Dave Johnson's RV-7A Project

Grand Prismatic Geyser
Grand Prismatic Geyser, Yellowstone NP, July 2005

Activity Log

Ever try to get the hell out of town and up to the mountains for the weekend? You fight the traffic on Friday night to get home and pack the car so you can leave at the crack of dawn on Saturday and drive the 3 hours and...um...120 miles or so to some place that makes you feel like you're away from.....other people. Your blood pressure rises the second you get behind the wheel and as you merge on I-25 you realize that every other friggin' ape with an SUV had the exact same idea. You crawl toward the mountains, drive up the pass behind a guy doing 25 in a 40 and wonder just how many of those damned orange construction barrels the state owns. You finally get to that magical place. Only there's a ton of other people there too because it's only a 3 hour drive from the city.

It gets better because on the way home, the traffic situation is always worse. Lots of people drive up on Firday night and some drive up on Saturday, but EVERYBODY has to be to work on Monday so they all hit the road at about 5:00 Sunday afternoon. Instant parking lot on I-70, backed all the way up to the Eisenhower tunnel. Cars as far as the eye can see and every few minutes you move 100 feet or so. 5 hours later you're cranky, worn out and bummed that the weekend that was supposed to be relaxing wasn't as relaxing as you wanted it to be, because it was rush rush rush the whole time so you could fit it all in and get back for work. On top of that, you really didn't go anywhere all that special because is wasn't very far from town anyway.

Now imagine that you have a time machine; a magic carpet that will take you from your city, let's say it's Denver, to West Yellowstone in only 2.5 hours, and Idaho's Frank Church wilderness in a little more than the 3 that you needed before to get just 120 miles from town. You leave work at 4 on Friday, are in the air by 6, and touch down on West Yellowstone's runway just a little after 8. No traffic, no hassles, no people. Just incredible scenery from your 12,000' perch and thoughts of all those poor earthbound folks still trying to get out of town.

You pass by the Wind River Range and the Grand Tetons on the way and see the glaciers tucked in the valleys and a tarn beneath a stand of blazing yellow aspens. Since you have time to spare, you cut left and fly over the Tetons, and snap some photos to share with your buddies back at the office on Monday. Your wife spots a moose in the grass by the meandering river below and it hits you that this whole experience absolutely rocks.

The airport staff greet you as you open the door and help you with your bags. They have your rental car warmed up and in less than 10 minutes from wheels down, you're on your way to your favorite table at the lodge that overlooks the Madison river. There's a fisherman standing on the shore fly casting, and you marvel at his technique. Then you remember that instead of fighting traffic tomorrow morning like before, you'll be up before the sun to find that favorite little bend in the river to fill up with the solitude you came for, and take your place among the precious few who know what living well is all about. It's not money...it's freedom. You fish for a few hours, and get back to the lodge just as your wife is opening her eyes. You spend the day doing whatever you both feel like that helps you relax.

Two full restful nights and days later, it's getting toward evening on Sunday. You drop off the rental car, toss your overnight bags into your magic carpet and take off. On the way home you notice the traffic snarls as you join I-25....this time 3000' above it....thinking how miserable it would be to be caught in that mess. In 2 hours you've returned from paradise, to the little airport you left from on Friday. The one with no ticket counters, security lines, middle seats or parking garages. The airport you come home to is just 10 minutes from your front door. It doesn't get any better than that.  For about the price of a decent SUV and some elbow grease, you can have weekends like this one too.

So THAT, my friends is what owning an experimental airplane is all about. Freedom. Mobility. Pride. I've owned a Cessna 182 for 3 years now and it has made our lives so much richer, not to mention makng our wallets poorer. It's a big airplane...bigger than we need, and it's 42 years old. It costs a fortune to repair because only guys with name badges and federal certification can work on it. Experimentals are a great alternative because YOU oversee the bucking of every rivet and the torquing of every bolt. Because you built it, there is no better person on earth to fix it later than YOU. You are the manufacturer and the FAA agrees and will grant you the privelege of doing nearly all maintenance and repair work on it

The Vans Aircraft Company makes sturdy, well engineered, blisteringly fast, easy to build kits that everyday folks like me (and you) can build. I'm building mine in the 3rd stall of a 3 car garage with some help from some incredible folks, some education, and some tools.

Thanks for stopping in. I'm pretty much just painting the walls around here and hanging the pictures, but I welcome your comments. For the moment, all I have to show is the shop setup, but you gotta start somewhere, right?