Building my own RV

So this strip may need a bit of explanation for some folks. First of all, for all non-native English speakers: RV can mean “recreational vehicle”, basically a little home on wheels. So when a reader suggested to us that we should do a strip about RVs, and I have to admit that my initial reaction was not that different to Sally’s. But it turns out that RV can also mean a series of homebuilt planes by Van’s Aircraft. Apparently they are so popular that an average of 1.5 RVs is completed each day.

Well, I’m sure this won’t be the last glaring aviation knowledge gap to fill in my little cartoonist brain!

Tagged with: , , ,
10 comments on “Building my own RV
  1. F16CrewChief says:

    My first job in the USAF was maintaining Minuteman III ICBMs. The nuclear ‘warhead’ was referred to as an “RV”, as in re-entry vehicle. To me an ‘RV’ is a nuke…:)

  2. Jan Olieslagers says:

    You have added a good argument to my long quest against abbreviations and acronyms.

    To general annoyance, I’ll keep on repeating they are used by people who are either stupid (so they can’t remember or spell the full name correctly) or lazy (leaving the interpretation to the other party, which may have unexpected results as illustrated).

    Speakers of English, both in the USA and in old Blighty and probably everywhere, are particularly fond of them, though – perhaps very few are neither stupid nor lazy.

    (ducking for cover)
    Myself driving an RV and flying an AF, err, excuse me, an Apollo Fox.

  3. Jan Olieslagers says:

    and as an afterthought: if Sally is so much concerned about a toilet being available – which I think a very valid concern – she could find better touring friends than Chuck in Europe: I’ve never seen a camper (as the English call them, I think) without a toilet. Often, it will be the minimum minimorum, though, a “Porta Potti” – I have one too, but avoid using it as much as I can because cleaning it afterwards is a nightmare.

  4. brent says:

    Then there’s the couple who actually did build a flying motorhome

  5. brent says:

    The term “flying motorhome” in that previous post is a link. At least on my browser, the styling does not indicate that it’s a link unless you mouse over it.

  6. Speedsix says:

    Chuck should get himself the plans of the Wilson Global Explorer: It is (almost) a homebuilt, IMHO it looks really macho and most importantly it is made to live in so there probably is a toilet in there too. ;D

  7. Bruce Bergman says:

    There have been many Flying Motorhomes built – including the”Production” (6 or 7) Itasca (Winnebago) Heli-Camper that was a partnership with Sikorsky and Orlando Helicopters, using a S-55 or S-58. The turboshaft conversion was a very popular option.

    It would have practical uses today – a small Genset doubles as an a APU, no worries about dead batteries after sitting. And a full Head on board is always useful…

  8. Ryan Leeward says:

    Get a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane and shove a trailer home underneath it.

  9. Bernd says:

    Jan Olieslagers, I guess there’s a time and place for everything, and abbreviations have their place. Is “RV”, as in the kit airplanes, really an abbreviation?

    And do you regularly talk about your “very high frequency omnibearing radio range”?

    But I agree that there’s often a “too much”, as with everything.

  10. eekee says:

    You mean non-native American speakers. 😉

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*