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Oregon to NY and back

J

Joe

Well Known Member
Recently returned from an RV-8A cross-country from western Oregon to upstate New York to attend a high school reunion. This is the "big picture" taken from the APRS track of my aircraft:

NYTripTrack.jpg


The dates were "cast in concrete" so a full month before departure I began my (first) condition inspection and did some upgrades. But even with that, I ran into some thorny issues that caused a last-minute scramble to depart on time. The nature of the issues isn't noteworthy but the level of support I received was. I'd like to issue a big shoutout to:
  • "J.B." Ball at ECi (Engine Components International)
And at the 11th hour when the chips were down I was helped by a local-RVer (Richard Koida, I'm looking at you <g>). Richard comes with his own tools and even helicoils!

Thanks, gents.

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of the RV tied down. The first is at Carroll, IA after RON'ing to wait out some thunderstorms. The airport manager is an RV-builder and all-around great guy.

ParkedAtKCIN.jpg


The second one is at Danbury, CT and the picture was taken by a friend whom I had not seen in about 45 years. (I still didn't see him: he flew in from NY after I tied down, snapped the picture of his airplane with mine, flew out, and emailed the picture to me.)

ParkedAtKDXR.jpg


Some summary statistics:
  • 33.4 hours flying time in 16 legs.
  • Longest leg was a 4.0 from Buffalo, NY to Medford, WI.
  • About $1200 for fuel on the credit card.
  • Best gas price was $5.14 at Hangar 9 in Aberdeen, SD and worst was $6.48 at Pocatello, ID.
--
Joe
 
Easy Canadian overflight

pierre smith said:
Magic carpet ride, for sure. Are you legal to overfly Canada or did you clear customs?
Click to expand...

Pierre,

I overflew and no Customs were involved, neither US nor Canadian.

I can't quote chapter and verse of the regs but it's my understanding that the only requirements for overflight are a VFR or IFR flight plan (domestic is OK, ICAO is not even necessary) and radio/radar contact with ATC (i.e. flight following or a clearance).

This all presumes no landing in Canada of course. However, I carried my passport in case of an emergency or weather landing.

Handoffs were very smooth and easy except for one "radar contact lost" but I was able to give MSP Center a call and resume flight following after a bit.

--
Joe
 
bkthomps said:
what was your best speed/leg? average altitude?
Click to expand...
Unless sight-seeing I almost always fly above 10,000 MSL and lean 50F LOP which yields about 155 KTAS for a fuel flow around 6.5 GPH.

Eastbound on this trip I mostly flew 11,500-15,500 MSL with about 20 knots of tailwind. Westbound I flew about 3000 feet lower because of the headwinds (up to 40K at times).

You can see the whole APRS flight log at this URL if you hover over each position report or scroll down and look at Groundspeed and Altitude (GPS altitude, not pressure). But be forewarned: this will load a Google Map with many markers and may bring your computer to its knees for a moment. (I know the "Slashdot effect" will do that to my mail2600.com APRS server so I hope not too many will abuse it :)

Here's a screenshot of my Dynon SkyView while crossing the Wind River mountain range in Wyoming (peaks over 13,000 MSL). You should ignore that bad #4 EGT probe, the AOA indicator, and lack of ADS-b radar coverage on that busy screen (I was still dialing things in at 99 hours TSN).

At15500.png


--
Joe
 
Great trip!!! Thanks for sharing. I'm dreaming of that trip when my 14 is finished.

Would you Please let us know.
Average speed?
Average altitude?
Average fuel burn?
What engine is in your RV 8?
What horse power?

Thanks much,
Rich
 
PRE911 said:
Average speed?
Average altitude?
Average fuel burn?
Click to expand...
I can't give you averages but I believe I covered TAS, altitudes, and fuel flow in my post #6 above.

My RV-8A is nearly as economical as my Long-EZ if I'm willing to fly high enough at greatly reduced power settings (LOP operation of course). I flight plan for 7 GPH and 155 KTAS and that has worked out to be close.

What engine is in your RV 8?
What horse power?
Click to expand...
Lycoming IO360-M1B (180 HP) purchased through Van's together with a Hartzell CS prop.

--
Joe
 
Hi Joe. Thanks. I asked those Q's before I saw your # 6 post. I know, I know, not paying attention.

Thanks again,

Rich
 
OK. More questions then:

You didn't want to mount your APRS antenna inside the wingtip?

Thanks,
Dave
N156RV
W6DWH
 
Dave H. said:
You didn't want to mount your APRS antenna inside the wingtip?
Click to expand...

Dave, no, I wanted the best low-angle vertically-polarized radiation I could obtain for consistent tracking results, especially when down low. Nearly anything will work at altitude or close in but I spend a lot of time in and over the hinterlands.

Ideally I would have an additional VHF com-style bent whip but my stubby is most of the way there. If there's a drag penalty for it, I cannot measure it.

Besides, my tracker is in the wingtip and it doesn't work well in a strong RF field (i.e. near the antenna).

73,
Joe, K7JD
 
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