Watching Appalachian Falls Colors From Above

... like a canary!

Here I am with fellow RV-12 builder Kim Mitchell from Jefferson, NC, on a nice Fall afternoon on the tarmac of KGEV. The story of my meeting with Kim is worth telling. I have a log cabin in West Jefferson, just a stone throw from KGEV. As I was having trouble finding a hangar in the Raleigh area, I decided to see what the situation was at KGEV. After all, spending a couple of months in the mountain to finish my plane did not feel quite like an exile from my current workshop. While talking to the airport manager and explaining that I was looking to flight test an RV-12, he told me, to my great surprise (and delight) that a gentleman had just built an RV-12 which was now flying and was kept in a hangar at the airport. Needless to say, it did not take me long to find Kim! That was a month ago and last weekend as I was back to watch the Fall colors, Kim kindly invited me for a ride which turned out to be quite a treat.

I was the first passenger in Kim's RV-12. Kim used to fly a Waco that he also built as a wooden kit. His Waco was cruising at 180 Knots and he finds the speed of the RV-12 a bit lacking for his trips between North Carolina and Texas where he spends part of his time. In his search for more speed he is trying to extract any additional knot he can, going to the length of removing the steps of his RV-12 as you can see (or rather not see!) on the pictures. After climbing in this step less -12, it dawned on me why I was the first passenger! (but I will climb again anytime!).
So, how are the Fall colors seen from 4,500 ft high? I have no idea, I was too much focused on how this yellow bird flies and looking at the airport environment and approach, all which might, will, be useful one day, hopefully soon!