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From the Back Seat: A Wife's Perspective on Experimental Aircraft

Editorial note: From the Back Seat is a monthly column written by Tracy's wife, Laura, in The Rotary Aviation News. The following article first appeared in the December, 2000 (final edition) of the newsletter.

The last in our series of stories regarding the exhilarating, and sometimes harrowing, experiences in the back seat of the RV-Otter

It is hard to believe that the last chronological installment I wrote was from 1996. Since then, flying has been much like sailing – many hours of beauty and even boredom interrupted by random moments of shear terror.

For those who don’t already know, I have accumulated 276 hours on my personal Hobbs meter. I am no longer a “white knuckle” passenger. I stopped assuming the “Official RV-4 Take off and Turbulence Position” (a.k.a. a death grip on the roll bar – as IF that would help!). I know that, when the air is rough, the pilot is NOT really in command of the motion of the plane, and that does not bother me (anymore), I adore high speed pull ups and, yes, I am even up for an occasional – or even multiple - rolls.

This growth has not come without the expected amount of fear, and an occasional need for Tracy to turn off the passenger’s input to his headset. I’ve also learned that what we do is called Experimental for a very good reason. Just when I start to really believe that flying in a home built plane is a routine thing to do, something inevitably happens to give me a wake up call. This is a good thing. It keeps us (or me anyway) humble and grateful for every safe passage.

Now that the suspense is over, (to quote Paul Harvey) “Here is the REST of the story” as told by a sampling of my flight log entries.

February 17, 1996 Laura Flight Hours: 12

Flew to N County Airport to visit my Dad. Lets see – drive 6 hours or fly 1.5 hours – I think I LIKE this flying thing!

March 16, 1996 Laura Flight Hours: 15

First experience with an aborted flight, due to abnormal noise – a cracked exhaust flex pipe.

May 5, 1996 Laura Flight Hours 20.9

First time I ever flew the plane and 1^st sunset flight.

June 16 + 17, 1996 22.5 hours

First flight between layers of clouds – 1^st experience dodging showers – 1^st use of Bose headsets and listening to Craig Chaquito in flight.

June 25, 1996 24.2 hours

Took the RVotter to a business conference. I had a great time explaining that I could not bring some of the organization’s operating supplies because “we flew here in our plane and there was no room”. Unfortunately we had to dodge real storms on the way home, and Tracy decided to run carburetor tests without warning me. All I knew was that during some of them the fuel flow meter was PEGGED, which, in the past, did not bode well.

I was definitely not happy!

July 20, 1996 26.6 Hours

First experience with formation flying. I discovered three things:

1) I’m not sure why it should come as such a surprise, but there is NOTHING under the plane holding it up when you’re flying! 2) Watching the other plane too intently while flying formation in turbulent air is a great way to start feeling airsick. 3) Flying formation with other RV’s makes me feel like I am in a Van’s RV calendar.

August, 1996 40.2 hours

Took the plane to go on vacation in Williamsburg, VA. I will quote directly from my logbook: Flight up was fine, but hazy. Over the clouds approaching Williamsburg – had to dive through a hole – YIKES! Landing at Dillon, SC was perfect – too bad they went down hill after that.

The flight back was much more challenging. Left early, hoping to avoid hurricane Eduardo. Virginia was under a hurricane watch. South of Dillon, SC conditions started to deteriorate – rain, 500 ft ceilings. Forced to land at Homerville, GA at 1:50 pm. By 2:30 it was POURING. Don’t get me wrong – we were grateful Homerville was there, as the alternative was not pretty, but the facilities are less than zero. They consist of an outdoor phone with no phone book and a 3 X 8 ft overhang, situated about 12 feet above the ground so that all the rain blows underneath. This was the time when I decided we would NEVER fly anywhere again without rain suits. We stood/ sat on the wet cement until 4 pm.

I finally started walking to read a billboard, hoping it might indicate where the town was. A police officer stopped and told me the nearest motel was 2 miles away and it was “on the wrong side of the tracks”. He also informed me there is no taxi service in the town, but being the compassionate sort, he “might stop back in a few hours to see if we’re still there”. I’m thinking – “And WHERE else would we be in the rapidly approaching dusk and pouring rain??”. This was also the week prior to Tracy’s hip replacement surgery. His old artificial hip was falling apart and he couldn’t take any aspirin due to the surgery, so I knew he was not going to walk 2 miles under any circumstances.

Thank heavens for airplane people. About 20 minutes later a local pilot named Albert stopped and gave us a ride to the motel on the right side of the tracks. He even picked us up the next morning to take us back to the plane, and wouldn’t accept anything in return.

Back in the air the next day and weather conditions worsened again as we headed south. Tracy decided to stop at Lake City, but had to do a “slip” maneuver through holes in the cloud layer. Tracy told me not to worry- HA!! This involved sliding the plane sideways to rapidly loose altitude without gaining too much speed. The canopy was howling – the ground was coming up fast at 160 mph, the plane was canted to the left – I felt like a skydiver with no parachute. I’m sure I prayed – cursed – you name it! Ceiling lifted in an hour and we headed home. Even Tracy said I did pretty well, considering the circumstances.

We will now fast forward (the Otter has limited the space allotted for my article) to October, 2000. Laura’s Flight Hours: 268.5

For the past couple years I’ve wanted to attend the Evergreen, AL fly in. It usually conflicts with Thomasville and Copperstate, but not this year, so we planned to go. Of course, Tracy had to get the plane ready.

Since August, I had been complaining to Tracy about a strong exhaust smell in the cabin. His first response was “Oh, Lors, you have a hypersensitive nose. You’re probably smelling 1 part per billion of exhaust” (The carbon monoxide detector showed nothing. T.) A couple weeks later, he admitted to noticing it. Finally he noticed a bit more heat through the firewall, and that was enough to make him stop and investigate, three days prior to Evergreen. The old exhaust system turned out to be beyond repair. Due to time constraints he “kluged together” a temporary exhaust system from parts obtained at the local auto parts store. After giving it a “thorough” 20 minute test flight the day before our trip, he pronounced it safe and ready for passengers.

Of course, I did NOT like this at all, but the flight there was uneventful. After we arrived, the wind started blowing in earnest, and the temperature dropped significantly. We camped in a tent next to the plane, which meant that I lay awake until 2 am while the tent fluttered against my head, listening to Tracy snoring. The man with the plane next to us had been quietly observing as we arrived, I pitched the tent, unpacked the plane, took the tent down the next day and repacked the plane. He walked over to Tracy and said, “You know, your plane is really nice, but what is even better is your lovely wife. Not only was she willing to come to a fly in, but she slept all night in the cold just so you could sleep next to your plane!”

Tracy “inspected” the exhaust; once again pronounced it airworthy, and we left. Just as we were departing the pattern, the sound of the exhausted changed dramatically. He asked if I noticed (did I NOTICE?? He HAD to be kidding!) , so we returned to the airport. Further inspection revealed a flex pipe clamp had come loose, so he fixed it in the 40 mph, cold wind and we tried again. I was very anxious the entire flight back, but we made it with no further mishaps.

Two days later he was suppose to leave for Copperstate, AZ. He revamped the exhaust system again as there was no time to get aircraft materials. He assured me that he knew exactly what caused the first failure and he guaranteed this time it would be fine. (I never guarantee anything! T.) He got as far as Texas when that system also went to heck. This time he had to land in Texas at a residential airstrip and repair it with safety (a.k.a. bailing) wire. To his credit, he aborted the trip and headed home. The terrible weather he encountered in Georgia added to the pleasure of the flight. When he finally made it home, he was soaked in sweat and announced, “ I will NOT fly again until I have the real system installed”.

You guessed it, that resolution lasted about three days. We had planned to fly to a special restaurant to celebrate my birthday on October 21^st. Again he PROMISED that this time, the temporary system would be safe. And yes, I did go, after much consternation.

The installation of the REAL muffler system resulted in, and I quote, “The plane is running better than EVER. I think I gained a couple mph in top speed”. At this point I feel compelled to mention that every change ever made to the plane ALWAYS results in this same, miraculous gain in top speed. (Hey! Every mph counts! T.) Based on my calculations, by this time the RV-Otter should be flying at warp speed! That’s Ok. Tracy’s optimism and enthusiasm are part of his charm.

Every year I send Van a Christmas card, in which I thank him for designing the RV series of airplanes. If it weren’t for him, I would not have had the memorable experience of riveting on the morning of my wedding!

I know he must receive 1000’s of cards similar to mine every year, and I know he cannot possibly take the time to read them, but I send it anyway. It seems like the least I can do in return for the joy the RVotter brings to my life, and I know that Van’s business is accompanied by more than a fair share of heartache. Oh, and I better thank Tracy also. He is the one who not only built the plane, but also found a way to ensure that we can afford to fly where ever and whenever we want. He may even be creating the business that will help me to also “retire” young.

Would I change anything? For the most part, no. Even the “bad” parts make for great stories. Would I do it again? Well, the order form for an RV-8 quick-build kit is sitting next to me as I write this. What do you think?

Best wishes to all of you, Laura