Welcome to Rain-R-Shine

Hello, we are Travis & Kathy Rayner from Mobile, AL.  We have been married  over 21 years.  Our hobbies are very diverse.  We stay busy with flying our Skystar Vixen (Kitfox Series 5) experimental airplane.  On any given weekend you are apt to find us anywhere from the Smokey Mountains to somewhere in Texas.  When we're not airborne, we enjoy mountain biking, camping (tent style or in our 40' Alegro Bus), snow skiing, snowboarding, boating plus several other hobbies that keep us busy.  ...There is always time to play!

We are blessed in that we both share the same interests and even better still...is that we always remain best friends through it all!  It is rare to see one without the other.  What a Team...Pilot & Co-Pilot!

We frequently use the term Rain-R-Shine...
because we try to enjoy life to its fullest...rain or shine (Rayner shine).  :)
George & Gracie

Our two dogs are named George and Gracie. 

Gracie (Doberman & Lab, on the left) is now 14 years old.  She has a sweet disposition and has been a very faithful companion.  Even at 14 she remains very playful and full of life.  Although, it is sad to know that she is losing her hearing and is starting to slow down.  She has always been the proper one...never in the way, attentive to every need, quiet yet responsive!

George was adopted a few years ago.  He is a purebred dog (mamma was a dog and his daddy was a dog)!  He is very mischievous, always into something, hears voices, has anxiety and separation disorders...but also has the ability to melt your heart.  Somewhere in the middle of all of this...there is this sweet cuddly little dog that just needs to be loved.
About us:  Travis & Kathy Rayner
AKA...Rain-R-Shine

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possessions… a large black umbrella with a wood, cane bent, handle.  This thing was huge!  I remember asking Mama why it was so much bigger than hers.  She replied that it was a “gentleman’s umbrella.”  Like Mama, Grandaddy must have been part goat…doesn’t like to get wet (as in rain on or splashed).  Following a visit to the “Bay Front” by Grandaddy…I discovered that he had forgotten his umbrella!  It sat in the corner quietly…until my curosity got the best of me! 

Things are fairly predictable at this point.  I took it out into the back yard, released the strap and slowly
opened this massive umbrella.  “This would certainly keep Grandaddy dry!”  I remember walking around the
yard trying different positions for holding the umbrella.  As I moved around towards the side of the house,
the always present Mobile Bay’s southeast breeze grabbed the umbrella and tugged at it.  I also realized
that it pulled against me as I ran into the wind.  Within minutes I found myself jumping off the back
steps…holding the umbrella tightly.  I could feel it holding me back and letting me down slowly and gently.
In the great scale of things…this was in 1961; Three years before Mary Poppin’s would descend from the sky holding her umbrella!  This thing was amazing.  After experimenting with Grandaddy’s parachute…sorry…umbrella, I got much bolder and was able to get Daddy’s old 6’ wooden step-ladder turned around so I could climb up from the steps of the ladder (and not hit the pump-house!).  I tried the second step (about the same height as the porch steps), third step, fourth step…  After a few tries, I found myself standing on TOP on the step ladder.  I jumped several times from there and was “slowly” allowed to drift back down while being held up by Grandaddy’s gentlemans umbrella.  It truly did slow my descent and being as skinny as I was…made for some upright landings! 

The airplanes we fly have something called a VNE (velocity never exceed)…it’s that magic number where bad things happen and stuff starts breaking.  Well, Grandaddy’s umbrella also had a VNE…which I apparantly exceeded!  On my “last” jump, from the top of the stepladder (and by this time I was jumping up and out!), there was a loud “ka-whop…” snapping sound.  The umbrella had inverted!  I crashed hard.  I started screaming for Mama.  She appeared within seconds…making sure I was ok…nothing broken!  I only had the wind knocked out of me. 

That little stunt cost me three whippins (and yes…whippins are worse than a spankn’)!  Once Mama was assurred I was OK…and following my complete confession…it was time for, yet another, visit with Mama’s stash of Crepe Myrtle switches (for our younger readers…this type of switch does not turn on a light)!  When Daddy got home, and after Walter Cronkite signed off from the 6:00 news (the next time you see me, ask me about my relationship with ol’ Walter), it was time for, yet another, visit with Daddy’s belt!  Before it was all over with, and a few days later, even Grandaddy had the opportunity to light up some of “that boy’s” backside!  Man…flying really is dangerous…painful too!
However, through it all…I never forgot that feeling of being suspended in the air…flying like a bird.  You know the feeling…it happens every time you land!  Seconds before you touch down…you pull back on the controls to suspend your descent causing you to feel a little more pressure in your seat (NOT the same pressure my seat felt…!)…and suddenly, yet slowly… you touch down for, yet another, successful flight. 
While this event was nothing but a child playing with an umbrella …it stirred an interest in me that is still present, alive and well.  I love flying.  It doesn’t matter how big, how small, how fast or slow, how complex or simple…the tingling I get as I command my flying machine… feeling it pull gently against  my hands and my body…and then quickly obeying my wishes is awe inspiring and stirs my soul.  For me…with every flight, there is still this skinny little five year old boy that is enjoying, yet another…flight on Grandaddy’s Gentleman’s Umbrella.

Travis Rayner, 03/04/10

03/04/10        How it all began…

While visiting with many of the folks at a fly-in we recently attended, I had the opportunity to talk to one of those whirly-bird pilots.  He has logged about 20,000 hours in helicopters.  I had to throw in a few comments about …way back when… my gyrocopter days.  Back in the 1970’s we were building Benson Gyro’s with a number of “forward thinking” ideas.  …Oh those were special days!

Later, I had to chuckle to myself about how my interest in flying began.  I was 5 years old when the first “spark” was felt.  I had no family members that flew, watched very little TV, and really wasn’t exposed to flying as a child.  I grew up on Mobile Bay, so I certainly understood the power that was harnessed in the wind and even as a small child, also knew about it’s effect on certain objects.  My Grandfather (Mama’s side) was a preacher.  He was a tall baldheaded man (go figure…) that had “presence” when he entered a room.     He commonly wore a black hat, black coat…and frequently carried one of his prize
"The Vixen"

Our Skystar Vixen (Kitfox Series 5) is the grown up version of a Kitfox.  It is powered by a Continental IO-240, 125 HP-fuel injected.  The prop is a Prince P-Tip that gives us excellent performance.  The combination of the autopilot and the AnyWhere Map navigation system make an excellent combination for comfortable cross country trips.  At altitude, we true out at 120 MPH...and running Lean of Peak gives us a fuel burn of less than 5 GPH.  If flying low and slow... 75 MPH indicated and leaned out can get us in the range of 2.8 GPH.  The Vixen has excellent short field take-off capabilities, even fully loaded.   On a hot day with both Kathy and I on board, it's possible to take-off in less than 300'.  It weighs in at 960 pounds with a 1550 gross (of which a 150 lbs can be luggage). 
07/08/10                                                            When Airplanes Bite!...

…and the eye-witness said…”the pilot was having engine trouble…I heard it pop and stop.  It caused the plane to turn upside down.  A few seconds later it just fell out of the air and crashed into my hog pen… …tore up everything…  You know how those airplanes are…if the engine quits they just fall out of the sky like a rock.  …that’s why I’ll never fly!...”

The sad part is… the only part of the eye witness account that may be close to accurate is that the airplane fell out of the sky and crashed into the hog pen.  I am fortunate that I have the opportunity to talk and visit with a lot of different pilots.  I am, on many occasions, totally amazed at the lack of basic aerodynamic knowledge that many pilots fail to possess. 

There are FAA rules and laws of physics that govern and control what we do as pilots.  You can bend, break, or ignore all of the FAA FAR’s (laws) and still (possibly) have an uneventful flight.  However, you can’t change the laws of physics… they actually have ultimate control over your aircraft.  OK…here we go!

Several months ago I was talking with someone about coordinated flight.  This person’s response and comments led me to believe that, even though he held a pilot’s license, was current and had been flying for years…he really didn’t have a clue to the basics of coordinated flight.  …or why it was important!  I finally just asked… “Well…what is the rudder for…What does it do?”  His best answer was that it kept the airplane headed down the centerline and helped you turn while taxiing!  …well…I’ve found another pilot I won’t be flying with!

…and the eye-witness said… “my cousin was flying low over my brother’s house, taking some pictures of his new hog pen… ‘bout his third pass…suddenly the plane just flipped upside down and then just pointed straight down and crashed into the hog pen…probably would have killed him if it hadn’t been for all that soft mud…”

Most airplanes really don’t care if you’re a little uncoordinated (some even a lot…) while flying at typical cruising speeds.  The plane turns, banks, levels out on its new heading and no one really knows the difference.  Although to a trained eye the turns look strange and even worse feel strange if you're in the plane.  I have flown with pilots and with every tight turn I found myself either being pushed against the door or in the other direction.  …Folks…this ain’t normal!  The bad part is…this is where the plane starts to show its teeth…  Most airplanes flying at or near stall, power on (nose high…usually) will remain in control and can be held in a stalled configuration without anything earth-shattering happening.  If…and ONLY if, you are coordinated.  That means that little ball thing is in the center!  I digress…

Our plane, the Vixen, is a sweet flying plane. It is easily controlled through all stages of flight.  Its little thin wings will just hang on the edge and will remain fully controllable even fully stalled with power on.  However, it MUST be coordinated.  …and again I digress…  Four years ago (two weeks after purchasing the Vixen) Kathy and I were over Sand Island at 1,500’.  I was practicing slow flight and turns at MCA (minimum controllable airspeed).  It required an enormous amount of right rudder to keep the ball centered (coordinated flight).  I could feel the elevator talking to me through the stick as it would kick and buffet and I could feel these signals in my hand… (It’s amazing how may pilots don’t know a plane will talk to you).  Suddenly I received a radio call from a friend that was flying well below me and to my left side…asking if I could see if his wingtip strobes were flashing.  My faithful co-pilot, Kathy was busy playing with the Anywhere Map PDA in her lap…not really paying any attention…knowing she was in good hands!  I turned from intensely watching my heading, altitude, airspeed, attitude indicator and that little ball thing…to look out the window.  For several seconds I looked for that flashing strobe.  What I didn’t realize was that I had eased up on the right rudder…and other things…and now my plane was in totally uncoordinated flight at MCA.  Suddenly…the Vixen “snapped” inverted to the left and then pointed nose down.  I snatched the throttle to idle, leveled the wings and started my recovery from a dive.  I came to level flight and only lost less than 400’ and never even came close to Va (Maneuvering speed).  At that point Kathy turned to me and asked…”were we upside down?”  I said yes… She smiled, said  "...oh...OK…" and returned her attention to the PDA…  What she didn’t realize was that when the event occurred…no one was flying the plane! (My confession to Kathy is another story in itself!).

Yesterday, while visiting with Johnny Smith, CFI, our conversation turned to the subject of this Blog… He relayed a story of a CFI that was giving a pilot his Flight Review.  The CFI had heard that this pilot had a bad habit of flying very uncoordinated in turns and slower flight.  The CFI tried to explain the whole rudder, aileron, yaw thing and felt that the pilot just really wasn’t interested.   However, during an uncoordinated power on stall…the plane rolled over inverted and pointed towards mother earth!  …That pilot was probably very confused and upset.  However, …that event was quickly corrected by the CFI and the plane returned to normal flight.  It’s very possible that demonstration may have eventually saved that pilots life.

So Yes…planes do bite.  Understanding how important it is to keep that little ball thing centered may one day keep your pet from biting you. Keeping things coordinated during take offs and landings is a must and gets even more critical the slower you are flying.  OK…I’m sure I’ve stirred up someone and I know there are variables like slipping the plane on final or cross wind landings where you are actually flying the plane uncoordinated…but remember...no matter how far we may push…the plane will reach a point where you start violating the laws of physics…and then……… Yep…Planes do bite!

Travis  


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