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What did you do with your RV this Weekend (02/26-28/2021)

Nothing for nearly 6 weeks..... Grounded because of lockdown :mad:

May be able to fly after 8 March for "essential maintenance flight only"

No flying here until late March.
 
Got out the snowblower

Cleaned off the 50m or so of ramp up to the taxi way and flew over to Limon for some touch and goes. Nothing very exciting, but it was nice to get out!

Blue skies

Geoff
 
We had to chip away at the ice entombing the hangar doors but finally liberated the big bird and flew up the Allegheny River, a local treasure. The boys made a fun little video with footage from the flight......Ice Flight.

https://vimeo.com/517608192
 
The pants have been started.

FINALLY working up courage to start the wheel pants. Got plane in July and having too much fun flying it. But I’ll take the next 4 knots if possible!

09B6D7D9-C711-4A19-848C-D7C7F230DA98.jpg
 

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Got the fuel servo put back on, and test ran the engine today. Everything is in the green. Going to taxi test tomorrow, and test fly Tuesday......wx permitting.
 
Our group of 4 planes flew to Eloy this week

Eloy Municipal E60 is one of the busiest skydiving centers in the world. A short 30 minute flight south of Phoenix allows skydiving entertainment while having breakfast.
 

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Paint beautification process has begun. Tip to toe buffed out. Ceramic coating will be applied when the humidity goes down.
 
Down for paint

Dropped the plane off at the paint shop at KSNS for loooong 6 week wait.

Great shot of the homestead neighborhood on way back to KHAF. Winds were howling 40 kts at 2000 AGL !!, fortunately straight down the runway. Thanks go to Pat, my RV7 hangar neighbor, for helping to disassemble the plane at the painter and for air taxi services back home.
 

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I flew to Dauphin Island, Alabama. Only across Mobile Bay for but still a beautiful and peaceful place that never gets old. There are restaurants that will come pick you up at the airport then bring you back. My usual is the Pelican Pub... only a 10 minute walk. Another place that will pick you up is Islanders Restaurant. Their number is 251-861-2225 with hours of 8A to 9P 7 days a week. Dauphin Island... a great destination for lunch!


Well, I can't get pics to post as thumbnails. :-( I put some information above.

Finally figured pics out.

IMG_5527 by Paul Gray, on Flickr
IMG_5535 by Paul Gray, on Flickr
IMG_5532 by Paul Gray, on Flickr
 
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Just got finished taxi testing. This is the first time the RV9A has moved under it's own power. Brakes are great, all gages and instruments are where they're supposed to be, control surfaces all feel good.:)

Next trip to the runway will be for test/first flight of N781DM.:D:D
 
started mounting Wings

I waited on this step until close to the very end. Exciting to see but only one wing at a time in the garage!
 

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FINALLY finished installing and calibrating the EI FL-2 fuel gauge - had a minor panic moment when it seemed like the float in the right wing was stuck/wasn't working and refused to calibrate, but that seemed to shake loose after a few tries at filling. Small victory. I'll take it.

Noticed that the little hinged flap to my carb heat control was messed up, figure out why - the rivets had pulled a little loose on the arm that the control cable connects to. So I pulled it off the plane, drilled out the rivets and put some new ones in. While re-installing it I over-torqued the little bolt that secures the control wire and snapped it in half. Ugh. I struggle to drill a hole in a bolt that small so I'm searching McMaster for something pre-drilled.
 
Simulated RNAV approaches

Now that I've (mostly) finished installing my GPS 175 and have completed a good portion of 2 different Instrument Rating ground schools, it was time to try out the new toys. Thursday I flew 20 minutes north and did a coupled simulated RNAV approach (CEH3 RNAV 16). That was not pretty, I was not prepared for the go around, as in I didn't know the exact steps I needed to do. It was also blowing 21KT direct crosswind at the FAF and it was bumpy. Nothing close to dangerous, but doesn't match the chart all that well.

Today, after nailing down my procedures on paper, I went out and shot 3 coupled simulated approaches into my home airport. The first 2 to minimums and the last one coupled to minimums and then landed. All went very well. Main thing I wanted was getting my speed and configuration dialed in such that I was setup for either a go around or a landing at decision height. Probably a little slow to sequence in with the heavy iron. I did 120KIAS at the IAF turn, slowed to 90 KIAS by FAF and then pulled most of the power for descent at about 75. Added flaps and power to be at about 65 at DH. Turned off the A/P on my last one at DH (250') and greased it in. It was almost shocking to see how well the A/P had me setup for landing.

I enjoyed this so much, really looking forward to getting my rating and the operating limits changed on the plane.

I've attached the one picture I took, just finishing my turn inbound at the IAF.
 

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Flew out to Las Cruces today.. home tomorrow.

This is my third time out here in as many weekends, and I'm pretty sure each time I get here, it's windier than the last!

Nothing to complain about though .. 170 KTAS in total comfort. What's not to like?
 
I flew to Dauphin Island, Alabama. Only across Mobile Bay for but still a beautiful and peaceful place that never gets old. There are restaurants that will come pick you up at the airport then bring you back. My usual is the Pelican Pub... only a 10 minute walk. Another place that will pick you up is Islanders Restaurant. Their number is 251-861-2225 with hours of 8A to 9P 7 days a week. Dauphin Island... a great destination for lunch!


Well, I can't get pics to post as thumbnails. :-( I put some information above.

Hey Paul, Thanx for the info on this. Been wanting to go there for about a year now, but figured the restaurants would all be closed due to covid. (Bit of a trek from Atlanta) Now I'm gonna go (Also need to get requalified for carrier landings:D:D.:):)
 
Finished the wings

I’ve been waiting a while to finish up the last panel of the wings, just in case I wanted to install stuff in there. I’m at a point where it made sense to close them up, so my wife and I drove the last of the rivets about 2 hours ago.

We’ve finally had a warm weekend up here, and Saturday was too nice to spend in the shop, so I pushed out the spam can and we went to have lunch in Marshfield (MFI) with one of my wife’s college friends. Grabbed a “Fly Wisconsin” stamp at Taylor County as well, and in the “winning of hearts and minds” category, took my wife’s college friend’s mother for her first ever GA plane ride. I was told by my wife and previously mentioned college friend that the smile on the ramp could clearly be seen from the terminal building.
 
Flying high and low

Not actually this weekend, but last Wednesday.

Approaching Mt. Whitney from the west (center right):

ACtC-3dN_Mzk-60vXKY77s5jeX8ix3zqg9L6cqGUslxqCfH6dCHrKnLzbvlNhzZFdYOesDufuGjl9eE126-PR6u4TkcNJsOqmvRnV82M6C-oPuGj39OkM8ajF9iEgmb7PlodXWA6IOODI6pX0CDpFEb_glmhaA=w1260-h698


The wind was from my left and I was about 15000'. When I got close, the turbulence convinced me not to fly between Mt Russel (foreground) and Mt Whitney, so I flew on the upwind side of Mt. Russel:

ACtC-3deoUb-eNDDPH4poXA60-q2yfxqWKAilVLZzNjBEGOHYCKtJsfiuIANOvmGzWaFd4kGxNTRrhYljKTPkZ_qTefCWAE2C6s62w5cWrwXIuOLd75Frs6ytsIg6QFNdhbXN7LiUr2f57TCOSEqEJcsgfHzGw=w1257-h716


Then it was downhill all the way to Furnace Creek (L06) at -210':

ACtC-3efJaR96BRzM3yIGnSbspREC3XMN9MlBQbG1LMgcH7_SI1l6v9FxcjLnsIZDch5X4CU5zwzdssH73yJqykz8rM1f092fwvIcvEA91qZAnvBVAZW33HxPhVMFxmX29FxjovCFm--MRS9YNR1G_Cnd8Og8g=w1257-h719


Before we left the area I made a very low pass over the runway and had the wife document the altimeter:

ACtC-3cpbmwMadJ1cEUIK0SVipTBUyIMwE-zrdl0WxL4SBrx0DWZmdYlRXZDm6pv0gypXNNvdmo6k3nlUTWM2e8TUz7xTStSTseFIDsnW527TNMvp7k3ctww-hn50HmrcmB2ON8ifJq3ph4yPhqQuGql6ehQig=w1264-h846


Highest to lowest points in the lower 48 states, only 69nm apart!
 
Friday was Beautiful so I went up and performed more Sawtooth climbs.
I used Paul Dye's suggestion of starting the climb at or very near the climb target speed and then adding pitch and power. That worked much better than
starting at high speed and trying to get on a slower speed before hitting the test band.
 
New PMAG

Test flew my newly installed PMAG. Replaced a 700+ hour Bendix mag with the PMAG. Ran into a few installation hiccups caused by my inexperience, but got great assistance from Tom @ TSFLIGHTLINES to devise a system for getting manifold pressure to the PMAG. Test flights went well and now there is no drop in RPMs on my right Mag!

Also got night current (after I was comfortable the Mag was working). My home airport lost night privileges over a year ago and just got them back, so all the pilots at our airport have been busy getting night currency back.
 

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Furnace Creek PIREP?

What is the condition of the runway at Furnace Creek?

Not actually this weekend, but last Wednesday.

Approaching Mt. Whitney from the west (center right):

ACtC-3dN_Mzk-60vXKY77s5jeX8ix3zqg9L6cqGUslxqCfH6dCHrKnLzbvlNhzZFdYOesDufuGjl9eE126-PR6u4TkcNJsOqmvRnV82M6C-oPuGj39OkM8ajF9iEgmb7PlodXWA6IOODI6pX0CDpFEb_glmhaA=w1260-h698


The wind was from my left and I was about 15000'. When I got close, the turbulence convinced me not to fly between Mt Russel (foreground) and Mt Whitney, so I flew on the upwind side of Mt. Russel:

ACtC-3deoUb-eNDDPH4poXA60-q2yfxqWKAilVLZzNjBEGOHYCKtJsfiuIANOvmGzWaFd4kGxNTRrhYljKTPkZ_qTefCWAE2C6s62w5cWrwXIuOLd75Frs6ytsIg6QFNdhbXN7LiUr2f57TCOSEqEJcsgfHzGw=w1257-h716


Then it was downhill all the way to Furnace Creek (L06) at -210':

ACtC-3efJaR96BRzM3yIGnSbspREC3XMN9MlBQbG1LMgcH7_SI1l6v9FxcjLnsIZDch5X4CU5zwzdssH73yJqykz8rM1f092fwvIcvEA91qZAnvBVAZW33HxPhVMFxmX29FxjovCFm--MRS9YNR1G_Cnd8Og8g=w1257-h719


Before we left the area I made a very low pass over the runway and had the wife document the altimeter:

ACtC-3cpbmwMadJ1cEUIK0SVipTBUyIMwE-zrdl0WxL4SBrx0DWZmdYlRXZDm6pv0gypXNNvdmo6k3nlUTWM2e8TUz7xTStSTseFIDsnW527TNMvp7k3ctww-hn50HmrcmB2ON8ifJq3ph4yPhqQuGql6ehQig=w1264-h846


Highest to lowest points in the lower 48 states, only 69nm apart!
 
Congrats on first flight

Congrats on first flight!!!!

For me I finished up wiring the rear portion of subpanel, including center stack
 

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L06 runway condition

Andy Simpkinson & Bryan Douglass:

The runway at Furnace Creek leaves a lot to be desired. There are too many rough spots to avoid all of them. Expect some bumps. It's still much better than the gravel runway at Amboy, but that's another story...
 
Never been there, but according to AirNav the asphalt is in good condition.

https://www.airnav.com/airport/L06

AirNav also states in its remarks section: "-RWY 15/33 PAVEMENT HEAVING; EXTREMELY ROUGH SFC."

The definition of rough is very subjective, but I think most will agree that the truth is somewhere between good condition and extremely rough. When I left, I treated it as a soft field, i.e., got the nose wheel off early and let the mains take the pounding until I could fly in ground effect. YMMV
 
Wednesday was a beautiful spring day in southern Oregon. We flew over to Gold Beach, had lunch, walked to the local fish market and picked up some very fresh crab to bring home for dinner.

Sunday was nice too, and could have done it then, but the fish market was closed on Sunday.
 
Never been there, but according to AirNav the asphalt is in good condition.

https://www.airnav.com/airport/L06

I was just there in February of 2021. It’s pretty bad. I found a spot that wasn't too bad that was landing on runway 15, just left of centerline. Do a flyby to pick your spot, then land short, brake hard and try to get it to slow down ASAP. As for takeoff, use a soft field technique to lighten the weight from the wheels.
 
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