Oshkosh 2014

I am finally getting aroung to posting about our trip to OSH. Have you noticed, now that I have a flying airplane, the blog posts have slowed significantly?? :) I will still try to keep you up to date from time to time about our flying adventures in Wablosa. This is, however, the reason we slave away in the garage for years...to fly to far away places! So far, it has been a blast...it all still feels very surreal. You takeoff in Denver...several hours later you are halfway across the U.S. in Ohio visiting relatives. Crazy life! You'll get tired of me saying it...but keep at it, its gonna be worth it.

So, as I mentioned, we departed Denver heading for Ohio to visit Sheryl's family. We planned to spend the weekend there and then head northwest, past Chicago, to Oshkosh on Monday. This would be opening day for AirVenture 2014! 

Here are quite a few pics from our adventure...about 2300 miles round trip. All accomplished in an airplane I built. With each long trip like (now my fourth) this I learn a little more about the plane...and the pilot, its challenging, but a whole lot of fun.

As we headed east, I noticed there are more and more airports. A contrast to some of the barren wild, wild west, which I'm used to. I don't remember which airport this was, or where, just a cool pic.

As we made our way from Denver (95 degs when we took off mid-afternoon), the weather was good and amazingly the air was smooth at 9500'. Sheryl has become quite at home in the cockpit already. Quite a view...quite a life!

Of course, I made good use of 'George' (autopilot) to catch up on my reading...while we puttered along at 8 gph.

It was clear until we advanced all the way to Illinois. I could see from my FIS-B radar that we had thunderstorms in the area and increasing clouds. I have to admit, at this point in my flying career I am very conservative. I was steering plenty clear of any cells. At 9500' we were now starting to encounter a ceiling below us. I stayed VFR on top for a little while admiring the view before finally ducking to the south to get under them and doing a conservative scud run to Ohio. I knew from ATIS/ASOS reports we had clearance below. 

After we ducked below, the scenery definitely changed. From bright beautiful sunlight to overcast and dreary. Here we are crossing the Mississippi River. Not a great pic, but cool nonetheless. We arrived in Ohio after dark and landed to Sheryl's mom and boyfriend waving us in. I was pretty pooped at that point, it was a long day for this ol' boy.

This was my buddy for the weekend...Gus, a Husky/Akita mix breed called a Huskita. Reminded me of my old dog Lakota. We had a wonderful time visiting in Ohio. I took Sheryl's mom, boyfriend and her sister for short rides. They all liked the 210mph high speed passes the best. 

We were weather delayed in Ohio with low ceilings and rain. We talked to some other RV-ers (RV6 and RV10) grounded with us. Finally it cleared up just enough (1300' ceiling) to get out of town. Once we got to Chicago it cleared up and was good into OSH. Arriving at about 1pm on Monday, it was pretty smooth sailing. Only behind one slow mover...a red high wing. I had it down to 75 kts and the nose was pretty high because of our weight. CHT's were ok though. 

The remote controllers asked if we were a "flight of two". After two calls, I responded..."negative from the Red RV"...the high wing didn't answer. Once she heard that, she sent him one way and me down Fisk Ave to runway 36L. Controller said..."Red RV, yellow dot"...down we came, the rest is history. I never did get to rock my wings though. :(

Our camp setup...not much to it since we couldn't bring much because of weight considerations. 

Life in homebuilt camping...

The damned infernal helicopter that buzzes over your head constantly in homebuilt camping (HBC). The whump, whump, whump gets just a tad old..."not even 30 seconds of silence to make a phone call" as one of my camp neighbors (RV7) stated.

Sorry folks...as you can see, I tend to take a lot of pics of my new airplane...call me crazy, but I think she photographs well! I am using fly-ties for my tie down stakes and Cub Crafters ratchet straps. Both worked well...but really weren't tested.

The Aeroshell team...always fun to watch...and photograph. It was an overcast afternoon in good ol' OSH...surprise, surprise. Every day this year, although nice and cool, was an afternoon thunderstorm. 

First time for the Thunderbirds at OSH...or any military demonstration team for that matter. I say...FINALLY! We purposely stuck around until Friday to see them. Always cool to see the T-birds or Blue's, although I think there were somewhat limited in their show because of the logistics involved (i.e., lots of people spread out over a large area). Oh, and the weather was horrible for taking pictures...flat light.

A nice sunset after a passing thunderstorm. I was amazed how many planes were departing during said storm...with lightning popping all around them. You guys/gals have more guts than me...I was glad to be on the ground.

A nice panoramic shot of the campground...from my seat.

A shot I took and sent to Bruce's canopy covers for promo use...I like my new cowl plugs...and canopy cover.

Sheryl checking out a nice motorcycle in the Honda tent...its not all about airplanes you know. 

Eating some good grub at the SOS beer brothers tent after a long day of walking. Crazy luck...I drew #5 for my ticket. 

Visiting the museum...and my favorite area...love that Eagle.

The view from the lawn chairs...sipping my morning coffee, supplied free in HBC.

When we left Saturday morning...the entire row was pretty much vacant. The homebuilt crowd tend to leave early. Notice row 319...the last row on the north side of the taxiway. That was where we ended up with our monday afternoon arrival. They told us we were "late" when we shut down the engine...opening day is "late" apparently. It was a drag being this far out...we'll try and arrive earlier next time.

Packed for home...notice how FULL we are. I was over my 100lbs in the baggage area. We need to learn to pack lighter. With camping gear, you reach 100 lbs fast! I ended up using my auxiliary tanks (which worked flawlessly) as ballast to keep my CG forward. I only would burn down to 15 gallons before refueling. When the CG shifts aft, it gets very sensitive in pitch. This is not something I recommend as a habit...and was a lesson learned on this trip. I only mention it as a cautionary tale. 

We landed at Wayne, NE for fuel. EAA advertised them as an FBO that had food and cheap fuel for Oshkosh pilots. We filled up on $5/gallon avgas and had free sub sandwiches while chatting with the staff. Great hospitality and facilities. 

A fine, prior OSH award winning Lancair Legacy gets fuel ahead of us. I chatted with the pilot--his name escapes me--whom most likely will be a judge next year. Nice guy.

Some goodies you get when you fly into OSH. Since it was my first with my new plane I got a perseverance award. Kinda cool...and appropriate. Perseverance is definitely the tool you need most to finish one of these buggers.

It was darn good to be home and sleep in our own bed! Not have to get dressed and walk to the port-a-potty to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night...ah, the simple pleasures of life. We sat out on our deck with sunshine and no humidity and had a nice Colorado microbrew in my new mug. I reflected on the last 5+ years and thought, "Wow, mission accomplished!" I had flown the airplane I built to Oshkosh...the cherry on top of this long journey. I smiled at the thought of it all.... 

Wablosa's First Oshkosh

 

I've been busy getting ready for my first trip flying into Oshkosh for the annual pilgrimage. I feel very well prepared as there is a lot of good information out there to study. I started by reading the NOTAM...it amazes me that some pilots feel like its ok to fly into OSH without reading the NOTAM. Its about 25 pages in length so its not trivial. Keep yourself and the rest of your pilot brethren safe by being prepared and following procedures. I have it on my iPad and also in hard copy, which you can request for free until supplies run out.

 

In addition to that, I watched the EAA webinar, which had good information specific to this year (2014). I followed that up by watching actual cockpit videos so I could get a feel for what its like real-time, with actual radio calls and wing rocks. All of this coupled with the fact that I listen to a live tower feed every year so I'm familiar with how it goes will hopefully make it a non-event. The best thing you could say after your first trip would be, "it was like I had been there before."

 

I've gone out and practiced slow flight. The FISK approach is at 90kts/1800 ft and depending on who you get stuck behind that could slow to 70kts from stories I have heard. I flew at 90kts, dialed the RPM back to about 1950 to keep CHT's down (not sure if I needed to but wanted to practice it), it was not a big deal as the aircraft was plenty stable. I then stepped down to 80kts...then 70, and finally 65kts. 70 kts is probably about as far as I would go before bailing out of the approach and re-entering.

 

Of course, I didn't do this at full gross, so that is something I need to keep in mind when the day arrives. I just don't feel comfortable strapping ballast into my co-pilot seat...if it were to become dislodged and fall on my co-pilot stick it would be game over. I will just adjust accordingly to the added weight.

 

My last bit of practice will be spot landings...you know the drill...yellow dot, green dot, etc. That will be a rush landing on the dot in OSH for the first time, for sure.

 

I am spending the week getting the airplane pretty for the big show too. Several last minute cosmetic details need to be accomplished. Painting my plenum is the big one.  

 

In summary, the day is almost upon us...and I'm pretty psyched for this trip. If you see ol' #5 out at OSH, stop by and say hi!

Light GoPro Acro

 

Long time, no post...I hope all is well in your RV world, its been great in mine! I've already logged about 64 hrs on the HOBBS and still getting used to the new bird. I would say after about 50 hrs, things were feeling pretty good, but I'm still not where I want to be yet. In addition to the flying, I am still getting some bugs worked out of the airplane. Its certainly not finished once you get it flying.

 

Last weekend, I mounted my GoPro 2 camera to the wing and went playing around out in the aerobatic practice area where I used to go with my acro instructor, Dagmar. I admittedly am just dipping my toe in the water with solo acro. As you can see from the pics and video...its a heckuva toy and a lot of fun!

 

Here is simple video of a few rolls...really a cool perspective with the camera on the wing. I have been tinkering with my technique as I am getting some 'up' elevator in the mix, causing a barrel roll effect. The hardest thing to do with a roll is to achieve perfectly 'neutral' elevator. If you look close, you can actually see it in the video...very nice for critiquing.

 

After doing several to the left, I tried one to the right. As you can see in this video, it is a perfectly executed Split-S. The problem is, it was supposed to be a full roll. A split-S is properly entered at a low entry airspeed. This was a rookie mistake and potentially dangerous because of high speed and altitude loss. I was high (as you should always be when trying new stuff) and had enough sense to pull the power immediately after I realized what I did. Even with that, it was amazing to watch the airspeed build to 190+ kts TAS even with the power pulled. 

 

You should never "roll and pull" as they preach to you in unusual attitude training. The worst possible recovery from a botched roll is a split-S...not sure what I was thinking? I rolled, it didn't look good so I pulled to abort. I know better as Dagmar taught me better than that as this was a topic of discussion when we did rolls. Again, I know this was a foolish mistake, but I wanted to share so you can remember this and hopefully not make the same one yourself...even something as simple as a roll can get you in trouble if you aren't trained properly. Alas, I'm still learning.

 

Next post I'll go into detail about my preparations for flying into OSH two weeks from now, for both the pilot and plane. Until then, enjoy this dose of multi-media and get some inspiration to KPR.  

These are various screenshots taken from the GoPro, I really like the dramatic effect mounting the camera on the wing has. And the scenery isn't bad either, which helps.

Adventure!!

The primary mission for my airplane is travel. There are others...like acro and lite back country flying, but travel is what I really want to do with this plane. With this in mind, I built it with a lot of creature comforts, which I realize made it heavy, and I'm ok with that. All of this so that we could cruise in style from point A to point B.

 

I didn't waste any time putting the plane to its first big test. Sheryl and I picked up the plane on Wednesday, June 4th, from Dallas. I then spent Thursday prepping it for its first long cross country flight...over the Rockies to the heart of Washington state. For this newbie pilot, it would turn out to be the longest, by far, cross country flight I have ever tackled. It challenged me as an aviator and my airmanship, I came away with many lessons learned and some hard earned confidence in myself and the plane. 

 

All of this...in a new airplane that I built, with my girlfriend and her dog, definitely precious cargo. I was a little apprehensive, but knew I was up for the challenge. Chance would have it that during May I was due for a BFR. On the last day of May, I took the opportunity to really go deep on this one...to get the cobwebs dusted off after spending 5 yrs building and to review the flight plan I had put together for the trip. Both were a huge success...really enjoyed studying and "remembering" a lot of my primary training, and got a thumbs up on my route choice from my CFI.

 

The main reason for the trip was to watch my niece, Kaylee, graduate high school in Ephrata, WA. I also, selfishly wanted to show off the plane to family. I flight planned for this trip for about two weeks. Three days ahead I was constantly watching weather patterns over the route. I purposely chose a somewhat conservative flight path, avoiding hostile terrain whenever it made sense. I was amazed at how easy that was to do and also that it didn't add much time to the trip...a good practice even when I am more comfortable with the plane and pilot.

 

We took off bright and early from my home airport in Broomfield, CO for the 858 nm trip. I wanted to knock out all of the high country flying (which we had up until about Boise, ID) before it got too late in the day for weather reasons. The climb from my airport to Rollins pass, which is at our doorstep, is rather brutal. You really need to do some serious climbing to get the altitude needed to cross the pass. I really had to baby the engine to keep the CHT's under control...and learned I need to be better at this. First lesson learned...these tightly cowled RV's need plenty of airflow over the engine to stay cool. Keep your climbs shallow or do step climbs. This lesson would be drummed into my head several times on this trip.

 

 

This was my route to WA. Pretty straightforward except for a slight deviation over my hometown of Dayton, WA, Walla Walla (where I played college baseball) and Little Goose Dam where my Dad used to work.

 

At the last minute we decided to take Sheryl's dog Shadow with us. We bought him a pair of Mutt Muffs, but they appeared to be too small to stay on his head so he went without. I was a little worried how he would adapt to cockpit life and the noise. As you can see, he didn't appear to be uncomfortable. It wasn't long before we realized he had complete faith in the pilot and nodded off to sleep.

 

I can never get enough of this scenery from altitude...I really dig it. This was on the way out...not exactly sure where we were at this particular moment? Wyoming maybe, Utah?

 

Our first actual fuel stop, which was short of my first intended fuel stop...or more to the point--bladder stop. Traveling with women and dogs does add to the frequency. Nice little FBO that we had all to ourselves and two courtesy cars.

 

These high altitude plateau's northeast of Salt Lake City were fascinating to me. Huge, flat tabletops of grass with tree's lined up like tree farms. It looked like something out of Scotland. Much better in person than can be captured in these photos.

 

Sheryl...also adapting to cockpit life and traveling by small airplane. Its a new world for her too. We both learned a lot about efficient cockpit planning/packing.

 

Gotta get a group in-flight selfie...:) I mean, ya just gotta...

 

Uh...I kind of need that throttle hand free Shadow...

 

Here are some shots of us arriving in Ephrata to a large welcoming party. The airport is about a half mile away from my parents house. With my flight computer basically telling me exactly when we would land and texting this information to my Dad, it was an easy logistical feat for everyone to be waving us in.

 

Ephrata is an old B-24 training base from WWII, mentioned in the excellent book, Unbroken (must read if you haven't read it yet) As such, Wablosa spent her first night away from home in an old B-24 hangar...if that wasn't cool enough, there was an added bonus. There was a weekend aerobatic camp going on, so we were surrounded by hot acro planes. Many thanks to the airport manager, Mike Wren, for finding room for us.

 

Of course, as you can see, plenty of photo ops with everyone getting a turn getting a picture with the plane. Wablosa is already shaping up to be a popular photography subject.

 

The next morning was "ride" day. First up was my Dad. We took off and I said how about we fly out and see your old workplace, Little Goose Dam. He somewhat incredously said, "all the way out there?" I chuckled...we'll be "all the way out there" in 24 mins. Gotta love the RV's. He flew it out there, I then followed the winding Snake River for awhile at low altitude and then he flew us home. It was a good flight, Pop loved how the plane flew.

 

Next up was dear ol' Mom. She used to fly around with my Dad back in the day and actually took a few flying lessons at one point so this was nothing new to her. Although, she did comment on the instrumentation being much more modern nowadays. She had a great time...she caught me off guard when she later asked why we didn't do a roll or loop?? haha! Next time Mom!

 

My 7 yr old nephew was a real treat, as you can see by his RV grin, he was very much enjoying the moment...as was his Uncle. I hope to one day teach him to fly in Wablosa. Although my first shallow banked turn after takeoff caught him a little off guard, I smiled as he says "no aerobatic stuff Uncle". Soon he settled in nicely and enjoyed the ride. He was hysterical to talk with throughout the flight. At one point, I turn to him and say over the intercom, "Gabriel, quiet for a minute while I make a radio call." He immediately fires back, "copy that". That brought a huge grin to my face...ya just never know what these kids are gonna say.

Lastly was my niece Kristen. She's been flying with her Uncle before and was a real trooper as we took off late in the afternoon and it was hot and bumpy during our flight, unlike the others earlier in the day. She did great with the conditions however and we had another RV grin.

 

There were others among the family that I invited, but they opted out and I didn't force the issue, really no sense in that. Maybe next time. I thoroughly enjoyed the ones that did venture out with me, that was a real treat!

 

Love this pic...reminds me of the one I have posted on my site of when I was even younger than Gabriel and my parents snapped the pic of me in this similar pose. Probably where it all started for me.

 

 

Sunday morning, time to fuel up and head for home. I knew the weather in and around Denver looked sketchy for our arrival time. I monitored the conditions as we traveled with my inflight weather via the GDL39.

 

 

The air, much like the trip out, was smooth as glass for the first couple hours out of Ephrata and past Boise, ID. We stopped for fuel and when I went to power up the SkyView for engine start, my circuit breaker popped. I tried a couple times to reset it with no luck (you should try once, and then accept it, so I've been told). So...now faced with decision time. What to do now? I did a visual to see if I could see anything obvious with the wiring...nada, everything looked good. Grounding the airplane there wasn't a real good option, we were in the middle of nowhere and really didn't know how I would troubleshoot it on a ramp anyway.

 

I knew I had the one hour backup battery on the SkyView, coupled with the fact it was a day VFR flight. I could get by without the SkyView if need be. We are flying visual, after all...look outside. I could use the Garmin and iPad for a GPS panel, which is better than nothing. I also installed a basic engine oil pressure light as a stand alone device for just such a scenario. That way, without engine monitoring, I could ferry the plane home and at least know if I lost oil pressure.  I decided to do my runup, see if anything made me uncomfortable and, if not, fly on.

  

As we got into Wyoming T-storms started popping up all around us. I could not only see them on my cockpit radar, but also with my eyeballs. It started getting quite bumpy and I was looking for a place to set her down so we could monitor the Denver weather, which wasn't looking good (see above screenshot), from the ground. About this time, my SkyView backup battery gave up and the screen went black. That was, shall we say, interesting to see. I quickly realized how much I depended on that information. I tried my backup circuit to power on the SkyView with no luck...another darn thing to look into later. I had other things to focus on...like getting us down safely.

 

I called up three airports (AWOS) in our vicinity...two of them had direct crosswinds. The third, was Kemmering, WY...where we stopped for fuel on the way out. The winds were not exactly welcoming, screaming at 20G28kts at 60 degs off the nose...which translates to a direct crosswind component of 17G24kts! Crap I thought...I hadn't landed in anything over 10 kts direct with the -7 yet and usually like to set my limits at 15kts direct in an airplane I am comfortable with.

 

As every pilot knows, at one point or another, you gotta make a tough decision...suck it up and execute. There are no magic fairies to safely get us on the ground, as PIC, that responsibility falls directly on our shoulders. I knew this airport was my best alternative...so I set up on final, bucking around like a bull rider at a rodeo. Going by feel and sound of the engine. I had no manifold pressure and no indicated airspeed. I used my Garmin ground speed for a sanity check and brought it in fairly fast for some margin. I banked my left wing into the wind and straightened it out on centerline with right rudder...classic sideslip approach. The rudder authority on the -7 was impressive as this didn't seem to be near its limit. I felt reasonably comfortable with my approach, all things considered. I bounced it a little on touchdown, but let out a huge sigh of relief as we were safely down and under control.

 

 

Looking back to the west, it looked pretty good as we shared the ramp with another pilot who was visiting his cabin for the weekend. Here you can see the courtesy cars...an SUV and a minivan. The winds sounded like a freight train as they howled over the tin roof of the FBO all afternoon...I was glad to be on the ground.

 

When we landed, in spite of the fact there were t-storms around us and the wind was whipping...I wondered if I was being too conservative to land at that point. We could have picked our way through the t-storms and at the very least got closer to Denver, or so that nagging voice in my head said to me.

 

A couple hours after we landed, a Giles 200 landed and in came Phil DeTurk from Ft. Collins (small aviation world...he knew my acro instructor, Dagmar). Unbeknownst to me, he had also been at Ephrata for the acro school. He recognized my RV immediately and chuckled that we both ended up in Wyoming for the same reason.

 

I asked him why he landed...he said, weather. Before landing, he tried to push on and saw a lightning bolt hit the ground and decided to do a 180 right then and there and park it. I felt vindicated...I had made the right decision after all.

 

 

As we waited until 5pm at the FBO, Sheryl and Shadow grabbed a nap. This was my "go-no-go" time...a check of radar (free Wi-Fi at the FBO) showed deteriorating conditions in Denver at that point and forecasts said it wouldn't clear out until 10pm. I had seen enough, flying for this day was officially scrubbed.

 

I found out later a tornado touched down not far from my house at about 1pm (about the time we would have arrived back in Denver) and a blizzard had closed Berthoud pass about the same time. It was clear...staying put was easily the right choice on this occasion. Decision making is tricky when flying small aircraft, especially when you are a rookie...this was my first taste of it and learned plenty from the experience.

 

We grabbed the courtesy car and headed to a nice Best Western in town for the night...darn comfy bed. We ordered some pizza and had an in-room dinner and then faded off to sleep after a long day...I was exhausted. The plan was to be up before light so we could takeoff by daybreak to get started on the 1.5 hr flight back to Denver. We both had to work Monday morning, so an early start was necessary.

 

As we got to the airport, the guy parked on the ramp with the cabin in the area was also getting prepped for flight. He and his wife were going out sightseeing by air. He took off first and radioed me to have a safe flight back to Denver...a nice gesture, good people in aviation.

We took off and banked to the east into the morning sun, the big whirlwind prop clawing for altitude. We were greeted with breath taking views as we smoothly climbed toward Rollins pass, then the front range and Denver beyond. There is nothing better than flying in smooth, cool air when the sun comes up...pure bliss. The last leg was uneventful and we landed back at BJC in no time. I took Sheryl to work and then got my butt to work as well, albeit a little late. All in all, an amazing first trip and a confidence builder for me personally. Already looking forward to the next one! KPR...its all worth it, I promise you're gonna love it.