Bummed

KirkGrovesRV8 · #1 07-26-2007, 10:41 AM

Man I have been looking forward to OSh all year and the darn weather is not cooperating

I have tried 3 times to get out of the east and each time low clouds low vis and thunder boomers are in the way.
OH well maybe tomorrow

Keep the pics coming

G Swartley · #2 07-26-2007, 04:02 PM

Kirk
I here ya man. I've been trying to get my BFR done for about the last 3 weeks. And something always pops up when I can schedule a flight. Possibly next week.

By the way I'm going to the fly-in at Smoketown next month hopefully I can see you there.

Kyle Boatright · #3 07-26-2007, 04:16 PM

My plan was to leave Atlanta this morning for Osh, but the weather in the Chicago/Osh area was a no-go this morning and tomorrow looks the same.

I'm trying to rationalize an early Saturday launch and Sunday return, but that's a hard sell even if the weather cooperates.

rzbill · #4 07-26-2007, 04:27 PM

I stayed until the LAST day of OSH once. It was a mental killer for me. All previous occasions I had left to go home while the show was still active. SO.... in my little addled brain

, the show was still going on all year even though I was not there.

Being there and watching everybody leave and getting the undeniable REALIZATION that the show actually stopped was a real bummer.

Plan for next year and work on your IFR ticket maybe? I'm working on mine.

atreff · #5 07-26-2007, 04:51 PM

Bill said:

Plan for next year and work on your IFR ticket maybe? I'm working on mine.[/quote]

I agree fully with the IFR ticket comment. Yesterday, I was needing to get from Raleigh to Asheville and there were Airmets for mountain opscuration and IFR. Also there was a convective sigmet along the route. I wanted to go VFR to avoid the rush hour traffic getting out of RDU. After looking at the radar there was a ton or rain at my destination with T storms to the north. I filed IFR anyway, and I was between layers all the way, so I was VMC, and by the time I got to AVL the heavy rain had stopped, the Boomers had moved north and I shot a really painless approach: Vis 4 miles, a few clouds at 700', scattered at 2500', and broken at 8500'. Just about VFR. If I can do it, anyone can.

Hey Bill. Long time no see. I'm painting the -8 now, which is another very steep learning curve. Glad to see you make it to your new town (AVL) but sad that your progress on the -7 has slowed. Hang in there, call me sometime.

Art in Asheville
N666AT (painting)

KirkGrovesRV8 · #6 07-26-2007, 05:15 PM

I still hope to maybe get out there on Saturday but we will see

There is always next year

Speaking of IR I talked to the CFII today.... will most likely start this fall.
P.S. G Swartley look me up I will be at the fly in..look for the unpainted 8

I am always a optimist so if I make it I will post up

rzbill · #7 07-27-2007, 03:52 AM

Kirk,
I just noticed you are based in Paradise. I was just in New Holland and Chadds Ford a few weeks ago. I used to live in Hanover and fly out of KDMW. Do you know any of that group of crazed RV drivers? (a camo RV4 and an unpainted 6 in particular). I miss those blokes.

Hey Art,
Sorry I have not been around much. My employers corporate staff meetings were moved to exactly the wrong day each month (I must travel to attend), so I can't get to the EAA meeting any more.
As I said, I am working on my IFR ticket at 0A7 in lieu of building. I'm nearly done. Passed the written very well last weekend and my instructor has recently uttered the "checkride" word, so I am stoked. House construction is in a stage that will probably let me restart RV construction after the checkride, too.

atreff · #8 07-27-2007, 05:16 AM

Kirk,

Good on ya! Getting the IFR ticket was one of the most gratifying things I've ever done. Outsmarting the Wx to get somewhere is another. You will not regret it. I hope you can find an instructor that you get along with and who knows how to push and when to back off.

Bill,

Good work on the ticket. I'm sure you'll nail the checkride. You'll need it flying around this part of the world! Call me if you need help on your 7. I may need a hand getting mine to the airport in a month or so...

Art

grantcarruthers · #9 07-27-2007, 06:36 AM

Speaking of IFR rating, I'm 7 hours into mine and doing very very well. For you guys/gals thinking about getting it done, I strongly reccommend ASA's Instrument Procedures Trainer (or some name like that). ~150 bucks but it will save you much time and money when you go to train. Comes with a great book for ground training and over 100 sim lessons that will build you into a decent beginning IFR pilot before you even touch the plane.

Not bragging but CFII says I'm way ahead for just 7 hours with him.

Good luck to all. Wish I was at OSH and would have been if not called up by reserves.

Next year.

atreff · #10 07-27-2007, 12:07 PM

I guess we should call this the IFR ticket, but my last 2 cents is, I got mine over a 9 day period, start to finish. I found a USAir Captain who specializes in IFR training in your airplane. With the written passed, I took a week's vacation from work, got a cheap hotel and flew down to Beaufort, SC to train. We flew off the 40 hours of hood time over 8 days, so that's approx 6 hours/day. What a workout! All my takeoffs were under the hood, and the hood was only removed when we were below decision height and actually doing a landing. I think I looked out the window a total of 20 minutes over that 40 hours! Took the checkride the next day and passed. I have never been so dialed in to my flying skills as at the end of that 40 hours. What a high.

We even had my engine running rough on one of our jaunts, he had me keep the hood on and keep flying.

"Train the way you fly!" he would always say to me. In other words, I could have a rough engine in IMC, so I should get used to handling this under the hood. He believe in this mantra so much that he would not hand me charts in flight, or enter something in the Loran (12 years ago) for me. He kept reminding me that I fly single pilot IFR, so to act like he wasn't there.

As a result, my first IMC XC was a 3.0 hour trip to Memphis Intl. I couldn't find a layer that was not IMC, so I just hammered it out hand flying for 3 hours (no wing leveller) and ended the flight with an ILS at MEM. The concentrated training had significantly raised the bar on my stamina in the gages to where this flight felt like a walk in the park. Easy day didn't feel stressed or afraid, just on top of things.

This says nothing about my abilities, but I tell this tale because I believe that concentrated training in your own aircraft with the right instructor is a great way to go. IN the long run, you'll spend less $$ re-learning motor skills that got rusty between lessons, and you'll be spending so much time over the day with him/her that it offers full time learning.

To anyone in process with the IFR ticket I say, Welcome to another corner of the RV envelope! You can now really use your aircraft for travel. I'm always flexible in my plans, but waiting 6 hours for the skies to warm above icing temps or for Boomers to pass ususally gets it done. Don't forget that we GA guys can head towards our destination and if the Wx gets worse than forecast we can land at many more airports than the airlnes, wait it out and keep going.

Good stuff!

Art Treff