This Saturday I'm heading down to Guadalajara for my first Mexican aviation adventure in the RV-7. In fact, this will be my first time flying into Mexico in any private plane. The regs say you need standard 12" markings even though it's an experimental plane. I didn't need 'em in Canada, but I do in Mexico (apparently). So I broke out the FARs and read 45.29 again to make sure I had the dimensions correct.
At least 12 inches high, characters at least two-thirds as wide as they are high (except the number "1"), one-sixth thickness, and one-sixth spacing. Cool, so 12" high, 8" wide, 2" thick, 2" spacing. Simple enough. I broke out the masking tape and measured out the letter "boxes" and went to town with the Sharpie.
There are definitely advantages to not having paint!!! A friend offered to slice me up some numbers on his cutter thing, but if I stuck 'em on I'd have to get 'em off. With permanent marker, I can just wipe it off with acetone or whatever when I get home. Painless. (And in case you were wondering why I polished the wings and tail but not the fuselage, this is why...will polish it when I get home.)
It's officially ridiculous looking. Even with a fancy slant it would probably look funny. But hey, anything to comply with the law, right?
Good enough.
I leave at sunrise on Saturday and will head directly to Ciudad Obregon (MMCN) for my first stop, where I'll clear customs and fuel up. From there it's one more leg to Guadalajara (MMGL). It's about 1120 nautical miles each way. Should be a gorgeous flight, cruising along the eastern shore of the Sea of Cortez. I'll be sure to snap a buttload of photos.