Author: "lucky macy" <luckymacy@...> Time: Mon Mar 22, 2004 4:06 am PST Link
Great pictures. Any shots of the area around the actual destination of
Phoenix/Scottsdale/Glendale/Mesa? My company might be moving me to Mesa
hence my curiousity about the place.
Where's the local Vans Air Force headquarters/airport located so if it
happens I'll know where to start looking for a nearby house? :-)
----Original Message Follows----
From: "marty_rv6a" <emrath@...>
Reply-To: vansairforce@yahoogroups.com
To: vansairforce@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [VAF Mailing List] Re: My best RV day trip yet
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 02:06:42 -0000
So, Ron, did your friend find the RV-6A you were looking for? I'm
building an RV-6A and find this very inspirational. I camp at the
base of Horn Peak, the center peak in your first picture, and have
hiked over Mosca Pass - an easy hike for Sange de Cristo. Thanks,
now I've got to get back to work.
Marty in Brentwood TN
--- In vansairforce@yahoogroups.com, Ron Lee <ronlee@p...> wrote:
> My hanger mate has been considering buying a RV-6A for a few months.
> We made one trip to Texas to view one but that did not work out.
Today
> we went to Mesa AZ (Phoenix area) to view another one. My planning
> generated a trip that straight line was about 478 nm. But that was
not
> good enough. There were several targets of opportunity along the
way.
>
> First was Ship Rock NM (NW corner), the Meteor Crater and if time
> permitted Monument Valley in SE Utah. The trip was close to 544
nm.
>
> The planned 0700 liftoff was actually 0725 with expected cruise
altitude
> of 16,500 feet. After passing to the west of the Fort Carson
restricted
> and a south turn and we have a great view of the Sangre de Cristo
Mountains.
http://www.pcisys.net/~ronlee/RV6A/MesaAZMarch2004/SangreDeCristoMtnsS
mall.jpg
>
> We made a realtime change and elected to cross through Mosca Pass
since that
> would bring us over The Great Sand Dunes National Monument. The
following
> pictures show Mosca Pass as we approach it (at 14,500 feet), then
the pass with
> the Sand Dunes on the west side,,,and finally a slightly better pic
of the
> dunes.
http://www.pcisys.net/~ronlee/RV6A/MesaAZMarch2004/MoscaPassSmall.jpg
>
http://www.pcisys.net/~ronlee/RV6A/MesaAZMarch2004/MoscaPassSandDunesS
mall.jpg
>
http://www.pcisys.net/~ronlee/RV6A/MesaAZMarch2004/SandDunesSmall.jpg
>
> After crossing La Manga pass near the CO/NM border, we were
approaching
> Farmington NM and soon saw our first planned sight.....Ship Rock
NM. The
> following
> three pics show it from various angles.
http://www.pcisys.net/~ronlee/RV6A/MesaAZMarch2004/ShipRock3Small.jpg
>
http://www.pcisys.net/~ronlee/RV6A/MesaAZMarch2004/ShipRock8Small.jpg
>
http://www.pcisys.net/~ronlee/RV6A/MesaAZMarch2004/ShipRock10Small.jpg
>
> Soon after leaving Ship Rock and heading towards Monument Valley
Utah, Dub
> noted that we were close to the four corners area (where NM, Utah,
CO and AZ
> meet at one spot). Since we were mere minutes away, we flew up
there and
> snapped
> a few pictures. One follows. You can see a road leading from the
front of
> the left
> wing just outboard of the fuel cap. A circular area is where the
four
> corners plaque
> is located.
http://www.pcisys.net/~ronlee/RV6A/MesaAZMarch2004/FourCorners3Small.j
pg
>
> From there we went to Monument Valley where many westerns were
filmed. I had
> wanted to fly a bit lower than we did but not having the proper
frequency
> to announce
> intentions, we overflew it then headed south towards Mesa AZ
(Falcon
> Field..FFZ).
http://www.pcisys.net/~ronlee/RV6A/MesaAZMarch2004/MonumentValley1Smal
l.jpg
>
http://www.pcisys.net/~ronlee/RV6A/MesaAZMarch2004/MonumentValley2Smal
l.jpg
>
> That path led us almost exactly over the Meteor Crater in AZ.
http://www.pcisys.net/~ronlee/RV6A/MesaAZMarch2004/MeteorCrater1Small.
jpg
>
> The airplane inspection went well and we returned IFR (north to I-
40 east
> to I-25 north)
> The return trip was about 580 nm and took 4.3 hours. The trip down
took
> 4.1 hours
> including all the picture taking. The pictures were taken with a
1.3
> megapixel camera
> and do not do justice to the beauty of the area we covered. At one
point
> we saw a
> mountain in the distance that was perhaps 90 miles away.
>
> It was a great trip and I finally flew to several places that have
been on
> my list of
> places to visit since I got the RV. It was another mountain flying
> experience that
> surpassed anything I have done since my mountain flying course last
summer.
>
> However it was a bit tiring and I am going to bed. Tomorrow will
not have
> a trip like
> this. Perhaps a short trip to Kansas.
>
> Ron Lee
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