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Rosie & Tuppergal's Bahamas Trip 2011

Home Sweet Home

Can you travel as fast as the airlines in your RV?

Here is my flight route today, coming back from the Bahamas.

Right at 1900 statute miles in a little over ten hours flight time.

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Started this morning at 9:30 a.m., with engine fire up in Exuma.
Landed this evening at 8:10 p.m. in Goodland, Kansas. Had an hour lunch and Customs clearing in Fort Pearce. Fueled in Fort Pearce, Kennet, Missouri, and home. Only two stops.

Burnt 68 gallons of fuel, and had 10.2 hours of flight time! Twenty eight miles per gallon!

I think that says it all. We all had such a great time this year! Can't believe it is over.....

Jimmyb & Vicki 2
Goodland, Ks.
N699JB
 
Burnt 68 gallons of fuel, and had 10.2 hours of flight time! Twenty eight miles per gallon!

Pretty impressive. Those are long legs. My initial thought is that you have great seat cushions or you have an iron butt.
 
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Inspiring and Impressive

Leave to you Rosie, what a great adventure. Helps me realize that a trip from home base in south Florida to Abaco can be accomplished and darn it, get the plane finished.

Headed your way (Edwards) this weekend for second flight of X51 Scramjet, if all goes as planned, we'll be celebrating next week.
 
Moody Blue and crew are home.

Janet and I slept in our own bed last night. The weather cooporated, so we came on home. I don't have a technical accounting like JimmyB, but we had kinda tired butts on the last leg. Our route and aprox times.
MYEF - KFPR 2.6 hr
FPR -EUF 2.6
EUF - TKX 2.4
TKX - AIO 2.9
A long day, but a testement to what you can do in even a slow RV. We arrived at Atlantic, IA at 10:15 PM in the dark. We used flight following from FRP- EUF(busy airspace) and from TKX to AIO(darkness).
Mark and Deb were right behind us at Eufala, AL and they, also landed Kennet, MO just as we were getting back from Subway. They stayed the night in Kennet and will get home to Goodland, KS today.
One flying observation: The controllers throughout the country were great. We were never denied service and were welcomed into the airspaces. A few commented on the RV and/or asked about the plane or the trip. (Didn't get any commets from airliners, like we did in Grand Cayman 2 yrs ago though, remember Rosie)
Weather change: Just looked at the thermometer...58 degrees in Walnut this morning, just thought I would rub it in for those flying in the heat down south. Everybody, fly safe and see you as soon as possible. Gene and Janet
 
The Cards, including Watson retrieved from San Antonio, are home. I just pulled up my chair and a beer before hitting the shower. What an adventure. 22C performed flawlessly. It only used about .25qt. of oil the whole trip. It will get a thorough bath this weekend, with "actual" water (Rosie), to try to knock off some of the salt. Do you mind if I say it again? What an ADVENTURE!!
 
I have a question about the flights. Why do you call them Alpha Flight, Bravo Flight, etc, etc? I have seen posts by other RVers that refer to these flights. Is this a special meaning? what happens if you don't name the flight and/or all fly over in a big gaggle?

Sounds like a great trip and a lot of fun. I've enjoyed reading the narration and seeing the photos.
 
Day 20: We have landed Addison (ADS), TX

Hi All! Tuppergal and I landed Addison, TX a bit after 1700 local time. I'm currently in the Landmark Aviation FBO (these folks LOVE RVers!) waiting for our friend to pick us up. As you can see from the ground track link, we had to do some zigging and zagging to stay away from the big thunder bumpers. It was a clear shot after fueling at Joyce (0R5), LA. I'll get some pics up later tonight ;-) Also just heard from Mike "Keys" Brewton who made it from Pensacola to Sedona (SEZ): Now that is a LONG DAY of flying! Rosie & Tuppergal
 
I have a question about the flights. Why do you call them Alpha Flight, Bravo Flight, etc, etc? I have seen posts by other RVers that refer to these flights. Is this a special meaning? what happens if you don't name the flight and/or all fly over in a big gaggle?

Sounds like a great trip and a lot of fun. I've enjoyed reading the narration and seeing the photos.

That's a good question. With so many plane flying together, it's not a problem for us but creates HAVOC for the controllers in the Bahamas (or Turks & Caicos or Cayman Islands). They can only handle one plane at a time with no two planes anywhere near each other in the pattern. By keep the groups small, we can separate the planes much easier and get them down on the ground quicker.

Also by assigning people to groups, we can then have the 'mass' briefing to let people know what time they need to be ready to leave for the airport (in the rental van) and ready to roll down the runway. Using the named flights keeps it simple ;-) Jimmyb, do you have more to add? Rosie
 
Alpha, Bravo, do a Foxtrot...

Formation flying is "work". We are on vacation, and working and vacation don't mix. So, we don't want big groups flying together, where we have to watch the other planes all the time and be working. Breaking a large gaggle of fifteen planes into smaller groups of four to five makes a loose gaggle doable, without safety issues of running into another plane, but still knowing where everyone else is, because they are in a preset formation, just loose at a quarter mile spacing, instead of feet. All the ground briefing stuff, as Paul said, is much easier too, with smaller groups. We could call the groups "Paul's flight, and Jim's flight", but "alpha, or bravo" flight sounds better! It is all safety and logistics, for the short answer.........

Jimmyb
RV-6

 
Seismo and Red are home

After saying our goodbyes to Rosie, Tuppergal, Scoot and Tanya, the Mills and Ziliks departed Pensacola this morning in hazy skies. I started our flight following with clearance delivery and we were off. Three hours later we landed in KRKR (Potaue OK) for fuel and lunch. Great little airport with good old Oklahoma hospitality. Fuel was reasonable too! After departing KRKR we ended up in the smoke from the Arizona fires and hunted for altitudes that did not resemble IFR and ened up at 6500 for longer than I wanted. Flight time from KRSR to KFTG was 4+05 with headwinds and took 29.0 gallons. Total trip today was 1015nm.

I have to thank Rosie and JimmyB for organizing one of the best trips I have ever been on. It sure was a blast. Thanks guys!
 
The Adventure Doesn't End, It Just Pauses

The adventure may have paused for the time being, but with this time machine built in the garage, the play button will be pressed again soon enough. We're planning on being at Oshkosh and will be happy to sit down and talk with anyone about the latest grand adventure.

My final sunrise from our villa, some others didn't quite make it up in time.

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OK, maybe this should have been taken as we arrived, but we were whisked away so quickly, that just didn't work out.

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Six ship out of Fort Pierce for lunch

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Here your go Rosie, I'll save you the trouble of posting it:

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Even Watson knows that every adventure needs some time to recuperate.

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You know by now that there are more pictures. You can find them here.
 
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One more update

Buono's are tied down at Kissimmee for a few days while we play a little more! The short flight from Cedar Key to KISM was no problem yesterday. We spent all day at EPCOT today and plan on Magic Kingdom tomorrow. Our current plan is to depart KISM early Saturday morning and head towards Douglas, GA (DQH) to see the twin Mustang project http://xp-82twinmustangproject.blogspot.com/. After a quick stop in Douglas, we'll point the nose towards Birmingham (EET) to have lunch with my wife's uncle. If we're still standing, we'll push on to Dallas so we can wake up in our own bed on Sunday morning. You can follow our flight here: www.tinyurl.com/spotN517AD

Dave
 
I have a question about the flights. Why do you call them Alpha Flight, Bravo Flight, etc, etc? I have seen posts by other RVers that refer to these flights. Is this a special meaning? what happens if you don't name the flight and/or all fly over in a big gaggle?

Sounds like a great trip and a lot of fun. I've enjoyed reading the narration and seeing the photos.

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, ...

A, B, C, ...

When you have multiple pilots that are capable of leading a fight but are flying with ONE lead, the large flight (gaggle in this case) will be broken up into smaller elements to make easy of handling.

RV Flight Check Alpha 1, 2, 3, 4, Bravo 1, 2, 3, 4, Charlie 1, 2, 3, 4, ...
Instead of: RV Flight Check, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

Easier for each section lead to remember who is with his flight.
 
Scott & Deb Cont.

Thanks to Gary "Siesmo" Zilik for taking the lead today and getting us back to Denver. After two long legs and headwinds, we are finally back home. Except for the last ten minutes when we had 21 Kts on the tail. :cool:

It was an AWESOME time. Always fun to reconnect with old friends and make some new ones. Many Thanks to Jimmy B and Rosie. Most people probably don't realize the amount of planning/preparation that goes into a trip of this size. It just doesn't happen overnight...

A few pictures from Wednesday's flight around the Pensacola weather. Thanks to Scott "Scoot" Card for taking the lead through the Pensacola airspace.

The first one shows the 696 XM version of what was going on.

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Here is what it really looked like out the window. If you look under Snoopy's chin you will see 4822C.

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Note the sun's reflection off the Gulf of Mexico.

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Once Deb sorts through the 1000's of photos she took we will post a link.

Regards,
 
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Day 20: Naval Aviation Museum then Dallas

Day 20 (Thursday, 9 June): Hi to VAF, it's later on Thursday night, and I'm not looking forward to getting back to the 'real' world. I'm was not at work today but I was in Pensacola ;-)

I awoke this morning at 0730 and met the Ziliks/Cards/Mills at 0800 in the lobby for the short walk to, where else, Waffle House :) Many thanks to Tanya Card for getting up at O-dark-thirty to go with the Brewtons to the airport so they could get an early start then bring the rental car back.

After breakfast, we all drove to the airport where we saw the Ziliks/Cards/Mills on their way home. We had the morning to ourselves and drove to the Naval Aviation Museum. We'd never been to Pensacola let alone the Museum so it was a real treat for us. Here are some of the highlights of the museum;

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After entering the museum, we saw there was some kind of ceremony going on, and after watching for a few minutes, we learned it was for an Officer coming from CID? who was going to get his first command (he received his command pin). It was very interesting to watch and be a part of;

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Day 20: Naval Aviation Museum then Dallas

Knowing that we had to be landing Addison (ADS), TX (north of Dallas) between 1700-1800, we drove back to the airport to settle our bill for fuel and the rental car. Here's Tuppergal right before strapping in;

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We were cleared for takeoff on runway 17, fly runway heading which took us out over the Gulf (if you zoomed my ground track, you can see this);

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We were finally steered westbound flying over Pensacola NAS then given "own navigation on course";

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I like to show the real-life-pics of flying with XM weather. These two pics show a cell (off the left wing) on the display and then out-the-window;

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Here's a view of our direct line course to Joyce (0R5), LA where we planned to get fuel. Note the weather under the words 'Vermilion Bay' - them be thunder bumpers;

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We started out with a nice view (straight out) the front window (at 10.5K), but in the end, we had to do some zigging and zagging around the cloud buildups;

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Here we are crossing the mighty Mississippi River;

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Here's base-to-final for runway 9 at Joyce, LA. We were able to pump about 10 gallons before the fuel pump quit working;

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Day 20: Naval Aviation Museum then Dallas

Here's a picture of our course with the zigs and zags. I'm not sure why but our SPOT is spotty on occassion. We have been very happy using XM Weather in the cockpit on all of our long trips across the country :)

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With the thunder bumpers behind us, we climbed back up to 10.5K (it's a lot cooler up there) and continued direct Addison (ADS). We talked with Pensacola, Polk, Fort Worth and Regional controllers all the way there;

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About 1.5 hours later, our direct course had us on a perfect 45 degree entry to the left downwind for runway 15 at ADS (with downtown Dallas off the left wing);

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As you can see from the picture above, ADS is undergoing some MAJOR construction work. I had planned to stay two nights there but the airport closes on weekends for construction so I have to move the plane somewhere on Friday.

I also had planned to park on the grass outside of Landmark Aviation ($15/night), however, the lineman told me he had two helicopters coming in and that he'd put me in the hangar (no extra charge, thank you very much!).

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The helos arrived, and they turned out to be brand new ones that were enroute from the factory in Louisiana for delivery to, of all places, Fort Irwin near Barstow, CA (a rocks-throw from my house). We had a great visit with the pilots and crew talking about their 11-hours-new, 110 knot cruise (Eurocopter) helos then I was able to show them our 3351 hour fixed wing aircraft ;-)

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There is a lot of 'Glass' in that cockpit!

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We are here at my friends house in Plano, TX having just eaten a huge dinner. We missed lunch on the way here as we didn't want to let the clouds get bigger by staying in Pensacola all day.

The only thing on the plate for Friday is to visit with our friend and move the plane somewhere... probably to Air Park Dallas (F69).

Yesterday, were were in the Bahamas...Today, we are in Dallas...Tomorrow, we could be home in Southern California...naw...we're gonna' stay right here in Texas!

Yes, flying your RV will be lots of fun; We've flown 40 hours so far this trip and over 5000nm, but that's only half the fun. The other half is spending time with your new RV family of friends that comes with your RV!

We are looking forward to seeing many of you on Saturday at the Hard Eight BBQ in Stephenville!

Keep poundin' them rivets because it is ALL worth it! Rosie & Tuppergal
 
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Exuma tower

How did the Exuma tower handle your flights? One plane on the runway at a time or spacing within the flight?

I had to ask if I was cleared to land.

From Rosie: On both my approaches to the airport (initial arrival and from Saturday's flight from Staniel Cay), the 'tower' operated like a Unicom. We were given no spacing our landing requirements (or any directions) at all which let me to believe the guy in the tower was a 'weather' guy (he did give us winds and altimeter). Same for the departures; he gave us winds and altimeter :)

Thanks Rosie. I got an email to the same effect. My pre-trip planning did not show a tower. Yet when I was handed off from Miami Center to Nassau Approach, Nassau "handed me off" to Exuma tower. That was confusing and when I checked my GNS 430 database on frequencies it listed a frequency for the tower as well.

Chalk it up to me never being 100% on a long flight like this.
 
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Thank You

Rosie:

Thank you for the excellent reports and photos.

I was on the first trip to the Bahamas with you and really enjoyed it. Thanks for thinking of me on this trip. Sorry I could not go but limited resources prevented it. (May be a good thing I did not go as I now have hangar issues.)

All you images and stories have brought a smile and good thoughts to me. I remember all the enjoyment that Robin and I had on the trip to the Bahamas with you and the crew.

See you when you get home.

(When I grow up, I want to be like Rosie.)
 
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Day 21: A day to relax in Texas

Day 21 (Friday, 10 June): Our friend, a flight attendant, was unexpectedly called in for a quick-turn so Tuppergal and I were on our own for the day. There are two, 12-week old puppies in the house so our day was going to be spent relaxing around the house 'dog-sitting'.

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My cell phone beeped in a message from Doug Reeves asking if we were available for lunch...ah, YEA!

This was a good reason to head back to Addison airport as we had to move the plane sometime today to Dallas Air Park as the airport is under construction (for what, I'm not sure but it's all torn apart). The airport has been closing on weekends from 11pm Friday to sometime Monday morning.

We headed out to the airport to find the helo guys running up as they were trying to troubleshoot some kind of problem (that's what I guessed when I saw blades spinning and one guy on a ladder under the main rotor);

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We got the plane ready and taxied out for takeoff amid much constuction;

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For those that don't know this, Dallas Airpark (F69) is located about 3nm north of ADS. Departing on the left downwind from ADS runway 15 puts you immediately on a left downwind for runway 16 at airpark so we where there 'now';

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[ed. If you follow the road in the pic above that crosses the runway over to the right center of the image you'll see a silver car sticking its nose out onto the field - me and Tate. Rosie and I planned for a 12:00 noon arrival, and they turned downwind at 11:59:46. Swiss watch. dr]

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Doug and Tate Reeves were there to greet us with Tate helping me (thank you very much) get the plane tied down. Smile Tate!

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Do you see the sign in the upper left corner of the picture above? Genghis Grill is where we ate, and I can tell you that the food there was 5-star-GOOD!!! You walk down the food line and pick your very own ingredients then they cook it up for while you watch;

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We had a GREAT VISIT with Doug and Tate and finished off the meal with a shared slice of Key Lime Pie. Walking out to the car, there's the plane...this could be a SUPER fly-out destination for the Texas RVs ;-)

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Doug & Tate then drove us back to Addison to get our car and say our goodbyes. Many thanks to you both for making our day special (we got to fly AND see you both!).

Saturday is Hard Eight BBQ day so see you all on the ramp (walking away to eat) at 1130!

Keep poundin' them rivets because it's ALL worth it! Rosie & Tuppergal
 
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Day 22: Lunch at the Hard Eight BBQ!

Day 21 (Saturday, 11 June): I've been looking forward to this day for over 2 years, since our last trip to the Carribean in April 2009.

Tuppergal and I departed Air Park Dallas around 1030 local. We flew west at 2.5K to remain clear of Fort Worth Alliance and Denton airports and the Class B airspace above. Passing those two airports, we were able to climb to 4.5K southwest bound. We passed just north of the Texas Speedway;

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Today was a really nice day compared to some of our previous days flying;

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We arrived to Stephenville (Clark Municipal) about 36 minutes after takeoff. Unfortunately, I was following a Columbia and a 2 mile final...he lied... it was more like 5!;

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A nice surprise after landing was Pat "Glider" Tuckey leading in a 6 ship with a nice 'popcorn' break to the downwind (two 'vee' formations where they break up then out of the formation to the downwind), always fun to watch!

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After they landed, I counted 13 RVs there to enjoy lunch at the Hard Eight BBQ, a short walk from the airport.

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You know you are close when you can smell the burnt wood used to fire the smokers;

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We all had a great visit waiting in line for some REALLY GREAT FOOD!

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We can't thank you all enough for joining Tuppergal and I today for lunch!!!! RVers make the BEST FRIENDS!!!!

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We visited in the outside dining area long after finishing our meals but finally called it a day and walked back to the planes. We said our goodbyes and were then on our way to Martin & Claudia Sutter's house at Pecan Plantation (0TX1).

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This has always been our last night's stay before the big trip home to California on Sunday. We had a great dinner and visit with the Sutters and their friends the RV-7A owners Gary & Jackie Bricker and RV-10 owner Don McDonald. Once again, we give Many Thanks to Martin & Claudia for having us in their beautiful home!

We are planning an 0800 takeoff for our trip home to California tomorrow (Sunday) with planned fuel stops at Plainview (PVW), TX and St. Johns (SJN), AZ with a lunch stop at Payson (PAN), AZ with our friends, the Logan Family.

You can follow the last of our SPOT tracks here :)

Somewhere between Plainview and St. Johns, we should see the trip odometer pass 6,000nm!

It's been a wonderful 3-week trip and we are looking forward to arriving home to play with our dogs and sleep in our own bed.

Keep poundin' them rivets because it's ALL worth it! Rosie & Tuppergal
 
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Have a good trip back.....

Rosie,

So good to meet you and Tuppergal. Great group of people and I agree, RV'rs are the nicest people. Hope to join the community some day! Well worth the drive down.

Mike
 
shark bait and mother made it home

Thanks for the great trip, new acquaintances, and lasting memories. I hope I can be there for the next one. To see the country, fly internationally, and spend time with family and friends is unforgettable.
My notes:
From the west coast to the Bahamas and back, a hair over 5600nm, trip fuel ran about $1500 for 280 gal. This is about the same as I would have spent commercially for two.
The airport staff at Borger, TX are as helpful as they come when you have a dead alternator. When you lose your second alternator, I learned that I can go over 2.5 hours on minimal systems.
An overnight on the terminal couch in Kennett, MO is really comfortable versus the cockpit. It's open 24 hours too and has many other pluses.
Many thanks,
Andrew
 
Always great to see friends

Great to visit with both of you again. Come back to Pecan anytime. Hope you can stay longer next time. Noticed you were already in AZ. 1:20 Tx time.
 
Sounds Like It's Official!

Andrew Brandt has confirmed "Shark Bait"
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as his official callsign. Boo-yah! This one has had Scott & Deb's vote since the infamous tiger shark encounter of June 2011. It was great having you along on this trip, Andrew. Already looking forward to the next one! Glad you and Mom made it home safely with no additional alternator issues.
 
Rosie and Tuppergal just touched down 10 minutes ago. I bet there are ready to be home!

I assure you, if they had the vacation time, they could go for at least another week... If they touched down, they ARE home!
 
Day 23: TX to CA and back to 'the real world'

Day 23 (Sunday, 12 June): All good things must come to an end, and today was our last day of vacation before we get back to 'the real world' tomorrow...

We awoke around 0630 CDT to find Claudia cooking up some bacon and eggs for us. They were going to fly to breakfast with other from Pecan Plantation so our departure would work right into their day.

We were loaded up and ready to go around 0745;

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We had clear skies and an early morning sun behind us.... and we've learned a few tricks using our Koger Shade to keep the sun off of us too (drop it off the back rail ;-)

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We arrived to Plainview (PVW), TX about 1.6 hrs after departure for fuel;

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As we approached the New Mexico border, we got our first hint of the smoke from the fires burning in Arizona (smoke travels a long ways...);

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Here's something we saw on the ground in New Mexico and I have no idea what these jets were doing there on the ground....at an unmarked, DIRT runway airport....

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It was on this leg we saw the trip odometer hit 6,000nm for the trip so far;

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Here's some nice shading by clouds somewhere southwest of Albuquerque (ABQ). Look into the distance and you can see more smoke from the Arizona Fires;

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Day 23: TX to CA and back to 'the real world'

We continued to smell smoke across the entire state of New Mexico, and it got pretty thick about 40nm east of St. Johns (SJN), AZ and stayed that way until about 10nm from SJN.

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We did a quick-turn on fuel at SJN and continued westbound with clear skies ahead;

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We landed Payson (PAN), AZ about 45 minutes later to have lunch with longtime friends Arlene and Jack Logan, their two daughters, son-in-law, grandaughter and great-grandaughter. This family is the reason I've owned a power boat since 1980. Here they are seeing us off;

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Here's a picture looking northwest into the Prescott Valley and straight ahead;

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We soon arrived to the Colorado River and Lake Havasu. One of my very first long cross countries after I received my Pilot's license in 1979 was to Lake Havasu, and back then, the airport was located on this peninsula (I swear I can see an outline of the old runway).

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This next picture shows the famous London Bridge, relocated to Lake Havasu some time ago;

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Here you can see some really big sand dunes located in the Kelso Valley, just west of Goffs VOR:

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Here are lava formation located east of Barstow;

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This is Silver Lakes, a retirement resort in the middle of the desert west of Barstow;

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Day 23: TX to CA and back to 'the real world'

We know we've arrived 'home' when we see El Mirage Dry Lake, Rogers Dry Lake (Edwards AFB) and USAF Plant 42 at Palmdale, CA;

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Here we are on a wide left base then final to Runway 26 at Rosamond Skypark (L00);

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This picture says it all: We are home!

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We flew a LOT of miles too ;-)

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Our neighbor (and my mountain biking buddy) Scott Loftin was there to greet us (as were the dogs waiting patiently by the gate);

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Day 23: TX to CA and back to 'the real world'

Here's a summary of today's (Sunday's) flight;

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Here's all the stuff we pulled out of the plane;

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Here's the 'big picture;

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Here are snapshots of the trip log from start to finish. You need to start with the last picture in this series and work your way up to read it;

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Without totaling all these hours, we were short of exactly 50 hours by 0.3 for a total hobbs flight time of 49.7 hours.

I'd fly to the Caribbean EVERY YEAR if I could afford it, however, I have to settle for every other year ;-)

I have to thank Jim "Jimmyb" Baker for helping me setup this trip, and I thank EVERYONE who flew with us across the water for making it come together!!! This has to be one of the best vacations ever in the airplane!!!

I also thank all of you for 'flying along with us' on this trip. I really enjoyed all of the e-mails you sent!

I very much hope that our group has inspired the fliers to 'spread your wings' a bit farther and the builders to keep poundin' them rivets because it is ABSOLUTELY ALL WORTH IT!!! Rosie & Tuppergal

PS: I've already scribbled out the trip I'm now planning for 2013 which will take us past the Turks & Caicos to the British Virgin Islands and down the Antilles island chain :D
 
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Thanks Rosie

Thanks for your efforts and daily write-up. Congratulations on a well-deserved trip and for coming by to visit.

To all you guys and gals who fear going a long distance, let this be an example of what you're capable of.

Of note, is the use of a 496 with WX. I have one in both my Air Tractor and the -10 and refuse to fly any distance without them, as you saw from Rosie's pictures of thunderstorms.

Best,
 
Lookie, Lookie, what I found

On the Internet this morning......:)

Leaving Florida:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3eIK3IqdaQ&feature=related

Flying the Exuma chain low, the last sixty miles before landing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kJ3I3aEW60g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUR80WvCO1I&feature=related

Landing at Exuma:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUO7vb4_284&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

This was Mike's first ocean scuba dive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AJflCt-3dY&feature=related

I think they had a great time........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ6p0duyyig&feature=BFa&list=ULoKmC3-_6wZM&index=11



Thank you Mike and Denice for some GREAT videos of our trip!

This gives everyone a little perspective of what we did.

It was sure fun!

Thanks for posting them.

Jim​

Jim Baker
RV-6
699JB
Goodland, Ks.​
 
Videos are great!

Tom and Katie volunteer to lead Foxtrot or Gulf flight in 2013. (Yes, RV-6a WILL be flying by then) :D
 
Flying the Bahamas

I want to thank Rosie and Jim for putting together such an awesome trip!!! Denice and I had the time of our lives and enjoyed every minute of our trip, I had been wanting to go on one of their trips since 2004 and finally was able to pull it off, The flying was incredible!!!!!!!! and everyone was so friendly!!! it was like we had known everyone for years!!! I can't wait till the next trip when we won't be newbies anymore:) we took a couple of thousand pics and about 45 gigs of video on this trip, It was amazing!!!

Here are some of our stats
Flying days
Day 1
First leg, 886 miles, avg speed 211 mph, 4.2 hours, AUN/AEG
Second leg, 771 miles, avg speed 215 mph, 3.8, AEG/LIT
Auburn California to Little Rock Ark

Day 2
One leg 631 miles, avg speed 197, 3.2, LIT/TBR
Little Rock Ark to Statesboro Georgia

Day 3
First Leg, 385 miles, avg speed 183 mph, 2.1 hours, TBR/VNC
Second leg, 194 miles, avg speed 149 mph, 1.3 hours VNC/MTH
Third leg, 60 miles, avg speed 150 mph, .4 hours, MTH/KEYW
Fourth leg, 157 miles, avg speed 157, 1 hour, KEYW/X51

Day 4
First Leg, 347 miles, avg speed 157, 2.2 hours, X51/MYEF

Day 5
First Leg, 130 miles, avg speed 144 mph, .9 hours, MYEF/MYCP
Second Leg, 135 miles, avg speed 169 mph, .8 hours MYCP/MYEF

Day 6
First Leg, 427 miles, avg speed 158 mph, 2.7 hours, MYEF/FPR
Second Leg 206 miles, avg speed 158.6 mph, 1.3 hours, FPR/CDK
Third Leg 284.3 miles, avg speed 189.5 mph, 1.5 hours, CDK/PNS

Day 7
First Leg 529 miles, Avg speed 189, 2.8 hours, PNS/JDD
Second Leg 479 miles, Avg speed 177 mph, 2.7 hours, JDD/PRZ
Third Leg 547 miles, avg speed 161 mph, 3.4 hours, PRZ/SEZ

Day 8
621 miles, avg speed 182 mph, 3.4 hours, SEZ/AUN

Total Stats
6191 Miles
173 MPH
37 Hours
 
Thank you Rosie & Tupper Gal

Rosie you have done more to help me than you'll ever know. It has been an uphill battle for me for years to get my RV completed with a lot of flack and land mines set by my bride to slow me down. :(
She took very little interest in your trip at first :rolleyes: and by the middle it had become a nightly ritual for us to sit in bed and review your daily updates.:) At the end she was checking your position on a hourly basis to see your progress. ;) Now she's actually hounding me to get our RV done. Unbelievable! :eek: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you :D

From Rosie: That is some of the best news I've heard for the entire trip Tom! You need to spend time EVERYDAY building your RV, and it will get finished. Perseverance, more important than skill, is required to finish your plane! If she hasn't already, make sure she checks out the videos above taken by Denice 'Video' Brewton. We'll see you and your wife when you join us on our next Islands Adventure :D
 
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No Joy!

Rosie,
Though my 9A won't be done in time, I'd love to join you. I have an airplane to fly though it's not an RV. Surely one spam can won't ruin the party!! Give me a heads up and I'd love to join you for lunch or dinner. From Rosie: You got a deal Paul

Rosie,
I'm really sorry I couldn't help you in Foley, I got called out of town on business. Left you a PM. Hopefully next time and I'll have mine done.

From Rosie: No problem Paul. We weren't sure we could make Foley before 6pm to pick up the rental car so we opted for Pensacola. We'll see you next time around!
 
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This post...

.... is the best trip write-up that I've EVER read!

I was following you guys through your adventure, and what a trip!
Every morning that I got up (Norway is 6 hrs ahead of the Bahamas I think?), I turned on my pc to see your new posts and pics.

Great story, great pics and great people. Must have been "The Ultmate RV-Trip"!

And when I now look at both the ratings you've gotten and the number of wiews, it's easy to see that you guys sure gave alot of people alot of motivation and fun!

It was fun reading Scott and Deb's summary too. Great write up!

Thanks alot for taking the time to make this post guys! Following it was the next best thing to being there... :)
 
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img1176yk.jpg


thought i would drop in and say this was the best of the best. what a event to be part of. we all wish we could of been there. my snorkel is off to you all. 2013 is right around the corner and ill be there.
 
On the Internet this morning......:)

Leaving Florida:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3eIK3IqdaQ&feature=related

Flying the Exuma chain low, the last sixty miles before landing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kJ3I3aEW60g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUR80WvCO1I&feature=related

Landing at Exuma:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUO7vb4_284&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

This was Mike's first ocean scuba dive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AJflCt-3dY&feature=related

I think they had a great time........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ6p0duyyig&feature=BFa&list=ULoKmC3-_6wZM&index=11



Thank you Mike and Denice for some GREAT videos of our trip!

This gives everyone a little perspective of what we did.

It was sure fun!

Thanks for posting them.

Jim​

Jim Baker
RV-6
699JB
Goodland, Ks.​
Hi,
I'm heading to the Caribbean this week, your filming is very good !!! How did you not have all the engine noise in the filming ? Was it editing ? Or .... ???

Tks,
 
Video Patch Cord

I used a video patch cord that if I remember right I bought from Chief, it plugs into your headset jack and into your recorder, they work great!!! it cost about $25 but well worth it, What island are you going to? How many planes are in your group? have a great trip and post some of your videos!!!
 
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