N363RV
Well Known Member
Amanda was an equal partner in getting the RV completed in 10 months. She wanted me to take her on a surprise trip (we did this in mid April/2011). This remarkable little airplane can go far and fast... so it was a tough decision. But the winds decided for me.
She knew we were going someplace, but wasn't for sure where. We had talked about day trips to Arkansas, Louisianna, Gulf Shores Ala, Carlsbad Caverns. All places with in one RV fuel tank. In the end I choose Galveston. We had not been there in many years. I know the Island pretty well because I used to live in Webster... near Clear Lake years ago. I was kid back in those days and would run down to the Island frequently.
We got to the hangar and loaded up our bicycles.....
More pics of the bikes here....
More Bike pics here...
The give away! I had just bought a pile of paper maps and approach plates a week or two before. I used to carry around this pile of paper in the 182 with out a thought. Well it was piled all over the floor and was big mess... and the Houston map was on top. I have since done away with all the paper in lieu of foreflight. I still like paper, I just can't keep it all tucked away... the way Hermione does with that cool purse.
We took off from GPM and were headed south. She wasn't quite sure where we were going, but knew it was on the Houston map. It didn't take her long to realize we were head to Houston. It had been years since I flew to Houston and I had high hopes that they (Houston approach) would keep us high and send us direct over Bush and a little left of Hobby. Well instead they asked us to descend and go in the wrong direction. I was not in any hurry, so I we just went with it. When we came home, we just stayed on the east side and underflew bravo. It was much faster.
As we flew towards Houston, we enjoyed a tailwind that really made us feel like superman.
Amanda insisted on full disclosure...so here is what the efis tells us...
Houston approach asked us to hurry it up on the descent. So we hit our all time ground speed record.
Even with approach sending us the long way around, we arrived in just under 1.5 hours. We unpacked our bikes and got our backpacks situated and were soon on our way. As we were getting ready (in the airconditioned lobby) some ladys were asking us about our bikes. As we chatted away, I asked them what kind of airplane they fly, concerned they might not have enough space if they were flying in a smaller airplane. They responded with "Gulfstream 5"). I said, "You should have enough space for the bikes."
We bumped into these kind folks on the sea wall later in the day. They were on rental bikes!!!
Amanda and I had a nice lunch at landrys and enjoyed our day at the beach. We bicycled back to the airport and got ready to leave only to find that during our haste to start having fun, I left the master switch on. The airplane.... almost started. After running around a bit a doing a little begging, I was able to round up some one patient enough to watch me take off the top cowling and then wait for about 10 minutes as we charged the battery. I truely wish I could remember the name of the company these folks work for. They were great to take a few minutes out of their day to get me started. They fly yellow helicopters and have a rather large hangar just south of the main terminal.
Amanda and I flew home in the dark for the first time in this airplane on a cross country. We had done a 5 minute "nightish" flight from Redbird over to GPM. In the big city, you can hardly call it a night flight with all the city lights. It was a smooth flight with a small headwind. We are using Dynon's autopilot coupled to the 430. I have not installed the altitude hold. I never had one on my 182. Even with the RV trimmed, it would wander a bit on altitude. I'll work on that in the fall. It was a really fun day and allowed the little RV to demonstrate what a remarkable machine it is. Did I mention that we did that round trip without a fuel stop? We had about 9 or 10 gallons left. We run a little rich due to oil temp problems we are still working on. For those of you building..... enjoy the build. There is some pain and suffering, but in the end you will find yourself joing an elite group that truly enjoys aviation and all that it offers. The flying part is really cool, but we have been lucky enough to have made some really cool friends along the way too. A special thanks goes out to all of my GPM builders and pilots that have helped us achieve our building goals... and recently with maintainenance fixes too.
She knew we were going someplace, but wasn't for sure where. We had talked about day trips to Arkansas, Louisianna, Gulf Shores Ala, Carlsbad Caverns. All places with in one RV fuel tank. In the end I choose Galveston. We had not been there in many years. I know the Island pretty well because I used to live in Webster... near Clear Lake years ago. I was kid back in those days and would run down to the Island frequently.
We got to the hangar and loaded up our bicycles.....
More pics of the bikes here....
More Bike pics here...
The give away! I had just bought a pile of paper maps and approach plates a week or two before. I used to carry around this pile of paper in the 182 with out a thought. Well it was piled all over the floor and was big mess... and the Houston map was on top. I have since done away with all the paper in lieu of foreflight. I still like paper, I just can't keep it all tucked away... the way Hermione does with that cool purse.
We took off from GPM and were headed south. She wasn't quite sure where we were going, but knew it was on the Houston map. It didn't take her long to realize we were head to Houston. It had been years since I flew to Houston and I had high hopes that they (Houston approach) would keep us high and send us direct over Bush and a little left of Hobby. Well instead they asked us to descend and go in the wrong direction. I was not in any hurry, so I we just went with it. When we came home, we just stayed on the east side and underflew bravo. It was much faster.
As we flew towards Houston, we enjoyed a tailwind that really made us feel like superman.
Amanda insisted on full disclosure...so here is what the efis tells us...
Houston approach asked us to hurry it up on the descent. So we hit our all time ground speed record.
Even with approach sending us the long way around, we arrived in just under 1.5 hours. We unpacked our bikes and got our backpacks situated and were soon on our way. As we were getting ready (in the airconditioned lobby) some ladys were asking us about our bikes. As we chatted away, I asked them what kind of airplane they fly, concerned they might not have enough space if they were flying in a smaller airplane. They responded with "Gulfstream 5"). I said, "You should have enough space for the bikes."
We bumped into these kind folks on the sea wall later in the day. They were on rental bikes!!! Amanda and I had a nice lunch at landrys and enjoyed our day at the beach. We bicycled back to the airport and got ready to leave only to find that during our haste to start having fun, I left the master switch on. The airplane.... almost started. After running around a bit a doing a little begging, I was able to round up some one patient enough to watch me take off the top cowling and then wait for about 10 minutes as we charged the battery. I truely wish I could remember the name of the company these folks work for. They were great to take a few minutes out of their day to get me started. They fly yellow helicopters and have a rather large hangar just south of the main terminal.
Amanda and I flew home in the dark for the first time in this airplane on a cross country. We had done a 5 minute "nightish" flight from Redbird over to GPM. In the big city, you can hardly call it a night flight with all the city lights. It was a smooth flight with a small headwind. We are using Dynon's autopilot coupled to the 430. I have not installed the altitude hold. I never had one on my 182. Even with the RV trimmed, it would wander a bit on altitude. I'll work on that in the fall. It was a really fun day and allowed the little RV to demonstrate what a remarkable machine it is. Did I mention that we did that round trip without a fuel stop? We had about 9 or 10 gallons left. We run a little rich due to oil temp problems we are still working on. For those of you building..... enjoy the build. There is some pain and suffering, but in the end you will find yourself joing an elite group that truly enjoys aviation and all that it offers. The flying part is really cool, but we have been lucky enough to have made some really cool friends along the way too. A special thanks goes out to all of my GPM builders and pilots that have helped us achieve our building goals... and recently with maintainenance fixes too.
