I39 (Richmond, KY) fly in report

First, A big Thank You to Dana for taking time from his most important project (rebuilding Black Magic) to host this fine event. It was good to see his plane so near getting back into the air, and at the same time to be able to put faces to names from VAF.

There were by my count 21 RVs there with just about everything except 10s and 3s accounted for. The weather was warm and WINDY! I would guess that the weather kept more than a few people away. I think I recall 20 gusting to 28 at about 30 degrees to the runway. Really good practice. Going home, the clouds lifted enough to get above the turbulence, at least until it came time to land. Two of the more exciting landings in recent memory, and not something I would have felt comfortable with in most planes.

Let's hope this tradition can continue. Thanks again, Dana, and good luck on that second First Flight.

Bob Kelly

Dana & the rest of the I39 gang:

Thanks for everything. Shortly after landing I looked up and saw the clouds closing in. Since I had to get higher than the clouds to get over the mountains to return to Charlotte, I figure it was best to top off and blast out. Brian, I was hoping to give you a ride but it wasn't to be.

Heck, I didn't even get a chance to use the facilities or grab a bite to eat.

Dana, your plane looked good, very good.

As it worked out, I had to go about 30 miles before I found a hole to climb up through. Once on top at 11,500 it was clear sailing all the way back home. With a direct crosswind and no push it took only 1.9 hours get home, including slowing way down once below Charlotte's Class Bravo and down low.

Bob, I should have landed behind you as I had a direct crosswind when I landed. Typical up wind one wheel landing, get the 2nd one on the ground, push forward on the stick, keep it tracking straight until well after below flying speed, and then pin the tail and keep it straight.

Thanks Van for designing such a responsive plane. When I taxied out to depart, the wind kept trying to weathervane my -9 and I kept having to stab a brake to keep it going straight.

The good news is that I was home by 1 PM and spent the afternoon in the park with Momma and The Boy.

N941WR said:

Brian, I was hoping to give you a ride but it wasn't to be..

Click to expand...

No problem Bill.... I got pulled away by my ride as well, we made a mad dash back to the South East. Pretty crummy till we found a hole to climb up thru! I am glad you made it home safe!

Three of us landed in a 172 shortly before you got there. It was a very exciting event but Chuck overcame the situation and all was well.

We enjoyed the quick look at all the planes! Hopefully next year at least two more RV's from KMOR will be flying.

Dana, Sorry I did not get a chance to say howdy in person!

Our final count was 34 RV's, from a late arriving 3 to Dogg's new absolutely stunning, award winning, 8.

Let me get another cup of coffee in me and I'll get back with you all. For the time being, here is a link from Bobby Hester:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bobbyhesterKY/RichmondFlyInPictures09#

OK, last cup of coffee in me so the day can begin. While I was at the airport Friday afternoon, Webb arrived from Mississippi in his newly minted, and beautiful, 7. He had to file and drop down through a cloud layer to find the bases at something like 3500. Webb is originally from Lexington and attended University of Kentucky Pharmacy school in the same building my oldest son is graduating from in the College of Medicine this May. Webb had family pick him up later. I stayed around until late Friday night getting Black Magic put back together, in order for her to look somewhat like an airplane Saturday morning.

I knew the weather might keep the Ohio Valley gang attending and Team RV had a scheduled practice day already on the agenda so that normally accounts for anywhere from 15-25 RV's. I checked the weather about midnight. To my amazement, they suddenly were predicted 500' overcast, 3 mile vis at 8AM here Oh well, to late to postpone. It looked like by 11 or so, it was going to 3500-3-6500 with vis better than 6. I awoke to see stars, literally. The weather people missed this one big time. We, in central Kentucky were in a nice weather corridor. The weather north and south of us was going to keep people on the ground during the early morning hours with low ceilings. True to predictions, the first arrival did not land until, as I recall, about 9:30. Normally we have mass arrivals mid morning. The low ceilings kept people on the ground until later so we had arrivals very late up into the day. Again we had a great time just milling around on the ramp, see old friends, meeting new friends and enjoying a beautiful 73 degree early March day at the airport.....albeit windy

Bill, I did see your landing!! The ramp guy was going whoa, whoa, whoa....I was going....nice job of landing on one wheel!! I saw you take off and made a comment that your sure don't hang around long. Glad to hear Rad was OK.

Brian, glad you could make it.

Time to go out for a nice long run, then head back to the airport....sure is nice to say that instead of saying, time to head back to the garage.....and finish buttoning up Black Magic in preparation for the second, first engine start. Let's get that Barrett Precision 360 fired up!!

Once again gang, it's not the airplane, it's the people.

videobobk said:

I think I recall 20 gusting to 28 at about 30 degrees to the runway. Really good practice. Two of the more exciting landings in recent memory, and not something I would have felt comfortable with in most planes.

Bob Kelly

Click to expand...

In that wind and only two landings.....heck, I would skipping like a rock on water down the runway. Glad mine was tied down

More Pictures

Being an RV newbie, it was great to meet everyone yesterday. Thanks to Dana for hosting everything.

The link below has a few pictures I took yesterday.

http://picasaweb.google.com/YellowRV6/I39Flyin?authkey=Gv1sRgCKDU-qL-rp3knQE#

I'm glad I got there early (no one watching) as I am sure I made more than two landings. The wind & gusts were pretty rough and straight across the runway. The Citabria that followed me over from the Fort Knox area had a ground speed on the way of 140 mph at times but going back it was 66 mph

Mike caught Bill and I on the push for the pumps. We both had to bail soon after due to the crummy weather to the SouthEast.

BlackRV7 said:

...Bill, I did see your landing!! The ramp guy was going whoa, whoa, whoa....I was going....nice job of landing on one wheel!! I saw you take off and made a comment that your sure don't hang around long. Glad to hear Rad was OK.
...

Click to expand...

I was with your ramp guy as I too was going, "whoa, whoa, whoa," on that landing.

Like I said, I would have liked to have stuck around but getting over the mountains is always tricky and the thickening clouds meant a trip down past Chattanooga if I had stuck around.

When back taxiing to the end of 18, Cherokee 221 followed me down and I was afraid the wind was going to spin me around right into his path, it was that windy. When I did turn around, I realized he wasn?t that close. Still, he kept me on my toes and brakes.

What did you think of her ability to climb with only 135 HP up front? And that wasn't even a Vx climb.

Dana - It was good to see you. With a few more hours, elbow grease, blood sweat and tears, Black Magic will be back in action. Your avionics are rocking....I just hope you can get your head out of the cockpit and enjoy the view.

It was a nice fly-in. It was windy and very gusty and along with low ceilings, probably kept more away than were able to make it. I enjoyed meeting some folks that are on this website in person. I also saw some good looking RV's. Seemed like the 8's tipped the scales for numbers.

I came up the afternoon before to see my daughters that I haven't seen since Christmas. Had to file an IFR plan to get there. Ceilings were low and it was bumpy down low. Can't say I objected to an 180 knot average on the way (I'll take 20 knots on the tail anyday). Poor Dana was at it hard by himself at the time. Being first to arrive and the only overnighter, I had the luxery of a hanger (thanks Dana!!).

Parked it on the ramp Saturday. Since it was so gusty and the bugs had been cleaned off, I hadn't planned to go up until Sunday morning when I returned. Wrong....my buddy from West Virginia came down and "needed" a test flight. Also wanted to show me the farm he bought in a nearby town so we went flying. Geez, land in Danville KY with winds gusting to around 25. Come back and land in much calmer winds with with the gusts back at only 22 or so. My brother is now there to pick me up but hey, he also wants a ride. Took him out and when coming back, the gusts have died down to about 18. All enjoyed it and I'm glad to be back on the ground. What once was a bug free specimen now has it's share of black spots. Where do they all come in such a short period.

Had a nice dinner with my brothers Saturday night and flew out on Sunday AM back to Jackson, MS. I kept asking myself...."Dana, is it always this windy with I39 on the hill?" As I was climbing out and gave a wing rock to my brother, I thought about what great machines these are for travel. Switched over to Lexington approach to pick up my clearance out of there. Sorry sir, can't find it... Great....Sorry but I will need to air file please. No problem and I'm cleared on up to cloud tops. I battled 30 to 50 knot headwinds all the way back. Even stopped in Tupelo MS to take on more fuel just in case. Got news...KTUP was gusting to 26 and it took 3 tries to finally get it to settle on the runway. Never will get use to those 10 foot climbs that happen just when your ready to set it down.

BTW - if you need fuel, Tupelo (north Mississippi) has an outstanding planning building near the pumps that even has showers. Snacks there on the honor system. Seems like fuel was ~$3.25. Nice place and will definately stop again. Got out of there and headed back to home base.

Memphis Center was as friendly as I've ever heard them. The nice lady ATC picked me up again after take off and welcomed me back. Had to climb it on up to 8,000 just to get on top. Turns out one of my buddies was coming back from Tennessee at the same time. He flies a pristine Cardinal and his awesome groundspeed was a smoking 70 knots at times. He picked me up on radio about 1/2 hour before I landed at Tupelo, landed, refueled, and took off. I still beat him back to M16. This time the winds were much better with gusts down in the low teens. Can't remember the exact number but you had your choice of runway since the wind was 90 degrees.

After getting back home, the bird got a bath and was put up clean. My buddy and I talked about the trip back and he stayed low and slugged it out. Even managed to bump his head on the cabin top a few times. He didn't climb it on up since fuel was a concern and climb speed would have been so slow. Got to tell you he is an awesome IFR pilot. I would fly with him in the soup anyday but wouldn't have wanted to sit right seat on this flight. He's building an 8 now and since it is for fun, light weight and speed is the mission. Watch for another bullet in about 2-3 years. Then he'll be smoking my tail.

Dana - Thanks again for the hospitality. With family there, it's a great excuse just to go visit.

Georgia Gang

Probably 10 planeloads of us were comming from GA. But - still on the ground at lunchtime looking at 500 foot ceilings and 2 miles in mist. By the time it cleared, it was too late to come and get back.

Oh well - come on down to Taylorsville, GA on April 18, and we'll by the smoked pig!