LATEST NEWS
10/3/07
www.Advanced-Flight-Systems.com Donates AOA Pro to LOE
Raffle...$1,495
value
9/22/07
Garmin donates 496 for LOE
raffle!
9/22/07
Van's Aircraft donates tail kit for LOE
raffle!
9/18/07
Tail-Mate Aircraft Hoist Donated
to LOE Raffle
$270 value
fmi:
www.tail-mate.com
9/16/07
Alex DeDominicis of Aviation Tech Products Along With
TruTrak Donates a TruTrak ADI (2 1/4 vertion) as Raffle
Prize at LOE'07.
Valued at $1,295
fmi:
www.AviationTechProducts.com
9/15/07
Don Crum Donates RV
Handy Jack to LOE Raffle.
$129 value
9/14/07
ECi2fly.com Donates 25%
Discount On Engine to
LOE'07 Raffle
...from Chrisy Nichols Quinn at ECi, "...(we would like
to offer)
a 25% Discount on the
purchase of a TITAN EXP IOX-340 Stroker Engine by Engine
Components, Inc. and America’s Aircraft Engines, Inc.
Prize value is $6000
9/5/07
Red Roof Inn
(El Paso, TX) Called in With An Announcement For All LOE'07
Attendees
...special rates ($49 a night), etc. Red
Roof is (915) 587-9977(updated
9/17)
9/4/07
"Tony
Partain Donates
Free Finish Kit Shipping Courtesy
$400-$800 Value
(depending on destination)
8/29/07
"Vetterman
Exhaust Donates 4-cylinder Exhaust System ($800
Value)
*the winner may also take $800 off a RV-10
system if they choose.
8/29/07
"I'd like to offer up a set of
products for the LOE raffle. I have a really great new
product of dual-color LED Light Strips and I can throw in a
set of spot and baggage lights. It would be about $200 in
value.
Best regards,
Robert Cullinan
Britta Imports"
8/28/07
Car rental PIREP: Chris Pratt
"I called the local Enterprise rent-a-car locaion near El
Paso today to rent a car for LOE. They are very aware of the
event but are still in the process of organizing for it.
They took my basic information and said they would call me
back when they were ready to book the cars.
I mentioned that Enterprise's national 1-800 service didn't
seem to be aware of the special offer. This surprised the
lady I spoke to but she speculated that since it's a locally
organized event it probably won't show up on the national
schedule. She suggested that people call the El Paso office
direct: (915) 845-0268.
Chris"
8/27/07
Glenn Brasch Has Donated (4) Brass Van's Belt Buckles
($35/ea - $140 total)
8/24/07
Vertical Power donates $500 coupon for raffle.
fmi:
www.verticalpower.com
8/24/07
Seth from Las Cruces reminded me that the new
CTAF/Unicom for Santa Teresa (5T6) is 122.725.
8/24/07:
Google Earth .kmz file showing location of event.
Pic below shows view to the east (similar to the picture at
the top of the page)...the western side of the Franklin
Mountains are beautiful during Friday's Sunset Social.
- download Google Earth .kmz file
showing location of event
8/22/07 Update: HOTELS
We couldn't get any discounts for hotels this
year (tourism in the El Paso area is pretty brisk these
days), so we are asking that people coming to the event
arrange their own hotel rooms. A good place to stat
(online) would be
www.hotels.com. You're going to want to look for
stuff on the far west side of town (close to Santa Teresa).
We're working on the rental cars.
02/09/07 Update:
LOE '07 Dates Picked: Oct 5,6,7
LOE Photo Preview
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
- 1,2,3,6 War Eagles Museum (where the banquet will be held - 5pm-10pm Sat.)
- 4 inside a MIG
- 5 inside a P-40
- 7 surrounding desert/mountains
- 8 crude panorama of the parking area (ramp and taxiway will easily hold 300
RVs)
- 9 parking planning map
Brian
Denk's Perspective on New Mexico
"10/3/01
- As an RV’er from the sunny state of New Mexico, I would like to welcome the fraternity of RV fans to the Land of Enchantment RV fly-in!
New Mexico has much to offer to the flying community. We have 300+ days of VFR weather every year, and the days that are
IFR, tend to be far and few between. A typical day here is “severe clear”. You can see forever, and then some. With this wondrous weather, there is one caveat: beware density altitude. Even during cold winter days, the typical field elevation in central or southern New Mexico often exceeds the density altitude of Midwestern fields on a HOT day. Our RV’s can usually handle the performance degradation, but don’t be surprised if it feels like you’re smoking down the runway for what seems like an eternity before the plane decides to fly. Remember…watch your airspeed indicator and don’t let the blur of the runway environment distract you on final.
The airspace in southern New Mexico is rather loaded with restricted areas and
MOA’s. To the north and on the east side of the Rio Grande lies a huge chunk of restricted area used by the White Sands Missile range, and various other fast movers. On up towards Roswell is the site of the famed UFO crash in the 40’s. A visit to Roswell proves that the local tourist industry thrives on this bit of
trivia…history...or whatever you choose to call it. A drive down main street, with it’s curio shops and museums, will convince you that we were indeed visited by little green men; at least men with a desire to extract some greenbacks from the local tourists. Still, it’s quite a hoot!
While here in Nuevo Mexico, you simply must try some local green chile. This is the real stuff, brothers, and it’s one of the healthiest foods you can eat. Chock full of vitamin C, it’s a statewide antidote for whatever ails you. It’s also delicious, and guaranteed to clear your sinuses. It’s been proven to stimulate the release of endorphins. It’s a cheap, healthy “high”! A few miles north on I-25, lies the small farming town of Hatch. It may be small, but it’s the heart of the green chile capital of the world. The scent of roasting chile pods can be enjoyed most anytime of the week during the harvest season. You can buy bags of chile pods in fresh, raw form, and roast them yourself at home in the oven. We locals usually opt to have them flame roasted, and spend an afternoon bagging the steaming, spicy wonders in zip locks baggies for freezer storage for the coming year. Chipmunks store nuts for the winter. We New Mexicans store
chile! In it’s fully ripened form, it is red, which is also delicious, but does not require roasting. We dry it, and crush it into powder. Or, it’s cleaned of the seeds and stem, then tossed into a blender with some water, pepper and garlic salt to make red chile sauce. You haven’t lived until you slather some of this wondrous sauce over scrambled eggs, roast turkey, beef, cheerios,
waffles…. OK...maybe not waffles. Yeah, it can be hot, but not always. That’s part of the fun of it…the surprise factor!
Best wishes,
Brian Denk
akroguy@hotmail.com
RV8 N94BD
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA!!"
Sites
To See On The Way by Larry Pardue
"For those departing the Dallas/Fort Worth area for Las Cruces, you have a varied and scenic
flight ahead.
The entire flight, in general, is a progression to drier, rockier and higher terrain. Around
Big Spring (look for all the power generating windmills) is about where things really start
changing. The green starts to go away and more rocks and sand appear.
Approaching the New Mexico state line you will begin seeing huge patterns on the ground of small
squares connected by thin lines. Those are the roads and oil wells of the 250 mile by 300 mile
Permian Basin, what the latest Forbes Magazine calls "the largest concentration of oil ever
found in the continental US." If you fly near Monahans look for the big sand dunes.
After entering New Mexico, you should shortly see an unusual ridge line, far in the distance.
This is the Guadalupe Mountain Range, which is a terminus of the Permian Reef, on the edge of
the famous basin from which so much oil and gas has been extracted. The reef arcs around,
mostly underground, for a few hundred miles, then reemerges as the Glass Mountains, south of
here, in Texas.
In New Mexico, the reef gradually emerges from the ground about 5 miles southwest of the
Carlsbad airport, where my RV is based. The reef is tilted so that it is higher to the
southwest, up to a maximum of 8,749 feet (highest point in Texas), near the abrupt end of the
mountains at Guadalupe Pass. The end, so abrupt it looks like it was cut off with a knife, is
called El Capitan, or locally, The Point of the Mountains. South of El Capitan is where the
Permian Sea had an outlet to the ocean. Just north of El Capitan is the highest point,
Guadalupe Peak (locally Signal Peak), where as a nine year old boy, I was absolutely astounded
to find fossil sea shells, in this very arid climate, 8,500 feet above sea level.
The Guadalupe Mountains are the finest exposed reef in the world, and contain two national
parks. If you fly up the southern escarpment (sea side of the reef) you will first see
buildings and a large water storage tank, right at the top of the ridge. This is the vistor's
center for Carlsbad Caverns National Park. This park contains well known Carlsbad Cavern, but
note that the park title is Carlsbad Caverns. That is because there are over 100 caverns in
this small park, and hundreds more in the rest of the mountain range. Several are open to the
public, some by appointment and some only with special permits. As you fly up the escarpment it
will be difficult to miss the many large holes in the ground. Some have vertical entrance drops
approaching 300 feet. One has such a large entrance that a helicopter once flew into the cave
through the entrance.
Perhaps the most outstanding cave in the world is located about 3 or 4 miles west of Carlsbad
Cavern (the entrance is inconspicuous). Lechuguilla (lech-uh-gee-uh) Cave (32 degrees 11.4', 104
degrees 30.2'), dwarfs Carlsbad Cavern in length, depth and volume and is in near virgin
condition. A very expensive airlock has just been installed to control the 60 to 70 mph winds
that can rush through the entrance with changes in barometric pressure.
Flying along the escarpment, you will see a series of deep and rugged canyons. Just short of
Guadalupe Mountains National Park is a canyon called Big Canyon. If the wind was light from the
south and if one was careful to fly DOWN the canyon and if one entered the canyon with enough
speed to make it to the plains below in case of engine failure and if one entered the top of the
canyon at about 32 degrees 3¹, 104 degrees 46¹, one could have the experience of flying inside a
marine reef, and a spectacular experience it would be. Personally, I recommend against this
experience strongly, on safety grounds!
After Big Canyon, I like to fly higher because of the National Park, but it is still pretty easy
to spot the stainless steel pyramid right at the top of Guadalupe Peak. You might also spot
some hikers. The pyramid was erected by, I believe, American Airlines, as a monument to lost
flyers. Many have been lost in the immediate vicinity. Look south from Guadalupe Pass to see
hundreds more wind generators up on the ridge tops.
After the abrupt end to the Guadalupes it gets real flat, real quick at a large dry lake called
Salt Flat. Up near the northern end of Salt Flat you can see a small area of snow white sand
dunes, the Gypsum Dunes. This is a miniature version of White Sands National Monument that may
be visible further to the northwest.
A bit further ahead, past Dell City, you will notice about 20, mostly cone shaped, volcanic
peaks that go up to around 7,000 feet. Fly over there. These are the Cornudas Mountains, which
are Cretaceous intrusions of magma into the Permian limestone. Look for columnar basalt and
perched lakes.
The next big mountain range is the Franklins, just on the other side of El Paso, Texas, but
there are some good sized hills east of El Paso called the Huecos (pronounced somewhat like the
town Waco, TX, not like the Waco airplane). The sectional has a VFR checkpoint labeled Hueco
Tanks. What could that be? Well the tanks are natural rock basins that were an important water
supply for Apaches, Kiowas, Comanches and early settlers, that used this site. There are lots
of pictographs. This site, like Pine Springs in Guadalupe Pass was a stop on the Butterfield
Stage Line.
You will probably fly through Anthony Gap, west of Newman VOR (there isn¹t much choice,
considering the gigantic White Sands restricted areas just about abutting the country of
Mexico). On the other side of this small pass is the Rio Grande River with its corridor of
crops, freeway and railroad, that you follow up toward Las Cruces. Just south of here is Santa
Teresa airport (Dona Ana County) with its very good air museum of FLYING aircraft. Further up
the river, in the vicinity of the village of Hatch, are the famous chili fields but in this area
you will see large orchards of excellent Pecans.
Off to the right now, near Las Cruces is the very distinctive Organ Mountain range. I don¹t
know how this range got its name, but the mountains do look a lot like a pipe organ, with all
the vertical lineaments.
I hope you enjoy the trip, with its many opportunities to see what our country is like from the
God view. What a privilege we have to be able to do this. Have fun at the fly-in."
Larry Pardue
Carlsbad, NM
RV-6 N441LP
http://n5lp.net/index.htm
Past LOE Events:
LOE5 Write Ups
LOE4 Write Ups
LOE3 Photo Album
LOE2 Comments
2002: LOE2
There was a hurricane pushing up through Mexico and
a southerly jet stream that keep over half of the intended arrivals from
coming. Pretty much anything eest of El Paso could not get there.
The RV-7 and RV-9 demonstrators were in attendance flown by Ken Kruger
and Ken Scott.
LOE2 Reviews
2001: LOE1
Originally scheduled for Sept 15, 2001 the event was
postponed after 9/11. The rescheduled event in late October had
over one hundred RVs in attendance. The RV-7 and RV-9A
demonstrators were in attendance flown by Ken Kruger and Scott McDaniels.
