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What did you do with your RV this weekend (9/12/2020-9/13/2020)?

It was certainly way too nice in central TX to just sit on the ground. There is always "flight testing" to be done. Just enjoying the NOT 100deg temps!!

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Flew to Flagstaff

Two friends of mine from Washington were in Flagstaff for work from Thursday through today, so I used the excuse of them being "close" as a reason to fly over and have lunch with them. It was also a nice getaway from the smoke filled sky that we've been seeing here in Southern California for what feels like days (and it's much worse in Northern California).

I took off around 9:30 AM and had a slow 2.4 hour flight to Flagstaff (300 NM) due to a 15 - 20 knot headwind. Overall, it was a pretty smooth flight until I got close to Flagstaff, and then was fairly bumpy the last 30 miles or so. It was pretty windy in Flagstaff, which certainly didn't help the ride quality.

I hadn't flown low level in Arizona in around a year, and even then, it was through Southern Arizona that I flew through. I find the more Northern portions of Arizona to be much more stunningly beautiful.

After visiting my friends, they checked out my RV, and really liked what they saw. The three of us are professional pilots, and I was telling them how much fun the RV is, compared to the work airplane. They both took pictures of the airplane and were both going home to tell their wife that they want one. :D

I departed Flagstaff and headed home around 3:30 PM. I saw some blue skies in Flagstaff, but also a lot of high (20,000 feet or higher, I'd guess) smoke. By the time I left, the blue sky was gone, and the smoke was present, but it was welcomed this time because the visibility remained good, but the smoke was serving as a barrier from the sun. I am not a fan of flying west in the late afternoon..

I had a nice flight home, and the headwind from this morning actually stayed constant, so it turned into a tailwind this afternoon (rarely happens). The 2.4 hour flight out to Flagstaff was noticeably longer than the 1.9 hour flight home. It was also bumpier...

The visibility stayed good for the flight home, except for the last ten miles or so, when it became only a few miles, again thanks to the smoke. I actually dialed in the instrument approach for better guidance to the runway. Probably should have actually done the instrument approach; would have been easier.

Driving to/from Flagstaff wouldn't be practical in a day. What I did in 8 hours would have taken 18.5 hours in a car. Gotta love the RV!

A few random photos from the day are attached.
 

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Two friends of mine from Washington were in Flagstaff for work from Thursday through today, so I used the excuse of them being "close" as a reason to fly over and have lunch with them. It was also a nice getaway from the smoke filled sky that we've been seeing here in Southern California for what feels like days (and it's much worse in Northern California).

I took off around 9:30 AM and had a slow 2.4 hour flight to Flagstaff (300 NM) due to a 15 - 20 knot headwind. Overall, it was a pretty smooth flight until I got close to Flagstaff, and then was fairly bumpy the last 30 miles or so. It was pretty windy in Flagstaff, which certainly didn't help the ride quality.

I hadn't flown low level in Arizona in around a year, and even then, it was through Southern Arizona that I flew through. I find the more Northern portions of Arizona to be much more stunningly beautiful.

After visiting my friends, they checked out my RV, and really liked what they saw. The three of us are professional pilots, and I was telling them how much fun the RV is, compared to the work airplane. They both took pictures of the airplane and were both going home to tell their wife that they want one. :D

I departed Flagstaff and headed home around 3:30 PM. I saw some blue skies in Flagstaff, but also a lot of high (20,000 feet or higher, I'd guess) smoke. By the time I left, the blue sky was gone, and the smoke was present, but it was welcomed this time because the visibility remained good, but the smoke was serving as a barrier from the sun. I am not a fan of flying west in the late afternoon..

I had a nice flight home, and the headwind from this morning actually stayed constant, so it turned into a tailwind this afternoon (rarely happens). The 2.4 hour flight out to Flagstaff was noticeably longer than the 1.9 hour flight home. It was also bumpier...

The visibility stayed good for the flight home, except for the last ten miles or so, when it became only a few miles, again thanks to the smoke. I actually dialed in the instrument approach for better guidance to the runway. Probably should have actually done the instrument approach; would have been easier.

Driving to/from Flagstaff wouldn't be practical in a day. What I did in 8 hours would have taken 18.5 hours in a car. Gotta love the RV!

A few random photos from the day are attached.

Crazy where a couple hours will take you in an RV! I also LOVE northern AZ!
 
What did I do with my RV this weekend?

Well...up until this weekend I didn’t have an RV. As of yesterday, I’m the new owner of a beautiful, well-equipped, meticulously built, meticulously maintained RV-9A, and met some truly wonderful people in the process. Later this morning, my CFI/RV-wrangler and I are going to saddle up and fly her from St. Louis to her new home in ”up-north” Minnesota. So, it’s not over yet but it’s shaping up to be a great RV weekend for me. First of many.
 

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What did I do with my RV this weekend?

Well...up until this weekend I didn’t have an RV. As of yesterday, I’m the new owner of a beautiful, well-equipped, meticulously built, meticulously maintained RV-9A, and met some truly wonderful people in the process. Later this morning, my CFI/RV-wrangler and I are going to saddle up and fly her from St. Louis to her new home in ”up-north” Minnesota. So, it’s not over yet but it’s shaping up to be a great RV weekend for me. First of many.

Welcome to the RV flying world! Where in MN are you based?
 
Leadville and Westin Pass

Last week the fires in Colorado kept us on from going anywhere, really miserable visibility. This week we got some snow, and that cleared the air out. This morning dawned clear and quiet so we headed west up to Leadville.

The easy way from Colorado Springs is to fly almost due west to Buena Vista, hang a right, and fly up the valley to Leadville.

Here is when you make the turn at Buena Vista. The Collegiate peaks are off to the west.

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As you fly north towards Leadville, there are many false "passes" on your left. Make sure you know where you are going if you head up there. Here is a likely looking prospect that goes about 5 miles west, and hits the Continental Divide at about 14,000 ft. It is pretty, but don't go up here:)

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As you get closer to Leadville, the entrance to Indepence Pass is also on the left. The twin lakes are the give away. This pass leads to Aspen. Many planes have crashed here. It is quite high, and suffers drainage winds when you get the strong westerly flows across the top.

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Here we are landed at Leadville. They just reopened the airport after redoing the runway, they did a beautiful job!
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Since the winds aloft were minimal (about 5 knots at 15,000 ft) we decided to take Westin Pass home to KFLY. Westin is on Foreflight, but the top of the pass is not marked. It is high. We climbed to 13,500 ft, and headed in. You look like you are headed to a cliff.

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At the top, you turn right (south) following the road. You can get out to the west actually at 13,500 if you lost the engine. I only go over the pass when it is perfect weather like today. Turn here....
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And over the top, back to towards home. All in all a great day for flying in Colorado.

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I used embedd google photos to try to make the google photos work. I will be interested to see if it works.

Blue skies everyone.

Geoff
 
Flew 10.2 with a new friend so he could get his 10 hr TAA requirement for his SEL Comm check ride requirements. Garmin Rocks!

and... got to stop by Tom White's hanger to celebrate his completion of his 8! Way to go Tom!
 
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