What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

RV Route Maps

Tandem46

Well Known Member
The recent long range travels of Paul/Louise, Vlad, the Cards, etc, etc, got me thinking about a way to graphically document all the places we've been in our RVs. Jayne and I have a wall map at home with pins showing all the places we've visited, but I was thinking something more along the lines of a route map like those used by the airlines. Google didn't turn up much except for a "paid" site that looks like it is geared more towards commercial type flying. A very labor intensive way is to just get a map off line and manually draw lines from memory of the trips one has taken. That's what I did below, although it's somewhat an estimate than exact routing. What would be perfect would be a program where one could just enter airport identifiers and have the computer do the rest. Anyone have a better way/idea?

kt8jr.gif
 
It is not a lot of work to mark up a map if you start with a high resolution JPG base map -

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/united_states_wall_2002_us.jpg

This is my trip from last month. It took only a few minutes to create using software as simple as MS Paint.

Travels-Jul-Aug-2012-trip-compressed.jpg


It is a compressed version for the web. The High res. original would make a better print.

A good base map with lots of towns marked on it makes the job much easier.

A system with FAA identifiers won't mark the routes around restricted areas and through mountain passes...:)
 
I have a large map in my hangar where I plot all my cross countries.
It also serves as my bucket/wish list routes.
It's the type of map that has a vinyl coating that allows me to update with a permanent marker with completed routes & dry erase for future planned routes.
 
I use Google Maps as well. My map is set up to show each airport that I've landed at in my RV.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=208150561854134474848.0004a500f77f23071b952&msa=0

I've color coded the pins by year so I can see where I've been in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012...

As I land at each airport, I'll include a little write-up about that airport. Does it have a courtesy car, is it a tent-friendly airport, are there showers available, nearby restaurants or attractions, etc.
 
I have a large map in my hangar where I plot all my cross countries.
It also serves as my bucket/wish list routes.
It's the type of map that has a vinyl coating that allows me to update with a permanent marker with completed routes & dry erase for future planned routes.

This is the relatively new FAA VFR wall planning map (one year old?) - it's large at 3 ft by 5 ft, comes rolled but not vinyl covered.

http://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/7920

This one is vinyl covered, but is a bit smaller at 3 ft x 4.3 ft and does not show as many airports...

http://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/1440

I like the FAA one as a wall map...:)
 
If you use myflightbook.com, it automatically shows a pin at each location you've landed at on a Google map, which is cool.

For flight tracks, using Google Earth with GPS data works well. Also, if FlightAware has your track data, you can download it that way, too. Here's a view using FlightAware data from my last trip.

gearth-M.jpg


-Rob
 
I have also used gpsvisualizer.com to create similar for Google Earth and maps using the GPS track logs exported from my GPS.
 
If you use myflightbook.com, it automatically shows a pin at each location you've landed at on a Google map, which is cool.

For flight tracks, using Google Earth with GPS data works well. Also, if FlightAware has your track data, you can download it that way, too. Here's a view using FlightAware data from my last trip.

<snip>

-Rob

Flight Aware is lousy if you are VFR with flight following though...

For the iPad users, can you "accumulate" Cloud Ahoy data into a big map though?
 
What a great idea!

I was looking for a great thread like this to post a couple of my own maps! What a great builder motivation tool! :D I've used the same JPG map that Gil Alexander referenced earlier in the thread. Open it up in MS-Paint and even a caveman can do it.

It would be interesting to see where others have gone... (Hey Rosie!) Post your trips on this thread today! From Rosie: Hmm...I think it would just be scribble-scrabble :D

The 1st map version are trips Tricia and I have taken in our RV-6. The 2nd are the routes that I've had the opportunity to fly the company demo aircraft (including the RV-1) on. Lots of interesting country to view on these moving geography lessons... ;) Future plans for the east coast, Caribbean, and Alaska...

For those of you still building, you can use this as a future planning tool. Git 'er done!

RV-6
N6810B%2520trips.png


Van's Demo Aircraft
Vans%2520trips.JPG
 
Last edited by a moderator:
^ Wot he said ^

Some fat old git in a red and white supersonic experimental uploaded his flight plan to Airservices Australia and I plotted it in GCMap to show the kids where Santa is going on his trip Dwn Under, This is the result...

11529381823_9e90b44a6f_z.jpg


It fast, free, available anywhere you've an Internet connection and you can simply right-click to save the image file.
 
our Summer 2013 travels

This is a map of our Summer 2013 travels. We left Texas mid June and got back mid September.
summer2013.jpg


It was a great year of flying, looking forward to this summer.
 
Western Europe - still lots to do...

Just to show that GA exists the other side of the Atlantic. I have to confess not all of this is in my RV, its predecessor was another 2-seat low-winger though.

k2bits.jpg
 
Last edited:
This one shows most of the stuff I've done in the last couple years. Lots of repeats and round trips. Looks like I have a hub out of Dahlonega, and a mini hub out of Austin. Buried in there somewhere are about 75 airshows we've done since 2007.


Brings back a lot of fum memories. Hopefully I'll fill in some more out west soon.

11719997926_56551cffc8_b.jpg
 
Last edited:
Widget, you really need to come visit out west!

This is from memory, 8 years of flying RV's around - three primarily, but others as well. Probably some areas I've forgotten, but there would be too many logbooks to search!:

Paul%2527s%2520RV%2520Map.jpg


That Texas Nexus probably won't get any bigger now....
 
Here's my map after 7 years and 1085 hours... I'd like to add some more red lines one of these days; I'm really lacking up in the Pacific Northwest!

35n3155.jpg
 
6 years

of cross country flying in my RV-7. I find it amazing how little populated the United States is considering we were told of over-population in the US more than 30 years ago. To view this wonderful country from aloft is priceless. Living in the central US, one can easily travel to either border or coast in less than a day.

The longest trip in one day was from Lees Summit MO (KLXT) -- Bismarck ND (KBIS) -- Minot ND (KMOT) -- Rock Springs WY (KRKS) -- Las Vegas NV (KVGT) = 1586 nm.



Bill Gill
RV-7 N151WP
Lees Summit MO
 
Last edited:
Back
Top