Scott & Tanya Card RV9A build log (N4822C)

The weather forecast had degraded to a 70% chance of rain and isolated thunderstorms for Thursday. We got up at six to see a nice fat area of rain over western Wisconsin. It was light to moderate rain with no convective activity whatsoever. So, we got out of the house as quickly as we could, and Al gave us a ride to the airport so we didn’t have to make the trek with our luggage. We can’t thank Ellen and Al enough for all they did for us which helped make the trip so enjoyable.

I packed up the plane while Scott pulled the tie-downs and did a pre-flight. We filed an IFR flight plan from Clintonville, CLI, to Flying Cloud, FCM, with a waypoint at FGT. Departure from Oshkosh was as simple as one could imagine. As soon as the engine started, poof, we had an escort on a scooter. He dropped us off at the taxiway and we were directed to 27. A quick runup and we were off - probably only 10 minutes from engine start to takeoff. Just before we started our roll, it started raining. Perfect timing. The IFR tickets were a must today. Even the VFR trip to CLI in the rain was not a nerve-wracking experience. I’m not sure if it was because we knew our IFR clearance was just a few minutes ahead or simply the fact that we knew both the airplane and us can handle reduced visibility. We hit some moderate rain as we crossed central to western Wisconsin and then found full IMC in the clouds from western WI to Minnesota. The cloud layer at Flying Cloud was broken about 2000 feet. A GPS approach to 36 (closed) with a circle to land on 28R. A short taxi to the FBO, Thunderbird, that saw on Flight Aware we were going to arrive early and had the rental next to the plane before we even got out. Great service there again.

Off for some lunch and get our room. A little relaxing is in order with a trip to Minnehaha park later. Tomorrow is off to Winsted, a little more tourist time around the cities, and dinner with Juanita. We’re hoping for a little better weather on the way home. However, now we know we can handle yellow and green on the radar without issue. That is great knowledge to have.

We arrived at the plane about 9am Wednesday and opened up the canopy. We have finally learned that an open canopy might as well be a neon sign that says we’re open for business. There were lots of visitors as well as 3 judges that stopped by. We opened up the engine compartment, canopy, and the instrument cover so they could all take a look. After about an hour, it was time to wander.

Today, we spent some quality time walking though the homebuilt planes and admiring. Lots of hard work represented out there. Scott perused the Lincoln welding tent with a little drool coming down his chin. The line to get in the A380 was over an hour long. No thanks. We learned later from a volunteer that there were some disappointed visitors that the seats, bar, and all the pretty details weren’t in the plane. The cabin was bare since it is a test aircraft. We took a leap of faith and stepped foot into the FAA building. We left with our licenses intact, although we did get the full sales job of the upcoming ADSB rule making and debut. We each took a couple shots on the Wright Flyer simulator and also made a quick tour through the museum. The airshow highlight for the day was a jet-powered glider. We ran into Bill Gunn at Ace’s Cafe when stopped there for dinner.

Our evening adventure was a trip to Camp Scholler for the RV reunion. We had the chance to meet up with many VAF folks that we only know by their forum name and avatar. It was low key and perfect. I had to get a picture with the Steinair shirt since I made such a fuss about it, and luck would have it that the Steinair rep was there to witness it first hand. The bus ride back gave us a great tour of the camp grounds. We mentioned to the driver we needed to get to the museum, and he radioed a bus that was leaving the bus park to wait for us. Even the bus drivers give visitors red carpet treatment.

Very similar to Monday without the rain delay. Looking at airplanes and talking to vendors. The highlights of the day were the arrival of the A380 and the Van’s banquet. Watching the A380 lumber along a little over 100 knots a few hundred feet above the ground was pretty amazing. It looked to be pitched up about 25 degrees. 750,000 pounds, 100 knots, 25 degree pitch - hard to really understand it without seeing it. The pilot happens to be an RV8 driver, and we got some of the flight testing details from him at the Van’s banquet. It was quite interesting. The Van’s banquet was 275 RV fliers / builders / wannabes. Talk about being at home! Of course, Doug got the Pax Seat Award presented at the banquet. That is pretty good company to be in.

We met up with Gary and ran into Jay and Carol at Homebuilder’s Headquarters. Shade, a place to sit, and cold water. They sure know what we need at Oshkosh. Scott got in a couple of the requisite ice cream cones. Is the Pitts 12 the next build after the 8 is finished? Could be if the paperwork for the Cessna 195 is just too much of a turn off. Scott went to the Tig welding forum and started down the learning curve. Chatted with the FAA about the weather for the flight to Minneapolis. At the time, it looked OK, but the prog chart changed overnight so it isn’t quite as appealing now. However, it looks even worse to try to get into Minne tonight with a 60 percent chance of rain and late in the evening, pushing sunset and hovering on possible dark. I think we’d rather wait it out Thursday for a window to depart. We’re trying to follow the advice of an old airplane salt - don’t cancel plans on a forecast.

The neon yellow shirts below is the formation flight briefing for their 37 ship passes. They do one pass that is 3 groups that all cross at the same time. They are about 500 feet apart, but they sure don’t look at it.

Sunday, July 26th, 2009 has proven to be a milestone in our history. We arrived at Oshkosh for Airventure about 5pm after leaving Austin about 8:30, with 2 fuel stops so that we landed with about 20 gallons of fuel for the departure. It turns out that the fuel trucks run the line with reasonably priced fuel, so we were able to top off the tanks. As we arrived at Ripon, we were able to find a nice clear space in the conga line just for us. As we followed the railroad tracks past Fisk, I counted 7 airplanes in front of us - plus one very large, dark, and ominous rain cloud over the lake. Led by a Cessna, we had to do the bomber downwind instead of the close in base called for by the NOTAM. Scott was told to land on the orange dot, the first one, but about 25 feet above the ground was told to stay in the air until the green dot. No problem for him, with picture perfect landing. Unfortunately, the lineman didn’t have things figured out when we arrived, and we had to taxi all the way around 27 to get to homebuilt parking. (So far, our only negative experience, but that one is burned into our brains.) Although, once we arrived in the vicinity of HBP, we had a personal escort on a scooter to make life very easy. One more stint in the grass, and 22 Charlie had made her arrival at Oshkosh. Sorry - no pictures of arrival - way too much to do for that.

We tied down 22 Charlie as quickly as possible with the storm clouds looming. Scott commented on how the soil in WI is completely different than in Texas - the tie down posts went right in without hitting any rocks! They only made it down about half way at home. Just as the canopy cover got snapped down, we had a very memorable gust blow by. It was strong enough to knock down a couple one-person booths in the area. Whew, that was good timing.

We headed off to homebuild headquarters to register the plane and pick up wrist bands for the tirp. Easy, quick, and great folks. As we were paying the bill, Scott turned on his phone and it rang immediately. I had given the homeowners we were staying with the APRS tracking number, and they saw that we landed. We arranged to have them pick us up so that we didn’t have to carry all the clothes to their house. Talk about service! They made plans with the other boarders to go to an Italian restaurant and put out the invitation for us to join them. Sounded great. A quick shower and off to find food. The house is beautiful, the homeowners fabulous, and the bed super comfy. What a score!

Monday morning arrived and we were off to Airventure. We started at the plane to clean it up a little for judging. It may have been a mistake to do so, the guy next to us was polishing his gas caps! You never know, though, so here we go. When we registered, the folks suggested we let the judges know we were leaving early so they would be sure to get to the plane. As we did so, one judge asked us where the plane was, we answered, and he wanted to know if it was the plane with the hound dog in the documentaion. Yup - that’s us. It is amazing what some folks grab on to, and it was certainly worth the time to put together that binder!

We hung out by the plane for a couple hours and answered all sorts of quesitons. One couple stopped by that was building a 7, and we were asking about the Classic Aero seats. They had wanted to see the vendor and were bummed they weren’t at the show. No problem, climb on in and see how they feel. The wife was also able to confirm she will need rudder pedal extensions. It’s one thing to guess you will, it is another to be confident of the fact. We saw several of the
RV crew: Jay Pratt and Carol, Mercedes, Mike Moore, the RV8 get-together at 11, and then met up with Gary Zilik in the afternoon. Turns our that we were destined to mainly hang out and chat with Gary in the Lincoln Electric pavilion to escape the rain. The storm coming in was strong and big enough that they canceled the airshow.

We plowed our way through a couple of the vendor hangars and have lots more to see on Tuesday. Scott was able to drool over the Pitts 12 up close and personal - will that be the next plane in our garage? We have barely begun to experinece this place called Airventure and are looking forward to two more days - if the weather holds.