We have been planning a vacation to a warmer place in the RV-10 for quite some time. Things just seem to get in the way to keep delaying our departure. Each time we had weather and time on our side, one of us was sick. If we had good health, the weather was crappy. We just kept patient and waited for the day that all things would come together.

The end of April started to look like we might get away. We got the plane packed that week so we could jump in and go once the weather improved. Sunday had looked good, so we completed our E-apis and booked with customs on Saturday. A cold front was moving through the area, and we knew that Sunday was not looking that great in the morning. When we got up, I canceled with customs in Great Falls to delay our departure. We headed out to the airport around noon and got ready to leave. The weather was due to improve by mid afternoon and a high pressure was building in southern Idaho so we knew it would keep improving as we headed south.

We left High River around 2:00 local and made our way south. The ceiling was about 2500 broken and we were finally on vacation. The weather remained the same until the border. We got our transponder code from Great Falls radio and kept heading south. By this time there was icing AirMets in the area and scattered CB’s were showing up on the radar. I had a minimum altitude decided on before heading into the weather; if I got there, we would turn around. Not long into Montana we hit that altitude and turned around. We were heading back to High River to call it a day. The kids woke up on landing and thought we were in Vegas. Not so.

Two weeks went by for another try. The weather was showing a large high pressure moving in yet again with a chance of crappy weather before Great Falls. It looked better than the first try so we set up to go again. We departed at 9:00 and cruised over snow covered ground all the way to the border and got our transponder code. I had the same altitude number in mind for a turnaround if it came to that again. Minutes after crossing the border the weather came down again. Cut Bank was good VFR and Great Falls was better. We descended to my minimum and within minutes the weather started to improve. It was amazing how different the weather could be between two airports (CYQL-KCTB) that are so close together, both showing good VFR but marginal between them. Great Falls customs was great as always and we were soon on our way for lunch in Idaho Falls. Weather was showing greater improvement along our route even though the briefer said VFR not recommended due to mountain obscuration for the first half of the leg. When the valleys are wide and the mountains are high, this is typically not an issue as you have so much ceiling in the valley. It was exciting to know that chances were pretty good in getting to Vegas that day. By the time we reached Helena that sky became scattered, and we donned the oxygen and went for 12,500. We picked up Salt Lake Center and let the autopilot do the work. Outside air temps was -15C and the kids were starting to get a bit chilly in the back. We threw a blanket on them, and all were well. We soon got to Monida pass and had to descend to get through the pass as a wall of clouds extended up over 16k. Once through the pass it was direct to Idaho Falls. The ground was snow covered all the way from Calgary until just after Monida Pass. We landed, got fueled and went for lunch.

A quick check on the weather revealed clearing weather to the south. We had the trip beat for the last leg to Vegas. With the plane fueled up and everyone buckled, the last leg was underway. A quick climb to 10.5k to contact Salt Lake Centre and we soon got things leaned out and relaxed as the scenery went by. It was not long before we had Salt Lake City under our wing. We followed the mountain road south as we got cleared through their airspace. Once we neared Provo, it was a direct line to Vegas which kept us clear of the restricted airspace. There is so much restricted airspace in the area that you really have to know where you are to stay clear of it. Map reading is important.

The scenery quickly changed to dessert south of Provo. We followed big valleys and with dry river beds most of the way. We must have switch 20 frequencies on flight following for trip. It is nice to know someone is keeping an eye on your progress as you make your way. Lake Meed started to come into view and radio work got a bit more demanding. We got cleared by Nelis approach and then on to Las Vegas approach. We were soon vectored south east bound which took us right over the Hoover dam.

Next leg was south bound to get us closer in to Henderon airport. We got switch over to Henderson tower just before we cleared a ridge and got mixed in with many aircraft in the area. We were cleared for the base to final of runway 35 and that was it. As we got closer I called back to ask of we should be landing on 35L or 35R. He did not know so I flew the middle line until the controller made up his mind. The descent was steep as we just cleared the mountain and had to get down. Instructions came for 35R and we were cleared to land. Snuck over and in we went. We held short of 35L as a business jet just landed after us.

Once we got to our parking area, we shut things down and opened the door to pleasantly warm temperatures. I looked out over the ramp and there was a gentlemen walking towards our airplane. I had been chatting with a Vans Air Force member that lived in Vegas for a while and sure enough it was him coming to greet us. He flies for Southwest Airlines and was a great source of information. He helped us unload and we chatted it up for a while. The flight was 3.4 hours from Idaho Falls and we landed with over 3.5 hours left in the tank. You got to love the efficiency of the RV-10. We averaged 10.3 gph and 163 kts. We could have made the trip non-stop from Calgary if wanted. We picked the rental car up to head to the Resort at just after 5 pm Vegas time.

The next day we awoke to strong winds as forecasted. Unfortunately, the plane was parked tail in and I wanted to get to the airport as soon as I could to see how the gust locks were working. The winds were gusting in the low 40 knots. As soon as I walked out the terminal building, I saw the rudder kicked over and the elevator down. Not good. The Air Gizmos gust lock had failed and were sitting on the ground beside the airplane. My rudder lock had compressed about 3” due to the gust but otherwise was still working as long as the wind did not change direction. The elevator was in the down position and must have just stayed that way after the gust lock departed the aircraft. A quick assessment and I quickly turned the plan around into the wind with some help of the FBO. My aileron gust locks that I made were the only ones that really did their job. I then put an external lock on the rudder and used lots of good old duct tape to secure things for the next few days. It blew for 3 days with gust just under 50 kts. The plane bounced around on the end of the chain tie downs and the duct tape saved the plane. I never leave home without it. On day 4 of sleepless nights, I finally found a hanger for the same rate as the resort we were at. It was worth every penny.

The main reason for the trip was a little secret we kept from everyone. On day 4 we got whisked away in a limo to Red Rock Canyon for our own private wedding ceremony in the mountains. (Now you see why I got the plane in the hanger; I had no time to visit it this day ) Gavin got really dirty playing in the rocks and Emma ran off chasing a chipmunk in the middle of the ceremony. It was lots of fun, beautiful scenery and no hassle. Besides, I got to fly the RV10 there… how can it get any better. We had spent lots of time touring the strip and swimming in the pool. The kids loved the water and warm weather. The next day we had our first flight as a husband and wife to the Grand Canyon. We left around 13:00 hrs to see how afternoon dessert flying would be. The plan was to land at Grand Canyon West for the bus tour and the visit of the Skywalk. It was a short 20 minute flight compared to the 5 hour drive to get there. As we descended into the airport we got welcomed by many dust devils swirling across the runway. They kept popping up one after the other. Fortunately we timed the landing and got in between them. One was just moving off the runway when we turned final and another was starting up as we touched down about 1000 ft of the runway. Welcome to dessert flying in the afternoon.

The small terminal building was packed with people. It was basically just a big gift shop, one that needed a far bit of reno work. We waited in line to find out what was involved for catching the shuttle and going to the Skywalk. We soon found out that it would be close to $400 for the four of us. Not a chance! We got back in the plane and climbed above restricted airspace for a look for ourselves. This was much cheaper! It gave us a great view of the canyon as we made our way back.

Vegas has lots of tricky airspace to deal with depending on which airport you fly into. When on flight following, it is easy as you just get vectored through the class B airspace. The challenge is when you want to stay clear of the class B and get into a towered airport with mountains all around. When west bound under the class B into Henderson you cannot get the ATIS as there is a ridge blocking the airport. As we got close enough to get the ATIS, I had to be talking to Tower. I always like to listen in for a while to get a feel for the airport as we enter but here there was no choice but to just get thrown into the shuffle. We just got in contact, and I identified my position and no ATIS. He quickly squeezed us in between lots of traffic in short order. We had to fly a tight left downwind for 16L and a Jet was flying the outer left downwind for 16R. We got cleared to land as soon as I got to the button of the runway and told to keep things in tight. I had a gut feel that this would happen and was smart enough to have flaps out and ready to drop down. We fined the prop, pulled the power and cranked it around. I leveled the wings just before the numbers and touched down soon after. We cleared the runway and held short of 16R as the Business jet was on roll out. It was an exciting day of flying. The plane got parked in the hanger for our last night in Vegas.

The weather for our departure was looking much better than the weather that had been hanging around between us and home while we were there. The only part of the flight that looked like a challenge was mid to northern Utah. We got wheels up at 10:15 Calgary time and made our way north. There are so many nice airports to visit in the area that we cannot wait to go back. We leveled at 11,500 in smooth air. We had a nice flight over the Hoover Dam in the climb and then a direct to Provo to stay clear of the restricted airspace before turning north through Salt Lake. About an hour into the flight clouds started to form below. We knew at some point the scattered layer would start to close in and a descent into the bumps was inevitable. We had heard two airliners loose GPS signal within 10 minutes of one another and had to fly vector from center until they could pick up a VOR again. I was very surprised by this even though we were informed by the briefer that there were GPS disturbances along our route. We had no trouble in the area on the way down. I always tune VOR to VOR even on a direct GPS route. It is just good reassurance that you know where you are on the map, especially if the GPS fails. Well about five minutes after that last airliner lost his GPS, “GPS signal lost” came over the head set. Jo and I looked at each other and laughed that it happened to us too. The VOR was tuned, the map was out, and we knew where we were. A quick check with the 430W and it was still alive and well. We never missed a beat and the autopilot kept taken us home as it was being driven by the 430W, not the 496. Always know where you are on the map even if you have all kinds of backups. No regrets with all the goodies I put in the plane.

About two hours into the flight, we were valley flying dodging storms. The ceiling remained high and the visibility great. We had to just pick our best way through the weather and the terrain. The XM weather makes these kinds of decisions much easier and safer to make. During all this we still had flight following even though we lost radar coverage due to the terrain a couple of times. They knew exactly where they would “see” us again and checked in when they did.

We got cleared through Class B via the mountain road again in Salt Lake. It was a bit tight as they were waiting for a military jet to take off out of the base. If he hadn’t got airborne soon, we would have been turned west bound around the area. This did not happen we kept on our way north.

The radar returns on the 496 showed about 15 minutes of the flight through some more storms. If we could get around them we would be in good weather for the remainder of the trip. They were giving some fairly heavy showers but our route looked quite passable with some descent gaps in the cells. We amended our flight plan to change the destination from Driggs to Idaho Falls. The storms were heading that way and we did not want to get caught there while having lunch at the War Bird Café. We snuck through the bad weather with minimal rain on the windscreen and made our way into Idaho Falls. 3.2 hours on from Vegas.

We filled up the plane and then had lunch. I called CANPASS and booked a 7:30 arrival in Lethbridge while we ate. I knew that would give us lots of time and I could easily call and push up the time if need be. The next leg would take to Great Falls to file the Eapis for the flight back into Canada. We got airborne about 17:30 and made our way north. We climbed our way to 11,500 with no relief from the bumps. We needed much higher than that to get above the scattered clouds. Once Gavin will wear his oxygen we will be all set for these types of flight. I kept the power back to keep the ride reasonable. The lift was just too strong and the plane kept getting to 185 kts TAS while going through the lift to hold altitude even at a 50% power setting. I had to actually fly the plane and manage speed more so than altitude. I tried the middle of the valley, the snow covered area and everything in between, and it was all going up, what a great soaring day.

We soon reached Helena and got handed over to approach from Salt Lake Centre. We then cleared their airspace and contacted Great Falls approach. Based on the ATIS, 03 was active and we were given the straight in. I tuned the ILS and intercepted the glide slope for the long decent down from 11500. I held 170kts for most of the way down and then started to gradually slow things down for landing. It is amazing how long the RV-10 takes to slow down if you are trying to stay on the glide slope. We got the flaps out about 1.5 NM from the numbers and touched down for a nice landing 1.6 hours from Idaho Falls. We parked the plane and the family sat outside, watching the military jets perform some training maneuvers with front and center seats.

I went in to file my Eapis for the border crossing into Lethbridge. It was clear that we could easily make custom for 19:00 local so I changed the booking with CANPASS and filed my EAPIS accordingly. We hoped in the plane for the short flight to Lethbridge. The air was much smoother and the flight very enjoyable. 0.9 hours later were on Canadian soil and a customs number in hand. Then we were airborne again for the flight to High River.

The plane performed as it should, and our fuel bill was $800.00 to get there and back. The plane lost less than ½ quart of oil for the total trip. It was much more economical than WestJet and I never liked looking out the side window anyway. One way was over 1000NM, and it made for a fairly easy day of flying. If we could take customs out of it we could have saved a lot of time with fewer stops. The kids are great travelers and made the whole trip in the back seat together with no problems. We averaged 11 GPH and had flows under 10gph at the higher altitudes. TAS ranged from 162 to 172 kts. 160kts is the sweet spot for best miles per gallon. We look forward for the next trip to new and exciting places.