| ISSUE 648 - August 18, 2020 • Over 9,000 Total Ads Listed • 1,000+ NEW Ads Per Week |
| RV-3, Nimble Little Rocket In YOUR HANGAR |
| Dana Brejakova, Contributing Writer & Photographer |
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The Van's Aircraft RV-3 is a cute little charmer. However, do not let the size and innocent cute look mystify you. This "little egg" (as I like to call it) is an amazing nimble bird that is fast - a rocket that you wear. Designed as a sport airplane with an engine of 100 - 160 horsepower and a top speed of 207 mph, the RV-3 is also a great cross-country wanderer thanks to its 25-gallon fuel capacity that allows doable distances. Smooth on controls and yet powerful, the RV-3 offers almost fighter-like sensation and the pure joy of flying.
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| Cute little aircraft: easy on the eyes, elegant, and classy. |
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| Closer look at the panel. |
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With all characteristics mentioned above, it is no wonder you can find one of these rockets in Jimmy the Squirrel's fleet. "How cute!" I screamed when I first saw her on a live stream channel that was covering all happenings and buzzing at AirVenture Oshkosh in 2018.
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| Jimmy the Squirrel leading the squadron of RVs for the demo. |
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| Jimmy the Squirrel airborne, saluting to the crowd, and off he goes opening the space for the RV squadron. |
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As I was watching Jimmy the Squirrel in his rocket and the whole AirVenture Oshkosh 2018 on my computer screen, I thought to myself, "Gosh, I wish I could attend this event one day too, and if I could do that next year that would be absolutely fabulous." Fast forward one year and I was writing an article about AirVenture Oshkosh 2019. Maybe some of you remember reading that piece here. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming all this. How blessed can a girl from a small European country be? VERY.
Three months ago, Jimmy the Squirrel decided to give the bird some TLC. Out of the hangar and off to the maintenance shop to get needed tuning and cool additions. Jimmy asked me to design something simple for a logo on the engine valve covers as he was planning to make the bird look awesome even when one peeks under the cover.
The little rocket needed her name "Rocket", which did not take long for me to pair with a simple and classy design. Next step - choosing the color of the valve cover. We could choose from three colors - black, red, or gold. First, we both were enthused about the black outcome but that happened to be out of stock so we went with red not exactly sure what to expect. Well, I think it is fair to say that the result was even better and fit the bird like a glove. What the heck were we thinking when we were so happy about the black version? Sometimes circumstances decide and sometimes the unplanned outcome is even better than the original thought. We all have been there, haven't we?
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| Beautiful logo, isn't it? Someone once said that self-praise stinks. Well, I leave it up to you to decide if I am a stinker! |
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| Engine valve covers installed, great job, everyone! |
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| Nothing to argue about here, all red accents fit this bird just perfectly. |
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The devil is in the details and Jimmy knows it. Making a new oil dipstick for the bird was next on the list and Jimmy the Squirrel was on it.
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| I could not help it, I had to capture the oil dipstick in making when its appearance reminded me of a flower and titled the photo the way I did. Later, I crowned the photo with the comment, "And this is the kind of flower one can find around here." Haha. |
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After several weeks spent in the maintenance shop, it was time to give the bird a proper wing stretch. We planned an early morning flight together with our friends Dennis and Jerry. After giving pre-flight instructions to Jerry who wanted to test the bird we took off. Jimmy in his RV-8, Dennis in his RV-8, and a stoked Jerry behind the controls of the RV-3. What was once set as somewhat uneventful short test flight and RV-3 photo shoot, turned into an awesome RV chase in the sky. Waking up at 5:45 in the morning was so worth it. I was snapping one picture after another while "woohooing" from the back-seat in Jimmy's RV-8. I cannot imagine a better way of starting the day.
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| Jerry getting acquainted with the Rocket. |
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| Last wise words from the RV squadron members Dennis and Jimmy. |
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| Dennis - preferring his space - disappeared behind the Franklin mountain gap while Jerry was pulling closer. I believe there was an RV grin on his face. |
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| Yup, there it was ... the RV grin! |
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| Dennis was long gone leaving us behind to do the photoshoot. The Rocket was purring as she should and Jerry was briefing Jimmy on the oil temperature, RPM's, and other instrument indications. |
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| The Rocket was at optimal performance. Jerry and Jimmy were happy. It did not take long and all three aviators got playful. The air was smooth, no bumps, and the RV chase was on. One sharp turn performed by Jimmy pushed me a bit into the seat and I remembered to remove the mic from my face to be very alone so Jimmy did no hear me doing my "hick" exercise as my tolerance to G force is rather laughable. Of course, I did not want him to know I was hicking when we were going through only 1.5 G. |
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| Turning around and returning to KELP. I cannot believe the chase is over. |
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| Find Jerry! Jerry on the approach to KELP. At that particular angle, the Rocket almost blended in the urban development below. I am always happy to see the rich texture in the photo. |
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| On the lookout for the storytelling background. The Rocket with the Franklin Mountain behind and the town below? Shutter speed - check! Click, click, click! |
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| One early morning, the marvels of aviation engineering, friendship, and excellent aviator's skills aligned to open a beautiful scene where three wonderful aviators and friends with one Czech chick behind the camera became three dots in the sky above the town that was waking up to a new day. A moment forever lost in time but captured forever in the photo. That morning was ours and it felt awesome. |
| By Dana Brejakova, Contributing Writer & Photographer |
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