What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

I?m on the way....

Wow, what a nice adventure, thanks for sharing!
To see someone who has the plane, the time and the courage for
making such a trip pushes me even more to pull the trigger for my project one day.
As I?m also from Germany, is your plane certified for IFR or are you officially crossing the Atlantic VFR?

Thanks and always happy landings!

Simon
 
Every day get?s better

Now - in Anacortes I met Ken Krueger. He offered me his hangar and tools for an inspection and oil change - and dinner and a bed!
We didn?t have the right oil filter so this morning I flew to Skagik KBVS to get one. When I landed I saw a B-25 and a B-17 on the apron and got very excited. I jumped out of the plane and headed towards "the show" and asked if I could pull my plane in front of their`s for some pics. A very warm "welcome, any time" was the reply and they moved some visitors to the side. I made a donation, looked at these beautiful planes from any angle and of course got my pictures. Here are some of them:

9jmMPji.jpg


BJsEU5I.jpg


CiXhGDG.jpg



I almost forgot the oil filter !!!
 
Looks like I missed you by a day! I'm the lucky guy that flew the B-17 into Skagit; we arrived into BVS at 1115 Monday morning coming in from Idaho Falls. The weather over the mountains was indeed a bit murky; we were VFR northwest bound at 8500' until almost over Arlington, then found a good hole in the broken layer to spiral down. We orbited Arlington to wait for the B-25 to join up, then made a pass over Anacortes followed by a loose formation 2-ship arrival into Skagit. What a great day of flying! Would've been cool to have your Baby Mustang with us as "Little Friends" top cover.

My Rainier pic looks kinda like yours;
ct6Fnja.jpg


Your trip is just a fantastic adventure, and I'm somewhat in awe; to fly from Germany, cross the Atlantic in an RV-8 and wind up in Seattle just blows me away. I live just a wee bit closer, Texas, and I still haven't had my RV-8 as far as the Pacific Northwest; I'm a tremendous slacker! Then again, if I dialed back a bit on the warbird fun maybe I'd have time to do that. Tradeoffs I guess...

Buzz Lightyear approves of this trip report! And he wants to see more cool pics from along the way.
7bbtTCu.jpg
 
Last edited:
I have to say this is fantastic!
A real enthusiasm boost to start a day in the workshop.
Keep updating, and safe flying!
 
That is so cool! We were standing at Arlington field watching you circle the airport on Monday morning hoping you were going to land there. Unfortunately you didn?t.
And it would be a blast for me to fly alongside a B-17 in my "Little RV-8".

I?ll pass Texas in about 10 days, where is the CAF based?
 
Now - in Anacortes I met Ken Krueger. He offered me his hangar and tools for an inspection and oil change - and dinner and a bed!
We didn?t have the right oil filter so this morning I flew to Skagik KBVS to get one. When I landed I saw a B-25 and a B-17 on the apron and got very excited. I jumped out of the plane and headed towards "the show" and asked if I could pull my plane in front of their`s for some pics. A very warm "welcome, any time" was the reply and they moved some visitors to the side. I made a donation, looked at these beautiful planes from any angle and of course got my pictures. Here are some of them:

9jmMPji.jpg


BJsEU5I.jpg


CiXhGDG.jpg



I almost forgot the oil filter !!!
My sister is a crew member on that B25!
 
Waaam

Considering where you are today you should go to Hood River to the
WAAAM museum. A friend and I hit eight museums while picking up a kit. WAAAM was by far the best.
 
Every day is exciting here.
This morning Ken suggested to fly and get breakfast somewhere, he chosed Jefferson 0S9. We departed in loose formation, made a touch and go at Everett Paine Field and met Ken´s friends with an RV-7A at the Spruce Goose coffee. After breakfast we were all on our own and I departed for Aurora/Oregon to get a picture of my RV-8 in front of the Vans factory. I was greeted and waved in by Daryl. Van, THE BOSS himself showed up and we made some pics, he then left and went soaring in his glider - there were the typical cumulus clouds on the sky the glider pilots are usually hunting. I was allowed to use the hangar at Vans Aircraft for my stay, what a nice gesture.
Bruce Eicher came to greet me and took the risk and borrowed me his car for shopping as I was running out of clothes. I didn´t know he is a perfect cook, I got the long promised perfect steak!

GHfmsaY.jpg

Ken and me on final RWY 16R at Paine Field

84vfyI6.jpg

Three RV´s for breakfast

4Yn31ZK.jpg

With THE BOSS and Daryl in Aurora/KUAO
 
I´ll pass Texas in about 10 days, where is the CAF based?
The B-25 and B-17 at Skagit are with CAF Airbase Arizona, based at Falcon Field just E of Phoenix. They're out on tour and won't be back to home base for a few more months. The other CAF B-17 that I fly is Texas Raiders, based at Conroe (CXO, just N of Houston) along with a Navy blue Twin Beech 18.

If you're passing through Texas and want to see some cool warbirds, well, they're all over! The CAF has hangars at San Marcos, Georgetown, Burnet, Fort Worth (B-29/B-24), Houston, Lancaster. Then there's the private collection in Mt Pleasant; lots of cool airplanes and friendly people there. Breckenridge, between Abilene and Ft Worth, has a warbird rebuild shop that's worth a visit. Friendly peeps and unbelievably talented craftsmen there; they can take a wadded up Bud Light can and turn it into a Corsair...

And for RVs? You can't swing a dead cat in Texas without whacking a RV pilot, RVs are everywhere in TX!
 
Last edited:
Welcome

Glad you are here!
If you have time
Coffee & donuts at Lenhardt?s (7S9)
3 miles south of Aurora 10 AM
Lots of RV ers there
 
No flying on June 27, it was rainy and the Skyrunner was happy and dry in the Vans hangar. Daryl from Vans gave me a comprehensive tour of the factory which was very interesting. Bruce Eicher took the risk again and gave me his car for the day. He showed me his beautiful RV-8 Hula Girl and in the evening there was a dinner with the local flying club CAA at the Aurora airport and the members were very interested to hear how I managed the flight til now. And what an honor - I got an award from the club.

The next day I took off on my longest flight so far - nonstop to Minneville KMMV, 16 NM to see the Evergreen Aviation Museum. From there I flew to Reno/Stead KRTS, had a rest, and then to Buchanan KCCR. I was invited there for a photo shoot with John Koehler who flew his RV-9A around the world and Mark Albery who flew the Atlantic twice in his RV-8 - I felt like a beginner!
Unfortunately the Golden Gate Bridge was below a stratus layer but I hope they managed to get some good pics anyway. I then headed to Torrance, but not before taking some pics of the Golden Gate bridge after the cloud cover has disappeared. I will stay in Torrance for a couple of days and do some daytrips.


JkxZusj.jpg

Bruce Eicher with his RV-8

s6U8RS7.jpg

Vans factory tour

zfspPdb.jpg

The Spruce Goose at Minneville

gAM8ELp.jpg

Three intercontinental RV´s

HMeAZrJ.jpg

John Kohler with his RV-9A during the Photo shooting with Mark Albery in the right seat.

47SxOwR.jpg
 
Last edited:
It was great to meet up with Hermann today.
I flew out to Concord airport where Hermann was being hosted by John Koehler.
We lined up the 3 inter-continental RVs for a photo session then headed off for a Bay tour while I flew with John as camera operator.
A big unsorted dump of my photos is on https://photos.app.goo.gl/dEBYSw1KxJiqZzvR7
John and Hermann may add some of their's in due course.
qrSrer4qigbzWhN-EUyOXiJqXUDWUVQpbsZG3EszjMS_DLPC9zLgYPPNiGPoWa8IgyccgEQwsgq6qvPgx9Sa3p4wQPjTuXZWZ0TyHKN_tQZ0xkNqooXVO-jlSdbuMoogAiZMKu45fQH0U7gWMOFOALpKRBssb297iWuc13_VAEWPZpraq9PyqtaGko7QlB4IyNPrCatH3C2RKOkGgUntYVDhJdoopegXQKWm4YsP-GvjsLtBMj2tze3mV7KR5U1xaxJnXNWKfpAnycydkSn1puuxlyzVxEhqC0yYTgQNhQ7hxnSysSyT4w8WqSxAckNYnVadk3jnYMlVEAs-UmkepfHio5WA0Wx8Vf0t-xQQFfVe2nLKTIMJdWEq_-ZRd6PuG8yEm1b3qbSzjNTMzqkYwZSlvzBX3qB2OQBR0MoDF2ETKdieOCRTA5eIsWLinjT6J40Uwvow2BaQK8Isoi2LCXt9_GGU8MxeE6j3uAyuIZdwWSCQV-5ZeR-CY-OgwCJDTmh1YWO7b8HaVHDE4P0wxUsAZsk_VI7WT6qBA3S-dQOLmvZDnUvpBDVT9xpjdcdIrJAhsEt5GFc4hRvbZRvOs6B_4RybuxQIpWyH1uE3INMiESgLpssaKtBf35CYHPXWDcZvdw5Xs5AAcuOqbdbdmMwMP3KxhvqAKgoIF931BG2MkofCZ6r-k9OoCMJfFDrxe_rAf8FsEHZMksbCmXFUMTyboA=w1463-h975-no

ebLJw7tp2m3sfHTwVwoARwh0rq6XDSIUtkp4MKsWCWC5GvrHnR4-rQvjaMisioZt5r15Y2xnGaEvaUZttZKaGlFOBoA0XGitvDWuw5_36oqJ1uKEyw3pafIZM1LkfU34iVUXMI3FneBZSYYFIPEFCoImhyQzuvvyerK4KxyrMnMudqHqgahXXGnzDf-7N6yFIeffihc-uP07bNT89B_omaar8FBCYLicS875PxB9ZOkh_SK9U87sz_cyoTAQ4fznIToO-8EY2odwbtCDC8n52pMz9bhNKUnPhva1V8sYeHye6rWLmFx_3SGTRpUaN15cABcWgIf8bIP_TJYqJvdFdYxpfXtF6GnM4plN0fPFmk2WDMQn4kCoRrMCUMRYty9lI40b_cvw9cvCFeRVgQsVAEGZsFTiMOfeS7zjrRsReaHxCKN_8DVnqsmWzjR9seogxvmyGz9piorNVoef2nn_EUWXj99J4dMc6bdU9NjG73Q3hF2UH8sFKJmZUH6HOG7MmwsyZoY_3oIkeu9hERDPIv_8ftM4426z3IPIHxk4OXfT-P1sdSBQorHmvZzmTNfybNp2iEp3ZgbME3Fhwob23d4UcauFII4pr7m6E6Dzb_CD9Qy9W3swZXdyCEF8BtodP3qDyjm2JTQBmqNR8AwpU4Tm6ZhayRttKhBy6VXNc5tSilXBjT5ZdQ9OIh91H6Z33-hkvUCIlcyzpmtz14aRliB9KA=w1463-h975-no
 
Sweet! Welcome to the Bay Area, Hermann! I'm following your flight with great interest. But, you missed the best part: you didn't come to Half Moon Bay. Great airport; You could have checked out my build! ;-)

Safe travels; enjoy the USA!
 
Wow, looks like you're next door at Zamperini! How long do you plan to be in the area?

-Marc
 
I stayed in the Bay area only for one day, too short I know.
Another day or two at Zamperini before heading to Boulder to "fly the Grand Canyon".
Yesterday I made it to Catalina Island. There were recently some discussion going on about the runway condition. It is done and in good condition. Because I navigated the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean the landing fees were waved for me so after having lunch I flew to Big Bear and spent myself a second breakfast in the afternoon. They serve breakfast until 3 pm.

zQkxIPf.jpg


w5cdKpY.jpg


zuwktgW.jpg
 
Last edited:
Yesterday I made it to Catalina Island. There were recently some discussion going on about the runway condition. It is done and in good condition. Because I navigated the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean the landing fees were waved for me so after having lunch I flew to Big Bear and spent myself a second breakfast in the afternoon.
So. Freakin'. Cool.

Catalina and Big Bear on the same day... and that's why flying around SoCal is just so darn awesome; mountains, beach, high desert, it's all right there. Plus, lots of cool airports and most have a diner on or very nearby. I'm jealous!

So what/where's next? If you're near East Texas this weekend (Thurs-Sun), stop in at Tyler(KTYR), will have some CAF ships (B-17, B-25, Beech 18) there for rides and the Cedar Creek airshow. Just throwin' it out there...
 
Last edited:
welcome

Have been watching your progress. What a great experience. I live in Eastern, CO and you are welcome here if you happen to be close. 2V5, Wray, CO
 
Place to

A Place to stay
Hermann will be in Denver tonight (July 5th). I have Hangar space for him at Rocky Mountain Metro Airport (BJC) and a car he can use but not a place for him to stay. Anybody have a bed where he can lay his head close to BJC?
 
Last edited:
Flew into AJO to go to ACS last week. The lady told me a shiny small plane flew in from Germany while I was in the shuttle!!
 
It is a while now that I didn´t update on my trip.
So on July 2nd I flew to Corona to shop at Aircraft Spruce, I have been there many times but never with my own plane. Then I went on to Boulder City where I passed these mirror fields. Can anyone explain what is going on there?? At Boulder I had a hangar, Bruce from Seattle arranged this. I was greeted and guided to the hangar. It is so exciting to meet friendly and helpful people everywhere, this makes my trip even more of a pleasure.
The next day I prepared the plane when it was still dark and departed at sunrise. Hoover dam is only minutes away and I was wondering how much traffic there is so early. Next was the Grand Canyon only a short distance from Boulder. I flew into the SFRA avoiding the no fly zones and passed three of the published corridors. This itself and the view out of “my” plane will be unforgettable. Not enough, I flew on northeast-bound to Monument Valley and arrived there still early in the morning when the sun was not that high above the horizon. And man, the view with the low sun behind is spectacular, the colors and contrast in the early morning are so strong, simply breathtaking. I landed at Gouldings UT25 for a short break, then headed back once more over the Grand Canyon to my “Home Base” at Boulder with a short stop at Grand Canyon International KGCN and Grand Canyon West 1G4 – what a day!!
Next morning I was invited by the local pilots to fly with them over the Parade at Boulder City for the Independence day, what a guesture and what a great feeling to be invited for this event. Of course I flew behind the real formation because I don´t have formal formation training and we never before flew together. The lead pilot got it right and I learned a lot from his briefing and debriefing.
This is a long post - not finished, so first a few pics:

ZJDJv6F.jpg


hmwmTbI.jpg

Hoover Dam

fSikZwJ.jpg


5GbpzZV.jpg


bmtSU48.jpg


gJb6MDo.jpg


41NQbcf.jpg


azUB4yH.jpg

Takoff for the Parade Flyover
 
Last edited:
On July 5th I left Boulder and headed for Sedona, heard good stories and I have to say the area around Sedona is just another spectacular place. So, I landed, had breakfast and went out to the apron looking at another RV parked on the ramp. A pilot walked over, said hello I?m David and I said I?m Hermann ? his reply was ?I know? ? that was cool, so obviously he is reading on VAF. He has a RV-6 and a beautifully restored 1932 Monocoupe. He made the pic during my runup at the Sedona airport.
I also wanted to fly to the highest airport Leadville but the runway is closed presently so I flew to Telluride KTEX with an elevation figure of 9070 ft and density altitude of 11500 ft on that day, not too bad and good enough for my own record. Seems like I have to come back but not before checking the Leadville notams prior leaving Europe!
On this flight I also past the huge meteor crater on the way to Telluride.
Then I gave Bob at Rocky Mountain airport my ETA and took off to fly the last leg of the day over the Rocky Mountains at 15500 ft (DA 17500 ft), first time on my tour with oxygen. There was a rain shower on my way just where the mountains descended towards Denver but easily to circumfly. Bob was waiting and had his hangar prepared for another RV-8 beside his one. I few years ago he was kind enough to show me some details of his RV-8 under construction and I copied his cockpit side panels. He also arranged my first flight in the back of an RV-8 in one of his Renegade Airshow team members. I will see him fly in Oshkosh in two weeks. This morning we had breakfast together before I left and flew to Majors KGVT near Dallas. There were buildups just north of Dallas but I was early enough to fly around them. Now I have to figure out were to fly tomorrow!?

2FoYXSi.jpg

Runup at Sedona

5lrkAjQ.jpg


cyOce2e.jpg

Final Rwy 09 Telluride

9CqRFnX.jpg

Bob in front of our two RV-8s
 
The mirror thing

They are power generating plants.

That plant that you passed over is a $2.2 billion complex of three generating units, owned by NRG Energy Inc., Google Inc. and BrightSource Energy, and can produce nearly 400 megawatts — enough power for 140,000 homes.

Using technology known as solar-thermal, nearly 350,000 computer-controlled mirrors roughly the size of a garage door reflect sunlight to boilers atop 459-foot towers in the center. The sun’s power is used to heat water in the boilers’ tubes and that makes steam, which drives turbines to create electricity.

The heat is so high, that when birds fly through the sun ray beams, it will vaporize the birds. I have been hearing the environmentalist have been complaining about the deaths of the birds and they want these plants shutdown.

Brian
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the explanation.
I once saw this in Lhasa, same principle with only one mirror and no steam and turbines, just hot water.


Z0LLI9c.jpg
 
There?s an old story about that meteor crater where an airline captain pointed out the crater to the crew. Someone responded with, ?Boy, they were lucky. That meteor almost hit that parking lot.?
 
Change of destination

While Bob and I were at breakfast he called a friend in Florida to ask for a hangar for me and gave me the contact details. In the evening I planned for Gainsville/FL and in the morning got in touch with Bill in Brooksville/FL. He said I can share his hangar for my stay and so I replanned to his place, not much difference, just a little .....ville. I made it in one hop at 04:40h. After landing I was guided to Bill´s hangar and I was happy to have a roof for my plane, thunderstorms all around these days here! The sleeping quality is much higher this way! Not knowing me he invited me to stay at his home and drove me to the airport next morning. We intended to fly for breakfast together and waited for the weather to improve. It was too late for breakfast, so later in the day I flew to Key West around some weather and more so on the return flight.
Bill invited me today to Falcon Field KFFC while he had to do something there with the CAF. Loose formation and 30 minutes into the flight my engine got rough, #4 EGT went up, so one lean cylinder. Playing with the mixture did not really help and things got worse. Bill pointed out an airfield abeam, Cross City CTY and down we went. We found some shade to look into Skyrunner´s engine bay and one guy drove over and brought four bottles of water to make our stay more comfortable. I was astonished! The injector on #4 was clogged and so cleaned, the runup was promising, cowling on again. Off we went after only 45 minutes wheels down.
At Falcon Field I met many aviation enthusiasts working on the warbirds and they were more than happy to show me their planes and let me sit in it, much much better than looking during airshows and waiting in the queue.
It seems I meet only great people here and I´m sure I will miss it when I´m back home. The return flight was as usual flying around weather and the engine was running like nothing happened.

xIMcRix.jpg

Along the Keys

np5ieVv.jpg

Final Rwy 27 Key West

1y3yqfK.jpg

Bill in his beautiful RV-8 on the flight to KFFC

FDuX1Gv.jpg

Happy in the hangar with their mates while a thunderstorm is passing

MGLDUOd.jpg

Happy me...
 
Last edited:
Finally Bill and I made it to Whitted KSPG on Wednesday morning for breakfast, wheather at this time is not really perfect and Florida seems to be influenced by the depression over the Gulf of Mexico. I got a nice shot in the air over the Skyway Bridge just south of Whitted.
Then today in the morning I left Brooksville, flew south around Orlando and did a low approach over Rwy 33 at the Nasa Shuttle Landing Facility, then headed towards Barnwell KBNL in South Carolina, refueled and flew on to Dare Co Rgnl KMQI for an overnight stop.
Bill - if you read this, thanks again for taking care and your hangar.
Tomorrow I intend to hop over to First Flight and be on this memorable place where the Wright brothers did their very first flights. From there I will head north and probably will set down in the New York area for another night stop.

pHW47ic.jpg

Over the Skyway Bridge

7ehBPCD.jpg

Final Rwy 33 Nasa Shuttle Landing Facility
 
Last edited:
Another Highlights

As planned, I hopped over to First Flight KFFA. During the night it was raining but it cleared up in the morning and so walking this memorable place was possible. It was only 116 years ago and now we are building our own airplanes again!
As I am not 100 percent fit on Foreflight and the Stadium TFR on the Hudson River showed red I was unsure what to do. I called Flight Service but they only said the TFR will be active from one hour before the event and this might change. So I flew towards New York with flight following and when descending towards the Hudson SFRA I made sure the corridor is open. It was so great that I flew the corridor three times and circled the Statue of Liberty - very impressive. No way in Europe to fly in such a congested airspace without a clearance!
Finally landed in Danbury KDXR where I met a classmate of my wife and was invited for dinner, my first meal of the day!

Fr8bukH.jpg


R5NDyu2.jpg


b48dueT.jpg


LhM791R.jpg
 
On Saturday I flew around New York and my first landing was at Brookhaven HWV on Long Island where I visited the airport cafe. Then did some more flying without a real destination. Looked up the accomodations in Foreflight at several airports and decided to fly to Reading KDRG for the next layover. The FBO there provided the hotel transfer and a good discount at a suggested hotel. I spent myself one day off there as I run out of destinations, Oshkosh being very close. I remembered Miles here on VAF offered a place to stay and so I gave him a call. He was good with me flying over the next day and when I arrived at his hangar home he had organized a barbeque at his hangar and around 20 or 30 people, most of them pilots, came together to greet me and for some airplane talk. Miles has a beautifully restored C-170 and is building a RV-7 (see pic). And Goatflieg, if you have some more pictures I would like to see them here.
When I taxied in a guy in a neighbor hangar realized my German registration, came over and invited me to see his shop. They are restoring a B-25 there, didn´t expect this there.
This morning Miles suggested to fly to Kalamazoo KAZO which I did. Another museum with some nice warbirds and restoration work going on. I parked right in front of the museum and was greeted by the museum staff.

kLKUAQS.jpg


oDh0DhV.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hermann, I and the rest of the ?Brighton Air Force? really enjoyed your visit! You?re welcome back any time.
 
Hermann and Miles: I have the photos ready and will share six more teasers here. There are about 140 photos, and I think I'll mail them to you both just to make it easier for all of us. Please let me know if you'd prefer to have them on a CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) or a thumb drive. I can do either one. As soon as I get your preferences, I'll get them in the mail. I have both addresses.
 
NBh_wBYKMrE-HTDbDQ4jMeJ66_gEo7cKw1nIdFcIxGIup8GMD5wBGTdr-cficOa-P0meogf1BXJBuHYHzDir8lLGAzJL0qfbFqypv1S65Ej5XPQEC8EDGs-SNgb-3B40G_TZxI1_p9ZWld-YQbrex5p3jD91ZHn_HF_Hu7egtpR9aB3WVyIFAYDRCnlfSbiwPgXQQr68pJ3kxZfaFJEQCsjnAvTECNtAjDaKaJyeznp5m7yi6hEIc2MECdiYyGtIbtyDJyvDJ2r4yWerapRaCL-g15T8MnHlT4NYTwd4WiyFboBe8AzphM7-BIxgDM-I1pTs6cfF7lNzludkJzfgIaPo25bcg65CvR2j04O11u70mdUkouXMgpE7vz2T20h6zuldfqKk3xPZa_KxTR5BxRUEmwheohIRHtF0OaqcPiIpHHQNgpno0fg6sWFTTwO8Awqtrghub0597bWBd0Iabp0IiZ0Pc6Yt0oLQiLp3FquMPF8hk0fsmw2_0lBWvnDYJcISwzGJFkNSinXRJlPTbV1ZxKa-XwBAYrnzPi0klORRayND0Oq5NKPOtNrjkcxvPm4nRcWH7JlP98vvqGfr6-v6nqPo3VKiRV5cgOchOh7O_xROizG4-VHV7TUW8zo00jy1pjHgcf4RDE0kd58f-eplCmgo42w=w1350-h900-no

4r9bJauTzbfHEPtfmVWjhwFnE0h7fQThMbubvFezq3Wrq8GHDURi9JmPP6-debNN0OkwBB-2DgC8COCuovA20GKEZhbybrDxaqpZxpCg860y3xWeJuDHISkS05RaouD4yEDIKri8e7qAl-7XGP_Ur8Sbk7Zmim9p9nE8KOCH7LW5D_bguUVnVw0EmW27pbwGE0MXoyHkS6JFHMyrDyRpEM6cT6muOYljYuRoZ3W1UVBkHGv1YhLsKgI0lmANxvT9NdJYGO5IctXXGvOJzvcKDGw7Lfz7xm-LwJ3GVSZc7SZmGhkxMSJSBEQzkFk1PQDj16C3v1q2ZUqnsHjNkP6lW8VQRJWEYRtsMZjJYQGSgOju9Woku5BXDXO46fwtkfi-aKaY839oPUyD9L3dQG8gyBpSu1SCEGrUAIr0bPGCDKOGD4hTemTEqiIZ5dnPBUqIUQQmcaXqLQ4wvIwI9_kCOSlBlde7Hde_-S1in7LzNqgDyCbypADxHPcTmbIaYwmeazky9OqsJlLadL57bEg8wJeWMIP2xgDwDHb-RCKA5iqw2jF8o4OHjWy749u6hUw1mOTPNHr-TgmMvWJ0Zdnt3ImrRrWhEGkIY5VPgB39eMTKa5IQRma4v1jkiwnJMYd5i0skCKbNGsNjNae9wlMyAsIji8o0h64=w1350-h900-no

(Sorry about the large size... I reduced them enough to display ok on my computer without having to scroll. Hope it worked for everyone else.)
 
Thanks again for the surprise arrival; it made a good day a whole lot better. Had a great time. Special thanks to Miles for hosting the event.
 
From Kalamazoo I flew to Michigan City KMGC for some patterns. So easy here, no landing fees and not showing up to show the documents, just leave and head for the next destination, Naper LL10. Here I was invited by Paddy (see post #6). Jim let me use his hangar and tools for a 100h inspection. I did not expect to fly that much but now I´m ready for my final destination Oshkosh - and home! He also invited me to stay in his house and he and his wife provided everything for me to keep going these days - thanks Jim. He is planning a trip over the Atlantic very soon so I could tell some of my experience I made so far. Thursday evening we flew together around Chicago city in his RV-10 and I was very impressed how this thing flies. Very quiet and of course a little heavier on the controls than my RV-8, but so also a better IFR plattform.
Then on Friday morning I made "My Flight to Oshkosh". What a great feeling to come this long way and land the plane I built in Oshkosh. I was immediately greeted by my neighbors and felt just right.
Late in the evening storms were active northwest of Oshkosh and moving in. Fortunately they throw most of the bad things out before reaching the field so nothing bad happened.

sR8zama.jpg

Jim and me

5wXh429.jpg

Chicago Thursday evening

9EZqgyX.jpg

Left base Rwy 36L at Oshkosh

9gQVonw.jpg

Landed

Bsmpbvb.jpg

Foreflight screenshot Friday night, weather approaching Oshkosh
 
Last edited:
"Welcome to Oshkosh!"... that's just coolest thing to hear from the controllers the first time landing your homebuilt at the Big Show...
 
Now the weather cleared up and the temperatures came down for the show. I met many friends and made new ones. But I didn´t have much time to walk around. Yesterday evening Tobias from Germany showed up and said we will fly a formation in the morning for breakfast to some place nearby. I was hesitant because I´m not proficient in formation flying and was afraid loosing my parking spot. Anyhow we met at 6 am in the morning and briefed the flight and I got an expert in the back seat and was good with it. The flight was great, the breakfast in Madison was good and I learned something again. But believe me, during the flight I only saw this plane beside me and two runways just prior landing - Madison and Oshkosh. I need more training and will then probably see a little more around me.
In the evening I was invited to the Vans banquet and met many builders and the Vans crew I already met three weeks ago. We all agreed that we are building and flying the greatest kitplanes!
And now unfortunately I have to think about my return flight and just checked the weather forecast for Canada and Greenland and believe that leaving on Thursday morning is best, will make a final decision tomorrow and keep you updated.

hj0fjNx.jpg


nBiO8Je.jpg


0j2wS9i.jpg

The whole crew today
 
I bet you will be sad to leave, but what a great trip and fantastic memories. Best of luck for the journey home and thanks for sharing with us!
 
Hermann, say hi to my California buddy (and Karen’s favorite substitute teacher) Paul Rosales (N628PV)!
 
Hermann, say hi to my California buddy (and Karen?s favorite substitute teacher) Paul Rosales (N628PV)!

Rosie is not at AirVenure 2019 but his airplane is. At 4,500 hours, the airplane knows it?s way with a great Swissair pilot Tobias.
 
I'll be arriving Thursday morning; I'll see if I can find your plane before you leave. If not, I'll mail your thumb drive photos Friday. Fly safe...
 
Back
Top