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What did you do with your RV this weekend (8/8 - 8/9'ish)

SPX

Well Known Member
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After doing some work with bruceh on Thursday (documented here) I wanted to fly today on a sort of .. extended test flight.

Preparation for today's flight actually started last night with moving some chart data onto the aircrafts USB drives for the AFS panel, and the SD card for the GNC 355 GPS. Last nights goal was to get the upcoming data cycle files transferred over to the USB drives and the SD card so it's ready for data cycle 2009.

I've been battling with the Seattle Avionics ChartData Manager since the AFS panel was installed. Last night I tried out their beta loader, which should be released approximately in conjunction with AFS v16 (which has a new data format, hence the requirement for a new loader). It's better, but I still prefer to do manual loads of the data (may just be the computer geek in me, and almost certainly has to do with using MacOS, and needing to dual boot into Windows to use the Seattle Avionics loader).

Data cards loaded, I headed off to the airport to get the plane ready. But first, to update the panel to the latest AFS v16 beta. It's an automated process, so there's not much to do other than sit and watch it happen.

As AFS v16 is really close to release, I wanted to get a flight on it so I could report back with anything I found before the wider release. Turns out, the software is good!

Anyhow, I took off, and headed to Torrance (KTOA). Bruce had suggested Torrance the other day, and I figured why not? Initially, I did not think I had ever been to Torrance, but on second thought, I think I have been. The year was 2001 or 2002, and I was flying a PC-12. If I recall correctly, I flew from Chino to Torrance, picked up the owners, and then flew them to Monterey, and then I took the PC-12 back to Chino. Certainly, I had never left the Torrance airport ramp, anyhow. Upon landing today, I took a quick walk down the way to grab lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant. Overall, a very good meal!

I walked back to the airplane, and figured that I'd fly over to Oceanside (KOKB) to get some fuel, and then back home to Fallbrook to put the airplane in the hangar. The flight down to Oceanside was great. A very clear day, but also a lot of airplanes flying. I still really enjoy flying down the coast. After a pretty routine landing in Oceanside, and getting some fuel, I took off for Fallbrook and called it a day.

Overall, a really great day of RV'ing. My newly installed alternator functioned great. The AFS v16 software that I had loaded worked great. And I was able to pull off nice landings at each of the airports that I flew to. Key for me to get consistently good landings.. be on speed, look down the runway, and hold the airplane off as long as possible. If I can remember to do those three things, it will always end well.
 

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A massive forest fire put a flight restriction very close to my airport. I went playing to the south. Caught a sparrow on the prop. It's been a while I had a confirmed kill.
 

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Paint kill

A massive forest fire put a flight restriction very close to my airport. I went playing to the south. Caught a sparrow on the prop. It's been a while I had a confirmed kill.

Vlad,
You need to paint a “kill” on the side.

Actually, you need to paint.
 
There has been taxiway closures for resurfacing so I was not able to get out for a few days.

Did a flight to Elkin (KZEF) for $3.45 100LL.

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Recorded 1.2 hobbs / 7.5 gallons when back in the hangar.

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This also gives me a chance to use the new upload image option and attempt to get them in the order that I want.
 
Flew for breakfast on sat from socal to east of Visalia. Woodlake airport. Great breakfast spot
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Lynne and I flew Sunday to Greenville Downtown (KGMU) for lunch with our daughter and grandson at the Runway Cafe. Then enjoyed watching Rider play on the aviation theme playground next to the restaurant before heading back home. Needed to dodge a few developing storms on the way home, but made it back safely. Then gave the plane a good rub down to remove all the bugs.
Unfortunately, no pics were taken, but an enjoyable day focused on aviation.
 
First time on grass

Knocked off my first grass landing on Saturday. Flew to a flying club meet up at a farm strip 35 NM from home. Wasn't the smoothest of landings, but I've had worse. Next time I need to slow it down another 10 kts, 65 kt is on the upper end of my normal landing speed, but way too fast for grass. Strangest thing about the landing was passing a thin stand of trees right at the threshold that were maybe 30' away and getting a very sudden, large and brief boost in sensation of speed just as I was coming in.

We were getting sandwiched between storm cells to the north and south so I squeezed out towards home in the east. I toyed with the idea of waiting out the storm, but was glad I didn't. Maybe 20 minutes after I left the field got covered in an inch of hail.
 
Some formation training, all 8's this day.
 

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That is excellent Vlad! Let me know when you are in the area. A few of us gather semi-frequently for early morning coffee at those backcountry airstrips.
 
3000 miles this past weekend

This weekend we had our Oshkosh replacement flight. We flew 3,000 mile round trip. Left Saturday, returned Tuesday morning. Two RV-8's and an RV-3B first half of trip. Two RV-8's for return flight. This was a delivery flight to a new owner of the RV-3. 1500+ miles the first day to Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispel, MT where the new owner awaited the 3. Two nights there then 1.5 days back stopping in Monument Valley overnight. Then back home. 13 states flown in.

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Finally finished the video of the weekend activities. Crank up the resolution to 1080HD otherwise it will look terrible.

https://youtu.be/nYhqdcRz9fU

The New Mexico Pilot's Association Gila Wilderness Fly-In is highly recommended. I try to go every year and it is spectacular. Not just because of the wilderness, but because of the dedicated volunteers. They are a super bunch of like-minded pilots who know how to get things done and have a lot of fun. It is no accident the fly-in is so much fun. It's about the people and sharing back country flying.

If your wheel pants are low and tight on your RV you might want to remove them and leave them back home.

As for myself, I take my Husky with Bushwheels for more exploration. During the fly-in Flying and visiting other Forest Service air strips is encouraged. This is a "Fly In", not a "Park In" like many gatherings. And camping is the order of the day.
 
Any information on the NM Wilderness Fly in dates Jim?

Sadly, the "Gila Regional Fly in" has been canceled due to the things currently going on in the world. However; we are able to have a work-party weekend so that will occur on for the same weekend (Oct. 2-4) at the Negrito airstrip (0NM7).

https://www.nmpilots.org/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=264824&item_id=1125030

The other airstrips that Jim alluded to (near the Gila Wilderness Area) are MeOwn (1NM0) and Beaverhead (13NM). Both of these are RV friendly. The new/now open Rainy Mesa is marginal for RV's (IMO) due to being a bit rough. My landing/takeoff there was uneventful but I was lucky enough to have worked on the airstrip and knew where the "smooth enough" sections were located.
 
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