Wings071105

[Wings 'n' Things/Aviation...Wings.362...July 11, 2005]

MORE LOVE'S LANDING RV-ATORS      by Judie Betz

     Now to continue with the REST of the story. The RV aviators described in last week's column represent only part of the neighborhood RV enthusiasts. Here's the rest of the brood...at least so far!
     Calvin Reynolds started flying about 20 years ago. He said he lost interest but "got rekindled with ultralights." Eventually he bought a big Stearman and a Maule "for their own particular talents," But he felt his fleet lacked something sprightly and fast.. .maybe a pseudo-fighter. That was the RV-6. He saw one at an airport near his summer home in Maine, talked to the owner, became more interested, went for a ride and that was it, he was hooked! To get the one he wanted Reynolds had to go all the way to Oklahoma. Bringing it back was quite an experience, with a GPS that didn't work from take-off and an alternator that quit not too long thereafter. But, considering these adversities, he and his new plane had a fast trip back to Maine. After one more trip, this time to the paint shop for a suit of bright yellow and orange, he's enjoyed his RV thoroughly, flitting all over the New England countryside. In 2003, after the Reynolds purchased a home at Love's Landing, the RV moved into a new hangar and spends the winters flying the Florida skies with equal enthusiasm. So much so, in fact, that now there's a plan afoot to get another RV-6, so there can be one in Maine and one in Florida, ready to go at all times!
     Dave and Lucille Karl came to Love's Landing from Georgia in 2002 with a project in process. They had been working on the plane for three and a half years, but had to put the project aside for awhile to pack, move, build a new house and hangar, move in and unpack. Then Dave pushed hard to meet a self-imposed deadline; he wanted to finish by the end of 2003. He met his goal, and received a very nice plaque from the EAA to mark the first century of powered flight for his efforts. Although Karl's was a quick-build kit, he jokes that, with four and a half years on he project, it was "more of a slow-build project."
     Hugh Johnson is another Love's Landing pilot with his second RV. And also another one who started out with ultralight flying. But his story differs in that he got into seaplane flying early on, first owning a Buccaneer and flying it 400 hours, then a StingRay, a single-seater on which he put 450 hours. Next he bought a Sea Ray so he could carry passengers, which led to getting a pilot's license and getting into Genral Aviaion airplanes. He started with an RV, which performed well, but he decided to upgrade to a bigger engine; his current plane has 180 hp. Johnson also enjoyed having a four-pace plane, a Cessna 182, for awhile, but when you're flying around with three empty seats most of the time, an RV-6A makes better sense. He bought his first 6A because he believed "it had the most bang for the buck" and he still feels that way. There aren't too many days that go by that Johnson doesn't take to the air.
     Rex Wyatt was in the process of moving from Orlando to his new home at Love's Landing when a spectacular purple and yellow RV-8 caught his eye. He simply had to have it in his new hangar, and once here he got a lot of enjoyment out of it. But then Bruce Snowdon completed getting his new house and hangar built an was in the mod to try something different from his Cessna 152. Soon the flashy beauty was over in the Snowdon/Maser hangar, still looking just as good!
     Bill McAuliffe is building an RV-9A. This is his second airplane building project, having completed a GlaStar a couple of years ago. McAuliffe learned to fly not too many years back, and jumped right in with both feet. He bought a lot at Love's, built his own house and hangar, then bought the GlaStar kit and got busy on that project. When completed, he flew it for a year, checked the plane out thoroughly during its first annual inspection, then took off for a month of flying to, from, and around Alaska! With that sort of determination and completion record, there's no doubt we'll see him flying his RV in the Love's Armada! McAuliffe said he was attracted to the RV by its low stall speed coupled with a zippy cruise speed. He likes the way the RV kit is going together; he's on the fuselage now, so it won't be long till there's yet another RV flying over Love's Landing.