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Purchased Flying RV6 Flight Back to Alaska

mbauer

Well Known Member
Hello,

Purchased an RV-6 located in Jackson, CA.

Met Craig from Catto Propellers while there. He installed some tape-strips on the Catto prop on my RV. He said it was one of his first designs and that it would not be possible to install the nickel leading edges. Tape will protect prop if caught in the rain.

Flew 5-hours with a CFI to get my PIC Check-Ride completed for insurance requirements. Not sure about mentioning names, the CFI was extremely good, Dale C. was thorough and I enjoyed flying with him, his RV-4 was incredibly well built and the paint was flawless.

After admiring his RV-4 we climbed into my 6, no co-pilot brakes meant I flew from the right seat at first, once Dale was convinced I could fly (5.9 hours recent time after a 21-year layoff), we switched seats and I flew from the left until he signed me off.

Next stop was Bakersfield, CA on my way to P20 (Parker, AZ). Started to get dark, my RV doesn't have landing/taxi lights. Winds came up and stayed in Bakersfield for a couple of nights, before leaving for Parker.

Left early in the morning, sun was in my eyes for the flying to Parker. Asked for and received flight following from Bakersfield all the way to Parker. Glad I did! Lots of restricted flying areas along my path.

Biggest issue was Joshua Approach kept calling UAV traffic at or near my 7500 ft cruise altitude. All four UAV flights had chase planes, I never saw any of them...

Crossing over Big Bear City, meant a climb to 11,500 ft to clear the mountain peak.

Rest of flight into Parker was a little bumpy as I flew over the mountain ranges that needed crossed. All in all; RV grin was causing muscle spasms.

After arriving at Parker, both my kids were there as planned, we drove to a very good friend of mine winter home located in the area.

Planned to leave on the 31st for a flight to Carlisle, PA, however high winds at Parker (45 mph with blowing dust/sand) had me grounded. Almost lost my canopy cover. Fast action by the airport FBO workers saved it for me! Great service and wonderful friendly people there!

Next stop was changed to Minden, NV (KMEV).

Before I continue with my tale, would like to verify it is OK to post about some great maintenance my RV needed/received-mainly is it OK to post the name of the mechanic and his business? [ed. Absolutely!!! v/r,dr]

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
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We all love to hear about good mechanics! Best of luck with your new plane. You will enjoy the heck out of it!
 
Sounds like a great adventure, I'm at KMEV, when are you arriving? big storm blowing in right now, not recommended for today or tomorrow.....
 
Sounds like a great adventure, I'm at KMEV, when are you arriving? big storm blowing in right now, not recommended for today or tomorrow.....

Hi Bret,

Was there Sunday thru Tuesday. Uncle lives in Gardnerville, visited; leaving before the storm hit.

Mike
 
Wonderful People at KMEV

Upon arriving at KMEV, topped the tanks off and then looked for parking.

My son and I were moving the RV by pushing it, when a woman stopped and said to just tie it up at one of her Glider tie-downs. She runs the Soaring Nevada hangar-while talking with her she recommended her mechanic for some squawks I had. This was on Saturday the 1st of April.

Waiting until Monday the 3rd, contacted Jim Croizer with Minden Aircraft Repair. He said to bring the RV over for a look see.

On the flight from Parker, the fuel burn seemed high with a low cruise speed. Wasn't sure if it was because my son was now flying with me.

Jim was busy with a top overhaul on a six cylinder.

Performing a quick check for me:

First thing Jim found was that the tail wheel was stuck in the castering mode-fixed it quick. Then after a compression check he found that the electronic magneto was not working. We flew most of the Parker to Minden leg on the single slick magneto only.

A sensor was bad, Jim found this out by calling the manufacturer and troubleshooting while on the phone. The sensor cost $75 plus overnight shipping.

Tuesday, around 11am the sensor arrived, Jim installed it and after making a payment for the parts and service, said good-bye and left Minden for Pocatello, ID (PIH).

Mike
 
So your flying from california to Alaska and haven't done a mag check prior to flight?

Upon arriving at KMEV,......snipped..... We flew most of the Parker to Minden leg on the single slick magneto only.....snipped....
Mike
If I read correctly, he flew one leg (Parker-Minden), and the failure apparently occurred while enroute.
 
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Are you flying with the temporary registration (pink slip). If so, do you need to clear Canada Customs. If so, you may not clear Canada Customs, or when you get to Alaska, U.S. Customs, they will definitely have an issue. A standard registration with your name on it is required for border crossings.
 
Yes, part of flight to Minden was when Electronic Mag quit-worked fine for engine runup test before taking off.

Contacted the FAA about doing an overflight with the temporary registration. They issued a piece of paper that will allow me to do the flight without the registration.

Quick and easy-just need to contact the FAA registration department and request: Declaration of International Operations.

After faxing the form (1-page) waited 1.5 hours and they faxed back the Temporary Certificate of Registration.

After the number that was assigned it states "This facsimile must be carried in the Aircraft as a Temporary Certificate of Registration for N999SN". It goes on to list the serial number and the aircraft builder on record-stating it is good for exactly 1-month.

Due to weather, decided to park the RV in Idaho and go down on Memorial Weekend to fly it back to Alaska.
 
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Mike, where in Idaho are you parked? Im at KEUL and may be able to find a hangar if needed. Email me if you need any help.
 
Mike, where in Idaho are you parked? Im at KEUL and may be able to find a hangar if needed. Email me if you need any help.

Parked at Boise. Bought a tie down space for the time needed until Memorial weekend. Hopefully better weather by then to fly it back.
 
Interesting Pilots at Jackson, CA (JAQ)

As I sit here, going through RV-6 with-drawls, felt that I had not mentioned some of the cool things that happened at the JAQ airport.

Seems to be that May 24th is never going to get here-when I head back to Boise to finish my saga of flying the RV back to Alaska. So adding the following to my thread:

For the two days I spent at the Jackson Airport (JAQ), met some really great people.

I arrived around noon on a Saturday (Mar. 25, 2017). First hangar headed too was where my newly acquired RV-6 was parked. Marvin, the ex-owner, and his girlfriend where very easy to like and talk with.

Marvin was constantly telling me things about my new aircraft, trying to cover all of the areas of concern, extras that came with the deal. Pre-flight, oil level to use, how to enter/exit, etc..

Immediately others started to stop in for a talk, I don't remember everyone, but was taken on a tour of a hangar that housed a very beautiful RV-4 and a amphib under construction.

The owner/builder was retired from air traffic, and once back at my RV, had several points to add to my first pre-flight inspection. He was very thorough, ensuring that I understood what to look for. Great advice was given!

Then we had a short walk over to the CATTO shop. Met Craig and a few of his crew. From my reading here at VAF, I asked about a nickel leading edge for the Catto prop on my 6.

Craig dropped what he was doing and we returned to the hangar housing my RV-6. He quickly checked it out, as he couldn't remember what model the prop was.

After a quick check, he said it was an older version. It would not be possible to add the nickel leading edge, but, he did return and add some heavy duty tape to protect the prop in case I ran into rain. This was done at minimal cost. Well worth the extra protection!! Advising that should I run into rain, immediately reduce RPM's below 2300.

There appears to be a fair amount of RV aircraft parked at Jackson. Many open hangars held different models.

Spent a wonderful Saturday afternoon flying and visiting once the flying was done for the day.

Sunday and the weather was great, more flying. After 2.5 more hours in the air (total of 5 in two days), my PIC ride was complete and Sunday afternoon found me doing my first solo flight heading to Bakersfield, CA.

I really enjoyed my visit to Jackson, CA!

Thank you to all the wonderful people I met!

BTW- I was glad to have the tape on the leading edge. On my flight from La Grande, OR (KLGD) to Boise, ID ran into to foul weather; La Grande was 0600 OVC for most of the day with rain, mixed in with hail to keep things lively.

Around 2pm it started to open up to around 1500 BKN, with 10 SM visibility. Directly over the airport there was blue sky, the blue sky was developing from the SW, while the clouds to the N, E, & S were still blocking the mountains from view.

By this time it had warmed up to 46 deg F. I decided to take-off and try and make it back to Boise to catch an airline ride back to Alaska.

Weather everywhere but La Grande looked good. Baker, OR was 8500 BKN, radar looked good clear to Boise.

Not sure how high I would need to climb to clear the clouds between La Grande and Baker, decided to use a little oxygen for the first time since my initial test flight using it.

Upon takeoff, had to head SW while climbing to maintain VFR. As I climbed I kept looking at the clouds between La Grande and Baker. They were many different broken layers, not overcast as I first thought.

Since the oxygen was flowing good, decided to continue the climb, until well clear of cloud tops. At about 11,200 notice I was above them. At this time decided to continue to 13,500 which is near the altitude I want to fly back to Alaska at.

Once past the mountains, that ring La Grande, was able to see the ground through holes in the clouds. The closer I got to Baker, the more ground was seen.

The sky opened up and soon it was easy to see the Baker airfield. Decided to descend to get under the cloud base. 7500 gave me plenty of clearance and still plenty of room between the mountain tops and the base.

In the distance a couple of dark spots still remained, but visibility was well over 30sm with plenty of sunlight. Just as I was nearing the end of the mountains between Baker and Idaho, realized that the dark spots I had seen from a distance had what looked like rain falling from them. No problem, plenty of daylight space to go between them. They were miles apart.

I headed at what looked like the middle space to clear them, nice and bright, no dark trail of moisture....

Just as I was abeam the one on the right, found myself in a hail storm. Before I could reduce RPM's, was using 2500 rpm to speed the flight to Boise, the hail ended. Only lasted 2 to 3-seconds max. It was not a pleasant time!

The sound for those 3-seconds was not something I ever want to hear again!

Once clear of the dark spots, the clouds completely went away and the rest of the flight was made in complete sunlight.

As I neared Boise, to the SW I could see some ominous dark clouds again, but they were well off in the distance. I was still at my cruising altitude of 7500. Reading the chart said to contact Big Sky App within 20-NM. I did and eventually received clearance to land. Winds were interesting, 16kts/28kt Gusts, a slight crosswind angle from the right.

Landed on 28L, hands and feet where busy dealing with the wind all the way to parking!!

Upon shutdown, my post flight inspection found the leading edge of the Catto prop had suffered minor damage. A couple of spots showed damage to the tape and in one spot the leading edge was actually chipped. Glad I had Craig add the tape!! The rest of the inspection showed no damage to the airframe. Paint was fine as well.

Will be glad when My RV is home; this would have been a great weekend to visit friends in Talkeetna.
 
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KBOI-KBYI-KGNG-KAWO-KORS

Arrived at KBOI using Alaska Air & Horizon. Arrival was at 10:05 AM. Picked up my rental car and drove over to visit/help my brother who recently had back surgery. Spent some time helping him do some shopping and chores around his home.

Then I drove back to the Western Aircraft ramp to get it ready for the next leg of my flight back to Alaska.

As I pulled up to the gate Rockwood was waiting. Rockwood offered to help look at a couple of maintenance issues. He brought some tools and spent the afternoon helping me with doing minor maintenance.

Outstanding person and talked as we worked-he did most of the work. He put off some flight training to help! Wonderful person!

When we found out that the spark-plug wrench wouldn't fit the plugs-took a short drive to an auto parts store to get a couple of tools we needed. After bore scoping a couple of the cylinders, time to put everything back together.

Rocky did most of that by his-self while I crawled around on my back with some de-greaser to clean the underside of the RV. Had some oil built up the whole length from a leaky oil fill tube.

My cowling is held on by piano hinges, Rocky was able to get the pins back in without much help from me. The final safety clip took most of the time to install.

After getting everything back together it was time to return my rental car, Rock followed as I returned the car and then gave a ride back to the Western ramp.

It was near 4pm local time, it was time to depart Boise. I thanked Rock for his help, and he left. My battery, a 6-year old Odyssey PC 680, was showing yellow charge, range on meter, after sitting for 6-weeeks.

Wanted to crank the engine to see if it would start before Western shut down for the day. Hand turned the prop and engine 10-turns before climbing in and shutting the canopy for engine start.

Was amazed that the engine actually started with such a low battery. The rather warm 80+ degree F temp probably helped.

Sat on the ramp with the engine at 900 RPM watching the volt meter reading until it dropped from max. Once it wasn't at max charge got the weather, called BOI ground and taxied out for takeoff.

Took 1.2 Hours to travel 166.8 SM to KBYI , Burley, Idaho. My sister met me at the airport and I spent Thursday night at here place. Friday contacted a good friend from High School and traveled to his ranch at Elba, ID for another over-nighter.

Saturday morning returned to my RV at Burley and departed at 8am to travel to KGNG, Gooding, ID, for fuel. Topped off and soon was on my way for KAWO, Arlington, WA.

Wanted to know what the RV would cruise at up high. Climbed to 14,500 MSL, using my oxygen system and cruised for about an hour before noticing my Oil PSI, and Oil Temp gauges were not showing what they were supposed to. This got my interest real quick, thinking I had lost Oil PSI.

Pressed the nearest airport button on my Garmin Aerro 660 and found an airport directly underneath me, ok 14,500' below now gave me time to work the issue. Throttle had already been reduced and a descent established. Now check other indications, CYL Head temp was reading normal, EGT was normal, both were dropping due to the reduced power.

Decided that the gages were the issue, the engine was fine. Now do I continue or look for airport with maintenance facilities? Decided to continue to Arlington. This choice was made over some really rugged mountains. After about 5-minutes cruising at 12,500' now instead of 14,500', both gages came back on line.

They both were reading normal temps/PSI. Figured it must be a common ground wire issue.

Beautiful mountains to cross on this leg.
Photo of Idaho:
DSC_0005_Idaho.jpg

Photo of Oregon Mt Hood:
DSC_0054_Mt_Hood.jpg

2-Photos over Washington:
DSC_0028_Washington.jpg

DSC_0035_Washington2.jpg



My cruise setting at 12,500' (and at 14,500') was set at 2200 rpm, indicating 110 mph. To travel the 533.4 SM took 4.1 hours or an average of 130.1 MPH and burned 22.9 gallons of fuel. This related to 5.57 gph.

Perfect! These settings would give me the range I needed to fly the really long leg from KORS to PAKT, (Orcas Island, WA to Ketchikan, AK) approx. 600 SM.

While at Arlington, I found a common ground wire for both the PSI and Temp gages to be extremely loose, easy to pull apart with very little pulling. I don't know how the wires managed to make contact-the blade was not crimped! During my shopping trip to the auto parts store in Boise, bought some needle nose pliers, with these, promptly crimped the wires to the blade.

After topping the fuel at Arlington, it was time to head to Orcas Island for an over night camping visit, using my recently purchased survival gear.

Arriving at Orcas Island, landed and taxied in to find a camping spot. Not many were left, and set up next to my new neighbors that had a beautiful C-140. Now this C-140 was a three owner aircraft. It looked like it was fresh off the show room floor.
Photo taken morning of 5-28-17:
DSC_0071_C140_PSound.jpg


A very interesting thing about it: It's N number started with NC, meaning it was registered before the 1950's when it became standard for US aircraft to use only the N.

Talking with the owners soon provided some interesting facts: The C-140 had never been restored. It had been pampered for 45-years by the second owner. It really looked brand new! To have not been restored is just amazing. The new owners bought it last January, hanger'd it and had not polished it yet. It was very shiny, the wing fabric was art work! Wow!

When I arrived at KORS it was 4:25pm, I was tired from a full day of flying. I still had some chores to do.

Before setting up camp, I walked to the terminal office, filled out the $6 a night tie-down paperwork for my camping spot. Paid my fee, and donated more money for the shower facility they have.

Making it back to my RV, grabbed the black electrical tape the FAA says to use to create temporary N numbers 12" high and reproduced my N number for the border crossing the next day.
Photos of Black Electrical Tape N Numbers:
DSC_0062_Big_N.jpg

DSC_0063_Big_N2.jpg



Next chore was tie-downs for the night.

Once that task was completed, set my tent up and rolled out the sleeping bag. Finally able to rest, decided to meet the neighbors in the Mooney parked next to me on the left side. A family of four having a fun time camping by airplane. They were heading to a different camping spot each night of the weekend.

We discussed cruise speeds and fuel consumption, Phil was amazed to see my fuel and airspeed calculations for the Gooding to Arlington leg. Asked about a 4-seat RV. Not sure, but I think he will be contacting Vans about the RV-10.

He asked questions about my oxygen system. Showed him how simple it really was, explained to get the oxygen, the easiest way is to get you AME to issue a prescription for medical oxygen. Then just find a home medical supply company to get refills once you own your own tank.

Major difference with Medical vs., Aviator oxygen is the water content. Medical has moisture in it, while aviator does not. This is due to freezing issues up high. At lower altitudes (below 18,000) in a warm cockpit freezing hopefully won't be an issue.

Took a few photos of the camping spot a little later.
Photo Of Tie Downed RV-6 and Camp Site:
DSC_0061_Orcas_Island.jpg


Crawled into the sleeping bag around 9pm and slept really good. For sure not like a baby! You know, wake up at 2am wanting your bottle, and diaper changed.....

Second part next-got the too wordy post stoppage....

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
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Continued Part 2: KORS to PAPG

Continued from above:

I did wake up at 5am the next morning, not able to fall back to sleep. Got up and headed to the shower. First one in always gets the Hot water.

Once back at the RV, still the only one awake, decided pack every thing up and load the RV. Once completed, applied some liquid wax on the leading edges (wings and tail-feathers), along with prop and engine cowling. First had to remove the early morning dew. This was not so easy, decided to apply the liquid wax anyway on the wet surfaces. Which I did.

While the wax sat for a while, I took more early morning photos.
5-28-17 Early Am Photo:
DSC_0070_KORS_View.jpg

Dsc_0077_c140_rv_6.jpg

Entire Camp Ground Photo at 0530 AM 5-28-17:
DSC_0080_Camp_Ground_KORS.jpg


Happy with the early morning photos, polished the wax, by this time the sun was up and it was after7:30am.

Headed to the Pilot lounge inside the terminal, submitting an IACO flight plan for a direct International over-flight of Canada from Washington to Alaska. Once filed, I returned to my RV, wanting to move it to the fuel pumps, about 50-feet from my camping spot.

Max, the C-140 driver helped move the RV over to the pumps. Topped everything off, hoping to get more fuel in during the coolness of the morning.

Said my good-byes to the new found friends; Climbed in and got ready to leave.

Took off using runway 34 out over the water. Started a climb to my planned altitude of 14,500msl to clear Victoria and Vancouver, Canada's air traffic. The border was a mere 8-miles distant, so did a right cross-wind departure to maintain USA airspace until activating my IACO flight plan.

Had to contact Bellingham RCO to activate flight plan-can only do this once in the air and clear of Orcas Island mountains.

A problem developed at this time. The FAA still didn't have the IACO flight plans working within their system, my flight plan had to be converted to a domestic one.

While this was progressing, I kept climbing and turning to gain altitude. The conversion was quick, soon I had a squawk code and was heading towards Canada at 8'000'. I contacted the correct ATC for Victoria and was told to level off and maintain 8500' using a westerly 270 degree heading.

I was vectored for the next thirty minutes to the West, not North where I needed to go. Finally the controller noticed I had filed for 12500 msl, he asked if I wanted to go to this altitude and resume my own navigation. Boy did I!

I requested flight following, which was granted. On my original IACO flight plan I chose Petersburg, Alaska as my destination, listing Ketchikan and Wrangell as alternates.

During flight planning I found out, by using www.windyty.com, that my route was going to have approx. a 17kt tailwind. This gave me the added range to make it to Petersburg, where the 100LL was considerably less than Ketchikan, plus no $5 general aviation landing fee. It was a 3-degree heading difference from going to Ketchikan, so decided to file for Petersburg, using the alternates if needed, in case things started looking bad for fuel/range.

Petersburg is about 100 SM North East of Ketchikan, while Wrangell is about 30-miles shorter from Petersburg, on the same ground track used to get to Petersburg.

The whole flight was done with clear skies and an actual 20-30 mph tailwind. What beautiful mountains! Thousands of them.

Being a former Huey pilot, kept looking for places to land just in case. After deciding before the flight my best chance would be to get to the valley floor hoping to land in a creek and not trees, changed my mind while flying.

Heavy snow was on all of the peaks, several had snow fields that looked level enough and long enough. Plus there were many frozen snow covered lakes. Now I know that a snow landing would flip the RV fast, my thinking would have been to do a complete stall, nose high about three feet above the snow hoping to keep the nose high while the tail fell first into the snow.
Using the snow to dissipate the forces hopefully.

Glad I didn't have to find out if that was good thinking or not....

Did not take any photos for this leg, I did have a small video camera and took many short HD videos along the way. I do not have a auto pilot, so one handed camera work, means not the best videos, but they do show many of the mountains and valleys flown over.

BTW-for having such a high speed tailwind, it was smooth flying, not one bump the whole way! RV felt like it was on rails.

Air temp at 12500' was 38 to 41.6 degree F. It was a cold flight as my cabin heat doesn't work so good-that will soon change!

KORS to PAPG = 29.3 gallon used to cover 760.5 SM. Flight took 5.2 hours to complete, ave. groundspeed was 146.25 mph (IAS 110 at 2200 rpm), fuel burn was 5.63 gph. 8.7 Gallons fuel remained in the tanks.

Left at 9:03am according to my GPS and arrived at Petersburg at 2:17 pm.

This flight route is not for everybody! Beautiful but dangerous if anything goes wrong! I chose to take this route because of an earlier flight back in the 1990's, I vowed to someday fly the mountains I could see in the distance.

A few things required for an USA to USA departure and destination when overflying Canada.
1) Aircraft Special Temporary Authorization (STA) from the FCC if your aircraft doesn't have a FCC radiotelephone license [STA is free, but expires after 30-days]
2) Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit for the pilot. This costs $70 and is good for life.
3) 12" high N numbers
4) Transponder w/Mode C
5) Must be in communications with ATC before crossing any borders (this is where flight following helps)

Best to have a Canadian Supplement and charts. Supplement costs $29 from Sporty's, big book with lots of information in it. You don't need to use ePAIS services for an over-flight.

Next posts will have the rest of the journey. Part 3 PAPG to PAYA and Part 4 PAYA to PASX.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
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Sounds like a fun flight back home for you. Glad I was able to offer some help. It was great meeting you and maybe someday I will be flying my plane up to Alaska too!
 
Thanks for writeup Mike. Not many RVators are going your route. Even less write about it. Thank You! Rocky is a class act he helped me several times. Coinsidentally both times I was heading toward the Last Frontier. Looking forward to the rest of the story.
 
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Thank You!

Thank you all for your comments and interest in my journey.

Busy today after work, our weekly meeting to Incorporate Nikiski into a city, and tomorrow night going on a date, will continue on Saturday, should be able to bring it to an end, as I did make it home alright.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
Just wanted to say that Oxygen is Oxygen. There is no moisture added, no difference between between welding, medical, aviation Oxygen EXCEPT the way the bottles are handled. Oxygen intended for human consumption is segregated from all other uses by essentially quarantining the bottles. These bottles are never used for other purposes and in the case of medical grade Oxygen they are tracked as if they were medicine. When an aviation bottle is correctly filled it is done so using Oxygen that has been handled in such a way to insure that it has not been contaminated and your bottle will be partially filled a couple of times and emptied to flush it out on the assumption that you may have left the valve open and allowed moisture to enter. Then it is fully filled.
Many people use Oxygen welding cylinders to fill their own bottles, and usually get away with it. The danger with doing that is you never know how the Oxygen was handled before you got it, and what contaminates might be in there.
 
Thanks for writeup Mike. Not many RVators are going your route. Even less write about it. Thank You! Rocky is a class act he helped me several times. Coinsidentally both times I was heading toward the Last Frontier. Looking forward to the rest of the story.

Hi Vlad,

I hear you're quite a person yourself! Hopefully can meet your next trip this way!

100% correct about Rockwood!

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
Photos Added

Hey Mike,
Great write up, Post some Pics of your RV and the trip!

Hi Rico,
Did some testing to post the photos: Learned fast what the "How To" page meant by only 900 pixels wide.

Edited photos and then redid the links to fit the window text wrap...

For the KORS - Kenai legs I did not take any photos, movies only. The Cannon video camera was smaller and easier to use while flying than my Nikon.

Will upload some videos to my youtube account and then try to link them here.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
Just wanted to say that Oxygen is Oxygen. There is no moisture added, no difference between between welding, medical, aviation Oxygen EXCEPT the way the bottles are handled. Oxygen intended for human consumption is segregated from all other uses by essentially quarantining the bottles. These bottles are never used for other purposes and in the case of medical grade Oxygen they are tracked as if they were medicine. When an aviation bottle is correctly filled it is done so using Oxygen that has been handled in such a way to insure that it has not been contaminated and your bottle will be partially filled a couple of times and emptied to flush it out on the assumption that you may have left the valve open and allowed moisture to enter. Then it is fully filled.
Many people use Oxygen welding cylinders to fill their own bottles, and usually get away with it. The danger with doing that is you never know how the Oxygen was handled before you got it, and what contaminates might be in there.

Hi David,

Thanks for the correction! My memory from 1985 is a little weak, where I work now is a welding supply store as an Inside Counter Salesperson. Sell all three kinds of oxygen.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
PAPG to PAYA (Petersburg to Yakutat, Alaska)

After topping off with fuel at the Petersburg Temsco Helicopter FBO, pushed the RV to the West end of the apron to do a little laptop flight planning.

WX still looked good. Since there were a few clouds developing an overcast layer up high, decided to verify Yakutat was still good.

One of the great briefing tools we have here in Alaska is the FAA Webcam website: http://avcams.faa.gov/

If you visit the above page, you can see that even BC Canada has a few. Great to see the weather conditions.

Hover over each dot to see what the name of the webcam is. By clicking on the dots you will go to a particular webcam. Notice each site has different thumbnail photos. The first page even has METAR. When you click on a thumbnail photo-the next page shows a bigger picture of current conditions, along with a photo showing what it looks like in clear skies. Great GO/NO-GO tool!!

Yakutat did have an overcast sky at 11,000', when I checked Cordova, AK further to the West, it was even lower 5500 OVC with rain. It looked like the weather was heading East fast.

This was the final check before leaving for Yakutat.

Take Off was at 3:30 PM. Using higher RPM was able to once again use the winds aloft to travel the 323.4 SM in exactly 2.0 hours. Landing at 5:30 PM.

This leg was flown at 10,500' and near Yakutat descended to 8500' for cloud clearance.

13 Gallons burned leaving 25 gallons in the tanks. 161.7mph at 6.5 gph. IAS was 120 mph at 2350 rpm.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
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Mike,

Loved your story, thanks for sharing!

I made the reverse-ish trip a couple of years ago when we moved from Fairbanks to Alabama. Took the highway instead.
I was curious about your 3rd bullet here:
A few things required for an USA to USA departure and destination when overflying Canada.
1) Aircraft Special Temporary Authorization (STA) from the FCC if your aircraft doesn't have a FCC radiotelephone license [STA is free, but expires after 30-days]
2) Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit for the pilot. This costs $70 and is good for life.
3) 12" high N numbers
4) Transponder w/Mode C
5) Must be in communications with ATC before crossing any borders (this is where flight following helps)

That's laid out specifically for a Canadian overflight mission? They were not required when flying through Canada for me. No ADIZ was crossed in my route, did yours cross one?
 
PAYA to PASX (Yakutat to Soldotna Alaska)

All right, after topping off the fuel for a serious over water leg called Prince William Sound, once again did some WX and flight planning.

Cordova was still VFR, but occasional rain showers did not look to appealing. Valdez to the North was VFR but occasional MVFR. Kenai and Soldotna were showing 8500' BKN.

Reading between the lines, and looking towards my planned route meant the Sound was probably going to have some rain issues, along with low clouds. Temp at Yakutat on the ground was 46 deg F.

Previous leg from PAPG to Yakutat showed it was 32 deg F at 8500'. Knowing this I knew I would have to avoid any clouds due to icing conditions.

Another issue with my RV-6; It used a door to deflect inside cowling air for carb heat. Not a good idea for Alaska! One thing I did before acquiring the -6 from Marvin in Jackson, CA was have Randy install a cabin heat muff.

This heat muff has too much flow going through it for effective heat in the cabin. This will change real soon...

A quick call to my daughter in Kenai, verified the skies were actually clear to the West of Kenai, and a few cloud layers were present over the city.

With full fuel, I could make several destinations, including Palmer, Alaska to the North of Anchorage, which also meant all the airports in Anchorage were also accessible. Wasilla, Alaska was at the extreme range, but possible too.

I decided to give it a go. After what happened on this flight, should have stayed in Yakutat...

Take-Off was at 6:21 PM. Distance for this leg was 407.5 SM.

Climbed to 8500' to avoid the overcast at 10000'. Soon was at 6500' to avoid the lowering ceiling. 6500' is the lowest possible to overfly the mountains on the other side of Prince William Sound to get to Kenai.

Reaching Hinchinbrook Island had to descend to 2500' to stay under the clouds and 4000'. Temp was 44 deg F, that's when went through a light rain. Applied carb heat, deciding to leave it on just in case.

Soon was able to climb to 4500' to stay clear of the cloud base. However light rain/mist was present, OAT was now 38 to 41.6 deg F. Prime conditions for carb ice.

Still on course Montague Island was next. Had to make a detour to the North, it was completely shrouded in clouds to about 500'. The weather to the North was looking better, still at least 4500' to the cloud base.

Decided to stay on a detour to the North to avoid the lower clouds to the South over my planned route.

The light rain/mist stopped and was once again flying in clear skies under the OVC layer at 4500'. Could see plenty of boat traffic, including some oil tankers traversing the Sound.

As I got closer to the mainland, once again the ceiling was lower. Could not see the tops of any of the mountains that I needed to clear on my way to Kenai.

This meant decision time! Return to Yakutat, Cordova or continue to Anchorage area, lets also take a look at Valdez to the North.

Did not have any cell phone reception, which means the laptop was not an option for checking weather. Only way to check was by looking at what conditions I could visually see.

To the North and West cloud bases were higher than where I was presently flying, about 5-miles to the North of my planned route.

The winds were no longer in my favor, 2300 rpm IAS 120mph, GPS ground speed was showing 85 mph and there was lots of mild to medium turbulence.

This flight was now not any Fun!

Decided to fly further North and try for Whittier and Portage Pass. If I could get to Whittier, I could land, or if the Pass was open I could continue up Turnagin Arm to either Anchorage of Kenai.

Did not want to do a return to either Cordova or Yakutat because would have to fly over all the water in Prince William Sound with the light rain/mist conditions.

As I headed for Whittier, a light rain again. Still in full carb heat from first rain encountered, left it full on!

Entering the channel to Whittier, was great; I could see that the cloud base did not lower, perfect, won't have to try for Valdez!

Passing Blackstone Bay, brought back a great memory of a 42' sailboat adventure on a friends boat when my mother visited back in 2002. A little rain again, but still had at least 10sm visibility.

Whittier was close just around the bend!

Whittier now in sight, the clouds were lower over the city. As I got closer I could see daylight between the cloud base and the other side over Portage Lake. Portage Pass was open!

I lined up and flew through the very narrow Pass. By very Narrow, it is extremely narrow. Flew a Huey through it several times in the past, had to make sure you were in the center to clear the rocks.

As soon as I was through the sky opened up. Cloud bases were now at least 8500' BKN. Yaba Daba Doo!

More rain and turbulence flying up Turnagin Arm. Anybody who has flown this Arm with any wind knows what turbulence is! Today was working overtime. Reduced IAS to 120 mph. Moderate to Severe comes to mind....

Finally at the opening near Hope Alaska, I did not give the mountain ridge to the West enough clearance, I knew better, but cut the corner a little to close. Banged my head on the canopy a couple of times, before reaching smoother air over Chickaloon Flats.

Clear skies again! Could see Kenai 30-miles in the distance. Tuned up the ATIS to find the winds were very un-favorable. Direct x-wind at 16kts/G28kts. Go figure....

Have plenty of options, lots of airstrips dot this area. Decided to check Soldotna, PASX. Winds 20kts/G28kts straight down the runway 070. Perfect!

Soldotna is about 12-miles away by car from Kenai. Daughter can pick me up!

Landing had a short ground roll, lots of rudder and control positioning soon had me to parking. One of those times you actually fly the plane to parking! Gusts were a hand full. Even the nose draggers would have had some fun getting to parking!

I'm Home!

Planned 407 SM turned into 459.1 SM. Flight from 6:21 PM to 9:09PM covering the 459.1 SM in 2.8 hours.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
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Once completed, applied some liquid wax on the leading edges (wings and tail-feathers), along with prop and engine cowling. First had to remove the early morning dew. This was not so easy, decided to apply the liquid wax anyway on the wet


Mike, What's the liquid wax for? Never heard of this:confused:
 
Mike,

Loved your story, thanks for sharing!

I made the reverse-ish trip a couple of years ago when we moved from Fairbanks to Alabama. Took the highway instead.
I was curious about your 3rd bullet here:


That's laid out specifically for a Canadian overflight mission? They were not required when flying through Canada for me. No ADIZ was crossed in my route, did yours cross one?

Thank you for your interest!

No, ADIZ crossing, but when I talked with AOPA they mentioned it was needed. Not sure if it was because of Canadian or USA regs. It was an easy fix using the black electrical tape recommended by the FAA website.

Better to be safe than hear about it later....

Peeled off nice and easy without any paint damage.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
Once completed, applied some liquid wax on the leading edges (wings and tail-feathers), along with prop and engine cowling. First had to remove the early morning dew. This was not so easy, decided to apply the liquid wax anyway on the wet


Mike, What's the liquid wax for? Never heard of this:confused:

Wax can help with an extra kt or two.

Removing the morning dew also removed a few bugs collected the day before.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
Once completed, applied some liquid wax on the leading edges (wings and tail-feathers), along with prop and engine cowling. First had to remove the early morning dew. This was not so easy, decided to apply the liquid wax anyway on the wet


Mike, What's the liquid wax for? Never heard of this:confused:

Here is an answer about waxing and its effects: https://cafe.foundation/v2/research_reports.php

Scroll down to the wax results.

I was hoping that the increased speed would add to my range, wasn't concerned about going faster, as I was using 2200 rpm for cruise.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
Thanks

Mike, appreciate the effort you went to documenting this purchase and trip.
Lots of challenges and lots of solutions. I took a Luscombe from Phoenix to Nome and had similar stories. Glad the RV made the trip and you got photos and memories. Enjoy the long daylight hours for the rest of summer up there!
Cheers.
 
For the heat muff problem you can try and stuff some stainless steel wool inside the heat muff, between the pipe and muff for better heat.
 
Just wanted to say that Oxygen is Oxygen. There is no moisture added, no difference between between welding, medical, aviation Oxygen EXCEPT the way the bottles are handled. Oxygen intended for human consumption is segregated from all other uses by essentially quarantining the bottles. These bottles are never used for other purposes and in the case of medical grade Oxygen they are tracked as if they were medicine. When an aviation bottle is correctly filled it is done so using Oxygen that has been handled in such a way to insure that it has not been contaminated and your bottle will be partially filled a couple of times and emptied to flush it out on the assumption that you may have left the valve open and allowed moisture to enter. Then it is fully filled.
Many people use Oxygen welding cylinders to fill their own bottles, and usually get away with it. The danger with doing that is you never know how the Oxygen was handled before you got it, and what contaminates might be in there.

Hi David,

Asked some questions and found the main difference between Medical and Aviator Oxygen. They are the same, except the Aviator is also checked to verify no moisture.

The medical oxygen does not have added moisture like you mention.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
Post Flight Maintenance Squawks

After making it to Alaska, had to have my oil changed. Decided to get it done at a local Kenai location.

Found out that Kenai Aviation had a great AP. A quick stop and talk with Joel at the maintenance hangar found my RV-6 parked outside.

Items getting looked at:
1) Low compression on a cylinder
2) Oil change
3) Carb Heat upgrade
4) Tail wheel in full castering only mode

The tail wheel wasn't an issue, it really hadn't been working after I left Jackson for Parker, learned real fast how to taxi and land with it not working.

The compression was an issue. I had two mechanics look at it. Both tested when the engine was warm. 68#, while all the others were 72, 74, 74.

What Joel found was very interesting. My engine has 777 hours on it. 160hp 0320 Lycoming.

One of the things Rockwood helped me with in Boise was a bore-scope of the cylinders to see if the valves had bad burn patterns on them. I bought a bore-scope that AOPA magazine had an article on, the article showed the scope along with some photos of good valves and bad looking valves.

Took some photos of my cylinder insides at Boise, everything looked normal, no bad burn patterns like the AOPA article showed. We buttoned everything up and I flew away.

Some of you might have noticed from my travels, that 2200 rpm with an IAS of 110mph is kind'a low.

Joel calls me up and with a cold engine says I have "Zero" lbs of compression. Even with a bad everything "0" is something he has never seen.

I'm thinking a whole new cylinder, Joel says the same.

The next day he calls up and gives me some great news! The cylinder had 72 lbs of compression cold and passed a leak down test.

The issue? When the engine was rebuilt and installed in the finished, never flown RV-6, the re-builder used to long of an intake pushrod. The intake valve could not seat!

Once warmed up, the intake would touch just enough to have a little compression. Was told it probably wouldn't pass a leak down test.

Now my RV-6 flys great. Can steer on the ground without using the brakes. Shorter take-offs, 2000 rpm shows 115mph IAS, which is 5 mph more than it was doing at 2200rpm. Climbs are 500fpm more than before.

It would seem that there are extra horses under the cowling....

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
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