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Fulltime RV Living Adventures

Formating to Food

Another great flight in search of food.  Luckily, these three near-starved aviators found sustenance and survived! This was also formation practice day.  In addition to our normal join-up and parade practice, we also began practicing missing-man passes with me flying the #2/missing-man position. Temperatures here in New Mexico have cooled down (considerably!) and the airplanes… [Read More]

Homeward Bound

I made the 800 nautical mile flight home to New Mexico this past Saturday from my Thanksgiving trip to the St. Louis, Missouri area. The visit with family was great!  I so much enjoy getting to visit with my sisters (and brother when he is there), in-laws, nieces, nephews and, of course, my Mom. Getting to… [Read More]

Go East!

My family gathers at my Mom’s home in Missouri every Thanksgiving.  I didn’t make it last year so was especially keen on attending this year.  So, I took the week off to ensure that I’d find a weather window to go east. I watched the weather during the week and Saturday bloomed as beautiful as… [Read More]

The Great Brakes Alteration

For the non-pilots, the rudder pedals control the rudder on the tail of the plane – the yaw. The toe portion of these pedals are the brakes. Pushing the entire pedal fore and aft with your whole foot causes the aircraft rudder to move side to side.  Pointing your toes causes the top portion of… [Read More]

Negrito Fly-In/Camping

October 5-7, 2012 was the date for the annual New Mexico Pilots Association (NMPilots.org) backcountry fly-in at the Negrito airstrip (0NM7).  I’ve written numerous times about this strip – Negrito Landing Video, Me-Own Backcountry Flight/Ride, Negrito Camping, Negrito Breakfast – it is a truly wonderful place. The following video contains some aerial footage and photographs… [Read More]

Shimmy Shimmy

The left main landing gear on my Vans RV-3B aircraft shakes at a certain speed – called a shimmy. I’ve tried balancing the wheel/tire, rotating the tire (same side, just spinning the opposite direction), removing the wheel pant, and varying tire pressure. The result is mostly the same – the speed at which the wheel… [Read More]

Ski Truck

I spent some time the last couple of days modifying my RV-3 to carry my snow skis! Work is not done yet but it’s coming along nicely.  I’m stoked.  The thought of flying up to a ski hill, skiing for the day, and being home before dinner time is way too cool. The long and… [Read More]

Copperstate 2012

Copperstate is a Phoenix, AZ area fly-in. In the past, it moved around a bit but seems to have found a permanent home at the Casa Grande airport (CGZ). This is the same location that hosts the antique association fly-in in the spring.  Copperstate is not a huge event. They have a temporary tower and… [Read More]

First Flight

Note from JD: This post goes back to early 2012. For a variety of reasons, I was hesitant to post it until now.  Another note from JD: I posted my thoughts here on aircraft transitions. I purchased my Vans RV-3B from a local builder. The plane had been flying for a couple years but, due… [Read More]

Fast-N-Slow

The local light aircraft group had a little breakfast get together/fly-in recently.  I snapped the following shot of a local fellow’s Subaru powered Pietenpol Air Camper.  It is a great plane and he flies ALL THE TIME!  Amazes me! Guess which one is fast and which one is slow?? Click the image for a larger… [Read More]