Ironflight

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
Hmmmm....The Val isn't talking, and Mikey is sleeping down at a neighbor's hangar. According to SPOT, Tsam seems to be heading west, and Louise is nowhere to be found! I seem to remember saying something about being able to do her job on-line from the cabin for a week....;)

Methinks my trip to Minnesota last week has created a bit of wanderlust in the family!:rolleyes:

If someone happens to see an apparition from the jungle moon Pandora passing through their airport - let me know!:D

Paul
 
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Flightaware is showing that ATC thinks Tsam is an RV-10!! Boy, are they at the wrong end of the spectrum....
 
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Yup - she stopped at Andrews for fuel and a break. It's almost always the cheapest in the area, good pavement, and has a nice little lounge area.
 
Beautiful day
Beautiful airplane
Beautiful pilot

What could be more perfect??:D
 
I saw Her/Him

I ran into Louise at Andrews and she was fueling that airplane.

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Since it was so close, we flew with her over the rocks of the Guadalupe mountains.

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We even saw the bottom a few times.

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Louise leaving Guadalupe Mountains National Park and headed on out to Big Bear, California.

Paul and Louise, thank you very much for the extraordinary trust to give me a wonderful opportunity today. It really distracted me for several hours.

Photographs by George West and Larry Pardue
 
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So THAT'S where she went!! ;)

Great pics Larry - thank YOU for letting us see Tsam with an interesting background. Not exactly the lush jungles of her home planet....but quite as beautiful.
 
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Tucked away in Big Bear

And, it is beautiful up here! Great to escape the flat, hot Texas coast.

Thank you, Larry and George, for the photos of Tsam somewhere interesting. Too bad the fires made the day so hazy. Is the first flying photo Dark Canyon? I really like that one!
 
You bet!

If my husband asks, I'll tell him that you really asked for a date with Tsam and I'm just the chaperone! It is absolutely perfect up here! :) Just let me know which day works better for you. I'm working in the cabin Monday through Thursday but can take lunch and dinner breaks.
 
Tuesday is better

Louise, Tuesday it is then. See you at Barnstormers at noon.
I'll PM you in the morning to confirm. Can't wait!
 
Big Bear

Paul & Louise, Bad timing, went past Big Bear last Fri. Back in IL. now. Will see you at OSH. Ron
 
11-12 showing!

Looks like earlier works better for Tom and Gary, so Tsam will be over on the south ramp about 11:00 this morning.
 
Tsam @ Big Bear

Louise parking Tsam for lunch at Big Bear.
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Tom and Louise talking about Tsam.
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I took a lot of photos but they still are not posted to the web yet. These are two photos that I emailed directly and am able to share now. It is heck when you have to work for a living and do not have enough free time to post photos that have Great memories attached to them.




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Condor,
Thanks for sharing! Two more new wallpaper images for the collection.

Louise and Paul,
Tsam is simply stunning! The 3-D nature of the paint job is incredible!
 
Moose:

I took 197 photos at Big Bear. Expect to see a few more or a link to my PhotoBucket Album.
 
More Tsam at Big Bear photos

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This is what you will get to see more of at Golden West and AirVenture.
 
Direct link to the photo album

I can only post 10 images or links per post.

I wanted to post 16 photos but instead of just posting 6 more here, go to the album and view all 36 images.

Slideshow:
http://s729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/rv6flyer/Tsam at Big Bear/?albumview=slideshow

Same images as images that may have links that can be embedded into forum and websites.
http://s729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/rv6flyer/Tsam at Big Bear/

Unfortunately, the images are in reverse order. Since I work midnight and have been up all night, I am not going to try to fix it while I am tired. Enjoy them while I get some sleep.
 
Great photo's Condor. Louise - you and Paul did a great job on that airplane. Really special.

JJ
 
Thanks much for the pics Gary! checking SPOT this evening, Louise is on her way to Golden West, with a stop near Fresno to visit and encourage another -3 builder. Meanwhile, i am in the shop covered with plexi dust from the Val's new canopy build....think I know who got the better aviation week... ;)

JJ, you should pop down to Golden West and see it in person!

Paul
 
Tsam is on the move again - Louise took of about 0500 (local) from Marysville - headed home to Houston. That's about 1400 nautical (and change). I told her that her presence in Houston tonight is NOT required.....

Many thanks to the RV'ers at Marysville that helped install some engine shims yesterday - it appears that we did not have the luck of the draw on LORD mounts on Tsam - whereas the genuine LORDS in the Valkyrie have not settled a millimeter in 1500 hours, the exact same model numbers in Tsam settled 3/4" in 100 hours. There is nothing like the RV community when you are "on the road" and need mechanical help.

Paul
 
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Two Vans guys did "other duties as required" to get Louise back in the air...also thanks to the guys who owned the hangar. Aviators take care of their own :D
 
Home safe

Tsam, Bear, and I arrived home safe this evening at 6 pm locally. Long day! Too tired to post much now but I really appreciate the amazing amount of support I received in Marysville. Joe, Darryl, Ralph and Warren were so helpful with the Tsam effort. Tim Redden's dad and his buddies provided key help with tools and hangar space to work out of the wind. Some of the Ravens made sure I was fed well last night. Finally, the Golden West organizers kindly provided hangar space last night, making my early morning departure considerable easier. A big thanks to all who helped! Thank you!
 
I'm sorry I missed Louise and Tsam at Golden West. I was there on Sat and couldn't find anyone who knew where Tsam (or the RV1) was...I presumed battened down in a hangar against the howling wind. I wasn't there early enough (!) yesterday to see or meet you both either, but it's never good trying to visit while someone's looking to get launched on a LONG flight. We'll get a chance at some point I'm sure, especially with Big Bear and your new place across the Sierra so close.

Glad everything worked outandyou're home safe.

All Best

Jeremy Constant
 
Bummer! I would have loved to see your plane, too. We were, indeed, hunkered down in a hangar at the far southeast corner of the field with both planes. Some folks found us.

I'm sure we'll get together soon! The Sierra doesn't seem all that big when crossed with an RV!
 
Jerry P. Sheppard said:
Louise,
Any stats on fuel burn for your trip back from California yesterday. My guess is about 90 gals.
SHEP
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I think you're high Shep - I'll have a look at the logbook tonight (Louise is off to D.C. for the week) - but when I took Tsam to Minneapolis the week before, I was reliably getting 7.2 - 7.4 GPH. Louise flew about 9 hours yesterday, so that would have been roughly 67 gallons.
 
I'm afraid the log book isn't completely filled out and some receipts are still in my purse....on the way to DC for the week. However, I seem to be more conservative on fuel than Paul. While I burned 9 or 10 gallons on my climb outs, my long cruises (especially yesterday) averaged between 6.6 and 7.0 gph with a TAS of typically 163 kt. So, my back-of-the-envelope calculation for 8.9 hours times 6.8 gph plus the climb-outs and descents estimates about 63 gallons. The other way to guess is that I landed all three times down about 21 gallons....again 63 gallons.

The RV-3B is a sweet traveling machine. And, I have to say that the Oregon Aero sheep skin seat was amazingly comfortable! Without question, the most comfortable airplane seat I've ever been in.
 
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