...getting this week's 'What did you do with your RV this weekend?' thread started.
v/r,dr
v/r,dr
Van's Air Force
The definitive Van's Aircraft support community! Buying, building or flying an RV? Join our exclusive family of mentors and enthusiasts!
WDYDWYRTW? (8/31 - 9/12024)
- Thread starter DeltaRomeo
- Start date
Saville
Well Known Member
It was time.
The Grandkids Lucy (8) and Gary(6) are now old enough to understand what's going on when in the airplane. So I decided that it was time to take them for a ride.
Once at the airport I showed them the cloth helmet and goggle setup and asked them if they wanted to use that or just wear the headset.
They wanted the helmet and goggles. So that's what they got. They even brought a pair of "goggles" for their bears, as you see.
I will probably get a rig for each of them if they continue to want to fly.
If they stick with it they will grow out of wanting to wear that rig but for now they think it's cool.
I'll probably start wearing mine as well when I go up with them.
Lucy went around with me for the pre-flight as did Gary. They both were very curious and wanted to do the same checks I did.
Gary was up first. I decided to do the same as I had done with Lucy - give him a ride in the back seat while I taxied around the apron.
I would see how he reacted and get him acclimated to the sight, noise and smell of being in an operating RV-8 - an airplane much smaller than he's ever been in.
Here I'm getting him settled into the seat and plugged into the intercom:
I cranked up and took him for his taxi ride. He loved it. He wanted to go flying IMMEDIATELY. I was tempted but
figured I'd wait until he was just a little older.
He's psyched.
Then it was Lucy's turn.
I had previously taken Lucy for a taxi ride around the apron for the noise, feel, smell acclimation.
She has flown commercially but an RV-8 is something else entirely. The Young Eagles program specifies an age range of 8-18.
So Lucy is now old enough to fly. Also the Young Eagles flights seem to be just one circuit in the pattern.
I thought that was a good idea - see how she reacted - though I left room for a second circuit.
Here I'm getting her settled into the seat and plugged into the intercom:
After I got her strapped in we started the engine, taxied out and performed the usual ATC communications
....during all of which Lucy kept very good talking discipline. After the run-up we set up to takeoff and away we went.
I checked on her often to see that she was ok -she was her usual fearless force-of-nature self.
So I decided to do a touch and go and a second circuit which she loved. She was suprised by how noisy it is
but otherwise there was no problem - she's ready to go again.
After landing the Tower gave us our taxi instructions and said to stick with their frequency. After the repeat-back I announced:
"And we have a new Young Eagle Pilot - Lucy!"
To which the tower replied, "YEAH!"
The day was a complete success and Lucy, Gary and I look forward to more flights together.
The Grandkids Lucy (8) and Gary(6) are now old enough to understand what's going on when in the airplane. So I decided that it was time to take them for a ride.
Once at the airport I showed them the cloth helmet and goggle setup and asked them if they wanted to use that or just wear the headset.
They wanted the helmet and goggles. So that's what they got. They even brought a pair of "goggles" for their bears, as you see.
I will probably get a rig for each of them if they continue to want to fly.
If they stick with it they will grow out of wanting to wear that rig but for now they think it's cool.
I'll probably start wearing mine as well when I go up with them.
Lucy went around with me for the pre-flight as did Gary. They both were very curious and wanted to do the same checks I did.
Gary was up first. I decided to do the same as I had done with Lucy - give him a ride in the back seat while I taxied around the apron.
I would see how he reacted and get him acclimated to the sight, noise and smell of being in an operating RV-8 - an airplane much smaller than he's ever been in.
Here I'm getting him settled into the seat and plugged into the intercom:
I cranked up and took him for his taxi ride. He loved it. He wanted to go flying IMMEDIATELY. I was tempted but
figured I'd wait until he was just a little older.
He's psyched.
Then it was Lucy's turn.
I had previously taken Lucy for a taxi ride around the apron for the noise, feel, smell acclimation.
She has flown commercially but an RV-8 is something else entirely. The Young Eagles program specifies an age range of 8-18.
So Lucy is now old enough to fly. Also the Young Eagles flights seem to be just one circuit in the pattern.
I thought that was a good idea - see how she reacted - though I left room for a second circuit.
Here I'm getting her settled into the seat and plugged into the intercom:
After I got her strapped in we started the engine, taxied out and performed the usual ATC communications
....during all of which Lucy kept very good talking discipline. After the run-up we set up to takeoff and away we went.
I checked on her often to see that she was ok -she was her usual fearless force-of-nature self.
So I decided to do a touch and go and a second circuit which she loved. She was suprised by how noisy it is
but otherwise there was no problem - she's ready to go again.
After landing the Tower gave us our taxi instructions and said to stick with their frequency. After the repeat-back I announced:
"And we have a new Young Eagle Pilot - Lucy!"
To which the tower replied, "YEAH!"
The day was a complete success and Lucy, Gary and I look forward to more flights together.
Congratulations and warm wishes to Lucy on her great new adventure! This was just what I needed this weekend. And I love the bear goggles!
Last edited:
Days like that will top the list of favorite memories in one's flying career, regardless of how long and varied they might be. And it's as true for the kids as it is for the ones taking them for their first ride in what I refer to as a "real" airplane (ie. airlines don't count!).
Congrats!
P.S. Your story reminded me of this awesome video from Youtube of a little kid getting her first ride:
Needed a break from canopy work, so decided to switch it up and start closing up one of the wings. Much easier to do alone than I anticipated! The rivets around the flap and aileron brackets were my kryptonite. There will be a few of those areas getting some pre-paint filler love.
PilotjohnS
Well Known Member
Labor day trip.
Tried for Grand Canyon but T-storms were blooming. Vegas was too hot.
Settled for South Lake Tahoe. For a big weekend, place was dead.
Highest density altitude take off for me. Main wheels started shimming at 50 Kts indicated, so had to pull it off in ground effect to build speed. Next time will try a smidgen of flaps.
Sierras were full of smoke from fires.
Tried for Grand Canyon but T-storms were blooming. Vegas was too hot.
Settled for South Lake Tahoe. For a big weekend, place was dead.
Highest density altitude take off for me. Main wheels started shimming at 50 Kts indicated, so had to pull it off in ground effect to build speed. Next time will try a smidgen of flaps.
Sierras were full of smoke from fires.
Attachments
Took the opportunity of this years condition inspection to change out some more rubber hoses under the hood and replace all those screw clamps with constant tension clamps. These hoses had 9 years and about 675 hours on them. You can see how the rubber extrudes through the screw clamps and how they don't provide constant pressure equally around the hoses. This was also an opportunity to get more tools for the job 
Right side oil drain back tubes:
R side intake hoses:
L side intake hoses:
All the original hoses and clamps:
Right side oil drain back tubes:
R side intake hoses:
L side intake hoses:
All the original hoses and clamps:
That is a great picture!Flew to Leicester for the LAA Rally - a great couple of days with great friends. It was made particularly excellent by getting to do an A2A shoot with Ed Hicks photographing: View attachment 69635
PilotjohnS
Well Known Member
I learned about flying from that…..
Went up to KRHV this weekend. They only have 94UL fuel. I tried it once on a previous trip and my plane did not like it, at all.
This trip, I planned to stretch my fuel and not refuel at KRHV, so I would be on 100LL the whole time. This menas I could run lean of peak at altitude ( couldn't do that on 94UL previously).
On way back fought hefty headwind. Trying to land with as much fuel as possible to save dollars.
So I tried to fly fast to make the best ground speed, tried to fly lower (9.5k vs 11.5k), then tried to fly most efficiently.
Turns out flying faster into a headwind would not reduce overall trip burn
Flying higher showed a greater headwind, but the drop in fuel flow and reduced % power at nearly same speed more than offset changes in wind speed.
Best efficiency was still up high, 52% power, and peak egt or lean of peak, (on my plane, it does not matter how one gets to 52% power once at peak egt) with full power peak egt( 62% in my case) or 52% power lop, TAS was only a few knots different.
Therefore, when trying for max range, I found reduced power settings, peak or lean of peak egts, and altitude works the best. TAS, or velocity made good, (VMG) doesn't change much with reduced power settings at altitude.
(At altitude, a 5% change in TAS, reduces fuel flow about 13%) ( this would mean a 50 kt headwind before this breaks down)
Went up to KRHV this weekend. They only have 94UL fuel. I tried it once on a previous trip and my plane did not like it, at all.
This trip, I planned to stretch my fuel and not refuel at KRHV, so I would be on 100LL the whole time. This menas I could run lean of peak at altitude ( couldn't do that on 94UL previously).
On way back fought hefty headwind. Trying to land with as much fuel as possible to save dollars.
So I tried to fly fast to make the best ground speed, tried to fly lower (9.5k vs 11.5k), then tried to fly most efficiently.
Turns out flying faster into a headwind would not reduce overall trip burn
Flying higher showed a greater headwind, but the drop in fuel flow and reduced % power at nearly same speed more than offset changes in wind speed.
Best efficiency was still up high, 52% power, and peak egt or lean of peak, (on my plane, it does not matter how one gets to 52% power once at peak egt) with full power peak egt( 62% in my case) or 52% power lop, TAS was only a few knots different.
Therefore, when trying for max range, I found reduced power settings, peak or lean of peak egts, and altitude works the best. TAS, or velocity made good, (VMG) doesn't change much with reduced power settings at altitude.
(At altitude, a 5% change in TAS, reduces fuel flow about 13%) ( this would mean a 50 kt headwind before this breaks down)
Last edited:
Toobuilder
Well Known Member
Weekend getaway with my bride. Bet I don't need to name the destination pictured: Sedona, Az.
Last edited:
PilotjohnS
Well Known Member
Man I really want to get there. But weekend weather was predicted to be too much. Seems like you got lucky with bride and weather. Congrats.
Flew to Leicester for the LAA Rally - a great couple of days with great friends. It was made particularly excellent by getting to do an A2A shoot with Ed Hicks photographing: View attachment 69635
The LAA Rally was a great event - my first time visiting there. For more of a feel for the event, the Flyer guys created a nice video.
LAA Rally 2024 - now back at Leicester
flyer.co.uk
Here's a photo of the famous Channel crossing from Calais to Dover.
Toobuilder
Well Known Member
Turns out it was easy VFR Friday-Sunday. Dead calm on landing Friday morning (that’s a first for me), a bit of a breeze favoring 21 on Sunday. While eating breakfast at the Cafe and watching the airplanes take off/land Sunday morning, witnessed a Mooney come in high and fast, touch down mid field with the mains still inches above the ground, then ground loop into the dirt well off the side of the runway in a cloud of dust.
Sedona has a reputation as challenging depending on the weather, but I suspect many pilots psych themselves out before they even hit the pattern. My advice is to be spring loaded to go around. Would have saved this Mooney guy a prop and engine.
Last edited:
PilotjohnS
Well Known Member
actually my first flight to Sedona I went around, had some old guy (local) cut me off and i had to do a 360 over the town, slow, to avoid. He was oblivious to me and wasnt communication on CTAF. Be careful out there.
Thought your picture was someplace else (Bryce canyon)
Okay, full disclosure up front...it wasn't MY RV, but an RV was most certainly involved.
A little bit of back story...I had a mini-stroke back in April, and while the docs were checking me out for that, they found four blockages on the left side of my heart that landed me in the hospital for a week. Ended up with four new heart stints and a TIA on my permanent record. The docs told me that any one of those blockages could have been a killer, so I know just how blessed I am to still be here to celebrate my 66th birthday (on September 1st).
The adventure actually started on Friday, August 30th, when I got a text message from my favorite flying buddy, Paul “Rosie” Rosales. Rosie and I met 20 years ago at the Land of Enchantment RV fly-in and became fast friends. Rosie actually gave me my first RV ride at that fly-in. Rosie lives in Los Angeles, so we don’t see one another that much, but we’ve remained in touch and good friends over the years.
Anyway, Rosie has been on “walkabout” with a new-to-him RV-8A that he has just partnered in with Tom "Redtail" Prokop, one of his long-time flying friends, and he’s been working his way around the east coast. He texted me on Friday, and told me he would be in Texas early Saturday, but would be in my area by late Saturday, and asked if I could put him up for the night. I said “Of course, come on down!”, and gave him the identifier for Cartersville airport (KVPC). So the plan was for him to come in about 6, and we’d spend the evening and overnight catching up.
And then Mother Nature decided to intervene…
Rosie wasn’t able to get into Georgia on Saturday (too many red blobs on the weather radar got in the way), so he diverted to his brother’s place in Tullahoma, Tennessee for the night, and we planned on doing lunch on Sunday. Rosie was finally able to get into Cartersville around 2 PM. I met him at the airport, he opened the canopy, removed a couple of his bags from the rear seat to make room for me, and said “Jump in!”
You bet your sweet @$$ I jumped in, and didn’t waste any time doing it!
We flew about 20 minutes south to McCollum Field in Marietta (KRYY), where they have a restaurant (the Elevation Chophouse) on the airport. Lunch was a grilled chicken Caesar salad wrapped around a couple hours of catching up, ended all too soon by weather rolling in.
We were untying the airplane, getting ready for departure, when I happened to look over to the northwest in the direction of Cartersville…HUGE black cloud all across the horizon. I pointed to the cloud and said “Uh, Rosie…”, he looked and said “Okay, but we’re going that way (pointing northeast, where it was clearer), right?” I said “Nope, Cartersville is THAT way” (again pointing to the big, black cloud). He said “You sure?” I said “I live here, remember?” He said “Okay, we’ll go that way (northeast) and go around the back side of it.”
So we loaded up, took off and went northeast around the flank of the storm cell. Want to guess where the center of that storm cell was? Yep, smack-dab over the Cartersville airport…and it wasn’t moving. We circled for almost 20 minutes waiting for it to clear out, and it wasn’t budging. We finally diverted to Calhoun (Tom B. David airport, KCZL), about 20 minutes north (and in the bright sunshine, of course), borrowed their airport car and drove back to Cartersville to retrieve Rosie’s bags and my car. I drove home, and Rosie drove the airport car back up to Calhoun to continue on his trip.
It was the best birthday present I’ve gotten since I was a kid, and I enjoyed every minute of it…even the 20 minutes spent watching the lightning flashes while we orbited the storm cell.
So that’s how I celebrated “The Birthday That Almost Wasn’t”. I got two birthday presents this year…first of all, I lived to see my birthday, and two, one of my best friends took me flying. I’m so lucky to still be alive, and blessed to have friends like Rosie.
Pictures attached. Sorry I didn’t get a picture of the storm cell over Cartersville airport, but the RV-8 is a tight fit, and I was sitting on my phone right then…
IMG 0040: Rosie and I at lunch.
IMG 0041: Lunch (the grilled chicken Caesar salad).
IMG 0043: A selfie of Rosie and I with his 8A in the background.
IMG 0048: Airborne after departing McCollum airport. The gravel quarry is at the east end of the airport, and they use the gravel quarried there to make aggregate for concrete.
IMG 0049: Looking out the windshield of the airport car on the way back to Cartersville. Almost 30 minutes after we were there, and the storm cell still hasn’t moved…
A little bit of back story...I had a mini-stroke back in April, and while the docs were checking me out for that, they found four blockages on the left side of my heart that landed me in the hospital for a week. Ended up with four new heart stints and a TIA on my permanent record. The docs told me that any one of those blockages could have been a killer, so I know just how blessed I am to still be here to celebrate my 66th birthday (on September 1st).
The adventure actually started on Friday, August 30th, when I got a text message from my favorite flying buddy, Paul “Rosie” Rosales. Rosie and I met 20 years ago at the Land of Enchantment RV fly-in and became fast friends. Rosie actually gave me my first RV ride at that fly-in. Rosie lives in Los Angeles, so we don’t see one another that much, but we’ve remained in touch and good friends over the years.
Anyway, Rosie has been on “walkabout” with a new-to-him RV-8A that he has just partnered in with Tom "Redtail" Prokop, one of his long-time flying friends, and he’s been working his way around the east coast. He texted me on Friday, and told me he would be in Texas early Saturday, but would be in my area by late Saturday, and asked if I could put him up for the night. I said “Of course, come on down!”, and gave him the identifier for Cartersville airport (KVPC). So the plan was for him to come in about 6, and we’d spend the evening and overnight catching up.
And then Mother Nature decided to intervene…
Rosie wasn’t able to get into Georgia on Saturday (too many red blobs on the weather radar got in the way), so he diverted to his brother’s place in Tullahoma, Tennessee for the night, and we planned on doing lunch on Sunday. Rosie was finally able to get into Cartersville around 2 PM. I met him at the airport, he opened the canopy, removed a couple of his bags from the rear seat to make room for me, and said “Jump in!”
You bet your sweet @$$ I jumped in, and didn’t waste any time doing it!
We flew about 20 minutes south to McCollum Field in Marietta (KRYY), where they have a restaurant (the Elevation Chophouse) on the airport. Lunch was a grilled chicken Caesar salad wrapped around a couple hours of catching up, ended all too soon by weather rolling in.We were untying the airplane, getting ready for departure, when I happened to look over to the northwest in the direction of Cartersville…HUGE black cloud all across the horizon. I pointed to the cloud and said “Uh, Rosie…”, he looked and said “Okay, but we’re going that way (pointing northeast, where it was clearer), right?” I said “Nope, Cartersville is THAT way” (again pointing to the big, black cloud). He said “You sure?” I said “I live here, remember?” He said “Okay, we’ll go that way (northeast) and go around the back side of it.”
So we loaded up, took off and went northeast around the flank of the storm cell. Want to guess where the center of that storm cell was? Yep, smack-dab over the Cartersville airport…and it wasn’t moving. We circled for almost 20 minutes waiting for it to clear out, and it wasn’t budging. We finally diverted to Calhoun (Tom B. David airport, KCZL), about 20 minutes north (and in the bright sunshine, of course), borrowed their airport car and drove back to Cartersville to retrieve Rosie’s bags and my car. I drove home, and Rosie drove the airport car back up to Calhoun to continue on his trip.
It was the best birthday present I’ve gotten since I was a kid, and I enjoyed every minute of it…even the 20 minutes spent watching the lightning flashes while we orbited the storm cell.
So that’s how I celebrated “The Birthday That Almost Wasn’t”. I got two birthday presents this year…first of all, I lived to see my birthday, and two, one of my best friends took me flying. I’m so lucky to still be alive, and blessed to have friends like Rosie.
Pictures attached. Sorry I didn’t get a picture of the storm cell over Cartersville airport, but the RV-8 is a tight fit, and I was sitting on my phone right then…
IMG 0040: Rosie and I at lunch.
IMG 0041: Lunch (the grilled chicken Caesar salad).
IMG 0043: A selfie of Rosie and I with his 8A in the background.
IMG 0048: Airborne after departing McCollum airport. The gravel quarry is at the east end of the airport, and they use the gravel quarried there to make aggregate for concrete.
IMG 0049: Looking out the windshield of the airport car on the way back to Cartersville. Almost 30 minutes after we were there, and the storm cell still hasn’t moved…
Attachments
Last edited:
