Van’s Homecoming
John Adams asked if I wanted to ride down with him to Van’s Homecoming in his RV-7. Of course! I thought about going down on my own, but it would take forever in a 172.
We flew in loose formation with Mike Robbins in his RV-8 with his friend Terry. John’s got a fixed pitch prop (for now), so Terry was rubbing it in that he caught up in about a minute eventhough he took off after us.
It was an extremely hazy day. This is downtown Seattle with Mount Rainier barely visible in the background. I can’t remember a day that was so clear overhead and yet so hazy looking toward the horizon.
The trip down was just over an hour, but it felt like 15 minutes. I’ve driven many times between Seattle and Portland and it is a boring drive. Flying on the other hand, especially in an RV, is the only way to go. Here we are on final to Aurora.
There were several RV’s departing. How often do you see an RV traffic jam?
Quite a few planes showed up. I’d guess there were many 50. Hard to capture in a few photos as the planes were spread out all over.
Vans had the factory doors wide open for everyone to wander around. AFS and Trutrak had their products on display. The first picture is the screen I hope to be getting soon. The second shows the Trutrak product. It’s definitely a different display.
Lots of quickbuilds on the shelves ready to go. I visited the factory a few years ago, but they have many more QBs on the shelf now. The wings are 3 deep up there!
I snapped some paint jobs that I liked. I’m leaning toward white with a simple stripe or two down the side.
After lunch, we were back on our way home. This gaggle of 3 RV’s pulled in right behind us and there were 5 more behind them.
We flew over East Bremerton and Poulsbo on the way home. Lots of people out in boats enjoying the day.
And here’s the trusty steed that got us there and back.
Awesome flight. Thanks John. Now I’m really motivated get my bird finished up.