With the grand total of 15 hours of flight time under its belt, it was time to move the RV-12 from Tennessee to Washington state. It's been a pretty fierce winter in the mid latitudes of the northern hemisphere this year, but it looked like the weather gods would provide a 48 hour respite to make the trek. Turns out that wasn't true. ;-)
I did get the -12 the from Tennessee to Sidney, Nebraska, near the border of Wyoming along Interstate 80 in one day, though had to shoot an instrument approach into Sidney to descent through an ice-containing undercast.
Next morning it was clear skies in Nebraska, Wyoming, and eastern Montana and the northern route through the Rockies (basically I-90) looked better than the I-80 route. Got about another 500 miles along the route toward Seattle but had to put the bird down in Missoula, Montana due to mountain obscuration and blowing snow showers in the mountain valleys. The forecast was for five more days of winter snow in Montana, so it seemed like a good idea to get out of town soon.
Much to my delight, I discovered that a 17 foot U-Haul truck (model code = EL) appears to have been custom designed for RV-12 hauling. Stopped at Home Depot and picked up a couple of 14 foot 2x6s and 4 14 foot 2x4s, some nails and hammer, and built some ramps to roll the -12 up into the truck. Wings stored neatly under the fuselage, encased in bubble wrap and furniture pads, and everything was roped down so it wouldn't move. 12 hours of driving later the -12 arrived at its destination northwest of Seattle, none the worse for having traversed 600 miles of not so good road and two mountain ranges (Grand Tetons and Cascades).
Once again my wife made a photoshow of the trip (though I flew it alone -- she was already out there awaiting my arrival). It's available online at:
http://www.photoshow.com/touch/Dj7DU7qA?language=enu?source=em_ps_show_recipient
Quite an adventure! Overall impression: RV-12 is a great cross country traveler, but it can't compete with the other RVs for leaping over mountain ranges by flying in the upper teens. The I Follow Roads version of IFR also has its limits, particularly during a snowy winter. Good news is that if your -12 gets grounded by weather, you're only a U-Haul truck rental away from getting back underway.
-Dan Masys
I did get the -12 the from Tennessee to Sidney, Nebraska, near the border of Wyoming along Interstate 80 in one day, though had to shoot an instrument approach into Sidney to descent through an ice-containing undercast.
Next morning it was clear skies in Nebraska, Wyoming, and eastern Montana and the northern route through the Rockies (basically I-90) looked better than the I-80 route. Got about another 500 miles along the route toward Seattle but had to put the bird down in Missoula, Montana due to mountain obscuration and blowing snow showers in the mountain valleys. The forecast was for five more days of winter snow in Montana, so it seemed like a good idea to get out of town soon.
Much to my delight, I discovered that a 17 foot U-Haul truck (model code = EL) appears to have been custom designed for RV-12 hauling. Stopped at Home Depot and picked up a couple of 14 foot 2x6s and 4 14 foot 2x4s, some nails and hammer, and built some ramps to roll the -12 up into the truck. Wings stored neatly under the fuselage, encased in bubble wrap and furniture pads, and everything was roped down so it wouldn't move. 12 hours of driving later the -12 arrived at its destination northwest of Seattle, none the worse for having traversed 600 miles of not so good road and two mountain ranges (Grand Tetons and Cascades).
Once again my wife made a photoshow of the trip (though I flew it alone -- she was already out there awaiting my arrival). It's available online at:
http://www.photoshow.com/touch/Dj7DU7qA?language=enu?source=em_ps_show_recipient
Quite an adventure! Overall impression: RV-12 is a great cross country traveler, but it can't compete with the other RVs for leaping over mountain ranges by flying in the upper teens. The I Follow Roads version of IFR also has its limits, particularly during a snowy winter. Good news is that if your -12 gets grounded by weather, you're only a U-Haul truck rental away from getting back underway.
-Dan Masys