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The Best Trip I've Ever Made

Vlad

Well Known Member
The finest people I've ever met
The coolest airplanes I've ever seen



Long-term planning worked. After looking for a ride share to Oshkosh everywhere I finally bought a round-trip ticket trying to help airline industry. Friendly neighbor Tom gave me a ride to Newark airport Sunday morning and asked to bring a picture of Sally. His relatives were on that flight that landed on Hudson. Tom dropped me off at a terminal indicated on the ticket, then I was told to move to the other terminal the fun without RV was about to begin. TSA people liked my half-bottle of shampoo so much I decided to give it to them as a gift. Good trusty fellows and I am not mean either.

It is so easy to figure out who is going to Oshkosh. Just look at respectable waistlines and aviation insignia on hats and t-shirts and you can easy spot at least five Airventure visitors. I did.
Also I've learned how to earn easy travel money. Right there on the spot at the gate before boarding. I will let you know how in a second. Somehow I bought tickets without seats assigned and had no clue why. Customer rep asked me if I wanted 250 dollars voucher for later trip. Of course not, I have some planning to execute. All right everybody have boarded and I was offered 400 bucks. Rep said he would do such a business after his retirement collecting the money, sent young pretty assistant to the plane and somebody took the bait. His seat became mine and the journey has began.

You can not imagine how much of the show one can see through regional jet window on his way to Oshkosh. That's why all seats were booked on this scenic flight from Newark to Milwakee. The Clouds Show was amazing, long time I didn't see something like that. My camera was snapping picture after picture after picture so beautiful the view was. There was a cloud exactly looking as a character from the cartoon UP reaching all the way up to our flight level 360.

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A bit farther there was a shadow of a beast from Tolkien's book. Incredible. Cloud formations sometimes looked like 30+ ship formations.

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Over Great Lakes any passenger better be instrument rated to prevent upside-down confusion. My non-certified camera captured couple of unique moments of ERJ inverted flight. Do not believe me? Take a look at the pictures below d'you see the wing upside down?

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Then stewardess brought a sandwich and munchies followed by soft drink. Awesome.
Coastal line in sight, expecting Milwakee at eta.
Water in the lake looked very bahamish and there is absolutely no necessity to cruise the Islands, just go to Wisconsin. I will.

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Hello Midwest!

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Wow, what a parade of MAF (Milwakee's AirForce)! Excellent beginning and I am not in Oshkosh yet. Those red/white jets look familiar. What are they doing here?

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Next step in the plan - riding public transportation from the airport to Harley Davidson Museum. 2 dollars ticket and bus around the corner. For 2 dollars on Sunday you basically can buy one third of the MTA bus, other two thirds were occupied by two older gentlemen heading my way. Happy, retired,doing what they want. One was once a Mooney dealer, the other one switched from airplanes to hot rod cars in the middle of last century. They were talking cars, I was looking at the window.

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They were heading to Oshkosh but talking cars. The Mooney guy tried to be nice and once in a while turned to me and said: "wow, you building vans, good for you" and then back to hotrod guy discussing the gear shifting technique on a prewar ford I've never heard of.

Beautiful city Milwakee is.

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They have some rarity buildings

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and of course they have The Museum. The Bikerobatics statue by the river looks very interesting and attracts crowds and crowds of leather jacket riders.

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Harley Davidson Museum tour was incredibly interesting. I will get myself a Harley bike after I retire. May be by then somebody will invent a motorcycle pod for my RV-9A to transport this type of roaring machine.

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or this type

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And there were races. Though not many spectators were present but the cheers were loud and appreciative.Racers pedalled so fast I could barely follow them with my inferior optics. Doug's camera with image stabilitron would be great capturing events like that. The speed of the racers was almost that of VAF Comets.

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Then the sound came. Sweet thunder of jet engines. Something was going on but what I could not understand first. Jets were flying somewhere very close. It's Milwakee right? City Center and that sound of jets. Couple minutes I was trying to figure out where those jets are because sound reverberated from taller museum buildings. Finally I got them.

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Remember the row of colored jets parked at Milwakee Airport I took pictures from the window of regional jet? They were the ones ... - the Thunderbirds.

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Twenty something minutes of intensive aireal performance. They were flying all over the place. Again and again. Imagine to be unprepared with tall building obstracting the view, one can not guess what next manuever will be. The Birds were probably doing final rehearsal for Oshkosh. That was a h(eaven) of a rehearsal. Right over the Harley Davidson Museum. Back and forth. Up and down. Four left, one right and vice versa. Riders liked the show too.

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Ok, Vlad, I'm ready for the next part... Your adventures are fun reading.
 
Then I saw a guy. Never met him before but he looked familiar...


To be continued time permitting.

Thank you Scott. Please remember English is not my mother tongue and there may be some deviation in vocabulary and pronunciation
 
Please remember English is not my mother tongue and there may be some deviation in vocabulary and pronunciation

Believe it or not, that is part of your charm, and comedy, that makes you even more entertaining :) We've commented a number of times of how well you seem to command English with the time that you've been on this side of the pond. Keep it going. You're the next rock star as far as I'm concerned.

I can imagine you doing a stand-up comedy routine at the theater in the woods at an Oshkosh in the not so distant future... "So, there was a Russian in Siberia that received a box of aluminum labeled '$$ aircraft parts'..." (I'm already laughing).
 
Well done Vlad. If you think your English is bad you should here my Russian!

You sound (read) just fine to me.
 
Vlad, they were there for a big airshow in Milwaukee. Only one plane (#8??) came to OSH.

Actually there were a couple of airshow events in the area and thus a TFR was in effect for some of the area, especially along the "coast".
 
Then I saw a guy.

... then I saw a guy. Never met him before but he looked a bit familiar with that bag taking pictures of hundreds Harleys. Sam? Sure he is.

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Three ways converged in Milwakee WI. The longest one came from Aachen, Germany. The second one stretched from Georgia, local Georgia not that on southern Russian border. And mine was from NYC. On this site we met and decided to go to Oshkosh together - Mario Nolte of Germany, Sam Beale of Georgia and I. Mario Nolte is building RV-7 in Germany and it's his first trip to Oshkosh. Mario is a civil engineer by trade and experinced rated glider pilot. Thank you Mario for your help. You did outstanding job coming all the way from Europe, finding us in the middle of the country and driving us to the grounds. Hats off to you.

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Sam Beale is a fellow RV builder and professional engineer in fireproofing business licensed in several states. He has his own architectural practice. We talked for about an hour while waiting for Mario at the Museum Cafe. Sam designs fire barriers for commercial buildings and told me some interesting stories. He is in this business for many years. Give Sam a call if you are planning an enterprise he can help you to desing it right. Thank you Sam for enlightement and great company.

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We met Mario and motored our way to Oshkosh. This leg was fast, we dropped Sam off in the woods behind EAA Museum because he was staying in his friend's private house.

Mario was one of the happiest pilgrims I've ever seen - he made his first journey to Oshkosh. He dreamed and planned this trip for years. We managed to get our weekly passes on Sunday night and settled in the dorms.

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For 50 dollars at a University dorm you will get something like this

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more than enough to accomodate a non-spartan visitor. Plus there is always extra bed for a stranded RVator or a family member. Showers and restrooms are located one floor down. No biggie, what we want for fifty bucks? A Waldorf Astoria suite? Even Vans people were living in a dorm across the street.
 
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Next morning after 8$ BBB at BC (Big Buffet Breakfast at Blackhawk Commons) we boarded EAA bus and headed to the grounds.

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Whole bus of pilots where else you can ride like this. You can avoid this Monday morning lines if you get your pass on Sunday. Lines are fine, you can chat with everybody and have fun, but you will be kind of constrained (or restrained I do not know the right word of this process) in movement by the guiding ropes for a while.

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We already had our passes and entered the Main Gate totally excited. Left turn proved to be successful and in a minute I saw familiar face. John Lewandowski - is that you buddy? Sure he is. I met John two years ago by Vans demo flightline. He is local and building RV-9A, now in advance stage. John is a skilled Machinist with golden hands and very inventive brain. His daily job at http://www.astronautics.com/ is related to Blackhawks helicopters, I am not sure what part, but I am positive those Blackhawks will successfully fly and fly right for long time when guys like John (right) are doing the work.

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What's in your pocket today John? He always has something, this time it is firewall penetration thingy. Coupe years ago John milled a jig out of aluminum billet to help drilling rear wing spar to fuse hole while mating the wings stress-free (mentally). Then he invented a bracket jig for nose gear fairing. This time he made a penetration fitting. Look he threaded the fitting after he made the cutout.

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What a great meeting without prior notification.

John saved us from torrential rain later at the end of the show too. We jumped into his car, got stuck in the parking lot and then I unintentionally misled him on the way to the dorms. We almost got lost in the Oshkosh City, my apologies John. I will bring my tomtom next time.



to be continued...
 
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Do do do do do I'm loving it....

Hey Vlad,

Great story can't wait to read on. I really enjoyed meeting the one and only "Vlad" at the 9/9A get together.

Soon we will take the fast train to OSH (RV'n).

Later,
 
Ha! You met up with good 'ol Sam. He's one of our local guys...you're right Vlad -- Sam's a good guy. He and Steve Ashby (also a member here on the forums) helped me haul my wings out to the airport and install them permanently. Afterward we went and had dinner. Of course we had wings for dinner. :)
 
Keep up the writing!

...I can imagine you doing a stand-up comedy routine at the theater in the woods at an Oshkosh in the not so distant future...

Vlad, I too enjoy reading your commentary. Keep it up. As to the comedy routine, have you ever heard of Yakov Smirnoff? He's a Russian comedian who is now a regular performer in Branson, MO. His favorite line is "WHAT A COUNTRY!!!" :D

We look forward to reading more of your writing...and as Jamie said, to your comedy routine at the theater in the woods!:)
 
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Rivetting stuff Vlad!

:) I'm really enjoying your adventures Vlad; I can hardly wait for the next instalment. Judging by the number of views the thread is receiving...so are lots of other readers!

Brian
 
Vlad, they were there for a big airshow in Milwaukee. Only one plane (#8??) came to OSH.

.

Looks like I got him too James...

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Hey Vlad,

Great story can't wait to read on. I really enjoyed meeting the one and only "Vlad" at the 9/9A get together.

Soon we will take the fast train to OSH (RV'n).

Later,

My pleasure Dean, was nice to meet you too. I have some fun stuff from that meeting:)



Vlad, it is customary in this country to take pictures in the shower and post them. :eek:


Maybe not. ;)

Larry I will skip that part it's family friendly forum.
(... I witnessed something though at 3 am...)


Ha! You met up with good 'ol Sam. He's one of our local guys...you're right Vlad -- Sam's a good guy. He and Steve Ashby (also a member here on the forums) helped me haul my wings out to the airport and install them permanently. Afterward we went and had dinner. Of course we had wings for dinner. :)

Sam was buying beer for everybody all evening, he is not just a good guy, he is simply the best!

Vlad, I too enjoy reading your commentary. Keep it up. As to the comedy routine, have you ever heard of Yakov Smirnoff? He's a Russian comedian who is now a regular performer in Branson, MO. His favorite line is "WHAT A COUNTRY!!!" :D

We look forward to reading more of your writing...and as Jamie said, to your comedy routine at the theater in the woods!:)

Thank for compliment Don. I am not that talented. Heard about Smirnoff a lot even tasted one, but non of it was Yakov:) Thanks for the link. It somehow happened I spun off Russian community since day one and I am not current in that stuff anymore. I communicate mostly with Russian aviators and they are totally different breed of actors:D They come to US to relax and enjoy the freedom of flying. They make good living at home.


Thank you all gentlemen, next part is coming in a day or two, have to go to work to keep that green money tree growing...
 
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I have developed a tradition on my third trip to Oshkosh. On the very first day before swimming the Sea of RVs I visit Vans booth to get charged. This morning I saw very interesting episode. First I saw famous "Flash" then I noticed somebody is sitting on her wing. Who has the courage and is tall enough to recline on somebody wingtip? People usually put their hands behind their backs when they approach holy RVs like this one. The Man himself was resting on that wingtip talking to his friend. Here is the proof.

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Inside the booth by T-shirt stand I saw OMG The VAF Tzar for the first time. In real flesh and real time. Take a look at those photogenic curves of this giant sombrero. His Highness was friendly, excited and looked royally busy. We shook hands, he snapped a pic or two and security took him away from us regular folks... He will reappear next day at Vans banquet without the sombrero (which is probably bought by EAA Museum).

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Then was "the swimming". Navigating the Sea was easy. There was typhoon Guinness and several rows of the most beautiful and capable machines were literally swept away within minutes by the Mighty Force. I was talking to a young Canadian gentleman who was shopping for nice RV-4 while thirty seven ships suddenly started in front of us.

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Couple minutes later... sizeable chunk of parking lot was empty.

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The Canadian was impressed, it was an excellent pitch without words and I felt proud I knew many of the riders.

Several rows after there was this machine parked. 22C. The living example of aircraft I virtually knew since day one when Scott and Tanya started their journey. I had visited their online build log thousands times and still do. Four years ago I could not even think I will see their project at Oshkosh and even talk to these celebrities.

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A bug landed on shiny cowling of 22C. A huge insect about the size of AN426AD3-3.

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First desire was to delete unwelcome visitor but something stopped me. It was actually smart move not to smash the insect it was an inspecting bug. The bug Judges send to assist them in decision making who is the best craftsman. The method is simple - if bug can not find a pinhole on top cowling it can hide in, we have a winner. And 22C was the winner - she won EAA best craftsmanship award.

This little boy was swimming The Sea with his Mom.

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Suddenly he stopped and took a picture. Let me check what the kid was shooting.

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Let's expand a bit. Wow the kid have a good taste for RVs.

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I bet in thirty-forty years from now we will have another Stu McCurdy.
 
Mike Schipper usually camps at the back. He stays for the duration of the show with his friend Tod the Sonex guy. They fly in formation from Texas and Mike's RV-9A could easy handle the speed of Tod's Sonex. Mike didn't authorise this picture so I am taking certain risk here. I took this one and only picture of him having my old D50 well hidden in my pocket and using infrared feature. I started browsing Mike's site years ago and really like his format and manner of presentation. That young humble gentleman to the left is Mike's son who helped him to buck those rivets. Kids grow fast. It was my pleasure to see you Mike and shake your hand.

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Joe Schneider and his wife Carey chose the best corner to park their RV. It's nice and quiet and plenty of room during rush hour. An exit is close and Nature Center is just couple yards away after banquet one can crawl short distance to the cave I mean tent. Smart move Joe. I recognized them seeing the Caveman logo on the bottom of the cowling. We spent some time talking, Joe showed me the cockpit and answered some important questions. He has some unique anchors in his baggage compartment I would like to install. I asked him to email me the manufacturer.
Joe is so lucky to have Carey on board that young lady is a true motivator and riveter.
Joe's trip to Oshkosh is documented here http://picasaweb.google.com/JJSchneiders


Saw legendary Borrowed Horse and his Jay Pratt. Jay actually built thirty+ horses but he didn't update the counts. Still 24 emblems on the pilot's side. I also adapted the main principle Jay is using while building those horses - " we go to Denver not to Mars". It means if there are some parts left after RV is done no problem it's not a Swiss watch. We made pictures in Russian style.

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Let's move a little bit The Horse first name is not displayed properly.

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Now I can tell everybody I met Borrowed Horse of RVCetral. Thank you Jay!

Time for short break and stomach refuel. Only in Oshkosh you can see warning like this. "Caution No Nails".

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It means if you seat here it may work as a seesaw and if, say, SpruceMoose seats on one side of the bench I may get ejected from the other . A good hint to calculate you W&B right and keep it within the envelope.

An aviation family of five was having lunch next table. Can you find the forth aviator? Forth one not the fifth.

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Piece of Grass

Bob's Piece of Grass was an experience well beyond my expectations. My 5 y.o. camera battery was depleted before the event and my trip to a Canon booth looked like in that perfect commercial, "hi, excuse me, nikon here, could you please charge my battery" the cannonites smiled and offered to switch. I decided to go without camera, had my 12$ BBD at BC (Big Buffet Dinner at Blackhawk Commons), joined Mario and we headed to the 12th Street between Elm and Lindberg Ave of Camp City.

Bob's page about the event happened here http://home.comcast.net/%7Ebcollinsrv7a/eaa/
VAF Emperor and VAF police, Tim, Chad, Bill, Captn, Darwin, the other Bill, Bill the Third, 22C people, NASA guys, too many to list were present. As somebody mentioned, "now it's more than just nicknames on the web". The VAF police guys didn't update their avatars since high school. Brad, Joe please get rid of the clo(w)nes off your virtual id and put your real smiley faces. That bottle of scotch Glenn owned to Jeff before they emptied what Jeff owned to Glenn was really good. Likely it was a barrel, not the bottle because they handed me large slightly used TacoBell cup of scotch to taste... it was well aged...

The Coordinator of Nothing had to coordinate Everything. He drove RVators in his car to different locations on the grounds and beyond, greeted everybody and didn't forget to trigger his camera. Served fruits in between. Communicated with everybody on the run. He even maintained Lost and Found Bureau. From the bottom of my heart Bob Thank You.
 
At Bob's Blue Grass Bill Whiteman and I agreed to meet next day near a foreign exhibitor tent to phish some kitplane info from for my future patents. The BushHog kitplane quickly became our point of interest because it was simple as Pietenpol, performed as 777 and pop-riveted as RV-12.

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Introduction was short and basically unnecessary because I knew the exhibitor's interpreter and test pilot. Bill quickly found common language with their chief engineer. The Chief didn't speak English and Bill's Russian was mostly jesticular but believe me they communicated very effectively and a lot.

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I could barely get the subject, my nasa and boeing dialects are still rudimentary. But, I picked up and now posess their raw drawings they tossed out. Will sell back to them later.


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While they were "talking" I shot couple pictures. Do you see that guy at the back? Looks like a test pilot and RV-8 builder? He is also a stenographist and is quickly typing the conversation for his headquarters located somewhere in Atlanta. Probably here www.wig.su

The talk lasted too long for me, I got bored, distracted and then carried away by that young blonde interpreter. They probably have taken Bill as a brain-to-drain-prisoner I haven't seen him ever since. If you managed to escape Bill give me a yell. We didn't finish that AWACS-Fencer radars conversation we started at Bob's Piece of Grass. And there are more fresh exhibitors coming next year to phish.


Finally I met a gentleman I was looking for for about two years. He flies his RV-9A frequently, far and a lot. He has RV-10 under construction too. At least two times he was in my heck of the woods, last time I aprsed him all the way to New York and could not meet him because of my unpredictable junior-union-member-work-schedule. This time I got him by tracing his beacons via GoogleMap and combed The Sea (of RVs) to locate his ship. N103LF is absolutely unique machine. Why? Because she is built exactly by the plans. Everything in the airframe is as Vans designed it, by the book. She is a budget aircraft avionics aside.

Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen - N103LF


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and Professor himself

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Let's open that canopy

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I had a bunch of questions for the experienced educator but I forgot to write down most of the answers so I will try again next year. Those students... you know...always fail somewhere...
Anyhow I asked Ted why he chose dark paint color for the belly. Short answer was - oil. What is in this cabled candybox? APRS. Cool.

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Our talk extended a bit beoynd A&P but it was too early a subject. At least for me. Ted's trip to Oshkosh with fascinating pictures is documented here in his album http://picasaweb.google.com/tc1234c/2009OshkoshAndStPaul# Looking forward to see you Ted in our area soon.






Coming next; RV-9A gathering, banquets and more... the show hasn't started yet
 
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Joe Schneider and his wife Carey chose the best corner to park their RV. It's nice and quiet and plenty of room during rush hour. An exit is close and Nature Center is just couple yards away after banquet one can crawl short distance to the cave I mean tent. Smart move Joe. I recognized them seeing the Caveman logo on the bottom of the cowling. We spent some time talking, Joe showed me the cockpit and answered some important questions. He has some unique anchors in his baggage compartment I would like to install. I asked him to email me the manufacturer.
Joe is so lucky to have Carey on board that young lady is a true motivator and riveter.
Joe's trip to Oshkosh is documented here http://picasaweb.google.com/JJSchneiders
Your visit and meeting other RV'ers was one of the highlights of our trip, Vlad. Our trip to Osh was delayed by family priorities and I think the parking spot we got was the very last one available in HBC at the time. It turned out fine and it did make for a short walk to the Van's Banquet, (where I won a T-shirt :D). I really appreciated the ground crew finding us a spot. They had to work hard at it!

I can tell by the questions you asked that you are putting a lot of thought into your machine and I can't wait to see it when you get it finished.

You are correct about my wife. I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have someone like her to share my passion with. She told me last night that she hates driving anymore. The RV has spoiled her.
 
Hi Vlad,

thanks so much for the report. Since I didn't make too many photos myself and the Oshkosh week is a bit like a blur in retrorespect I was wondering where that continous grin on my face comes from.

Man what a great week!!

Mario
 
RV-9 gathering

RV-9 get together was a brilliant idea presented by Dean Eiland of Independent Republic of Texas. The endeavor was extensively debated and after a bit of discussion the time was set. 15 minutes before Vans banquet sharp.

A group of aerobatics pilot were sitting quietly by our humming crowd. They were a bit jealous looking how well organized our cohort was. They took revenge next day with 37 ships

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The main focus of our gathering was zeroed in on luminary Smitty who is a talented engineer, gifted artist and articulate speaker.

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He works too. You know for whom.His website is so detailed and spruced with tips, tricks and jokes, a newbie builder can easy build aircraft just looking at his site, not Vans manual. I am patiently waiting for Smitty's postings how to wire de thing.

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That's good to be Smitty. The river of beer is flowing to him nonstop.
Van is monitoring situation closely. Irish dialect is spoken.

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French representatives are here. What a life to be Smitty!

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Celebrities Scott and Tanya Card were in the center of the show as well. I was my pleasure to introduce myself to them. Perfect RV Couple! Tanya even had a deciphered title printed on her non Stein T-shirt. Was nice to meet you guys.

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Daniel and Phillippe are our bougeois alaparlafrancoi. Phillippe was so mobile at the gathering I could see only his checkered shirt on all my pictures. Good thing is he has a webcam in his shop in Canada http://www.llavalle.ca/images/webcam.jpg and every RV-9 builder in the world can watch him live and advise him how to sniff proseal to determine it was mixed correctly.

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Daniel Mouly is building RV-9 in France. His VAF callsign is Flying Archer. Not that he aviates Pipers but he shoots real arrows using a complex olympic bow. Always on the target. He teaches this skill too. He confessed that he cannot develop those thousands psi at the tight as before but still going strong. I would like to have such an instructor. Daniel Mouly

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RV-9 gathering was gradually transforming into Vans banquet at the Nature Center Pavilion. More and more RV celebrities started to show up.

Here I met Val and Mikey's drivers Paul Dye and Louise Hose.

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Paul is a prolific writer and our NASA guy, has built and flies RV-8 named "Valkyrie" after a goddess-warrior related to his ancestral land. A Top Gun actor had a role in similar film last year. Paul works with the Agency Dept directly responsible for Space Shuttle operation. His payroll position is not easy to explain to ordinary people. He visits Baikonur often and communicates with Russian cosmonauts. His wife Louise owns the only "talking" RV named "Mikey"and they all live together somewhere in deep south in an airpark hangar. Little RV-3 will be born soon in the same house.
 
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Vans Banquet

Vans Banquet was smooth logical extension of RV-9 gathering. All of us already had topped our tanks with beer and it was time for good food and raffles.

I am a first timer on event like this and I didn't expect much except food. Boy was I wrong. My beered and aled brain was still able to send signals to press shutter button on my camera but my memory didn't develop enough processing power so I am trying my best here to recover the chronology and content.

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An anouncement came from EAA government officials that this year totally different kind of media journalist will be awarded prestigious Bax Seat Prize.

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Doug Reeves of Vans Airforce electronic medium, airplane builder himself and dedicated writer was chosen for the Award.

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We all proud of you Doug!

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Doug speech was brief and on the point as usual.
Short phrases related to the Recipient I remember

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Thank You All,
I am floored,
It's all you I am just Copy and Paste Meat Servo,
I am not worthy
I do not deserve
"Not worthy" said one more time, "I do not deserve" two times.

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Good speech Doug (applauds)

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Then Van announced next guest and speaker - Terry Lutz.
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Terry is RV-8 builder and owner, a former AirForce test pilot, airline pilot and he currently works for Airbus testing new A380.

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Terry told us lots of interesting facts. This A380 is an amazing aircraft. Quieter than predecessors and absolute pleasure to fly. He told us where he landed the bird and how interesting those journeys were.

Then Terry presented a A380 model to Van who immediately turned to his chief engineer and requested concept analysis to produce the kit. The joke triggered a good laugh.

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It was excellent show well organized, friendly and worth attending. I strongly recommend to attend it next year. You will be entertained, taste good food and get some freebies lotteried from you banquet ticket numbers.



there will be a bit more...
 
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Some time was spent by the vendors. I planned to order my interior this time but my preferred vendor didn't show up and I had to haul all that money back home. Will order by telephone. Soon.

I stopped by several booths.

A T-shirt company.

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They also sell nice glass and build panels. These two Moscovites were not paying attention to excellent free T-shirts, they were talking numbers to Stein pointing to a sophisticated gadgetry at the front. They will buy it even if they do not need it right now. They can afford.

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Couple of rows down there was this funny talking robot.

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Kids and adults loved him and stayed for long time. One little thing they should do better is to hide this UAV pilot who was in charge of the robot in the next isle.

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Outside was lots of fun too. At first there was an impression that Tundra dream aircraft was reloading the passengers into a Caribou. The green wingtips and spinner matched kids' t-shirts.

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I didn't notice what avionics company logo was on those t-shirts. When I came closer the kids were exiting the Caribou at the front. Fun.

Very touching feeling one experiences seeing a group of pilots like this one. There are a 101 years young pilot, a grandson of one famous president, a prince devoted his life to charity, and an enabled pilot. If somebody can comment on the event please do so.

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The Mission Cardinal was sitting by Fly4Life Exhibition but I could not locate the pilot.

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Several times I was passing the area and William was not there. Maybe he was searching for new T-shirt companies or went back to Pennsylvania to work on his RV-10. Will catch him next year.
 
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Burt Rutan gathered enormous crowd.

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His speech was extraordinary as his exceptional designs. Very unusual speaker, I am still analysing what he has said about global warming.

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Half a day was devoted to EAA Museum. Second time I visit the Museum and it always impresses me. I like to see these familiar expositions again and again.

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I thought that cri-cri is the smallest airplane in the world but there is one smaller. Ray S**** Skybaby.

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Everybody knows these aircrafts

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Nice idea to store nuts and bolts in our workshops

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The other half of the day I spent visiting Sea Plane Base. The Trail to the Base stretches through the wild forest. It's real Brasilian jungle in a miniature.

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To see something closer at the base is not that simple. A hundred visitors can basically block all observing spots between the willows of the laguna and a late newcomer may spend some time to wait for the opening to take a shot or watch an icon. But it was enjoyable nevertheless.

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That new amphibian drew a lot of attention and some critisizm.

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Icon did couple of splash and goes, then landed (or watered) and docked.

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Seasoned seawolves were talking that this machine is so light and specific that needs tons of skills to glue her to the water.
 
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One morning I was on my way to the Sea (of RVs). I walked along the flight line perimeter enjoying the view of "37" taxiing. The band took off, I set down and was waiting for the pass. I noticed a group of people who paid very special attention to the skies. Looked like they knew what was going on. Do you know these people?

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Do not go away.... there will be more...:)
 
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Daniel and Phillippe are our bougeois alaparlafrancoi. Phillippe was so mobile at the gathering I could see only his checkered shirt on all my pictures. Good thing is he has a webcam in his shop in Canada http://www.llavalle.ca/images/webcam.jpg and every RV-9 builder in the world can watch him live and advise him how to sniff proseal to determine it was mixed correctly.
[...]

Wow, someone pointed me here and said "there a picture of you" !

Thx Vlad. You've taken nice pictures!
 
One morning I was on my way to the Sea (of RVs). I walked along the flight line perimeter enjoying the view of "37" taxiing. The band took off, I set down and was waiting for the pass. I noticed a group of people who paid very special attention to the skies. Looked like they knew what was going on. Do you know these people?

Among otheres, those are the wives/girlfriends of pilots in Van's 37-ship formation: Terry Sargent, Kari Morris and Jen West. We had a small, but very enthusiastic cheering section!
 
Hey Vlad! What fun it is to read about your OSH adventures. The morning with your engineering friends was interesting, and productive.

BTW, my wife (the AWACS gal who tormented you in the SU24) thinks you're hiding some secrets... we'll have to see what happens when you two meet :eek: :D

Sure was fun to meet and spend some time w/you - keep those Russian "friends" under control, ok?
 
This is an amazing recap of your trip Vlad...I read all the captions and admired your pictures...Warm, funny and filled with the spirit of the event and Vans Aircraft. Now why didn't you take a picture of my RV-10?? :p
 
I had some interruptions with a picture host for two days everything is clear now. Tomorrow will wrap up the journey with International Banquet and something I saw on the runways.




....
We had a small, but very enthusiastic cheering section!

That's why you performed so well:)

Hey Vlad! What fun it is to read about your OSH adventures. The morning with your engineering friends was interesting, and productive.

BTW, my wife (the AWACS gal who tormented you in the SU24) thinks you're hiding some secrets... we'll have to see what happens when you two meet :eek: :D

Sure was fun to meet and spend some time w/you - keep those Russian "friends" under control, ok?

Bill I am glad you are OK :) no worries here I will keep the District under control. I would like to talk to former adversary some day to reveal the secrets:D sure it will be fun.



This is an amazing recap of your trip Vlad...I read all the captions and admired your pictures...Warm, funny and filled with the spirit of the event and Vans Aircraft. Now why didn't you take a picture of my RV-10?? :p

Thanks Rick. I probably have your RV-10, will check my microfilms:)
 
Time to take a look what's going on on the runways and in the vicinity. Every day the activities are different. Today a showman was riding his bike by his airplane. Man I love this bike. Those military trucks behind runway made perfect decoration for the show.

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Vans people and airplanes were on the busiest schedule. There is an impression that RV-12,10,9A and 7 flew more often then Ford Trimotor.

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Several times during the week a tight formation of two spacebooms managed to take off between RVs. I've heard anouncement that it was the most precise and closest formation ever. They will install one more detachable boom in between later...

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Then Mike was giving a ride again. "Hurry up, something big is coming, let's get out of here" (ed. phrase made up)

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Big Bus - Big Crab. Wow. This shot was taken abeam of the Theater in the Woods. How many degrees is this crabbing? Can anybody tell?

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OK, Bus landed, RV landed, life is good. That amphib stopped for a moment for me to take a picture of her behind RV.

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I can tell you this Big Bus is something. It's a skysraper.

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The hospital I am working at is lower than that tail.It is so high they need to use Elvis size helicopter to change that flickering lightbulb on the top. I saw from ultralight area the helicopter was trying to do it but I lost the picture.

Little Brother came to visit Big Brother for one day. JetBluuee.Good airline I flew with them once to S-n-F 09. The Yahoo plane came to support Big Brother Bus.

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Under the Bus there were two personal airplanes parked. Cri-cri and RV-8. Everybody knows who flies what.

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Some visitors from Faraway looked really tired.

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Some were tireless and enthusiastic, even called me on the phone and recommended to take a look at their next project after RV-9A is done. If that is true I would like to ask the caller to confirm here.

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Yep, this flying motorcycle. The bike has two engines and I have no clue which one powers what.

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So many moving parts and no Lycoming.
Much more than in this kit helicopter.

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Could it be a good next project, what do you think?
 
International Banquet

I will offer you a rare glimpse into International Banquet. Yes, beer and wine were free but I've never seen such a line to beer counter. Even when Gorbachev's "Dry Law" was abolished in the eighties there was no half a mile lines. I do not have any pictures our Canadian or German friends can prove that I am right.
Food was the same we ate at Vans banquet. Brats and stuff reminded me the Tuesday show. The same relaxed atmosphere different show.

To get to this event one has to be an international visitor. He/she normally lives in a foreign country and comes to US on visitors visa. There is manned International Tent by the tower where all visitors from abroad had to register IF they want the badge. No, volunteers do not check passports and visas yet. How I got there?
Well, a friend of mine, Dmitry "Niania" Shramenko (in red shirt), successful businessman and newly rated (in Russia) private pilot asked me to join his crew and registered me.

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His son Alexey (right) and his buddies were active at KidsVenture previous years. Alexey is now approaching the age of 14 and he will enroll in Aviation Cadet Corpus. Future Russian Secretary of Aviation Affairs... at least.

Bulat "RedBull" Ermakov is an export-import operator by trade and never skips Oshkosh and Sun-and-Fun. Aerobatics fan and pilot himself. Resting on the grass and talking to a triple seven pilot...

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I had helped Dmitry before couple times during Osh06 and 07 mostly in communications. In 2007 he was exhibitor of this cute twin 3-seater called M-12

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and his booth was stationed close to Vans you may guess what was next... I did some propaganda work and Dmitry took a demo ride in RV-9A .

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He liked it so much that after returning home to Moscow he bought himself a Jabiry and became an Australian dealer in Russia. Once on the way to a fly-in somewhere in Russia, flying in loose formation on long x-country somebody noticed this

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his Jaba was smoking like that Australian Messershmitt shot over Cetus land.
Dmitry landed on the cornfield, found out that oil hose was busted, fixed it, took off and continued the flight. I doubt I could do it in my RV-9A.

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Dmitry has his own business http://www.avianiania.ru he sells airplanes, engines/props and avionics. He frequents expos and such. One example is here http://www.reaa.ru/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1190389582/0 scroll down half a page.
 
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After International Banquet we drove to Russian Headquarters on Ironwood Street of Scholler City and I had an opportunity to take a look on just purchased still warm V-tail Bonanza born in 1947. The craft was disassembled and on a trailer. Two extra engines, multiple spare parts and the trailer cost about three Breitling watches. They also bought a new truck to haul the craft to Miami for restoration. A collector I know almost cried he missed the deal. After I looked inside the Bonanza wings I swear the alclad looked new like on my RV 2010. I will never ever put a primer on alcladed internal surfaces.
 
The way home was fun too.

Milwakee airport security services are one step ahead from major airports. Active duty military do not have to wait in line but those who wait can read officer's on duty brief resume which is in public display nicely framed with first name and picture. The female officer is operating the mine detecting frame. Courteous, professional, respectful. TS of A.

I was planning to volunteer for later flight if they offer a voucher but airline was smarter. They can read passengers minds and assigned me seat 19A. The last row by lavatory. Cool spot there is nobody behind, you can hear all those fuel pumps whine and other electrical motors orchestra by the left main engine. The engine itself is like three feet from you, all rivets are visible and well set in a zig zag pattern. There was a bit of foot traffic to the lavatory but airflow was in right direction and clanking foldable door was quieter that the engine. Stewardess served only pretzels and they (pretzels) were so dry and small I almost inhaled one. They are not popular in Texas I've heard...

What amazed me is the amount of aileron deflection on ERJ. During 30 degrees turn you can see ailerons barely moving. About half an inch or less. Left strobe blinks only when we were in a rainy cloud or maybe I was positioned so.

Weather in Newark was rainy, totally opposite of Milwaukee. Exiting shiny jet last. Young ERJ Captain, still in the cabin, seeing my Vans Aircraft hat: "D'you have Vans? I flew RV-8!" Me: " I am building a 9, just across the bay from here... " " Cool"

Tom, my neighbor, 77 y.y.,was waiting for me at Terminal A at Newark airport. "Did you bring me Sally's picture?" "I sure did Tom, here is AirVenture newspaper. I shot exactly like this one...."

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Tom drove me home and we conversed in my shop. (Camera in infrared mode again) He told me that he bought a bicycle at a yard sale for $25 and crashed during his first ride. That's why I will hire experienced test pilot to do first flight. Tom scratched his knee and bumped somebody's car. The wild bike was eaten by garbage truck next morning.Tom plans to buy a new bicycle and take transition training.

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The saga is over and I am looking forward to next Oshkosh. Next year Mario and I are planning the trip from NYC to Oshkosh in my Mini Cooper with a stop or two at RV Hotels.

PS For those budget conscientious the total was $980 for everything, some nuts and bolts for my RV included.
 
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thanks comrad

Thanks Vlad, your adventure was a good read. sorry I didn't make it up there, I was really looking foward to hanging out with you for the week. It was a hard decision for me but I have to say spending the money on more tools for my RV 8, was the right thing to do. I have made great progress on the emp. I will send pics soon. I will see you at Sun-n-Fun 2010. you can stay the week in the camper. I will be in the same spot running the volunteer Kitchen.

See Ya Soon

Rich
 
Obvious pilot error...

Tom drove me home and we conversed in my shop. (Camera in infrared mode again) He told me that he bought a bicycle at a yard sale for $25 and crashed during his first ride. That's why I will hire experienced test pilot to do first flight. Tom scratched his knee and bumped somebody's car. The wild bike was eaten by garbage truck next morning.Tom plans to buy a new bicycle and take transition training.

tom3.jpg



Hi Vlad,

I sure had a good laugh about poor Tom's bumpy bicycle adventure; however, it is pretty obvious to me he tried the highly advanced "Look, Ma, no hands!" maneuver on his maiden flight. Transition training would definitely help him out...

Brian
 
....you can stay the week in the camper. I will be in the same spot running the volunteer Kitchen.

See Ya Soon

Rich


Thanks buddy. I will be in the same spot volunteering with sheet metal workshop.



.....

however, it is pretty obvious to me he tried the highly advanced "Look, Ma, no hands!" maneuver on his maiden flight. Transition training would definitely help him out...

Brian


:D I had good laugh too Brian :D Tom is cool guy - intelligent and articulate. In good health too. What a story teller! I can listen him for half hour. Looks like any hardware around him get mystically destroyed. Years ago Tom was driving his brand new Lincoln at night on long trip and fell asleep. Wrecked the car,not a single scratch on himself. Next couple days he was looking exactly for the same new car everywhere and found it. But his wife detected that car smell was too fresh...
No, he doesn't want a ride in RV.:D
 
I saw it too!

Hi Vlad. I am sure sorry we did not get to see each other at Oshkosh. I've really enjoyed your report. You have some great pictures.

At Sturgis this year we were walking down the main street and look what was sitting in the middle of all of the bikes!

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A Flying Motorcycle after my 9a?

"Some were tireless and enthusiastic, even called me on the phone and recommended to take a look at their next project after RV-9A is done. If that is true I would like to ask the caller to confirm here."

That would be me! The Flying Motorcycle looks like a fun machine but for now all my effort is going into what will be my workhorse - cross country trips, visiting the kids in college. Wait a minute, what happened to their college fund?:eek:
 
Image shattering

Vlad,
All this time I have been convincing people that I am really a young, slim, handsome guy, and now you have shattered my image by letting everyone see that none of that is true!

Your english speech and writing both have a unique and lyrical quality. I would try to write about a trip in Russian, but how exciting could it be consisting only of various arrangement of the words da and nyet.

I wish to thank you again for arranging the meeting among you, me and Mario; it was one of the more enjoyable parts of the trip. :D
 
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