No better way to celebrate the big Four Oh !! part 1

[Darren S]

40th Birthday trip to Vegas

Some guys may want to ring in the big day with a backyard BBQ, babes in bikinis, beer and they buddies. If thats’ you, that’s cool. For me all I wanted to do was spend time with my mistress and my wife, cruise at 190 mph, sit at 11,000 feet, suck oxygen and smile the whole way to Vegas. And you know what…… that’s just what I got to do! Here’s how the adventure unfolded.

Friday May 20th was the big day and I was excited. I roughly planned out two routes from Calgary to Vegas. The Eastern route was Calgary – Great Falls – Salt Lake City – Vegas and the Western route was Calgary – Spokane – Boise – Vegas.

5 days out I was starting to eliminate the Eastern route because of weather. A massive system was developing in the Midwest (which eventually turned into the destructive tornados in Missouri) and Great Falls was forecasting rain. I kept calling Flight Services for weather updates but in hindsight this was a waste.

We are all pretty well versed in reading the various weather products and even 3 – 4 days out the weather is so unpredictable that no definitive plans can be made. For me, crossing the border, I had to pick my port of entry into the US so I could file my eAPIS forms and contact CBP so I was watching the weather closely and deciding on the best port.

A day out it was looking like Kalispell, MT and east were under cloud and rain so that was a no go and Spokane was looking better. Some weather existed between Calgary and Spokane and it was going to be marginal VFR. From there it was looking like smooth sailing.

So I packed up my bird, double checked my portable oxygen system, topped off with gas, checked oil, filed my eAPIS and called CBP. As an aside, to all those contemplating crossing the border, CALL CBP!!! I got in a small amount of kaka last time I crossed the border and didn’t call CBP. Lesson learned.

RV all warmed up and ready for the trip:


Departure weather:


Mom and Dad showed up at the hanger for a final birthday prayer and I was off. Can’t have too much prayer coverage in this business.

I flew under the clouds for a bit then got clearance for SVFR for a little over the cloud travel. As forecasted the skies cleared out and I made a greaser in Spokane. It took an hour and a half.

Happy Birthday to me! I cut a hole in the canopy so I could wear my hat.


My oxygen and pulseoximeter setup:


When it’s time for landing after an extended period in the seat I try to concentrate extra hard because if my landing is bad it will bug me for awhile. Just me I guess.

I cleared customs in Spokane, got gas, took a pee, ate a snack, in that order, then I was off for a straight shot to Ely, Nevada. To decrease the lead build up in my engine I lean aggressively upon start up and taxi as well as in the air. I started using this stuff called Decalin Runup at the suggestion of some on VAF. I throw a little in the tank each top off. Hopefully it will help. I’ll see on the next annual.

Enroute to Spokane:



Enroute to Ely I had beautiful scenery and smooth air. NO BETTER WAY TO SPEND MY BIRTHDAY!

The mountains thinned out as I headed South and the dry desert appeared under the wings of the -7. She was purring like a kitten and the gauges indicated that the fan up front was doing well and had no intentions of stopping.

So I sat back and enjoyed the ride. The Autopilot was doing all the work and I fiddled with the black, red and blue knobs when needed.

Heading to Ely, NV:


Splitting the mountains:


3 hours later I was in Ely, NV. Windy and warm but a welcomed stop. The RV has longer legs than my back or my bladder can take so 3 hours seems to be a good length for a leg. Note to self for future cross countries.

Gas in Ely, NV:


Same thing: gas, pee, snack and check weather again. I must say that the FBOs in the US are quite nice. Some of the places I stopped were down right luxurious ie. Spokane, Reno (on the way home), Yakima (on the way home). Leather seats, bottled water, computer, phone, carpet!! Very nice. Friendly staff. The best. Loved it.

So now it was time for the final push to North Vegas Airport. I had an open hanger reserved and that’s where I was heading.

Some more mountains to clear and I was there an hour and 15 later.

The RV’s are fast on the descent and coming down from a 11,500 cruise altitude to circuit altitude is a bit hard on the ears. I would normally do a gradual descent but when an airport (like Vegas, Cranbrook, BC) is encircled by mountains you have to clear those first then push the stick forward. I have to keep the speed of the aircraft under VNE yet descend quickly enough to enter the pattern. Glad to have that CS prop. I don’t like pulling the power to idle as she wants to backfire and pop quite a bit so I ease it to a lower setting slowly and give her time to bleed off the speed.

All was well but my landing in Vegas was a little bouncy. Rats, now it’s going to bug me for the next 3 days. I tied her down and hung out in another nice FBO.

Put to bed in Vegas:


My wife flew down on Air Canada so I got a car and went to get her from McCarran.

Vegas was great as usual. Did the Cirque de Soleil show, David Copperfield and this neat indoor skydiving thing.

To be continued...................

[scard]

Excellent! I agree with your idea of the best 4-0 possible. I think I'll have to get my Logistics Officer to plan something similar for me in a couple of years. Maybe in the opposite direction though, to Canada. Vegas is just a long weekend for us by RV. Love the hat. I know the big stupid grin at 11K' well.

[DanH]

Congratulations. The rest of us just want another shot at the big 4-0

[panhandler1956]

Nice RV by the way! Great way to turn 40!

[zilik]

I wish I had an RV when I was 40. Oh wait, I did, but it was still in the piles of aluminum phase.

Happy 40th

[Darren S]

The adventure continues.

I didn’t check weather till the evening before departure as I learned I could get a better read if I waited. Also, FSS could give me more valuable information if I waited till the 12 hour progs were out.

Straight North out of Vegas to Ely was out as was going to Boise, ID. Airmets warning about mountain obscurations etc…… were along the entire route. It looks like I was going to have to go to Reno and then see where I could go from there. I wasn’t sure I could make it the whole way home but the closer the better as it would be a shorter commercial flight home…….if it came down to that. First things first. Let’s get out of Dodge.

Flying past the Restricted airspace North of Vegas:


I don’t have onboard XM weather but surely could have used it. I was relying on Flight Watch on 122.0 to tell me what was up ahead and how quickly it was changing. It was beautiful where I was and it was a little hard to believe that 100 miles ahead the weather was 1500 OVC. So Reno here I come.

Another beautiful flight to Reno and a gooder for a landing !! I still got my skills! Beautiful FBO, you know the routine by now: gas, pee, snack, check weather. It looked like I could shoot straight North from Reno to Yakima, WA before the system to the West moved into my path. This was confirmed by FSS.

In Reno:


Giving the Decalin Chemical medicine to my engine:


The skies were looking scattered to broken but high enough to clear the mountains. I didn’t buy the Klamath Falls VNC before I left Calgary as I didn’t plan on diverting this far West. My friend has an iPad with SkyCharts and I regret not buying this handy device before my trip. The more I look into the features of the iPad the more I can see it cleaning up my cockpit and helping me with my flight management. Sounds like a late birthday present to me.

I maintained VFR so I could see the mountains and even though I didn’t have the VNC my old Bendix King KMD 150 showed me where the nearest airports were should I need them. It got bumpy at parts under the puffy clouds so up I went, with the oxygen running again, for a smoother ride.

My go to place seemed to be 11,500 alt, 20.0 MP, 2330 RPM, lean to 7.7 GPH and this would result in 177 true, 155 indicated knots, and 166 ground speed. Whoo Hoo !! No better way to travel.

After a two and a half hour flight, Yakima came into view. Flight Following kept me out of all the restricted areas and it was neat listening to the F-16’s practice in the area.

A few USAF Warthogs greeted me on the ramp. A few text messages to the loved ones to let them know I was ok and into the FBO I went. In the upper lounge were all the Top Gun guys doing their Tom Cruise thing so I choose to go to the lower lounge and use the computer there. Sure you can fly a Warthog but can you wheel land an RV-7 in a 17 knot quartering wind ??!!! Yea, ok you probably can. See ya.

Yakima ramp:


A nice surprise awaited me when I checked the METAR’s and TAF’s for Spokane and Cranbrook, BC. I can deal with broken clouds and no precip. Clouds high enough to clear mountains, good to go. Filed eAPIS, filed flight plan and called CBP. Bye, bye Yakima.

To Cranbrook I go. See that white line cut into the terrain? That's the Canada-US border. Some poor sucker had to clear the tree line all through the mountains!


Last leg of the trip for this day. An hour and half later I was at the Cranbrook Airport and cleared back into Canada. Then the bottom fell out of the weather, literally. The clouds came, rain started and it hasn’t let up. It’s raining as I type. I had to get back for work so with a lousy forecast looming I jumped on a commercial flight to get back to Calgary. It’s about a 45 minute flight in the RV from Cranbrook to Calgary and funny enough it’s a 40 minute flight on the commercial. I’d much rather my plane!

Stuck in Cranbrook:


So the adventure isn’t quite done yet, I have to go back out to Cranbrook to bring her home but all in all it was a very successful and fun cross country birthday adventure. My mistress ran without a flaw. She didn’t fuss once and kept me safe at all altitudes. I learned how to contact Flight Watch, learned how to use Flight Following, realized that up high with oxygen is a wonderful way to fly.

I think the iPad’s ability to check weather and related products would be a welcome addition. I can use it for my checklists, cut down on the number of maps I have to fold and unfold (I’ll always carry a hard copy), use it to see airport diagrams, frequencies etc….

The RV’s are simply the best. Great economy, fast, comfortable, powerful enough to climb up high quickly they look good and are a ton of fun to fly. Hopefully you can get out and enjoy a similar adventure soon.

Darren

[Greg Arehart]

Darren,

Sounds like a great trip. Next time through Reno, stop at RTS (that goes for anyone flying through this way!). Cheaper gas and a bunch of great RV guys.

cheers,
greg

[ao.frog]

.... for a great trip write up!

Sounds like a great way to celebrate!