In the last few years I have done two flights from my home in north central MN to GP Oregon. First flight was in a speed demon climb propped 172, second was a couple of months ago in a RANS S-7 with a prop pitched similarly with a cruise of 90MPH tops! Both trips were an absolute blast since it included my son being with to share the piloting duties. Plus, he has many hours of mountain flying which was a learning experience for me. Currently he flies 767's for work so he's a better pilot than I am.

On the westward bound section when we were in Idaho, we had headwinds than limited our ground speed to fluctuate around that 40-45mph!! We were about half way to our next planned fuel stop, when the winds at the planned stop were gusting to 30+ direct crosswind. Since I have considerably more TW experience than my son, he asked if I was comfortable doing it. I was getting a bit tired from the days rough conditions and stated that we probably need to go to our alternate, which was Nampa. Our fuel was getting below what we would need to get to Nampa, so we had to turn around to get fuel at the nearest airport, about an hour back to where we just came from. Both of us were in need of a bit of a break anyways. Refueled, took about an hour break, then headed to Nampa.

The rest of the trip was smooth which allowed more , off the path sight seeing. Eventually landed at his hangar in GP, Oregon. What an awesome time to spend with my son. Lots of great memories and knowing that in the future I will be making similar trips, I started looking for a faster airplane. I have always admired the VANS RV's and especially the RV-8. I ended up finding one in MN. The long process of getting a prebuy, paperwork, etc., was rudely interrupted by a sudden bout of severe back issues leaving me immobile (not walking well) for just shy of 2 months. Needless to say, sort of put a huge delay in me flying the plane home. I had gotten transition training earlier this year and since it was several months earlier, I felt it would be smarter to have a ferry pilot deliver it. I will get a refresher before jumping into this hotrod. Plane was delivered last week. Woo Hoo! Ferry pilot suggested doing a couple things, rudder trim, and slight heavy wing on one side.

For now I will keep my Murphy Rebel, as I really enjoy the plane, and its capabilities. What the future holds for the RV-8....we'll see. Might not like to high and fast and end up reselling it, or enjoy it while I can until age times me out insurance wise. As a footnote, that is how I found the plane, builder turned 81 and could no longer get insurance. I have been talking to quite a few older pilots lately that are having these same issues, especially with regards to tail wheel aircraft.

Early morning and I felt like rambling...so that's my story to waste your time while having your morning coffee!

Finally went for the sports car

I picked up the S-7 i had at Red Wing and flew it back to NW Kansas. Long flight at 90 mph, well less as the day lengthened and the headwinds grew, by the time i entered Kansas ground speed was down to 50 and i was pretty tired of getting bounced around. I never did get insurance for it, even the liability was close to 4000 a year.

Hope you enjoy the new hotrod!

Chris

I sincerely hope you enjoy that RV. I've only flown one RV-6 just a bit, but I was impressed. I can sympathize with the back issues, had my third back surg ery last November. Longish recovery, but pretty much there now. I hope.

As to insurance and age: I had a conversation with management at AVEMCO, who I'm insured with. They have certain requirements that kick in at 75, which I blew through a while back, but I specifically asked if they'll shut me down at some age. The answer from the CEO, was "Nope, not going to happen, unless you give us a LOT of reason". I've heard this from AVEMCO before, but this statement was definitive. I reiterated, so, what if I have an accident? Response: "One accident is not going to result in termination of policy, unless there are very egregious circumstances".

But, they are now requiring me to have a Flight Review annually, and a medical annually, a Basic Med medical is acceptable.

mtv wrote:....they are now requiring me to have a Flight Review annually, and a medical annually, a Basic Med medical is acceptable.

I wonder how the insurance carriers are gonna treat pilots, esp older pilots,
flying with a "drivers license medical" under the revised sport pilot rules.
I just renewed my insurance, and asked my broker (BWI) about this:
"The honest answer is we are unsure of how the MOSAIC ruling will impact rates. What I can say is that pilots who fly under a Sport license tend to pay higher premiums than those who maintain a Private Pilots License."
I'm 68, and have been flying under BasicMed since it's inception in 2017,
and at this point I don't see any reason why I wouldn't keep doing so.

hotrod180 wrote:

mtv wrote:....they are now requiring me to have a Flight Review annually, and a medical annually, a Basic Med medical is acceptable.

I wonder how the insurance carriers are gonna treat pilots, esp older pilots,
flying with a "drivers license medical" under the revised sport pilot rules.
I just renewed my insurance, and asked my broker (BWI) about this:
"The honest answer is we are unsure of how the MOSAIC ruling will impact rates. What I can say is that pilots who fly under a Sport license tend to pay higher premiums than those who maintain a Private Pilots License."
I'm 68, and have been flying under BasicMed since it's inception in 2017,
and at this point I don't see any reason why I wouldn't keep doing so.

Yes, that's a question. I haven't asked my carrier that question yet, simply because I seriously doubt ANYone really knows much about how things are going to go under Mosaic. I plan to ask that question next renewal, in July-ish.

My guess.....More $$$, and I'm already close to my limit to go liability only.

slowhawk wrote:Finally went for the sports car

I picked up the S-7 i had at Red Wing and flew it back to NW Kansas. Long flight at 90 mph, well less as the day lengthened and the headwinds grew, by the time i entered Kansas ground speed was down to 50 and i was pretty tired of getting bounced around. I never did get insurance for it, even the liability was close to 4000 a year.

Hope you enjoy the new hotrod!

Chris

Yes, the S-7 is a blast to fly, but definitely not a cross country plane for me. Light wing loading and speed make for and exciting trip, albeit a long one.

WHAT!! That's nuts in regards to the insurance! I'm thinking my S-7 was under $1400 and that was with hull, but I only had it insured for $65K. My son's is a newer long tail and I think he's insured for around $100K, maybe more, with an insurance cost of just under $2K. He is a fairly low time TW pilot, but has all the ratings up to ATP, currently flying 767-300's. That might account for his rate.

Mike,

There might be more to the story that these guys are telling. As they say, two sides to every story. The RV-8 I purchased, was for a guy that is currently building his 4th RV. The 8 I bought was his second 8, and he is currently finishing up his 2nd RV-12. He started it before the new MOSAIC was finalized, but mentioned that his traveling days are over.

The other RV-8 that I seriously considered was absolutely gorgeous, but a lot more money, which I didn't have. Fauk fighter looking plane since the owner was a retired RAF naval aviator, airline pilot, aggressor squadron pilot, the plane fit the profile. He was 84 and said insurance was an issue and he felt it was time to get a slower aircraft.
The owner was wanting to trade my old 172 and cash. Unfortunately the vast distances for flying the 172 from Oregon to PA, then getting the RV-8 back to MN along with motels and weather issues were considered. I felt this was going to add a lot of time and money to the deal.

Son advertised the 172 and basically had it sold in one day! I will say, that old 172 was a heck of a performer as far as 172's go and the wife gave me crap for selling the 'family' plane, but I ended up getting 75% of the cost of the RV I purchased.

As a addition to my post/story, I didn't mention that the day the son and I departed, I got a phone call that one of my brothers was doing badly. Spent the night at a motel with a call in the morning that he has passed away. Just a few days before his 62 birthday. It's the things like that, that can an effect on one's life goals. It just made me faster on making a decision to proceed with getting a faster airplane. Life is short and none of us really know when our expiration day is.

Life is short and none of us really know when our expiration day is.+++

flyingjack wrote:Life is short and none of us really know when our expiration day is.+++

which is why Zane should just buy a Maule....