What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Where have you been in your 12?

bhassel

bhassel

Well Known Member
So we're not like the 'normal' RVs squirting across the country in a day or so like so many do.

For those of us still pounding err... pulling rivets, where have you been? Any Leadville conquests or just fun trips? What do you find a good range for your travels?

Thanks!

Bob
 
In the past year, Eagle's Nest One has been to Oshkosh twice, Sun N Fun, and the Midwest LSA Expo in Illinois, plus a lot of spots in our local area. It should add Lee Bottom shortly. I am most proud that the OSH and SNF flights have been done by student/builders. Oshkosh this year was by a builder with a two week old license!

Bob
 
Southern Ohio to KOSH. about 4 hrs up and 3.5 coming back. I think 2 hrs in any airplane between stops is more than enough. The -12 is comfortable and capable x-c craft.

Other flights from southern Ohio to eastern KY and into WV and northern Ohio
 
From my Maryland homebase I have been to Osh twice, Massachsetts three times, Illinois twice (third time coming in two weeks), Florida eight times, New York, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina a few times each, Georgia once and countless trips all over Virginia, Delaware and Maryland. And these are the ones I remember. 550 hours and about 300 demo flights on not-so-New Blue in four years. Solid little airplane.
 
Day 1 - Cornelia, GA(AJR) to Cape Girardeau, MO (CGI), to Topeka, KS(FOE), to Hays,KS (HYS)
Day 2- Hays,KS (HYS) to Rocky Mountain Metro, CO(KBJC) - Local flight rocky Mountain National Park
Day 3- Rocky Mountain Metro, CO(KBJC) to Gillette, WY (GCC) - Hiked Devil's Tower
Day 4- Gillette, WY (GCC) to Powell, WY (KPOY) - Local Flights(4) w/family
Day 5 - Powell, WY (KPOY) to Twin Falls, ID (KTWF) - Aerial tour of Yellowstone
Day 6 - Twin Falls, ID (KTWF) to Redmond, OR (KRMD), to Aurora State, OR(KUAO) -- Van's Tour with Joe Blank
Day 7- Aurora State, OR to Pullman Regional,WA(KPUW) - Aerial Tour of Mt. St. Helens, to Lewistown, MT(KLWT), to Rapid City Regional, SD (KRAP)
Day 8 -Rapid City Regional, SD (KRAP) to Fremont,NE (KFET),to West Planes Regional, MO (KUNO), to Bowling Green, KY (KBWG)
Day 9- Bowling Green, KY (KBWG) to Cornelia, Ga (AJR)

Total Flight Time - 42 hours
 
All over NE US, southern Ontario, OSH in 2012. Great little cross country ship, especially with autopilot.
 
I picked up my RV-12 from the seller in Stonewall, OK this past April.

Day 1 - Stonewall, OK to Gallup, NM - 7 hrs
Day 2 - Gallup, NM - Lakeview, OR - 6.75 hrs
Day 3 - Lakeview, OR - La Center View-Air, WA - 2.75 hrs
Total 16.5 hrs high NW and westerly winds most of route generally 20-30+ kts

Recent flight to McCall, ID with strong headwinds both directions 14-24kts 3hrs from start up to shut down each way.

I'm averaging right at 5 gph @ 5250 rpm and 22.5 +/- mpg.

Obviously not as fast as my previous RV-3a (IO-320 w/MT electric prop), but similar in handling responsiveness and more practical.
 
Vegas Express: Phoenix (GEU) to Vegas (HND) in 2.2 hours. Just long enough to work up a thirst and save enough gas money to hit the tables! :D
 
For the past year I have mostly been:
- In the tail cone for the ADAHR
- Under the belly for the landing gear SB
- All over the place for the masking for painting
- Under the avionics shelf for wiring
- In the baggage compartment for the gas tank and rear window sealing
... and most of all I have been looking forward to fly, comfortably sitting in the cockpit. :D
 
Bruce Russell said:
Day 1 - Cornelia, GA(AJR) to Cape Girardeau, MO (CGI), to Topeka, KS(FOE), to Hays,KS (HYS)
Day 2- Hays,KS (HYS) to Rocky Mountain Metro, CO(KBJC) - Local flight rocky Mountain National Park
Day 3- Rocky Mountain Metro, CO(KBJC) to Gillette, WY (GCC) - Hiked Devil's Tower
Day 4- Gillette, WY (GCC) to Powell, WY (KPOY) - Local Flights(4) w/family
Day 5 - Powell, WY (KPOY) to Twin Falls, ID (KTWF) - Aerial tour of Yellowstone
Day 6 - Twin Falls, ID (KTWF) to Redmond, OR (KRMD), to Aurora State, OR(KUAO) -- Van's Tour with Joe Blank
Day 7- Aurora State, OR to Pullman Regional,WA(KPUW) - Aerial Tour of Mt. St. Helens, to Lewistown, MT(KLWT), to Rapid City Regional, SD (KRAP)
Day 8 -Rapid City Regional, SD (KRAP) to Fremont,NE (KFET),to West Planes Regional, MO (KUNO), to Bowling Green, KY (KBWG)
Day 9- Bowling Green, KY (KBWG) to Cornelia, Ga (AJR)

Total Flight Time - 42 hours
Click to expand...
I am soooooooo jealous of this! Amazing log right there my friend! Been from SNF back to Indiana, Indiana to OSH, as well as the typical 50 NM and u der excursions. Thinking the 200+ NM trip to college in Carbondale IL is in order next though. Very cool seeing all of these trips people have taken
 
Places traveled...

I flew from Northern Ohio (Cleveland area) to Petaluma, CA. 2400 miles, about 24 flight hours. I flew the Southern route to pass over the shortest mountains, spent a lot of time flying through Texas, stopped at El Paso, inadvertently dipped a wing tip over the border (no black choppers appeared though), stopped for a few days in Phoenix, took off from Twenty-nine Palms ,CA and forgot to latch the canopy. The wind sure does clean out the cockpit though. Finally arrived safely in Petaluma (Marin County, North of San Francisco). The very next day a fuel tank leak appeared, wasn't able to repair it externally, rented a 24' U-haul, purchased some 12' long 2x12 lumber for ramps, yanked the wings off and drove home via I80. Love those removable wings. Final tally; spent $600 for aviation fuel there and $900 for truck fuel home. A great adventure. See You Tube under frankav8tor.
 
Great story! I love thinking back on all the little airports I've flown into over the years and all the wonderful aviation folks I've met. I'm jealous, and hope to do my own coast to coast RV trip in the next year or two.
 
BigJohn said:
Hi Larry, good to hear from you. No problem with Light Sport planes in Canada. It is just another experimental. You do have to have a one-time letter in the plane. Print it from here: http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/gen_av/ultralights/sfa/media/tcauth.pdf

John
Click to expand...

Point 12 of the letter is ambiguous: is the Sport Pilot Licence a "valid pilot license"? From the US stand point yes but not from Canada's stand point? There are several categories in the US pilot license that are not mentioned so one could argue that Sport Pilot is one more category.
 
A most interesting thread here. I've held back from discussing my odyssey, but can remain silent no longer. With 27.5 total hours on N562E last summer, I was faced with the prospect of transferring jobs from Richland, Washington to Birmingham, Alabama. Rather than disassemble and truck my new RV-12 across the coutry, I decided that maybe I could fly it across. My 87 year-old father, who is still current and regularly flies his 180 HP RV-4, joined me for a four-day adventure that we will never forget. Here's our brief flight plan:

DAY 1 - THE ROCKIES - Richland, WA to Kellogg, ID to Butte, MT to Laurel, MT.

DAY 2 - THE HIGH PLAINS - Laurel, MT to Douglas, WY to Greeley, Co

DAY 3 - THE GRAT PLAINS - Greeley, CO to Hays KS to Aurora, MO to West Branson, MO

DAY 4 - THE SOUTHEAST - West Branson, MO to Corinth, MS to Pell City, AL

Total flight time was 20.0 hours.

When we started this trip, I only had around 100 total hours in my pilot logbook and had just figured out how to navigate with Skyview. The autopilot wasn't even configured yet. Dad helped with some of the navigation and we made it across with absolutely no problems, except for finding hotel rooms and ground transportation in some of the smaller towns. One of the most amazing things about this trip was that, for four days, we had absolutely perfect weather all the way across the country.

Since moving to Alabama, my wife and I have flown to Sun-N-Fun 2013 and numerous small airports throughout the southeast.

Can't say enough good stuff about this plane.
 
Frankpav said:
I flew from Northern Ohio (Cleveland area) to Petaluma, CA. 2400 miles, about 24 flight hours. I flew the Southern route to pass over the shortest mountains, spent a lot of time flying through Texas, stopped at El Paso, inadvertently dipped a wing tip over the border (no black choppers appeared though), stopped for a few days in Phoenix, took off from Twenty-nine Palms ,CA and forgot to latch the canopy. The wind sure does clean out the cockpit though. Finally arrived safely in Petaluma (Marin County, North of San Francisco). The very next day a fuel tank leak appeared, wasn't able to repair it externally, rented a 24' U-haul, purchased some 12' long 2x12 lumber for ramps, yanked the wings off and drove home via I80. Love those removable wings. Final tally; spent $600 for aviation fuel there and $900 for truck fuel home. A great adventure. See You Tube under frankav8tor.
Click to expand...

Just a little correction........ Petaluma is in Sonoma County, 38 miles north of San Francisco.

We have several RV's on the field. There should have been no reason to truck it home. Unless you just ran out of time.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top