First BIG Trip !

Bekah and I took the RV out of state for the first time over labor day weekend.  We took it way out of state..  Our first stop was Medford Oregon, just north of the Siskiyou Range (Mt Shasta).  Was a great flight, but 20 knot headwind the whole way.  At Medford we refueled and continued our trip to Santa Rosa, Sonoma County Airport.  Again with the 20 knot headwind, but all in all we still made it from Seattle to Wine Country in about 4.5 hours flight time.

Everything went really well with the flight except for two things.  In Sonoma it was 90 degrees and the canopy swelled up due to the heat and I couldn't close it.   WHAT?  I didn't realize that it swelled so much, the aft part was binding with the rear windshield.  I will work on sanding it down a bit more to get a larger clearance in that area.  We waited till it cooled down, and were able to close no problem.  Also, the CHT’s got a little warm as we were up at 9,500 over the Siskiyou’s passing Shasta.  The hottest I saw was about 389, no problem, but I am thinking I might need to open up the lower cowl a bit.   My 2 pipe heat box and 4 pipe exhaust kind of plug up the exit and I need more space for air to flow through.  I might put some louvers on the bottom of the cowl, we’ll see.  Also I think at similar power settings at higher altitude the air cooling isn’t as effective as at lower altitudes.

Coming home, that 20 knot wind had turned into a 30 knot wind, but this time was a tailwind!!   We were cruising across the earth at 220 mph most of the way.   This turned the flight home into a 3.5 hour event and even though we were delayed due to fog at Santa Rosa we still made it home by early afternoon.   We could have made it nonstop, but the plane is more efficient than our bladders.   Nature called around the Eugene area, so we stopped in for a quick pit stop.    All in all, what a cool trip !

Dynamic Prop Balance/ Oil Change and Continued Flying

So I am not updating this blog much anymore since really I haven’t’ been doing much work on the plane.   I don’t want to take it offline and risk missing a weekend, so I am waiting until later in September for some of the remaining fiberglass work.  I did get the prop dynamically balanced, which does make a noticeable difference.  The plane isn’t any smoother, but when you touch the metal structure, or the wiring up under the panel during flight you can tell there is less vibration in it.   So I am glad I balanced it knowing that it does make a difference.   I also changed the oil/filter for the 3^rd time after 25 hours.  I think I will stick with changing every 25 hours since from this point forward I will be putting consistent hours on the plane.

This weekend I took Bekah over the Cascades for the first time and we headed to Spokane to visit a friend from college and his family.   Was a great trip, had to go VFR on top at 11500 to get over there.  Coming back we were between layers but were able to get in at 8500, so some better views of the mountains.   All in all it was a great trip to eastern Washington, but I was anxious to get home when Sunday came.   Getting back over the mountains can be dicey no matter what time of year.  We made it though, so all was good.

 

 

 

Magical day to circumnavigate Puget Sound and the Islands !

What a fun day in the RV. !   Bekah and I took off from Paine field and I promptly gave her some exciting “unusual attitudes”  (RV Pilots will know what that means) followed by the short flight over to Port Townsend (Jefferson County Airport).   We landed there and realized that the Spruce Goose Café was closed due to fire a week or so back, but it will be reopening soon which is great.   But no problem for us because we are in an RV, so we taxied back, took off in route to Skagit Bay View airport.   Stopped and grabbed lunch at the Kitty Hawk Café which Bekah had never been to, so that was fun.   From there we decided to head up to Eastsound on Orcas Island.  Landed there and walked down to the water for a bit, then headed back to Paine Field.   What an amazing and magical day to circumnavigate Puget Sound !

Click "HERE" for a great short video of our departure from Eastsound !

Aileron Rolls

I know I haven't posted for a while..  I have been flying every chance I get though.  Fixing a few items here and there and getting Bekah familiar with  the airplane.   We have flown together about 4 or 5 times.   But since I have taken some aerobatic training I figure it was time to see what the RV could do.  I've been practicing rolls for the last several flights and I figure it was time to get a camera in the plane and share some of my fun.  I apologize for my hamming it up in the video a bit, I can't help it and looking back afterwards, its pretty silly.  Oh well, I had a Blast, always do when I am flying the RV..

CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

Also snapped a shot out of the video and posting as a pic..

Our First Destination !

Bekah and I finally got the opportunity to let the plane take us somewhere wonderful.  Weather was perfect, winds were perfect and we launched off to Friday Harbor on Saturday morning.  Pretty much flew direct there over Whidbey Island, grabbed some flight following and at 23 squared at 4,500 was cruising at 200mph.  Made the trip there about 25 mins from Paine field.  We spent the day walking around the island, bucket of clams for lunch, and generally taking in the sights.  Everyone who travels to Friday Harbor is pretty excited about how they got there, people either have their own boat, or take the ferry in from Anacortes, but as we walked around it was fun to think that nobody there was in Seattle just 30 minutes ago like we were.   Only a few people get to fly in !  ;-)   The airport is only a 10 minute walk to town, so you just can’t beat it for a great island get away.

Bekah's First Flight

With Phase one behind me and things looking good on the airplane, Bekah and I decided to head up for her first flight.   All went well, and fortunately for us it was the smoothest weather I have experienced in all of my phase 1.  We flew up over the San Juans for a quick evening flight and returned to Paine field after about 45 minutes of flight time.   Great experience and now Bekah has flown in the RV  !

Counter Weight/Balast and Phase One closure

I have been flying with different weights to simulate “Bekah”.  ;-)   Also to simulate luggage and different loading configurations.  Things went well and while I didn't hit every single weight I proved the plane flies well and that there is not a major difference in control feel.  With heavy luggage you end up with a bit slower tail rise on take-off and more pitchy movement on landing, but now that I have “felt” the characteristics I am good to close out my phase one.

Flying down to Renton Field I hit the fabulous 40 hour mark.  I didn't get a pick in the air, but now the plane has been test flown the appropriate number of hours, I have signed it off and am now entering Phase 2 which means I can take passengers to experience the airplane with me.  Oh, the reason I was heading down to Renton was to catch some aerobatic training in a Pitts..  Not cheap, but valuable experience for flying and for future aerobatics.

Also including what I think is just a great pic of my plane tied down for the first time at Renton Field.