A little about ourselves, and our rig. We are both retired with storied pasts that are more suitably given at camp fires. Mine is mostly high tech and aviation, while my wife's is financial. We both enjoy most active outdoor and underwater sports and carry a foldable kayak. We had a 4WD pickup camper, and did a lot of "Just Plane Camping" on remote airstrips and beaches across USA, CA, AK, and MX in our Cessna Skywagon.
We purchased our Navion lightly used at a great price in July 2019, and have added over 10,000 miles as of this writing - mostly accumulated in 2019 due to lockdowns. The Murphy bed, large kitchen area, and extra storage under the dinette sold us. The over cab mattress is removed and use as storage.
Most notably, I converted the coach to power provided by two used Tesla Model S batteries. These were purchase on Ebay at $1,000 each, but provide the equivalent power of eight Battle Born 100Ah lithiums - about 10kWh. Solar power was upgraded to 4 x 200W @ 12V panels and all Victron electronics were installed, including a 3kW Multiplus which replaces the OEM charger and inverter. The batteries sit within the original under-step battery compartment that is now sealed and insulated. This is not a project for beginners, and good skills and electrical knowledge is desired. More details are given at
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f101/tes...ow-518864.html
I have made numerous other RV improvements, and am always willing to help another owner with issues.
We name everything, and our 2018 Navion D is christened as "Winnie Mae". Some of you may think this is unimaginative until you know that my wife and I are both pilots, and this name is commemorative of Willy Post's aircraft also named Winnie Mae that set the around the world in a record eight days, fifteen hours, and fifty-one minutes in July 1933. You can find her on display at the National Air and Space Museum in DC.
"Frankie" is the name of our towed gyrocopter, short for Franken-copter as it is built using the heated enclosed cabin from Rotary Air Force, the main rotor, mast and trim system from Sport Copter, and the rest from Sparrow Hawk. Each of these are three leading gyro manufacturers. A 160HP Subaru pushes us along at about 70 mph, while the main rotor is spun by the air flowing through it. It can not stall nor hover, but can land in 10 ft.
Linear Mode
