted by EAA Chapter 822. We'll serve burgers, dogs, and other simple fare about 6 or 6:30. Fly-in early if you want; the time change will mean daylight until 7 or later. Location is the Ramsey hangar on the extreme northwest corner of the airport, north end of grass Runway 18-36. The RV-1 should look very nice tucked into a collection of classic cars and airplanes. A Jaguar XK-E is about the right vintage, yes?

The next leg is scheduled for Friday, a short run over to Columbus Metro (KCSG), just across the Georgia line. The RV-1 will be on display Saturday and Sunday. The event is called Thunder In The Valley, and some big outfit called "Team RV" will headline the show:

http://www.thunderinthevalleyairshow.com/plaintext/home/home.aspx

NOTAM here:

http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_2_4627.html

The third leg is planned for Monday (weather permitting), from KCSG to Pilot Country (X05), just north of Tampa. We'll hand off to a Florida host there, and another crew will make the short jump to Sun'nFun.
 
Thanks for the report and invitation, Dan

Just a reminder to everyone involved in the RV-1's Tribute Tour -
Take LOTS of photos and video. This historic event is a community effort, and your efforts and experiences are as much a part of the RV-1's history as the aircraft itself. Let's make sure it's well documented for future generations to enjoy!

And please take a moment to share a few words (or a story) about what the RV-1 means to you, a personal experience, an observation, or anything that comes to mind.
Please email your remarks to Friends of the RV-1 webmaster, Glen Salmon (VAF-Humptybump) at: [email protected]


[Edit] In the next few days we'll set-up a public RV-1 Tour Album on Picasa to upload photos.

Is there a book in the works? ...great material for one!
Have a great day!
 
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And watch Spot to see the RV-1 progress!

Thank you, Dan, for getting this news out there.

Folks, also remember that you can watch the RV-1 progress if you go to http://rv-1.org and click the Spot button on the lower right side of the page. Right now, it shows nothing since the plane has been on the ground, in GLO Custom's paint shop for a week. But, (if Jarhead remembers to turn it on!) you can see its travels once it leaves 52F. We're counting on you, Roy! (And, thanks, Spot folks.)
 
movement

Roy flew the RV1 back to Hicks, T67, today.
He wanted to position it here for the flight over to Dan Horton, in Alabama. Scott Card is threatning to arrive early on the morning they leave for Alabama.
It looks really cool with its wheel pants on.
Wish I had shorter legs so I could have gotten some RV1 time! It has been fun being involved with this aircraft. Please, be very carefull with the breaks!!
Have a fun and safe trip to Oshkosh!!!
 
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Looks like RV-1 is on the move toward Alabama right now.
From the Spot page, and measuring distance from Google maps, and doing some math, I'm calculating 158 mph ground speed over a 27 mile distance in East Texas. Not bad!
 
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Hicks Junior Airport in Rayville, LA

Looks like the site of a fueling and leg/butt stretching stop for the RV-1 and pilot.
 
Makes you realize how much better APRS can be and the price is right. ;)

Too bad we have a poor weather forecast this week.
 
The Spot link

The Spot link is working for me. They are over Mississippi right now. The direct link is: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0qNMusDOLqVZfp0n3i2j7Mr0hTpOaeoUR but going to the www.RV-1.org website page and clicking the Spot icon will be easier to remember for future trips.

The Spot unit is supposed to be used throughout the tour. Scott is only along for this leg so enjoy the advantages for now. In addition, the APRS may work great in the densely populated East, I expect that we will find the Spot a superior tracker for Barnstorming and some other legs on the tour. Spot should communicate with the satellites over the mountains and Great Basin. I believe the APRS has been reported to have "dead" zones out west.
 
Too bad the RV-1 doesn't have a portable APRS unit on loan. :)

Sam, I had a "tracker blocker" turned on in browser, turned it off and SPOT worked, but not as elegant as APRS.
 
Watching Scott climb and the heading change every minute or so would lead us to believe there may be a few buildups out there....... :)

Louise, it you could get an APRS tracker on the RV-1 I think you would be very pleased at how well it will work nation wide.
 
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I'm looking at both APRS and SPOT right now. Weathermeister was projecting apx. 15 knot tailwinds at 7500 ft for their present location, just east of Meridian. Looks like they were able to climb up to higher altitude between Vicksburg and Meridian.
 
Too bad the RV-1 doesn't have a portable APRS unit on loan. :)

Sam, I had a "tracker blocker" turned on in browser, turned it off and SPOT worked, but not as elegant as APRS.

Yep, I had to add the Spot page to the Ghostery accept list to see the track.
 
...Louise, it you could get an APRS tracker on the RV-1 I think you would be amazed at how well it will work nation wide.

Sam, that would just limit the pilots who could legally fly the RV-1 on tour as he/she would have to have an Amateur Radio license. The SPOT is working just fine...a little slower, and it doesn't have an altitude readout, and it doesn't indicate speed...but hey, it was donated and it works.

Hmmm...descent to 3500 msl. Weather dodging, I'd say.
 
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Sam, that would just limit the pilots who could legally fly the RV-1 on tour as he/she would have to have an Amateur Radio license.

Not necessarily, but that's a topic for a different thread. :)

Looks like Scott is on the homestretch and cruising under the gray stuff, lost 20 mph when he descended, must've have been blowing pretty good at altitude. One more green blob to go.....
 
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On the APRS map, it appears the "green blob" (weather overlay) does not update with the APRS data. I thought Scott had made it through and then for some reason I decided to "refresh" the page, and uggh, he's still in or under the "green blob."

Ten minutes later: Now he's in the homestretch.

P.S. Just think...somewhere there's a dark room where someone using a live satellite feed can watch N4822C and N5827N as they approach Wetumpka. But I ain't saying where that dark room is. ;) And someday we'll be able to do that from our desktop.
 
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SPOT is a very nice addition to the tour! "Satelite tracking" is not only a nice way for everyone to watch the trip progress but it is a nice security blanket. Can you "SPOT the RV-1" ? :D
 
I talked to Jarhead shortly after they landed at Wetumpka (I had a short stopover in Newark last night), and he sounded pretty jazzed about it! Said that the plane did great, and is hardly using any oil. This was a first big step out into the tour, and glad to see that folks are interested (three pages of posts for the day's activites). On to Sun 'n Fun!

Paul
 
The Hat

At least my head was not in it.
The flight went fine. We had a nice tailwind on the way out of DFW area. It was over 2 hrs. to M79 Hooks. That was hard on an old man's knees and Bu_. Coming out of Hooks to 08A was just as long but we had to deal with the weather. We had very little help from the wind and had to avoid two very light showers.
The ONE flew grate. we have not put any oil in sense we started flying it. I would have to look at the logbook but would say it has over 15 hrs on it. Later in the summer it may need some cabin air to keep the pilot cool, but it was fine on this leg.
I was going to land on the paved runway 9/27. Winds were 180 at 8. when I saw the LOVELY GRASS 18/36 I had to go for it. It was SWEET.
All for now. Take care of the ONE.:)
Jarhead
 
Reminder.....fire up your RV and head on over to Wetumpka Thursday evening. Follow the burger aroma to the big hangar at the north end of the grass strip. It's cook-to-order starting at 5:30 so the fly-ins can eat and still have daylight/twilight to fly home (official sunset about 7 PM). Simple fare, sponsored, no charge. The weather is forecast to be nice, low humidity and gusts to 3 knots. Hey, free food, nice weather, airplane nuts telling lies.....what more could you want?

The little yellow airplane that started it all, of course ;)
 
So Dan, the biggest change since I flew the airplane las was the addition of the pants that you installed - how did they make the trip? Brackets and mounts still sound? I'm sure you must have inspeced them!

You guys enjoy a great "Grass Roots" experience there.

Paul
 
So Dan, the biggest change since I flew the airplane las was the addition of the pants that you installed - how did they make the trip? Brackets and mounts still sound? I'm sure you must have inspeced them!

You guys enjoy a great "Grass Roots" experience there.

Paul

Not much inspecting right now...I'm buried in the wholesale end of the car business until tomorrow afternoon. Three days, three cities, three auto auctions and a heavy duty truck sale.
 
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The RV1 escort (part 1)

Monday morning saw low crud over my field and most of the way to Fort Worth to start the journey of the RV1. The weather was low enough to not be able to return to the field if I launched IFR, which is one of my "soft" limits. I waited around on the ground until I was comfortable with my options and finally launched on a local IFR. Of course the field went vfr just a little while later. The quick run to Hicks was easy. The brief with Jarhead was quick and easy and we were on our way in short order. (My approach to RV1 escort: The RV1 always, when possible, takes off and lands first and is Lead when in the pattern or on the airport surface.) Just a few moments after leveling at 2500' I got the first "gimme one". Oops, sorry, "roger". I heard this many times in the next 15min while we got the speed dialed in. So, we threaded our way around / under the DFW Bravo with me squaking and talking. Keep in mind, the RV1 has no real nav guidance in this modern world that we're so used to. All it has is a compass that isn't exactly accurate.

After clearing the Bravo airspace, we climbed up just a little for most favorable winds. My oil temps prompted a second glance. OAT was about 65deg and my oil temp was more than 15deg higher than I've been seeing recently so I opened up the oil cooler door all the way. No problem. We had been droning along at 106kts indicated for almost half an hour... RV1 escort tip #2: The RV1 likes to fly at 106kts or 122mph! Don't believe the airspeed indicator on the RV1 it is reading quite high :). I think Jarhead said this speed produced around 2500 rpm. It does climb nicely when you put the power in though. Anyway, the escort should be well prepared to control oil temps to fly this speed the whole way. I imagine there are a lot of people that just aren't up for that.

With a little talk about the best winds, I popped up another couple of thousand feet real quick to take a peek. The RV1, with its bright yellow paint is super easy to keep in sight. With the better winds lower confirmed, I pushed over for the 1800fpm decent back to the little yellow airplane chugging along below. I pulled the -1 back "on course" and just tried to give general location / time / distance / performance updates. Jarhead commented that he might be looking forward to getting under a cloud deck up ahead as it was getting pretty warm in the -1 with little airflow and full sun from above. Another tip to future flights: Take this into consideration. So this is how we settled in. The escort provides everything, while the ferry pilot wiggles the stick and tries to keep his mind off of the pain... I mean, marvels at how in the world Van flew this thing all the way across the country.

As we closed in on our fuel stop, we did a detailed briefing of a nice simple arrival to the downwind. The field was confirmed in sight and the -1 took the lead. A nice, completely uneventful, arrival was executed. Watch that rudder deflection and brakes on the rollout in the -1. This was one of those fuel stops that I wouldn't recommend (M79). We taxied around looking for the fuel pumps until a random local came on the radio, "What are you fellas lookin' for?" ... "The fuel is that old broken down fuel truck over there." Enough said. We did get fuel. Roy was definitely feeling the burn by now. We walked around just a little and I fed him a "spare" turkey and cheese sandwich, a Coke, and of course a chocolate chip cookie. He was very appreciative. This was no accident, I promise you, I had a plan. RV1 escort tip #3: Have a plan!

We launched 1 + 1 and were all joined back up on the crosswind departure headed east to see The Horton. Metar data out there is pretty sparse and at times, the best I could do was to look ahead 80-100mi.. I was conveying what the data was saying well ahead about our most conservative altitude (stay low), but we were bumping along and Jarhead was longing for smoother cooler air up higher, so up we went, and up, and up. That worked out for a while with a little manuvering. Good call, it was worth it, but it was finally time to come back down and get under the multiple layers starting to form. As we closed in on a few light showers in our path, we briefed a penetration airspeed in order not to damage the beautiful new Catto prop on the RV1. Easy cheesy, we just barely got a little spit of moisture, not even enough to dampen the wing skin. I was of course working the XM weather the whole way to try to put together a certain plan. The clouds kept us around 2500' for the last half hour or so. Once we cleared the last of the precipitation I hit the Direct button and heard "push it up a little". Uh, we're already doing 108kts :) "Yeah, I know, I'm done sitting in this thing, giddyup" was basically what I got from Jarhead. RV1 escort tip #4: Make the ferry pilot think long and hard before committing to a leg any longer than 2hrs.

(on to part 2)
 
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RV1 escort (part 2)

(continued)

Wetumpka, Alabama was almost in sight as we briefed our arrival, a direct left downwind entry to runway 27 (hard surface) with a direct crosswind of about 7kts. I made the first couple of radio calls inbound, then the RV1 had the lead. "RV1 flight entering the left downwind for 27, Wetumpka." As we entered the downwind, Jarhead got his first glimpse of the beautiful grass strip at the west end of the field pointed directly into the wind. "Aww, man, I can't pass that up. Wetumpka traffic, RV1 dash one is turning left downwind for the grass strip runway 18, Wetumpka." I didn't miss a beat and followed up with "dash two will follow you in with a low approach only, returning to the left downwind for 27 (hard surface) on the go, Wetumpka." And that was exactly how it went. I must say, it really was a thing of beauty to see the bright yellow RV1 touch down on this beautifully groomed, bright green, grass strip from a vantage directly off its right wing. I knew at that moment that I was looking at a calendar picture of a lifetime, but there was no opportunity to capture it for you to see. That one will just have to be for me to enjoy in my own memory :). RV1 escort tip #5: No messing around, Fly The Airplane! There is no picture worthy of doing otherwise.

We joined up on the taxiway with perfect timing and started looking for where we were supposed to go, with the RV1 in the lead of course. Jarhead paused in front of the first open hangar and a gentalman came out to point us further down the field. As he opened the canopy to get instructions, with the prop still turning, the wind blew the hat off of his head to a prime spot on the ground just in front of my turning prop. Obviously, the mission had just changed! I couldn't see the hat, but I could see a lot of discussion and pointing between Jarhead and the gentleman that he was talking to in front of me. As he walked slowly back toward me, I could see he was looking closely at a point just below my prop, slightly off to the left. He motioned for me to come forward nice and slow, which I did, then he crossed his arms in front of him right quick and I stomped on the brakes. This nice cool gentleman immediately burst into laughter as he carefully approached my canopy to consult. "You just ran over his hat!!", as he laughed over the noise of the turning prop. I just about busted a gut laughing too. "Ok, just release the brakes a bit and I'm going to push you back a little." He retrieved the now defiled "Falcon Flight" cap from beneath my left main tire and handed it to me as we both chuckled with glee! I enjoyed that terrible mishap so much, tears were running down my face as we taxied to the other end of the field where we were to park. We had made it all the way East to see The Horton, and he was kind, as we dismounted from our long journey, he handed us a cold beer. The adventure has only just begun for this final tour of the RV1.


So, I know you're asking where all the pictures are. They do exist, but are currently trapped in my camera which is still in my airplane at the hangar. It seems that when I turned off the master once I got back home, it also turned off my brain. I'll retrieve the pictures soon.
 
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Scott---that was awesome! I hope some one is printing this out for a 'scrapbook' on the tour of RV1. A best seller for sure.
I'm sure there will be lots of stories ( some of which might be true) for the ferry team's experiences.
Tom
 
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Thanks, Scott. VERY helpful. I had no idea that I will have to plod along at subsonic speeds. :D

Actually, it's even slower than my old Yankee, and I flew that to FL and TX. Guess I'll have to practice some slow flight.

Seriously, your comments about what works and what doesn't for chase pilots is very helpful. Knowing ahead of time exactly what's expected will lead to standardization for the tour, which will help everyone involved.
 
This was an Outstanding report Scott - just the kind of comments and notes I was hoping to get form the first guy to do escort duty for the "ONE". I was expecting weather chase to be interesting, and for you to have to go up and down and/or ahead to check things out - great work.

Can't wait to see the pictures!

I have put a note out to the RV-1 pilots that they can probably push it up a little more - the fuel numbers are pretty good, and we can probably use a few more pony's to get it up to 130. then again, it's always going to be slower than we are used to in a "modern" RV.

Once again - great report Scott - this will be very valuable for all the escorts to come. You have set a high bar, using great procedures and techniques that others can copy.

We were hoping to have a portable GPS provided for the ONE before it headed out but that just didn't materialize, so if there is anyone out there in RV-land who has a compact moving-map GPS that is gathering dust and needs exercise for the summer let us know. It doesn't need weather (chase will have that), but even with Chase doing the navigating, it would be nice to the ferry pilot to have something in case they have to discuss options and/or the escort has to get out of sight, and they have to join back up.
 
GPS

I have an older Garmin GPS III you guys are welcome to borrow. If you need it, I can FEd Ex it ou tomorrow morning.
 
Thanks, Matt. A Pilot III is the perfect size for the RV-1. Paul just wrote that he's headed to bed so (hopefully) he won't see your response for 8 hours.

The RV-1 has a busy couple of days ahead of it and it would probably be difficult to catch up with it before it gets to a hangar to stage near SnF on Monday afternoon. So, I suggest that you just snailmail it over to us and we'll carry it over. I'll PM our address.

Thanks, again!
 
Scott,
Great write-up.
Glad you saved Jarhead's hat.
At least he didn't hit his head on something. Rollbar ???

I can see the grin.:D
 
I am planning to fly to CSG to see the RV1 this Saturday. What time will it be there? Looks like the NOTAM goes into effect at 1200 and I would like to be in and out by then. Not that I don't enjoy an airshow, I just don't want to be grounded until the show is over. Gotta get home and put some work into my own tube n' fabric project.
 
I am planning to fly to CSG to see the RV1 this Saturday. What time will it be there? Looks like the NOTAM goes into effect at 1200 and I would like to be in and out by then. Not that I don't enjoy an airshow, I just don't want to be grounded until the show is over. Gotta get home and put some work into my own tube n' fabric project.

I plan to fly the RV-1 over to KCSG on Friday morning.

It will **NOT** be on static display within the "airshow space".
It WILL be at the local EAA Chapter's "Special Hangar for the RV-1" though.
I am not sure of the exact location of the hangars but there will be plenty locals to fill us all in about it.

Current plan is for it to leave KCSG on Monday AM.

James
"CB"
 
You guys flying on Friday please be aware that there is a POTUS TFR on Friday for Atlanta.
 
GPS 195?

Louise, I have a Garmin 195 in good working condition that I'd be glad to donate to the RV-1 for keeps.

I can bring it to CSG on Saturday morning.

Best,
 
Departure Pics

I got a few pics of the preflight brief, taxi out, and lift off. Sent them to Ernie, He probably will put them up if they warrant posting.

Bonvoyage RV1!
 
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