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The eastern Canada portion of the RV–1 tour finished today, as Tom Martin handed over the aircraft to a US RV pilot in Toledo, OH. I’m very relieved that everything went smoothly. Now that someone else is responsible for the aircraft I can relax.

The Stanley Fly-In Breakfasts were apparently a great success, with a record number of breakfasts sold. The Windsor event attendance suffered somewhat due to rain showers in the area, but the attendees did enjoy seeing the aircraft.

We were very fortunate with the weather, which gave us the opportunity to make the planned events at Stanley, NS and Windsor, ON. But, it was only due to the efforts of a large number of dedicated volunteers that we were able to take advantage of the excellent weather and make these events happen. Thanks to everyone who donated their time, efforts and money.

The last Canadian event is on 23 June in Langley, BC.

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Our flying over the last weekend was a bit of an adventure. We wanted to fly out to Yarmouth, NS to visit my folks. I was concerned by the very active cold front that went through Ottawa on Friday, but it fizzled out in Maine with no frontal weather on Saturday. But, coastal fog in NS was a real problem. The airport at Yarmouth is very close to the water, and it is frequently affected by thick coastal fog. The hourly weather reports were consistently bad - ceilings of 100 or 200 ft and visibilities of 1/2 mile or less, with the temperature and dew point equal.

Finally we saw what looked like an improving trend, with visibility improving to 1.5 miles and a small temperature/dew point spread. We had a good IFR alternate at Fredericton, and some hope that the conditions in Yarmouth would continue to improve. This was likely the only weekend I could free up for this trip until July, so we launched. I kept watching the hourly reports on the XM weather as we approached Yarmouth, and they were not good - that improving trend I thought I saw was just a blip. We did have over 30 kt of tailwind, and the ground speed did occasionally crack 200 kt.

The reported weather was 100 ft overcast with 1/2 mile visibility when we arrived. We shot two ILS approaches to 200 ft above the airport, and saw nothing each time. Conditions in Halifax had improved by that time, and we would rather be in Halifax than Fredericton, so we diverted there. I pulled the power back to economy cruise of 140 kt TAS at 6 GPH to ensure we had sufficient fuel to go to Fredericton if conditions at Halifax deteriorated again. We landed at Halifax after 3:39 in the air, with over two hours of fuel left, at normal cruise, or almost three hours fuel at 140 kt.

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The weather wasn’t suitable for the next leg on the RV–1 tour yesterday, but today was much better. Wayne Hadath from Kitchener-Waterloo brought St. Thomas RV and Rocket builder Tom Martin to Smiths Falls. RV builders Gary Wilcox and Ed Perl also came along - the RV–10 is a great truck of an aircraft.

The RV–10 departure from SW Ontario was delayed due to low ceilings, but they finally picked up, and Tom, Wayne, et al arrived a bit after noon. We went though the handover checklist, then shook hands as I passed responsibility for the aircraft to Tom.

 

Here we see Tom just airborne from Smiths Falls in the RV–1. Tom, Wayne, et al stopped in Peterborough for lunch, then carried on to Tom’s grass airstrip in St. Thomas. Tom will deliver the RV–1 to Windsor for this weekend’s RV Fly-In Breakfast. Early next week, he will fly it to Toledo, OH to US RV pilot Bob Mills who will take it all the way to Reno, NV, over several days.

 

While I greatly enjoyed flying the RV–1, and having it in my charge for a few days, it is a relief to have handed it on to Tom. I dreaded being forever remembered as the guy who bent the RV–1.

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The RV–1 handover in Bromont yesterday went perfectly. We were watching the RV–1 progress on its Spot tracker page, and were able to guage when we needed to leave Smiths Falls. Dale Lamport got us to Bromont 15 min before the RV–1 arrived. Here you see Ross Keirstead, on arrival in Bromont. He had just finished a two hour leg from Rivière-du-Loup, so he must have been looking forward to a chance to stretch his legs.

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The RV–1 had a great weekend in the Maritimes. It was based in Sussex, NB, but flew out to Stanley, NS Saturday and Sunday mornings for the Victoria Day weekend Fly-In Breakfasts at Stanley Sport Aviation. For pictures of the RV–1 at Stanley, scroll through this thread and this one too.

The aircraft is airborne again, heading to Rivière-du-Loup for fuel, and then Bromont. I’ll pick it up in Bromont and fly it to Smiths Falls, where it will spend the night. We’ll have a gathering of local RV enthusiasts at Smiths Falls this evening. I’ll hang around until 8 PM. The aircraft will be on the main ramp, unless we get a rain shower, in which case it’ll be in Ken Tattersall’s hangar, which is the most westerly hangar on the most northern hangar line.

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The RV–8 was painted over two years ago. The painter recommended that I not wax the aircraft for one year, to allow the paint to continue to cure. Last summer I planned to wax it, but the schedule never worked out.

The wash and wax job finally got done this weekend, using Mothers California Gold three step system - Pure Polish, Micro-Polishing Glaze & then Pure Brazilian Carnauba Wax. It was a lot of work, but the results were spectacular. I thought the aircraft was looking pretty good before the wash and wax, but now it really shines. I still have to do the bottoms of the wings, tail and fuselage. I’ll do those piecemeal over the next few weeks.