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7 RV's Depart Sedona Density Altitude 7500'

Very cool!

...and existence proof if anyone questions the ability of the RV to take off from a high DA/elevation airport.
 
Where from?

Just curious where the plane were from? High DA is not a big deal with most RV's!!
 
RVs can handle high DA well but it is weird when you're in it though, especially for a Minnesota boy with my FP prop.

I remember years ago taking off from West Yellowstone in July I think the ATIS had DA over 8k. We were at full gross and easily used 3 or 4 times the runway we usually would at home. I never got concerned as it was a 8,000+ ft runway but I'll bet we were close to the midpoint before we were off. I was very glad I warned my wife about it or she would have been concerned.
 
Darwin, a large, maybe 10 ship group mostly from Georgia.

I'm pretty confident they were all near gross, full of gas, heading home.

Remarkable performance these RV's have. Easy to appreciate being based at Sedona and frequently watching factory ships departing.
 
I'm pretty confident they were all near gross, full of gas, heading home. ....Remarkable performance these RV's have. Easy to appreciate being based at Sedona and frequently watching factory ships departing.

Thanks for the video and comments...
I was in the formation and performance definitely not a factor in these amazing flying machines. We were actually on a short flight out to meteor crater followed by a scenic flight over Oak Creek Canyon and the copper mining town of Jerome. Beautiful day for flying. Gotta love this place especially flying in the morning in Arizona.

A big shout out to you, Dave, for helping Jerry fix his brake problem when he landed.
 
Very cool!

...and existence proof if anyone questions the ability of the RV to take off from a high DA/elevation airport.

Yes, and they are even taking runway 03, which is right into the ridge. Not a problem for RVs though you have few options if you have an engine problem. Most lesser aircraft land 03 and take off 21 unless the winds are high. I've done the 03 departure myself but much prefer to fly toward Cottonwood and circle back once I can see over the ridge line to Flagstaff. Besides, it gives me a couple of more minutes of stick time (it doesn't take an RV long to gain altitude) on what is basically a ten minute flight.
 
Why runway 03

Just curious about the choice of taking off rwy 03.
As mentioned, Sedona is typically a rwy 21 departure for various reasons unless there is a wind to factor in.
I'm guessing it was calm at that time of morning, but still would prefer to depart toward the lower ground myself.
Usually there's some old codger berating folk on the radio if they don't stick to the customary operations, unfortunately sometimes even when that would result in significant tailwind ops. It's worth advising students to ignore said codger and operate in accordance with good airmanship. :)
 
Just curious about the choice of taking off rwy 03. As mentioned, Sedona is typically a rwy 21 departure for various reasons unless there is a wind to factor ... :)

The FBO parked our large formation group at the west end of the airport near the approach end of runway 03. To taxi to runway 21 would’ve required a lengthy back taxi on runway 21 since the only taxiway was closed between A3 and A4. The winds at the time also favored runway 03.
 
And there is nothing that prohibits an 03 departure. I didn't mention it to be critical but to point out that RVs easily do what other aircraft have difficulty with. Sedona, though, will teach you to communicate on CTAF and also be cautious with your situational awareness because there is so much variance in the traffic patterns. I've seen left and right approaches to 03 sometimes at nearly the same time (which gets your attention) and also straight in approaches, and same with departures. Add in the nearby helicopter tours and the transients who sometimes miss the CTAF frequency, and Sedona can be interesting. Not scary, just interesting and a fun challenge.
 
Major ramp construction at Sedona on the north end. Project anticipated to take 4 to 5 months. Just about half way done now. In addition to reconstructing the north ramp area, taxiways A3 and A4 will be repositioned to meet new requirements to avoid runway incursions from the hangar area.

As Bob mentioned, taxiway A closed between A3 and A4 necessitating back taxi on runway to get from terminal area to RWY21. Can get a little crazy on the weekends.

Expect this to last through the end of October.

The view out one of my hangars yesterday:

IMG_0272.jpeg IMG_0267.jpeg
 
history now

I spent 40 years plus calculating density altitude.
Always have lived hot and high (no puns there)
Now, with the RV, it seems to be a non issue. Came out of Flagstaff the other day and passed a spam can in the climb. Same engine. Thank you Van.
 
Thanks for the update

Thank you for the reply about departing rwy 03. I haven't been to Sedona recently, so appreciate the update about the construction from the locals. I may give it a miss for a few months until the dust settles. (Despite our flying season just getting good as the weather cools :)).
 
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