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.

 

[turbopilot]

With the camping mission abort we took the opportunity to do a shakedown tour of North Central Arizona today. I have not had a chance to test the new axle setup since it was recently installed. I also decided to start testing operating the LightShip without a weight distribution hitch. I have been underwhelmed with the performance of the Curt 17062 WDH that is certified for use with the LightShip. The minimum number of links recommended by Curt is five. Even stretching it to 4 links, I can only achieve a FALR of around 40%. So I have this 100 lb slug of metal on the hitch that is only slightly loading the front wheels. Makes no sense.

So today I drove a 150 mile course towing the LighShip with a tongue weight of 930 lbs and a new rebalance axle set, without weight distribution. The only thing I noticed was a 3" sag at the hitch. With the Curt round bars as tight as I could reasonably get them (4 links), it only reduced the sag about an inch. 100 lbs of weight to reduce the sag an inch.

The LightShip and PowerBoost handled very well at speeds up to 75 MPH without a WDH. No hint of sway with passing semi's with a 25 MPH cross wind at 70 MPH. So my plan is to get a Shocker 10K Aluminum Air Hitch - Fits 2" Hitch, Raised & Sway Tabs & 2-5/16" Ball and give it a try without a WDH. I am also going to install a set manual air bags in the PowerBoost rear axle. I see that LightShip never uses a WDH when towing with a Rivian. Rivian does have airbags.

Today we took the LightShip down the longest remaining section of old highway US66 between Ash Fork and Seligman, Arizona, then parked the LightShip at a busy downtown intersection in Seligman. The town was flooded with tourists, so in response to a previous poster, I decided to let a bunch of "average" people actually see a Lightship in person.

I stood across the street just blending into the crowd listening to folks talking about the LightShip and trying figure out what it was as they clicked pictures. It was a great experience for me since I was often on that highway and in that town as a kid in the 1940's and 1950's going to Los Angeles before the Interstate Highways. Maybe next week we will do the same thing "standin on a corner in Winslow Arizona".