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So Who Watch the Eclipse from an Vans RV-X?

WA85

Well Known Member
Watched it from an RV-9A at 10,500 over middle TN. Heard at least ten other RVs on frequency. Going to be a once in lifetime logbook entry.
 
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We did, in our RV-4 at 11.5K over Greenville SC area, amongst cloud buildups and big holes..2 hr. Round robin from our home field . It was one of the coolest things we have ever experienced. We were on the totality center, and I got DARK fast! I would do it again!
 
From the ground at the Independence, Oregon flyin it appeared as a 360 degree sunset and it must have been very near "Nautical twilight" The airport beacon came on and we could see stars and planets. Just before and after we noticed "waves" moving across the ground and shadows became noticeably sharper. The OAT dropped maybe 15 degrees.
Very cool experience. Very cool. When /where is the next one???
Tim Andres
 
9500 ft, just south of KSRB. Intersected the track near Sparta, flew ESE until it nearly caught us, then turned south to put the total eclipse in the forward quadrant of the canopy.

I liked the way darkness raced across the scattered layer from the west.
 
Wife and I took it in cool air north of the masses.

15033504535660.jpg
 
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9500 ft, just south of KSRB. Intersected the track near Sparta, flew ESE until it nearly caught us, then turned south to put the total eclipse in the forward quadrant of the canopy.

I liked the way darkness raced across the scattered layer from the west.

I was there too.....good times

36326658770_78d2fff677_b.jpg


36722031005_7fe1496024_b.jpg


Hit SRB right about 3 min ahead of the shadow. AP turned us SE on flight plan. Worked like a clock. Was afraid we were going to miss the whole thing but worked out great.
 
RV7 just east of Torrington, Wyoming at 7500 Mel. It was really a sight! Very dark during totality, a fair amount of traffic in the areas around there, but the Dynon took all the drama out of that part, and everyone was good about position reporting...Lots of planes on the ramps at both Tor and Scottsbluff. It was a memorable experience for sure.
Jim
 
36676203896_557037190c_c.jpg


Just west of KAIA along the path of totality. Another reason to love that big unobstructed canopy!
 
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I was there too.....good times Hit SRB right about 3 min ahead of the shadow. AP turned us SE on flight plan. Worked like a clock. Was afraid we were going to miss the whole thing but worked out great.

That would have put you about 3 min east of us, call it 10 miles.

ADSB makes it look crowded on a screen, but we never saw another airplane along the track, and we were looking.

Center wasn't terribly busy, but they were refusing VFR flight following.
 
Eclipse Alien Abduction

Watched it at 15.5 over SE Missouri. Absolutely amazing. Was so awe struck by the corona that we both forgot to look for the stars.

Was joking during the week before the trip that we might be abducted by aliens during totality. Can't explain this target on the Skyview ADS-B that appeared 5 minutes before totality and went 360 degrees around us about 2-3 miles away! Saw plenty of other traffic before, during and after and all appeared normal. Don't recall ever seeing this target display before in almost 500 hours. Didn't hear any F-16s on guard either!

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[Larry, it was working late yesterday, but now it's not working again. I'd really like to see your photo. Please try something else. Don Hull, one of the moderators]

Don, thanks for the heads up. I moved it to a shared folder in Google that I've used before. If anyone sees this post and the pic doesn't show, please PM me. I'll know that Google is too flaky to use and will stop or find another source. Thanks!
 
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Unforgettable

We launched out of Auburn and headed south for the Oregon coast. Weather was perfect, winds aloft were variable with smooth air. Center was refusing VFR flight following due to the shear number of planes. They were only handling IFR traffic. There were at least 3 F-18's out of Whidbey NAS up high, and some other traffic up high. One surprising event was the shadow catching up with us from behind, then watching it progress to the east. We had a pretty open piece of sky all things considered. Totally amazing!

Then back to Auburn. 2.9 hrs of flying, 16 gallons, $80 in gas. Back home by 11:30. these machines are incredible.

Best quote of the flight from ATC canceling flight following. "There are about a hundred planes around Portland. Good Luck"


https://youtu.be/TGM4OHN3cUU
 
Truly an inspiring experience!

Took my -10 from Hicks Field (T69) in Fort Worth to Missouri with my son and 2 of his friends to watch the eclipse. Saw 3 RVs (a 6A, 7 and 4) at KHRO getting fuel on the way North. We had a spare set of glasses and gave them to the guy at the FBO, he loved getting them since he could not find any and immediately went out to see the first part of the eclipse.

Here is the gang when we refueled.

[As indicated in my pm to the OP, none of these Google links are working, so we see NONE of these photos, and we'd really like to see them. Photobucket seems to work for another poster. s/Don Hull, one of the moderators

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Here we are ready to look at the eclipse!
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You can see the line of totality by the number of aircraft South of KSTL.

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Getting very dark now with the shadow coming from the right side of the picture.

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Totality

Totality

[Total nothing is what we have here. As indicated in a pm to the OP, these Google links are not working. Photobucket seems to work for another poster. But we do not see ANY of your photos, and we'd really like to see them! Don Hull, one of the moderators]

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It was a great experience, we all loved it! Some of the interesting things was the quality of the light as it got darker (sort of a harsh dimmed LED, changing the colors of your skin to a pale greenish hue) and the quick reduction in solar radiation heating the dash (and us!).

I will stay on the ground in 2024 to experience it on the ground since the DFW area will be in the path. It would be interesting to know how many GA aircraft were flying in the path yesterday!
 
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Guys the Google photo links are not visible for all of us. Thought you may want to know.

I tried using Google and found it very unreliable. Some can see them and some can't. Could never figure out why so I moved on!
 
RV-9A out of Reno Stead, LHA (local hour angle for non-navigators) was 1023L. Had to climb to 11500 to get above the smoke (from our neighboring states who won't or can't manage their forests) to clear air. For an 83% moon coverage, I expected the eclipse to be more noticeable but appeared to be about a little after sunrise luminescence. Dan from Reno
 
Guys the Google photo links are not visible for all of us. Thought you may want to know.

I tried using Google and found it very unreliable. Some can see them and some can't. Could never figure out why so I moved on!

Specifically, post numbers 14, 17 and 18 have Google links that are not working!!!

WE CANNOT SEE YOUR PHOTOS!!!
 


Flew up to the path of totality from Colorado. Unbelievable experience. From 12,500 feet the edge of the shadow presented as a 360 degree rainbow.
 
Specifically, post numbers 14, 17 and 18 have Google links that are not working!!!

WE CANNOT SEE YOUR PHOTOS!!!

How about now on post 14? I moved the photo to a shared folder and recopied the link address.

If no joy, I'll delete it and stop posting photos until I can find an alternative that doesn't hold the photos hostage or go out of business in a year.

{Yes, yours is working now, we're still working on the other two. Thanks for responding to this. Don Hull, one of the moderators }

(Wednesday update...now it's not working. I'm now on my iPhone. Yesterday I was on my PC running Google Chrome browser. As a reference, the photos that are showing up in post 23 above are in a Photobucket account.)
 
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I was about 20mi inland from Newport OR at 11,300'. There were maybe a dozen other airplanes in the area that called in - everyone was being good about reporting their altitude and location on Newport freq. I saw one airplane go by a couple hundred feet below me on an opposite course - that's when I changed from 10,500 to 11,300. Didn't see another airplane until afterwards.

The one thing they don't mention or show in the photos is that the eclipsed sun + corona is BIG. When you see a photo with a little dot and a little bright light around it, that is totally misleading.

I had flown into MMV the day before, but on the morning of, the ground crew indicated they were expecting 150+ airplanes inbound that morning, including a dozen jets, so I got out of there at 7:30 and staged at Scappoose (SPB) instead. Only a couple airplanes active there and a clear runway! Departed SPB at 9:10, arrived at ONP area at 9:45, saw the entire thing, start to finish - that wonderful Van's teardrop canopy with near perfect optics!

Awe-inspiring, from start to finish.

- Steven
1100+ RV-3 hours (five more yesterday!)
 
Post 17 & 18 Fixed links?

Forgot to share the folder, can you see them now?

(No Joy! I don't see any photos in Posts 17 & 18. Don Hull, one of the moderators)
 
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Last Try Posting Pictures

I will try one last time to get the pictures I posted in #`17 and #18 above to work. (Drag and Drop would be so much easier!:D)

I can see them hopefully other can too. - TJ

[Yes, as of right now, Thursday afternoon, 8/24/17, I can see them. Thanks! s/Don H.]

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Eclipse viewed from RV-10 in 360 video

Went up in a RV-10 with friends and flew through the totality shadow somewhere approximately over Weizer, Idaho at 16,500. Empty skies and smooth air. We were on a weekend eclipse-camping fly-out at Garden Valley, Idaho that was arranged by Bruce Eicher (he's on here) for our EAA chapter. Bruce and his wife Katie did an *awesome* job. I highly recommend that location for a terrific place to airplane camp. Just awesome.

For the eclipse flight, we set up a unique viewpoint, using a 360-degree VR video camera (the 360fly 4K model) in the cockpit, and let it run while we just took in the eclipse - which as just super cool. The YouTube video show the shadow creeping up and darkness starts somewhere around 4:00 elapsed time (click on the image below to go to the video). It's VR video - you can move your point of view all around, 360 degrees, so you can see forward, back and sides. Hopefully it works for people. Note that if you view it with the YouTube app on your smartphone or tablet you can probably even rotate and tilt your phone to change the field of view, and if you have Google Cardboard VR goggles or similar you can place yourself right there in the cockpit with us, as well (in my lap, unfortunately hah).

And just in case anyone wonders, we all had and used oxygen. Of course, our PIC used it the whole time and since I was just geeking out on the eclipse from the right seat as a passenger, I shared mine with the friend in the back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU_8Z1_ua4E

 
Went up in a RV-10 with friends
Not sure if others noticed, but the pilot is Dick VanGrunsven in his RV-10.

Thanks for posting this. I was wondering what the view up there was like.
I was also at the Garden Valley event and had a great time viewing it from the ground.

My photo album from the trip is here, which includes attending the Wings over Willamette EAA 292 fly in and some whitewater rafting on the Payette River, and a fly-over of the Black Rock City (Burning Man) site on the way home.
 
Not sure if others noticed, but the pilot is Dick VanGrunsven in his RV-10.

Busted. :)

It was a fun flight to be sure. Some people may know that Van spends most Saturdays all day mentoring kids building RV-12s in the TeenFlight program in the Portland area. He puts a ton of effort into developing the next generation of engineers, aviators, you name it. I help out here and there, as well. We have the privilege of working with a bunch of really cool kids in that program. So this was an extra special flight: To round out the eclipse flight crew, our back seat flying friend was Davis Payton, who went on the eclipse camping trip with the group. He's a past TeenFlight student, who graduated that program after finishing their RV-12. For the past couple years has been a TeenFlight mentor teaching and guiding new students building the RV-12's. He actually likes fiberglass work, or so it seems, since he spent a significant amount of time in TeenFlight getting it right as a builder. I had the pleasure of taking Davis for his first Young Eagles flight a few years ago, and earlier this year he earned his Private Pilot certificate and then made his first flight as a Young Eagles pilot shortly thereafter. He's spent a lot of time and effort giving back to the programs that he has benefited from. He'll be a senior in high school this year, and we can't wait to see what he does next - just as with all the kids we meet in TeenFlight. Davis was super excited to be part of this flight, for sure. And he deserved it! Photo below taken while we were outbound to find the moon's shadow.

Forgive me for that diversion. We're just really proud of Davis. :D

Thanks for posting this. I was wondering what the view up there was like.
I was also at the Garden Valley event and had a great time viewing it from the ground.

It was pretty amazing. We were not exactly sure what to expect other than some darkness. It got *really* dark, and the 360-degree sunset-like effect was amazing! We couldn't really see the Corona phase too much since it was above us, and I only remembered to look up at the last minute. Heck, we were just amazed at the parts we could see!

It was good to see you at Garden Valley - Your RV is terrific looking, the paint scheme is off the charts!

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I watched the Eclipse from an RV-6!

It was such an amazing experience. I will never forget it.

The plan was to leave Paine Field (just north of Seattle) around 6:45AM, land at Salem (Oregon) around 8, and be on the ground for the eclipse.

However, Paine was fogged in until around 8:45.

When I first got there, before the tower opened, I contemplated just sneaking out through the fog... I have an attitude indicator, I can safely climb through 200 feet of fog, it would take just a few seconds! But we have all learned about decisionmaking and "get-there-itis"... So I decided to do the right (i.e. safe and legal) thing and wait for VMC. It was not a pleasant decision to make, but with flying, you never regret doing the right thing.

As soon as the tower started accepting requests for VFR takeoffs, I asked for one, and was number four for takeoff, behind an RV-8, a Glasair 2 or 3, and a Velocity. (I guess all the pilots of factory-built airplanes had instrument ratings...). Even flying at "rental power", I was doing the math and realizing that I would be landing at Salem just as totality hit, maybe just a few minutes early. That would be too close. So my wife and I decided to watch it from the air. And am I so glad that we did!

During totality, we could see a (relatively) bright sun-lit horizon all around us, a ring of daytime separating the dark sky above and the dark ground below. It was a surreal, sci-fi experience. And the corona was so BIG! It was incredible just looking at it with the naked eye.

None of this would have been possible without an airplane that can do 200mph :cool:

RmpmLVD.jpg


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I would like to express my appreciation to all the controllers who dealt with the crazy air traffic! �� (Portland Tower was actually holding commercial flights on the ground until the swarm of VFR traffic just south of them cleared out).

By the way, this was my first flight with an ADS-B "in" device that could talk with ForeFlight on my phone, and it was GREAT to be able to see all (ok, most) of the other traffic out there right on my screen. If you have ForeFlight but no ADS-B "in", then do yourself a favor and get some of this amazing technology for your airplane. It will be $200 well spent.

I went up to 9500 ft during totality because it was much less crowded up there, flew east towards the mountains to get away from everyone... but still had one close-ish call. You can never be too vigilant.

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My wife took our Panasonic FZ super-zoom camera, and I got a solar filter for it. She is a terrific photographer:

DIfCcOs.jpg


EDIT: As mentioned above, Rian Johnson of Van's Aircraft went up to 17,500 feet. If you compare his photo with my photo, I think he was directly above me.
 
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