From: wisch@Apple.COM (Ed Wischmeyer)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation
Subject: ARSA Fighter makes first long trip
Date: 13 Sep 92 23:52:02 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA


ARSA Fighter News

Flash! ARSA Fighter makes long cross country!

After four years of owning the ARSA Fighter, I finally had all parts of 
it in shape at once for a long cross country. Long, in this case, means 
that a refueling stop was required from San Jose. The destination was 
Van's "Homecoming," right outside Portland, Oregon, last weekend. Work 
did not cooperate, though, and instead of launching Friday noon, I got 
off Saturday morning at 9.

I finally found some electrostatic clinging transparent plastic sun 
shades, and those were used to good effect on the trip up to avoid 
cranial thermal runaway. They did have a slight tendency to come off 
during flight, though, and were always being coerced to stick. They, 
and an unseasonal high overcast helped keep thing thermally within bounds.

On the way up, I stopped at Rohrer-Montague, just south of the Oregon 
border. It is a delightful country airport with glider activity. With 
gas in the tanks, a sandwich to take along, current charts for the 
trek north, and a short nap, it was off across the border.

Most of the hills  in Oregon that I saw looked like the Jolly Green 
Giant had come along with a giant pair of hair clippers and left 
bare patches on every hill and mountain in sight. Very few areas 
showed any effort at reforestation. The big trees, too stupid to 
take advantage of the fresh clearings, stayed in place rather than 
hustle over to drop seeds at  these new opportunities. As I sat in 
the ARSA Fighter cockpit, climbing 500 feet per minute at 140 mph 
indicated, I pondered the ramifications of these eco-nazistical 
thoughts. If these thoughts make Margaret a "twinket," then am 
I a "twinker" or a "twink"?

It turned out that most of the doings were on Friday, and I got 
there on Saturday, and missed out on the rotary powered RV-4 and 
most everything else. There were 71 planes in attendance on Friday, 
and 14 more showed up on Saturday. Van's house/shop/business is at 
the end of a grass strip under a clump of trees, and is in many 
ways an idyllic living situation.

I saw the RV-6T, destined to be assembled in Nigeria, which differs 
from the tricycle gear RV-6A primarily in having fiberglass main 
landing gear legs, a taller sliding canopy, and a taller rudder and fin.

Sunday morning, I stopped at Cottage Grove, OR, for gas and oil. The 
gas was impressively inexpensive. The airport is right next to the 
river, and on short final, you do a little zig between the tops of 
the trees to the runway. While I was there, one fellow came to look 
at the ARSA Fighter. He was an RV-6 builder who happened to be driving 
along the interstate and saw me in the traffic pattern.

Lunch was at the Red Bluff airport,  parked next to a gorgeous RV-4 
from farther south. A grilled ham and cheese sandwich turned out to 
have just a huge amount of ham, and was a pleasant culinary surprise. 
Back home to San Jose, zigzagging under an abundance of low stratus, 
especially for early afternoon.

Best parts of the trip, in no particular order: putzing along over 
the San Joaquin valley, snacking down a breakfast; the Willamette River; 
visiting with the folks at Montague-Rohrer airport; Cottage Grove airport; 
lunch at Red Bluff; Van's place and the folks there.

Worst parts of the trip: the minor oil leak that was worse after the 
mechanic worked on it; waking up on Sunday with a sore butt that didn't 
know it was supposed to feel good after a night's sleep, with another 
4 hours of sitting to get  home.

Most unusual: large areas of low/marginal VFR in northern California 
and southern Oregon due to forest fire smoke.
Newsgroups: rec.aviation