LightShip 4 is on the Pad and Go for Camping

[turbopilot]

After 2 months of chasing bugs, familiarization and bad weather, LightShip 4 is ready for its first camping mission. We will be departing for Grand Canyon National Park this Sunday for a 2 day "test flight". Right now all systems are GO, water loaded and great weather predicted.

This trip will be a real test of the LightShips versatility: Trailer Village (with hookups) and Mather with unimproved mostly pull through sites at Grand Canyon. Trying to get any site at the last minute is a crap shoot at the Grand Canyon, but we scored one of the biggest (27') campsites in the Mather Campground which is mostly tent camping, close to the rim. Here is a link to the Google StreetView image of campsite 68 at Mather. No services but close to the rim. Pretty typical for National Parks. I am taking the battery up to 95% but there should be plenty left when we depart. The Ford generator will be connected so anytime the engine is running the LightShip battery is taking charge. I expect to arrive back home with 95% SOC next Tuesday.

Since this is the first "owner outing" to be reported I will be providing updates. LightShip 4's tow vehicle the PowerBoost F-150 is equipped with a Peplink Starling MAX S enclosure tucked under the inflatable aerodynamic topper. So we should have good communication. Site 68 has a big whole in the canopy of the camp site. Stay tuned.

 

[Blackstone]

God Speed @turbopilot !

 

[josephpRV]

Daily reports please @turbopilot !!!

 

[turbopilot]

We have a mission abort for the first LightShip camping trip. I booked a spot in the Grand Canyon National Park Mather Campground for a "27' RV" and got a confirmation. This was intended to be a short test mission for all the changes and fixes on LightShip 4 in the last 2 months.

Last night a friend pointed out a little "gotcha" at the Mather campground. In the fine print for the details of each site, it turns out every spot in that campground has a different maximum length for a "RV Trailer" versus an "RV motorhome". When you use the campsite search engine to find a site is simply asks what is your "RV Length". In the case of site 68, they will allow a 27' motorhome on the site, but on the same site will only allow a 21' RV trailer. Each site is different. In all my years of booking RV campsites I have never seen this distinction. We will recycle, but LightShip 4 is ready for the season. Our next scheduled mission is a week long trip to Bryce Canyon National Park in May.

As to future events, @Rory (Lightship Team) indicated LightShip is planning to exhibit a factory LightShip at the worlds biggest airshow and RV camp in, EAA Airventure in Oshkosh, WI between July 20 to July 26. I have attended that event since 1973. Typically that event will draw up to 700,000 people during the 7 day period and there will be over 10,000 RV's on the ground at the airport. It should be a good exposure for LightShip. This is one event where a majority of the attendees understand the drag equation and many aviators also own an RV.