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What did you do with your RV this weekend (9/28-29/2019)

Undisclosed location

I am far away from my RV but my good Dagestan buddy just did first taxi runs. I am glad to be part of it :D

 
College Football anyone?

Three out of last four weekends, it's been college football trips. Have plane, will travel. First two were back to back trips to West Lafayette, IN.

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It runs in the family.
Alumni from 1989, 1991, and future Alumnae 2022.

Second weekend I brought along my 1990 Alumnae.
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But this weekend, we stayed a little closer to home and were in good company for the night. The boys and their toys....
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My daughter is a senior at "that" school and the whole clan came along for the game. Picked up the son at his school and flew to KTCL.

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She is in Sports Media and normally works in the booth editing tape, but the big boys (CBS) were in town so she was working grip on the field.
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Great to have the family together, even if for only a short time.
Another successful RV filled weekend!
 
Flew to Mojave Spaceport for breakfast. Always fun to peek inside the Scaled Composites hangar...I saw both ARES and Proteus.

So nice to have a smooth air flight. I got pummeled by turbulence last week flying up to Lake Powell, but the sunset flight over the lake was calm and serene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QpGLzTEVhI
 
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WV this weekend

Flew to Lewisburg, WV to hang out with some old friends. Terrific times. And much better than driving!!!

My buddy from TX arrived in his TBM. :)
 
US National Aerobatic Championships

I flew back home to Falcon Field (FFC), Peachtree City GA from the US National Aerobatic Championships In Salina (SLN), KS, 714 nm each way.

I had flown there earlier in the week to support the contest by volunteering in the various necessary positions and see some friends. I was able to deliver some parts I picked up at Spruce that a competitor needed. I did not fly in the competition. I've come to realize that I'm going to need to get the right tool for the job. I'm never giving up my RV-8, but I'm currently looking for both an Extra and a partner in the S. Atlanta metro area.

By the way, Ron Schreck was the CD (Contest Director) for the event and he did a masterful job of organizing and running the championships. The event is similar in scale to a small air show. We had nearly 100 contestants that flew 300+ flights and dozens of volunteers worked to pull off the class act event. Everything from site prep, to hangar space, fuel, the FAA, the city, banquet facilities, rental cars, hotels, etc all needed to be planned and coordinated. Ron's been working on this for many months and his efforts paid off as it was one of the most successful national championships in recent years.

However, we only had one RV compete this year. Oliver Spatscheck came all the way from NJ in his RV-8. I'm sure Ron will update the leader board when he recovers, but Oliver had a very respectable finish with a 76.29%, beating out a Pitts and an Extra. Way to go Oliver! Great to see you again.

On the way back, I filed IFR and climbed to 17,000' to get through a line of thunderstorms near Springfield MO. I had a nice smooth ride and a fantastic view of the storms. I love my UAvionix ADSB! At 17K, I was burning 7.4 gph and getting about 170 kts TAS. I am sure going to miss my IFR and night capability getting to and from contests if I ever do get the Extra. Most of the Extra's are restricted from Night and IFR use even if properly equipped. The flight manual on the certified craft requires Day, VFR use only. Many of the older ones are Experimental.

In any case, it was a super fun week! I hope every one else had a fun-filled and safe weekend.
 
Fun Weekend

Yesterday we finally had some cooler weather with clouds so flew IFR to HMT for breakfast, then on to AJO for the Spruce Customer Appreciation sale event. Met Chris Smith who's building a -10, and some old friends (both vendors and attendees) at the sale.

Today we flew to L35 for breakfast at Thelma's. A nice tailwind had us in the 200+ Knot club again! Topped the tanks then back home before noon. Time machine!

-Marc
 
Short local flight. 0.3 Hobbs / 2.0 gallons on Sunday 29 September 2019.

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My GAD13 arrived from Steinair. The GAD13, CAN Bus termination, and connector weight 3.8 Oz.

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Started looking where I am going to mount it. GMU11 is in under the vertical stabilizer and I wanted to mount it there BUT Garmin has a recommended two-foot or more separation from the GMU11. That would put the GAD13 in the tailcone and I really do not want to work in that location.

There is room behind the panel in front of the G5s on the "sub-panel" or bulkhead in front of the panel. GAD13 mounted and should get wiring done tomorrow. Will find out if my 'homemade' OAT works after setting the G5s for the GAD13. IF my 'homemade' OAT does not work, then I will need to purchase one of the recommended $100 OAT probes. Two contacts, a little wire, some time, and $5 for brass tubing using parts I already had on hand is not a lot of wasted money or time if it does not work.

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I stared Saturday morning with a session of aerobatics practice, departed the circuit to the west and climbed to 5000 ft, HASSLE checks done I started with loops followed by stall turns, barrel rolls and finished with a half loop with roll off the top;

Loops: today I practiced maintaining the G coming until reaching the inverted then float it a little, check wings level, allow speed to build on the down line, start to pull and aim to recover at the same height and speed.

I have a bad habit of pulling to the left on the way up so I did a whole series of loops making sure I maintained a strait up line feeding in right rudder as required and ensuring I pulled strait back on the elevator.

Stall turns, didn't get one right, I either kicked too soon or allowed the RV to go past the vertical line, most of the time I was not kicking in left rudder fast enough or feeding in enough right aileron and forward stick to ensure a nice vertical down line, lots of fun but much more practice needed.

Barrel rolls left and right, managed to get the nose nice and high before rolling and maintaining the pull, looking for same speed and height for the recovery.

Tried a roll off the top at a slower speed, I normally do these at 150 knots but my instructor suggested a little slower and pull harder, I don't think I pulled hard enough as I wallowed out of them at the top.

Flew back to home base feeling satisfied and decided I would fix two EGTs that have been acting up, #1 has been intermittent for a while, when I pulled on the wires they came out of the connector so problem solved, double over the wire and re-crimp.
#3, has not been displaying at all, pulled terminal apart and re-crimped, it was working on the ground but as soon as I started to engine it stopped working again, ugh, hate these sort of electrical issues.

Too lazy to pull the cowls again I flagged it as a problem to get sorted next time I change the oil.

Cheers
 
High School Reunion

40th High School reunion in Augusta KS. I hadn't been back in 40 yrs and I was not prepared for the warm feelings when seeing familiar but changed faces. Wichita to Cincy, 22 gallons, 11.5K, 605 nm.

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Hey Flandy!!

My Wife and I are Alum! 02 and 04. I started working on the counter of that FBO than instructed there for 1500 hrs to help pay for my last 2 years at LAF.

Boiler Up!
 
Flew back home to visit an old friend and former RV partner. Got to see the RV6 we built together. Great lunch in West Chester, PA then home to Frederick, MD. A almost 3 hr drive each way, cut to 35 minutes.
 
Miramar Airshow!

I got the chance to fly into MCAS Miramar and have my RV-9A on static display for the 3 days of the airshow.

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I'll write up more on the experience when I get a chance.
 
I flew it!

Just bought a completed RV-7 and got my first 1.7 of transition training in it. Haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face since. Can't wait to get proficient and comfortable in it.

Please send cooler, nice weather to south Texas!
 
Rollllllll Tide!;)

Three out of last four weekends, it's been college football trips. Have plane, will travel. First two were back to back trips to West Lafayette, IN.

i-H2nhvpx-M.jpg


i-WxHdmWv-M.jpg


i-szT8jQV-M.jpg

It runs in the family.
Alumni from 1989, 1991, and future Alumnae 2022.

Second weekend I brought along my 1990 Alumnae.
i-jc8kxNr-M.jpg


But this weekend, we stayed a little closer to home and were in good company for the night. The boys and their toys....
i-sB3Ls9K-M.jpg

i-2vMxbPb-M.jpg



My daughter is a senior at "that" school and the whole clan came along for the game. Picked up the son at his school and flew to KTCL.

i-LdkqCPN-M.jpg


She is in Sports Media and normally works in the booth editing tape, but the big boys (CBS) were in town so she was working grip on the field.
i-DkPnsHR-M.jpg


Great to have the family together, even if for only a short time.
Another successful RV filled weekend!
 
I got the chance to fly into MCAS Miramar and have my RV-9A on static display for the 3 days of the airshow.

IMG_7308-M.jpg


I'll write up more on the experience when I get a chance.

Sharp paint job, I love it!
 
Hudson SFRA

The weather worked out and there were no TFR's so I took the opportunity last weekend to fly the Hudson SFRA corridor.

The pictures below are stills from the GoPro video I took. They don't do the view justice at all - not sure why the photos seem a trifle washed out - it was a nice clear day.

After making the run to the South I did a 180 and headed back up the East side of the Hudson. Verrazanno Narrows Bridge:

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The Battery:

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World Trade Center:

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"Hecks" Kitchen:

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Extremely enjoyable flight.
 
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On Friday, I had a big RPM drop when I did a mag check. Opened up the cowling on Saturday, and discovered the #3 cylinder top plug wire was disconnected. Reconnected it, cleaned all of the plugs, and put the cowl back on. Did a runup, and all good.

Flew it on Monday and on the way back home, it didn't feel like the engine was running as well as usual. Did a mag check after landing, and cylinders #3 and 4 were dropping offline when the ignition selector was on R.

Opened up the cowl again, and on first look, everything seemed OK. Re-seated the plug wires, and that didn't help. Dug deeper and found an electrical connector for the lightspeed was loose. Secured it, did another runup and finally, all good again.

Need to find something to do with my RV this weekend, now that it's running well again!
 
On Friday, I had a big RPM drop when I did a mag check. Opened up the cowling on Saturday, and discovered the #3 cylinder top plug wire was disconnected. Reconnected it, cleaned all of the plugs, and put the cowl back on. Did a runup, and all good.

Flew it on Monday and on the way back home, it didn't feel like the engine was running as well as usual. Did a mag check after landing, and cylinders #3 and 4 were dropping offline when the ignition selector was on R.

Opened up the cowl again, and on first look, everything seemed OK. Re-seated the plug wires, and that didn't help. Dug deeper and found an electrical connector for the lightspeed was loose. Secured it, did another runup and finally, all good again.

Need to find something to do with my RV this weekend, now that it's running well again!

If the engine ran for more than a few seconds with a plug wire off, the ignition coil likely burnt out; don't ask how I know. Better double check that.
 
Also, check that the spade connector is on good & tight and not arcing to the male terminal, building up resistance and take the coil off line. Cleaning the terminal with scotch bright is a temporary fix.
 
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