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Coast to Coast (and back) in a Rocket

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Toobuilder

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
6,603
Location
Mojave, Ca
Despite the fact that a Rocket is designed more as a hot rod than a family truckster, that didn't stop me from packing it full of bags, tools, food and my wife for a little jaunt down to the Bahamas.

28a2p83.jpg


Here's a shot from our back porch in Bimini:

http://[IMG]http://i61.tinypic.com/2hickdl.jpg[/IMG]

I'd like to have more than 42 gallons on board, but I still managed some pretty good legs- making Mojave to the Ft. Worth area in a headwind limited 5.6 hours. The following day to Ft. Meyers was a more pleasant 5.2, setting us up for our planned days in South Bimini and Key West.


Things were going so well that we dropped in to New Orleans for a few nights on our return leg. KNEW to Ft.Worth blessed us with an unusual westbound tailwind which gave us 200+ knots the whole way. I considered pressing on all the way back to Mojave, but I was worried about some weather popping up in west Texas. With only 2.2 hours for the day I elected to spend the night and get a fresh start early the next morning. My caution was rewarded with even worse weather and a substantial headwind. The best I could manage for most of the first part of the day was only 165 knots. This was going to be a long one! It was only after our last fuel stop in Deming, NM that the headwind eased up. We arrived back home well before sundown and with 6.8 hours in the saddle.

All told, we traveled 4500 miles in 25.8 hours. Surprisingly, the total fuel bill was less than 2 round trip tickets to Bimini, and we got to see a lot more interesting things than sitting in an aluminum tube.

In short, designing and building is fun, but so is getting out and seeing the country.
 
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