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The best way to spend Canadian Thanksgiving in the good ole' US of A (part 1)

Darren S

Well Known Member
So my buddy Mark has a Lancair ES that's been giving him fits with high CHT's. A plan was devised to fly his bird down to Redmond, Oregon to have the pros look it over. An outfit called RDD does this kinda work so a mission profile was developed.

Kinda went something like this. Launch two ships out of Calgary at zero dark thirty Monday morning, clear customs in Spokane, bugger off to Redmond, drop off the hot and bothered Lancair, catch a couple of factory tours (Epic and Lancair), then blast off to Grandma's house in Aurora, OR for din dins and sleep.

Hey Aurora !! That's home base of Van's. Well now.... if I gotta suffer through a Lancair factory tour you know I'm gonna punish good ole' Marky with a Van's factory tour!! Yes indeed. Then Tuesday we'll back track. Pick up the super cool running Lancair and head home.

So let's see how we did.

Hey RV. Wake up! You ready to go? ..... Ok then, get your lazy bones out of bed.
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Sunrise Monday morning over the left wing tip.
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Something's ratched with the heater in my plane. I was freezing up there. Decided to break out the blanky. Wimp I am!
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After being read the riot act by the Customs guy in Spokane the previous day, about being late, he said to be there at 8:30 sharp. Mark and I roll in at 8:31 because we are are expert flight planners, professional pilots and just plain ole' studs...ok in our eyes only:)

Nobody's there !!!! Nothing. No one came out to greet us in our pretty planes. We aren't allowed to touch US soil lest we get fined $5000, so we stand on our wings and chat. "Hey man, them Blue Jays better win Game 3 tonight!"

Then we called the same US Customs phone number and 25 minutes later in rolled the officer. 2 minutes later we were cleared to go. Somehow I don't think they'd be so cool with us rolling in 25 minutes late, but anyways, we were good to go. All part of the fun.
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"Hey Darren, what if my dipstick shows no oil on it?"
"Well let's see...It means that you're a dipstick and should have bought a RV!"
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"Smart @$$"
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Terrain in between Spokane and Redmond
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Made it to RDD
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"Ummm.... I think we should have made a left at Albuqerque?"
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part 2

Got an extra million smackers laying around?
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So once Mark got the mechanics pointed in the right direction at RDD we snagged the loaner car and headed down to Bend, OR for lunch and a tour of the Epic Aircraft factory.
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The bosses plane. Got an extra 3 million bucks laying around?
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About the only thing I could afford there.
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I would show you some picts of the factory floor but they threatened to beat me up, take my camera, smash it into a million pieces and deport me from the country..... so sorry no picts.

I think the sales guy kinda figured I wasn't a serious customer when I started asking about the STOL performance and if I could order one with Tundra tires! Hey, I fly out of a 2000 foot grass runway. I ain't buying one if I can't fly out of my field!

While we were out raising Cain in Oregon we decided to drop by Lancair to check out that joint.
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Nice planes!....Ok, ok there I said it. Nice friendly folks, great tour, clean, organized. Top marks. And they didn't threaten to beat me up, take my camera, smash it into a million pieces and deport me.
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Good day eh buddy!?. Now off to Granny's house. Even Lancair guys can have the RV grin. It's a wonderful world isn't it?
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Some gigantic mountain in between Redmond and Aurora. You locals will have to fill me in on what it is?
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Aurora Jet Center...the best!!! First Class service. Highly recommended. Here's their airport car. Marky, you like this one eh!?
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part 3

My plane all tucked away for the night. On sacred ground. The birth place.
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On the way to Granny's we had to pick up some wine. She actually lives up in Lake Oswego just outside Portland so we had to make a quick stop to pick up the aforementioned items.

Here's a wanker going into "Wankers"
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We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with a salmon dinner and then hit the hay.

After returning the loaner car to the Jet Center on Tuesday morning it was on to our third factory in two days. This one has been on my bucket list for 5 years! I'll get to the Grand Canyon, Catalina Island, Kitty Hawk and Leadville Colorado another day, but today is my VANS TOUR DAY! Look at that smile.
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Those of you who have a -14 QB fuse on order, there it is on the right side of the pict.
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Parts galore!
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The mighty -14
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part 4

Rumor has it that Van flies his -12 to work. Well low and behold guess who's in that -12 in the background?
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I got to meet the man himself. What an unexpected treat....until he threatened to beat me up, take my camera, smash it into a million pieces and deport me...Kidding:)
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The tour wrapped up with a look at the Van's company fleet outside. Hey Mark, that's the RV-14, made for Bubba's like you, give it a try. Nah, you don't like it?, you'll stick with your fast glass, ok suit yourself.
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After the tour we backtracked to Redmond back past the "mystery mountain". Gorgeous scenery, smooth flight, pure magic!! About a 40 min. flight.
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I dropped my buddy off then blazed a trail back home. 3 hours and 10 minutes with a 20 knot tailwind was a perfect way to end a great two days of fun, food and flying.

I bought my RV in 2010 with 200 hours on it. She rolled 1100 hours on the way home. We've been to the Bahamas, Florida, California, OSH 3 times, New York twice, East Coast of Canada, West Coast of Canada, France (yup), and all points in between. I can't think of a better plane.....but then again I'm biased.
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Darren
 
"Some gigantic mountain in between Redmond and Aurora. You locals will have to fill me in on what it is?"

Mt Jefferson. You should have been able to see about ten such sized points on a clear day.

Nice trip and write-up.
 
Great pictures and write up Darren. Our planes used to be hangar mates unless you weren't there before Aug /08.
 
Wow what a great tour!

Awsome is the only word i can think of when a pilot gets time and funding to put 900 hours on his plane...... good for you!

Thanks for the great write up and pictures, makes it even more pressing to get mine into the air 2016.

Dave
 
It's all for motivation😊 They are incredibly fun planes to fly!

Darrell our tour guide told us that sales have dropped off quite a bit this year. He attributed it to the economy, less private pilots coming out of school, the cost of flying, lots of good preowned RV's out there. So here's hoping that things turn around.

He said that the sale of parts, factory built -12's, other stuff they do, that you'd think would make the company lots of money...... In fact doesn't.

Things he shared that I'd never thought about:

The cost of the development of the -14 was HUGE. I think very few of us have any idea of the cost and time put in. With development, and tooling, and testing and a whole bunch of other stuff. I was like WOW!!

Things that cost Vans extra money are little things like heat treating the wing ribs. When the CNC machine punches out a wing rib, it actually leaves the factory and goes to another place where it gets pressed over the die, heat treated and then returned. All adds $$.

I came away with huge respect for what they do and how they make kit building survive in this day and age. HUGE!!

Things are done simple and nothing is wasted. Kinda like how Van himself is. Look at what he flies. I totally admire that and I swear, if the company was run by anyone else, without that mind set, it may not have survived all years.

Darren
 
Darren,

I can't tell you how much I appreciate seeing the plane and what you've done with it. As the builder, seeing someone like you do the things you do with the aircraft, tells me it couldn't have been in better hands. I tell people about you, the aerobatics, the kids, the trips etc. Other than you, I bet I'm the only person who has pictures here on my desk (starring at them now at work) sitting at St Mary's after the first ground runs. She still looks great and I hope she's holding up well. Sure looks good in the pictures. Man...what a blast it must be. Stay safe and healthy.

Your friend

John
 
Darren,
Nicely written captivating reading. You are in your artistic element Doc!
I still can't boast this

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but this is in my book:D

 
The pleasure was all mine Vlady:). If memory serves, you bought breakfast that day in NYC. When you make your next trek out West for your next Alaskan adventure, stop in. It's on me this time!

Darren
 
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