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What did you do with your RV this weekend 1/30/21-2/1/21

bhester

Well Known Member
Patron
Need I say more!

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Out of town for work still.

This is the saddest start of a “what did you do with your RV this weekend“ thread I have seen yet. :eek:
 
Broke some stuff on the farm, and had to make a 911-level run for parts while a crew of workhands were opening up a ditch. Went from our private strip at 73XS to KGNC for pipe parts in winds that were 32G38 on the ground and saw 65 knots at around 6000'.

It was .9 going there and .5 coming back - I saw 215 knots groundspeed at 9500'. It was a little faster down low but just too rough for comfort so I just kept climbing.

Flying in this kind of wind is easy. Landing is a little interesting. Taxi and parking are when things get western.
 
I should have gone flying....

...but alas I've got the cowls off and the seats out for a couple of projects and I'm waiting for a fuel gauge to show up.

Started thinking about making aircraft jacks.
 
First Flight for Great Kid

I had the opportunity to take up our friend's son Friday night. He is interested in obtaining his pilot's license and making a career of it. This was his first flight in a small airplane.

He did a great job and I was so proud of him. I hope I have spurred his interest to go after his dream.

Respectfully

Darren Kerns
RV7 N599DT
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Flew down to Marathon in the Florida Keys for lunch.
 

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Nice weather here, a little chilly -10C or so. I went out for a short test flight without my transponder (on its way back from an update to ADS-B out power). Purpose of the test was my newly installed MGL N16 Nav radio with Bob Archer Type 1 antenna. Last test failed outright, I had the in hangar avionics shop redo my SMA termination and today I quickly added an extra ground connection to the antenna. Picked up the closest VOR climbing through 2500' AGL, about 54 NM out. Kept the signal for all but 30 seconds a few miles later. Tested an intercept with the autopilot and it worked great. Test definite success.

My V16 COM radio is another story. Not the greatest antenna performance and it's mostly unusable. Not sure what the next steps are on this one.
 
Brutally cold day but I went up anyway. I had too after watching thierryroussel1 and his video of flying his Nieuport 28 replica in Winter with that open cockpit and all.

Shivered through 6 speed calibration squares at 7000 where the OAT was 10. Drafts in the plane never bothered me before ;)

Bright sunshine, few clouds, snow covered land, beautiful ocean.

Glad I went.
 
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Wow

Flew down to Marathon in the Florida Keys for lunch.

I am soooooo jealous.

Just had my schematic reviewed by an expert, one change and good to go. Start wiring tomorrow. Today was installing the firewall pass thrus with Amazon shower curtain holders and Lowes firestop. I thank god we have aviation supply places so close. I cant imagine building 20 years ago. They only had steam gauges and Vans catalog; can you imagine?

The closer I get, the more jealous I am of everyone flying. It doesnt help to hear planes taxi by while I am knee deep in firestop and wiring.
 
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Two weeks of Yuk ended

Beautiful day over S. AZ today so up, up and away went this old man. Dodged some clouds at 5200' but it was otherwise absolutely perfect. The plane serves no logical purpose whatsoever but I just enjoy the **** out of it. Of course, my wife says I serve no logical purpose either.:):)
 
Started my annual inspection; finished the tail feathers and I'm moving forward. Good motivation to keep at it so I can fly next weekend!
 
Another Pilots n Paws Mission

"Hazel" needed to go from Baton Rouge, LA to State College, PA on Saturday. I flew the 2nd of 3 legs (Walker County, AL KJFX to Bristol, TN KTRI). She was a real sweetheart!
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Doing my time in canopy jail

Just floxing, masking, sanding down flox and smoothing skirt sides. Still a long way to go... but every hour in the shop is another hour up the mountain.
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Weekend trip to Ubatuba

Weekend trip to Ubatuba (SDUB), a 45 min flight from Rio de Janeiro on our “magic carpet”.
 

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Today was installing the firewall pass thrus with Amazon shower curtain holders and Lowes firestop.

Lowes only sells water based 3M latex firestop caulk. Long term, silicone base 3M FireBarrier 2000 might be a better choice.
 
Thanks

Lowes only sells water based 3M latex firestop caulk. Long term, silicone base 3M FireBarrier 2000 might be a better choice.

Thanks. I only used the lowes stuff as a sealer between the bulkhead fitting and the flanges. I will take your suggestion and use the other stuff to fill the bulkhead fitting once the wires are run. Thanks.
 
Started three related projects:
* Remove old ELT and bracket. The antenna came off easily enough inside the baggage compartment, but taking off the ELT mounting bracket from the aft side panel required removing that panel, which required removing the front panel and some of the baggage floor and the bottom baggage bulkhead. All that can wait till annual when the baggage bulkhead comes off anyway.
* Thought about drilling out the -9A boarding steps but that would require that same panel to be removed, as well as its twin on the other side. Still looking for a chrome plating shop.
* The ELT is programmed to accept Garmin 9600 baud aviation format which is available from the GTN but not the G3X Touch, where it's connected now. When the vendor opens shop in a few hours, I'll call and ask how to reprogram the ELT to 4800 baud NMEA, which the G3X can output. Why not connect it to the GTN? Getting access to the connector basically means removing the entire center radio stack, including the trays.
So after taking out a half dozen screws (and stripping one), I put things back together and called it a day. Besides, not a flyable day.
 
Started buttoning everything up, pre oiled the engine, getting ready for first/test flight. FAA inspection is scheduled for Feb. 5th (Friday).:)
 
After winds calmed down flew to check Intergalactic Spaceport. Too cold for aliens visit.

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Attempted couple T&G on ice. Rough.

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Climbed the hill back to home drome.

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FROZE at 6500ft...

Next mod will definitely be the 'bender baffle'. RV-12 Rotax Radiator heat with Van's block off is nowhere near enough. OAT at 6500 was 18F.

But boy was it a beautiful day to fly. That's Dayton, OH off in the distance and the Hangers for the USAF Museum at Wright Patt on the very right hand edge towards the top.
 

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Excellent video

I flew from Tucson to Durango only once in the 9 but the memories of that terrain will remain with me forever.
 
Working on the long-delayed lower forward fuse riveting, so I can feel confident to start building and pulling wiring harnesses. This, of course, means revisiting my contortionist abilities while bucking inside the inverted canoe.

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Also, assuming Friday counts as "the weekend," my seats came in from Cleaveland, so I obviously had to temporarily install them before returning the fuse to its rivet-ready state:

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Got our -10 back together last night and filled my (previously leaking) repaired tank with fuel. No Leaks!!! What a great feeling that is! Took it for a breakfast run to Palomar where I saw this sign:

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OK so the airport is run by the county, is that an excuse? :rolleyes:

-Marc
 
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