Leaving in a few hours to head North of Reno to Dead Cow Lake.

A group of STOL aircraft owners have an annual GTG on the dry lake bed. Should be interesting as I used to do bush flying in Alaska during my off hours with the USAF.

They have a STOL/DRAG contest to see who can take off and land in the shortest distance. These guys are good, most have records of 100 feet or less, and this is at a field elevation of 8000 feet. Lots of home built aircraft there!

This is really another shake down run for the Breakaway after the front suspension work. Still have that annoying clunk when turning at slow speeds.

Helio #1, "Ol' Number 1", was based at the JAARS center in Waxhaw, NC, near the little farm Tere and I had in the 80s. We actually flew in Helio #2, taking pictures of our farm. JAARS also had a beautifully restored and fully functional DC3 that our son and daughter flew in on a trip to Liberty University. The flight path coming into the airport at JAARS went right over our place. JAARS is an acronym for Jungle Aviation And Radio Service, part of the Wycliffe Bible Translators.

I am back! Lots of videos on Youtube if you are interested. 35 miles of the worst washboard I have ever driven. Could not go more than 10 MPH and even then I think it loosened every nut bolt and screw on the RV.

Good weather, during the day in the 70s and at night high 20s to low 30s. Furnace was going on every 7-9 minutes just to hold 60 degrees thanks to the lack of good suitable insulation. Diesel started instantly no preheat, just cranked and 1-2 compression strokes was running!

Dead Cow Lake was very smooth but VERY dusty

Some where around 400 airplanes and over 1000 people!

GREAT FLYING, STOLDRAG contest really showed the skill of some of these pilots. Saw the Fly Geyser beautiful colors, Saw the 747 body that is at the burning man site, crazy! These two attraction are just a short distance away.

Would I do it again? Sure but will find a different route to get in and bring a propane heater

Hey Ed,
How many miles have you put on your rv since you bought it? Just curious. Tere

Right around 225,000. I just racked up 298,000, bought it with about 72,000-73,000.

Have averaged 10.2 MPG ~ 22,000 gallons fuel,~ 450 gallons engine oil,~ 25 gallons Trans oil (synthetic) Lots more!

It is in the shop getting king pins replaced now. Front and rear springs are next.

Was hoping to convert to full air ride suspension but there is just nothing available that will work with my existing axles and frame.

quote:

Have averaged 10.2 MPG ~ 22,000 gallons fuel,

What would be the average price per gallon overall??

What would be the total cost ?

Pleasure/business?

I didn't log in the price per gallons but would guess around $3.00/gal average. In the "great left coast" we are currently paying $3.50-$3.90. my last trip to the Midwest and Florida the lowest fuel cost were $1.89/gal, mileage was higher as I was not pulling a trailer.

Most of the miles have been outside of this crazy place. Remember, I bought this Breakaway in Feb 2006, 13 years.

The racing community paid my travel expenses but Ihave logged a lot of miles for personal use.

Fuel, oil, brakes, tires, cooling system, license, insurance, misc, probably getting close to $100,000 maybe more.

Factoring major maintenance, modifications and overhaul costs which I have yet to do will probably bring the running costs to $0.75/mile.