Brandi
Well Known Member
Brian is from Tucson, AZ and this year we decided to go have Thanksgiving with his family. So, on Saturday, November 17th, Brian, myself and our 17 yr old sister, Hannah, jumped in the RV-10 and headed west!
Our trip out there included a restroom/stretching break in Danville, AR (32A), a fuel stop in Hinton, OK (2O8) and lunch with my mom in Watonga, OK (KJWG) before reaching Granny's house in Show Low, AZ (KSOW).
Saturday's flight was perfect. We didn't see a single cloud until we hit New Mexico and even then they were pretty high. Didn't really a have strong headwinds to deal with until New Mexico either. We chased the most gorgeous sunset for 2 hours as we flew west from Oklahoma.
We spent a few nights in Show Low, AZ before heading to Tucson, AZ on Monday, November 19th. This is one of my favorite flights because of the terrain.
Upon arriving in Tucson, AZ (KTUS), the tower squeezed us in behind a group of 2 F-16's and in front of a group of 3 F-16's. We sat on one runway waiting for the last 3 to land on another runway before we could taxi to parking.
On Tuesday, November 20th, we left our little sister in Tucson with family and flew to Guaymas, Mexico (MMGM) with our Uncle to be with the rest of the family for Thanksgiving. The trip over the border and down into Mexico was rather uneventful.
The Mexican military and their dog came to visit us as soon as we landed. They tried to get the dog to get into the plane but he wouldn't so they took a photo of him standing by the step and left. We went inside and got our visa's, filled out some paperwork and payed some fees. Our grandparents were there waiting on us when we arrived so we hopped in the car with them and drove a few miles down the road to their home in San Carlos, Mexico.
The next few days were filled with awesome family, wonderful food and gorgeous days on Catch 22 beach.
We had planned to return to the states on Friday, November 23rd but we just couldn't pull ourselves away so stayed another night and headed home early Saturday morning. Leaving Mexico was harder than getting in. They checked all of our luggage by hand, then x-rayed it, then sent us through a metal detector, and charged us more fees. They also brought the dog back out to the plane and kept asking how old we were.
Once in the air, we asked ATC if we could fly over San Carlos on the way out of town. They granted our request and we headed up the coast. We found the family on the margarita deck of their home waving bye to us as we flew over head. =D
Back at Tucson International, we taxied to Customs. We were the only ones there and it only took about 10 minutes before we were free to go. They checked our passports and brought what looked like a bomb detecting device to our plane. I was expecting so much more - especially after everything we just went through to get out of Mexico.
After we cleared customs, we taxied to Million Air FBO to pick up our sister and start our journey back home. Just a few feet from the FBO, we spotted a tail of an RV-12 in an open hangar. We tried to go over and say Hi to the builder but the FBO guy came and hauled us back saying something about fines and international airports. I guess you're not allowed to hang out at international airports. Anyways, we picked up our sister, flew to Ryan Field (KRYN) for gas and then headed back east to stay with our friend in Georgetown, TX (KGTU) for the night.
Sunday afternoon we loaded back up and flew the entire way home with a 30 knot tailwind and not a cloud in the sky. We dropped our sister off in Ellijay, GA (49A) and stopped for fuel in Canton, GA (KCNI) before landing at KRYY around 6:30pm EST.
It was an awesome adventure! Great weather and zero problems. We love our RV-10!!
Here are some stats from our trip:
Fuel burned: 249 gal
Miles flown: 3380 nm
Hours flown: 21.6 hrs
Link to the photo album.
Our trip out there included a restroom/stretching break in Danville, AR (32A), a fuel stop in Hinton, OK (2O8) and lunch with my mom in Watonga, OK (KJWG) before reaching Granny's house in Show Low, AZ (KSOW).
Saturday's flight was perfect. We didn't see a single cloud until we hit New Mexico and even then they were pretty high. Didn't really a have strong headwinds to deal with until New Mexico either. We chased the most gorgeous sunset for 2 hours as we flew west from Oklahoma.
We spent a few nights in Show Low, AZ before heading to Tucson, AZ on Monday, November 19th. This is one of my favorite flights because of the terrain.
Upon arriving in Tucson, AZ (KTUS), the tower squeezed us in behind a group of 2 F-16's and in front of a group of 3 F-16's. We sat on one runway waiting for the last 3 to land on another runway before we could taxi to parking.
On Tuesday, November 20th, we left our little sister in Tucson with family and flew to Guaymas, Mexico (MMGM) with our Uncle to be with the rest of the family for Thanksgiving. The trip over the border and down into Mexico was rather uneventful.
The Mexican military and their dog came to visit us as soon as we landed. They tried to get the dog to get into the plane but he wouldn't so they took a photo of him standing by the step and left. We went inside and got our visa's, filled out some paperwork and payed some fees. Our grandparents were there waiting on us when we arrived so we hopped in the car with them and drove a few miles down the road to their home in San Carlos, Mexico.
The next few days were filled with awesome family, wonderful food and gorgeous days on Catch 22 beach.
We had planned to return to the states on Friday, November 23rd but we just couldn't pull ourselves away so stayed another night and headed home early Saturday morning. Leaving Mexico was harder than getting in. They checked all of our luggage by hand, then x-rayed it, then sent us through a metal detector, and charged us more fees. They also brought the dog back out to the plane and kept asking how old we were.
Once in the air, we asked ATC if we could fly over San Carlos on the way out of town. They granted our request and we headed up the coast. We found the family on the margarita deck of their home waving bye to us as we flew over head. =DBack at Tucson International, we taxied to Customs. We were the only ones there and it only took about 10 minutes before we were free to go. They checked our passports and brought what looked like a bomb detecting device to our plane. I was expecting so much more - especially after everything we just went through to get out of Mexico.
After we cleared customs, we taxied to Million Air FBO to pick up our sister and start our journey back home. Just a few feet from the FBO, we spotted a tail of an RV-12 in an open hangar. We tried to go over and say Hi to the builder but the FBO guy came and hauled us back saying something about fines and international airports. I guess you're not allowed to hang out at international airports.
Anyways, we picked up our sister, flew to Ryan Field (KRYN) for gas and then headed back east to stay with our friend in Georgetown, TX (KGTU) for the night.
Sunday afternoon we loaded back up and flew the entire way home with a 30 knot tailwind and not a cloud in the sky.
We dropped our sister off in Ellijay, GA (49A) and stopped for fuel in Canton, GA (KCNI) before landing at KRYY around 6:30pm EST. It was an awesome adventure! Great weather and zero problems. We love our RV-10!!
Here are some stats from our trip:
Fuel burned: 249 gal
Miles flown: 3380 nm
Hours flown: 21.6 hrs
Link to the photo album.
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