JdFinley.com

Fulltime RV Living Adventures

Two-Stroke Motors

Two-stroke motors are not new.  I know that this may come as a shock to some of you. In the homebuilt aviation circles that I frequent there seems to be a recurring discussion about the use of these engines in aircraft.  The discussions are usually heated and rarely have parameters established to allow those participating… [Read More]

Spectacular RV-4 Views!

My RV-4 friend and I had a wonderful flight recently that resulted in the video below. There are some spectacular RV-4 views in the footage. I sure wish video could capture the beauty, ruggedness, and glory of the terrain over which we flew. However; it cannot so I attempt to etch these memories in my… [Read More]

Survival Vest for Aviators

One of my flying mates is a formal Navy fighter pilot and experienced back country guy. In preparation for some of our backcountry aviation adventures this past year, he advised that I prepare for the worst.  This included a survival vest. I have learned that in many accidents, all that an aviator is able to… [Read More]

Grapevine Arizona Backcountry Camping Trip

A friend and I decided that we needed a dose of camping after our long and cold winter.  I know… it really wasn’t long nor cold. For us desert dwellers, it seemed like it was.  The best weekend opportunity seemed to be offered by the Arizona Pilots Association and the Grapevine backcountry airstrip located at… [Read More]

Canopy Support Strut using a Gas Spring for the RV-3

The Vans RV-3 plans are pretty light when it comes to the open canopy retention “system”. The suggestion is to use a string/cord to hold it in the open position – mine used a white string that stands out like a sore thumb.  Aesthetically, it was horrible; functionally it was effective. It was about as… [Read More]

Downhill Skiing and Aircraft

I previously discussed my desire to mix aircraft and downhill skiing (Ski Truck) and reported setting up my aircraft to carry my downhill snow skis (Ski Truck Epilogue), last week I got the chance to give the setup a whirl! I got the call from my RV-4 friend late in the afternoon that the following… [Read More]

In search of Christmas Dinner

Filling Christmas day with activities was priority numero uno for me. The day was not forecast to be great with some wind all day but doing some flying was important so I disregarded that little issue. Finding Christmas Dinner was high on the list of priorities! I had the engine heater setup the night before… [Read More]

Aviators Night Before Christmas

The Aviators Night Before Christmas. Apologies to Clement Clarke Moore – author of this version unknown but I’d be happy to give credit… T’was the night before Christmas, and out on the ramp, Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ. The aircraft were fastened to tie downs with care, In hopes that — come… [Read More]

Engine Power ROT

ROT – Rule of Thumb. In the world of experimental aviation, it seems that there are a never ending supply of people that believe that they can make an internal combustion engine produce a great deal of power while using a very little fuel.  This is nothing new – it’s been going on for as… [Read More]

Ski Truck Epilogue

In initial post on this topic (here), I warned you what was coming.  In this post, I show the results!! The scenario: Wake up in my own bed, notice that the skies are clear, the ski resort has fresh snow, and the forecast is for no wind all day. The goal: Load my ski equipment… [Read More]