Air Prayer

I haven’t been updating this blog much lately.  I’ve been busy with issues at work, work at church, and a few other miscellaneous side projects.

Something happened at work today that made me want to write about it.  Kind of like finding a $100 bill in your pants.  I was in our operations area at work and one of the end users came in asking for a report.  He’s a very quiet guy.  Never says much, least of all to me.  The operator on duty told him the report would be ready “soon.”  So feeling a little mischevious I started to sing “Soon and very soon…”  and then stopped waiting for the reaction.  Everyone looked at me with a puzzled amused look.  But the quiet guy that came in for the report answers with “We are going to see the King!”  And with the biggest smile I’d ever seen on his face.

He then remarked, “I hope He comes before we all get laid off.”

“Amen.” I answered.

I sense an new ministry opportunity.

The plane that is.  Finally, after 5 years of construction, and 5 years of flying (has it been THAT long?) my RV-4 is finished.  Here is the final result:

The NEW RV-4

I’ve had so many friends tell me that now that it’s done, I won’t want to sell it.  I kind of don’t.  However, I’m entering into a new phase of flying where I don’t feel the need to go so fast or so far.  This plane has long legs and I don’t really.  I would rather it go to someone who can enjoy it.

It’s finally come down to it, time to sell the RV-4. I swore that this would be my last airplane but my flying mission has changed. I really want to start getting into the old back country strips that I used to go to and the RV-4 just isn’t suitable for getting into some of the smaller and rougher ones. Plus now that it’s painted I would worry about chipping paint.

I am also feeling compelled to build a plane with my son. The next plane will be largely built by him with my supervision. So without any further ado…

For Sale

Asking Price: $55,000 or best offer

RV-4 N311SV
Serial No: 1054
Year built: 2002 (actually the year it was registered, took 5 years to build)
Engine: O320-D2A, TTSN: 288
Propeller: Catto 2 blade
Flaps: Manual
Trim: Electric
Avionics:
Rocky Mountain MicroMonitor
MicroAir 760 Comm Radio
MicroAir T2000 Transponder with blind encoder
Stereo intercom with music input
Standard ASI, VSI, ALT, Mag Compass

Photos:

The plane is all white. I will be adding vinyl graphics in the near future unless requested otherwise by buyer.

I need to clean up a few wires behind the panel. There is also one more air vent to mount just below the panel. Electrical switches are on a panel located below the right cockpit rail. Throttle, mixture, and carb heat controls are located on a quadrant just below the left cockpit rail. The instruments are: Left half of panel from top down, ELT, Intercom, Trim indicator, trim button, MicroMonitor, fuel gauge with selector switch directly below, MicroAir 760 Raido, T2000 Transponder. Right half of panel from top down, Alternator warn indicator and field breaker, Magnetic compass, ASI, blank, Altimeter, turn coordinator, blank, vertical speed indicator. At the far left is an air vent. The stick has a single push to talk button mounted on top.

Fuses are located in a hinged panel below the switch panel on the left. Note that the battery and fuel lines are normally covered. I had them off to clean the interior and forgot to put them back on for the picture.

I need to get a better shot of the interior. The interior is flat grey with two-tone grey upholstry. The roll bar is painted white.

A few more exterior shots follow:

If you would like to view higher resolution photos please visit my Picassa Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/svanarts/RV4N311SVForSale

The bottom line:

If you are looking for an Oshkosh award winner, this plane is NOT for you. If you a looking for an honest, fun flier, this plane may be for you. I’ve flown it to Oshkosh twice now and it has never let me down.

email: svanarts [at] yahoo [dot] com  if you have any questions.  Thanks for looking!

I got a call while I was on vacation that my RV-4 has been painted. I have no idea what it looks like. Well, that’s not true. It’s white. All white. But it will still look like a different plane when I go to pick it up. The plan is to fly over there on Saturday and spend the rest of the day putting it back together again. Then I need to repair my trim tab but then it’s back home with a shiny airplane. I’ll post pictures when I get it.

Day 2 was really our first day camping. We spent the night but really didn’t get to enjoy our surrounding until the next morning. The campground and it’s surroundings were beautiful. I woke up before everyone else (nothing unusual there) and started cooking pancakes and scrambled eggs. We got to enjoy our breakfast with stunning views in every direction.

We decided that we wouldn’t be able to see much with our dog along with us so we borded her at a local kennel and spent the rest of the day on the shuttle bus going up through the canyon.

One of the most stunning views was at the three patriarch’s overlook. Apparently a Methodist minister named the three highest peaks in the area after the three patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But by far our favorite spot was the weeping rock. It is a short uphill hike but the views are exquisite and the sound of the dripping water is so peacful and cool during the heat of the day.

Here is a view from under the overhang at Weeping Rock.

Some of the hanging gardens at Weeping Rock.

And one of my favorite shots.

After Weeping Rock we rode the shuttle up the canyon some more and did some exporing. I’ll leave you with some of my favorite pictures of the area.

On day 3 we moved from Watchman Campground in Zion National Park to Zion Camp RV Park located about one mile from the park. We decided to move so that we would have access to showers. By this time they were sorely needed. Most of this day was spent packing up our campsite, visiting at the visitor’s center while we waited for check-in time at the RV park, setting up camp at the RV park, and then having lunch. Since we were still sore from hiking on day 2, we decided to just clean up and hang around the camp site and enjoy a “down” day of doing nothing. We were treated to a beautiful sunset that evening as the sun turned the cliffs from red to golden.