MichaelCanode

17 May 2020 1:25 PM Hello, and Welcome! Michael from Columbus, Ohio here: veteran Type B coach traveler, and one of six American members of New Zealand's major RV club (long story there). What has kept me in these two clubs are the camaraderie and inclusiveness when I attend the Chapter, Area and Association events. My twenty-plus-year-old Airstream Type B has never been kicked out of an FMCA event, and when I attended the NZMCA Easter Rally in 2016, no one told me I didn't belong there because I wasn't a New Zealander. I'm even going back in September 2022 to celebrate my twenty-year club anniversary. If there is one bit of counsel I can offer you, it's to attend a lot of Chapter Rallies. They're inexpensive, they are usually associated with local festivals and fairs, and your rig won't get lost in a sea of larger type A and fifth-wheel rigs. To quote Ted Geisel, "Oh, The Places You'll Go"! Michael Canode, F13059S / NZMCA #19250 Webmaster / Editor, FMCA Ohio Nomads Chapter

Hello, MWeiner and the rest of the group! My 1997 Airstream type B has a rear 'wet' bathroom, about 2/3 the width of the base vehicle. Suburban 6-gallon LPG water heater with an engine heat exchanger. Water is up to bathing temperature after around 40 minutes of highway driving, and stays hot for around 2-4 hours. I use a combination of the spray head and the bathroom sink for bathing: fill the sink around 2/3 full of just hot water, spray down body and hair, lather up with hot water and (usually) Liquid Neutrogena on a coarse washcloth. Then, rinse the washcloth and soak it in the hot water, wipe down top to bottom. Shampoo with same liquid soap, rinse with the spray head, done. I can shower every other day four or five times that way before running low on fresh water, and my LPG tank lasts me for around two camping seasons. I prefer the rear-bath arrangement in the 1988-2000 Airstreams, along with a few Coach House and Hymer models, because it spreads the interior space in the middle of the coach out wider. "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13059S / NZMCA #19250

24 June 2018 20:40 Hello, Forum-dwellers! Allow me to insert this 'addendum'. I've switched from a Chevy Cavalier to a Subaru Forester as the 'toad', and my Airstream 190 coach is handling it well. I needed no modifications to the Subaru, except for the tow baseplate, light kit and brake cables, as this Forester has a five-speed manual transmission. On the long-distance front, I've scheduled a trip from my home in Columbus, Ohio to Bishop, California in May 2019, allocating sixteen days for the round trip and the rally event I'll be attending. And some years later, I've been noodling a retirement project to follow US Route 6 from Provincetown to San Diego: a route tailor-made for a Type B coach. Yet again, "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F013059S / NZMCA #19250

Hello, Debby! While Tom's reply did draw forth some important questions, one issue which comes to my mind is, "how big of a motor coach are you using?". If you're traveling in a "big-rig" type-A coach, your choices of routes to travel would fit with -- basically -- where your coach can fit. As a long-time type-B coach owner (that's a van-based coach less than 20 feet long), I might suggest heading north from your starting point into Nevada, Utah or Colorado, and connecting with US Route 6 -- the Grand Army of the Republic Highway. Its current route runs from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts, right at the tip of Cape Cod. This was the United States' first project to create a single transcontinental highway, built to honor the veterans of the mid-19th century war of secession (it still goes by different names between "north" and "south"). Lots of small towns to see and explore along the way, and a generous sprinkling of FMCA Chapter Rallies, depending on the seasons. That step alone would make the trip worthwhile: chances to meet with fellow FMCA members from some twenty States where they're having the most fun and fellowship! "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13059S / NZMCA #19250 -- Webmaster, FMCA Ohio Nomads Chapter

25 April 2016 19:00 On the post from "Connitaylor" about the Coach House type-B (I am guessing that refers to the "Arriva" model I saw at the SEA Rally in Sarasota"), my interest was piqued in the split rear bathroom, preserving the opening rear doors. I've always preferred a rear bathroom in a type-B coach, for spreading the interior space out in the middle of the coach (where most type-B coach bathrooms are installed), and the accessible rear doors offer one more emergency exit -- just in case. BTW, I have just finished registering for the West Springfield convention, where I will be teaching three seminars: Designing & Publishing Your Own Web Site, Macintosh OS X Tips & Tricks, and a new "Understanding & Managing Windows 10" seminar. "Happy Cybercamping", one and all! Michael Canode, F13059S / NZMCA #19250

7 September 2015 18:45 Hello again, globe-trotting RVers! It's back to New Zealand again! The NZMCA are hosting their 60th Anniversary Easter Rally and Annual General Meeting in Wellington, and I'm pretty much booked for the journey.

15 June 2015 21:35 Hello again, FMCA Fourminians! The Rally Calendar entry is there in the FMC magazine, and in the FMCA app. However, the description is a bit short of details. So, here's what's >> really << coming up! Grimes Field airport (FAA identifier India-7-4) in Urbana, Ohio is hosting an event called "MERFI" -- the Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-In. Kitbuilt aircraft, vintage aircraft, restored warbirds and just about anything else with wings and a power source are gathering there on the weekend of 21-23 August 2015. There are "dry-camping" sites available for $10 during the Fly-In, but quite a few of the RV'ers I talked with said that they would prefer a powered site. I am therefore hosting the "MERFI's Law" Ohio Noamds Chapter Rally on 20-23 August. 30-and 50-ampere sites are available for us at the Champaign County Fairgrounds, south of mid-town Urbana, for US$20 per night. There will be a Saturday dinner with your choice of either bison burgers, freshwater fish tacos or veggie fajitas, and a Sunday party patterned after a USO show -- wine, beer, cheese, munchies and so forth. Wear your 1940's styles, or come in uniform. A US$8 per person rally fee covers the food. Motor coach or towable, FMCA members or not, there is space for you. Check out the Calendar page at ohionomads-dot-com, and visit merfiurbana-dot-com for information on the Fly-In. It's kind of like the EAA Airventure in Oshkosh, or Warbirds Over Wanaka in New Zealand -- just more up close and personal, and a heck of a lot less expensive! "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13059S -- Rallymaster

15 June 21:00 While my experience is a bit limited (one trip in 2000), I would see no reason not to travel by RV in Newfoundland. Saint Johns is a magnificent seaside city with "boatloads" (pun intended) of maritime history. There is also a very flavorful microbrewery at Quidi Vidi: they actually salvaged a yeast culture from bottles recovered in a 1790's shipwreck to reproduce a classic ale from the period. I also noticed in one of the earlier posts here that "...It would rank fourth in size behind Alaska, Texas, and California if it were one of the United States." Well, dig out your history books: back in the late 1940's there was a referendum to either stay a semi-autonomous British colony, become a province of Canada or seek admission into the USA. A fellow named Joey Smallwood (a.k.a. "The Huey Long of Canada") was in the thick of it -- One of the "Maritime Atlantic" ferries is named after him. And when Canada sought to negotiate the merger, another movement got started. Both the Wesleyans and the Seventh Day Adventists had listener-supported Christian radio stations on the air in Newfoundland. Canada did not want to grant the stations Canadian broadcast lincences, but a grassroots movement in Newfoundland pushed back. That's why radio stations in Newfoundland and Labrador still use "VO...." call signs. The Wesleyans are off-air nowadays, but the Adventists still operate VOAR out of Mount Pearl. "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13059S

17 April 2015 11:40 Hello, Mike! I've been to three "Great Lakes Annual Spring Spree" events (now Chapter Rallies hosted by the Michigan Knights of the Highway), and two of the new Area-sponsored "GLAMARAMA" rallies. All good-sized events, all in large fairgrounds with more than enough room between coaches. Perhaps, there could also be some room for a smaller "up close and personal" event in your schedule. Might I politely suggest the "MERFI's Law" Rally on 20-23 August, in conjunction with the "Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-In"? The airplanes are coming to Grimes Field, and the RVs are coming to the Champaign County Fairgrounds, both in Urbana, Ohio. I just happen to be the Rallymaster for this event (my fourth Chapter Rally so far), and I've planned / plotted a few goodies to enjoy! Peek at the "Calendar" page at "ohio nomads dot com" for some details. Can you ever have enough "Happy Cybercamping"? Michael Canode, F13059S

17 April 2015 11:20 Hopefully, someone else in this Forum are has noticed what I just noticed: namely, that 45-foot type-A owners, 19-foot type-B owners and 28-foot type-C owners get along generally very well in the FMCA: both in the real world, and online. I attended an "anniversary" rally a few years ago for a brand-specific RV club. I enjoyed the rally overall, except when I mentioned what my "rig" was in conversations with other attendees. Unfortunately, I received such responses as "That's not an [insert brand name]", "Go join Good Sam" and "This is our rally, not yours" from over a dozen attendees. After five years of membership, I left that club, and put the dues I had been paying toward my NZMCA membership. I have never heard one discouraging word from any FMCA member since I re-joined the Association in 2001 (or for that mattter, when my parents and I were members in the late eighties). The only thing I might like to see is at least one of the FMCA Executives traveling in a type-B coach at one of the Area Rallies or Conventions. If not, maybe I should consider running for a position after I retire. How about a nice hot cup of "Happy Cybercamping"? Michael Canode, F13059S

17 April 2015 11:05 The notes on long trips and "toad" vehicles piqued my interest in this part of the Type B Forums. In the thirteen years I have owned my current coach, I have made four extended trips -- two to Florida, and one each to New Mexico and Wyoming. My Airstream's tank capacities are good for five to six days before I would need to use a campground or rest stop to dump my drain and toilet tanks. As to a "toad", my 2003 Chevy Cavalier behaves well when "following" on its Blue Ox Aventa LX tow bar and RSA ReadyBrake auxiliary brake-cable system. The Cavalier has the four-speed GM automatic transaxle, and I start the engine once around half-way along each day's trip, and cycle the gearshift through the steps to circulate the transmission fluid. Even more "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13049S

17 April 2015 10:50 One update worth noting... at the Southeast Area Rally in Sarasota, there were (as I remember) 813 "family coaches" in attendance. Along with "Baby Newell II", there were 44 type-B coaches -- quite a large percentage increase over the last several Conventions and Area Rallies I have attended. I also had a chance to examine the new Coach House "Arriva" type-B coach on display there, as well as peeking at an Arriva being fitted out at the plant in Nokomis. Split rear bathroom (sink and toilet on the street side, shower stall on the curb side) -- split twin / full bed in the middle, galley forward and a very clever modular table / workspace behind the driver's seat. More than somewhat tempting! Yet again, "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13059S

27 Feb 2015 - Yet again, Hello! I returned last week from the Southeastern Area Rally in Sarasota. WOW! 44 Type B coaches out of 863 "family coaches" in attendance! I also got my first look at the Coach House "Arriva": the closest match yet to the floor plan of my Airstream 190 (still, IMHO, the roomiest and most easy-living Type B interior around). I'm coming to the Advanced RV Open House Rally, and hosting a Rally of my own, in conjunction with an aviation event at Grimes Field Airport in Urbana, Ohio - your choice of dry-camping next to the airport, or powered sites with the Ohio Nomads at the county fairgrounds. "Baby Newell II" is now back in winter hibernation, but it's just over two months to wait before the BIG EVENT FOR THE SMALL COACHES! "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13059S

27 Feb 2015- I'll be there as well. Type-B coaches are on the rise: I noticed 44 out of 863 "family coaches" at the SEA Rally in Sarasota were type B's, and Coach House had a new, well-planned type-B coach on display: rear bathroom, mid-coach beds, dining / workstation table right behind the driver's seat. Most impressive. Still, Advanced RV has definitely become the "avant-garde" in our community! "Happy Cybercmping!" Michael Canode, F13059S

27 Feb 2015 - I was at the SEA Rally, and became one of the "charter members". The "Frosties Chapter" is just a bunch of FMCA members who would gather at a "Wendy's" restaurant, purchase a "Frosty" frozen beverage and sit down for an informal chat - just about any topic short of politics or controversies. I was interested in the "Frosties Chapter" because my hometown is the birthplace of "Wendy's", and the nearby city of Dublin, Ohio is home to the company's headquarters. "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13059S

15 January 2015 18:35 Hello again, Rob! Something connected in my memory about NZ modifications on US-built coaches. I met a couple on my third NZ adventure (Palmerston North, if memory serves), who were interested in a US trip, buying a coach they would bring back with them. I suggested a 1970's GMC motorhome, It's a narrow, but still roomy type-A coach with a one-piece fiberglass shell and a large removeable rear panel for big modifications. Its powertrain is the same as the Oldsmobile Toronado, and there are are outfits in the US as well as NZ who can handle the RHD refitting. "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, #19250 / F13059S

No vacation available in May 2014, but I'm heading there in May 2015. Baby Newell II just had some much-needed repairs, so I'll be ready for the unplugged outing. Yet again, "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode

15 January 2015 18:00 I just sent my registration in for "AdvancedFest 2015", so I hope to meet more than a few of you type-B owners this spring. I've also been to the recent RV shows in Cleveland and Columbus, where I noticed that Winnebago Industries has presented a rear-bathroom coach on the Sprinter chassis, similar to the Leisure Travel Vans version -- including the driver's-side slide-out. For my own part, I'd really like to see a coach layout like my Airstream's, with a four-way sofa bed, but built on a Sprinter, Travato / Ram Master or Nissan chassis. It doesn't need a slide-out, and avoids that "pinch point" in the middle of the coach to squeeze in a center bathroom. And keep an eye on the Chapter Rallies schedule for my little event in Urbana, Ohio this August! "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode

10 November 2014 21:30 Hello, "marinedad" One point you raised in your post attracted my attention: the question of braking a "toad" when connected to your coach wheels-down". I found one solution which has worked out well for me. RSA Products in Iola, Kansas has a simple, straightforward intertial / cable braking system called "Readybrake". Two cables in the "toad" car - one for conventional braking, and the other for emergency "breakaway" operation - are installed, and an inertial activator shaft connects between the tow bar and the coach. As a single RV traveler, I like the fact that I can connect and disconnect the entire system myself, and it takes up much less storage space than the electric / pneumatic / hydraulic units you have to set up in the "toad" every time you travel. It's also one of he most inexpensive braking systems out there - around $500-650 for the whoel system. Check out "readybrake dot com" for more info. "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13059S Webmaster - FMCA Ohio Nomads Chapter

10 November 2014 20:30 Yet More Greetings, Type B "Forumites" ("Foruminians"? "Forumembers"?) I must apologize once more for leaving the Forum untouched. Again, still being in the working world has placed a bit of a burden on other pursuits. I've read the recent entries, and "Bar20"'s commentary on the differences in Type B coaches made many valid points. Concerning "SoupyDad"'s enquiry about the two Type B coaches he mentioned, I examined one of the Leisure Travel coaches at an RV Show in January 2014. This one was the model with the slide-out sofa-bed module, cut right along the body seams behind the driver;s door. The workmanship aound the seams was excellent, and the interior storage layout was very clever - and nice-looking to boot. However, it was apparently impossible to make the bed without extending the slide-out. This would run contrary to the FMCA's "Overnight Parking Etiquette" policy for stopovers at the "World Alliance of Locations with Motorhomes At Rest Temporarily" And, not that I'm being brand-pushy or anything, but I have mentioned in previous postings tha the Airstream 190 coaches (notably 1997 through 2000) do have full rear bathrooms. No, you can't have mine! I need it to go to the Southeast Area Rally in Sarasota next February! Here's to as much "Happy Cybercamping" as you can get! Michael Canode, F13059S

The video puts me in mind of the time I toured the Newell Coach facility in Miami, Oklahoma. It's pleasing to see that there are innovative RV manufacturers... no, artisans out there, who have given the Type-B community the kind of options normally associated with the "big rigs". :Happy Cybercamping! Michael Canode, F13059S

15 April 2014 23:50 Hello, again! Yes, I'm still here in the FMCA, the Type-B community... and still in the "working world". Post-holiday through early spring are the busiest times for technical-support people. I'll be at the June Great Lakes area rally ("GLAMARAMA") in Indiana, and I'm hosting a Chapter Rally in Lithopolis, Ohio this September. As to the forum arrangement, the Type B forum was by itself during development and into the first year of the new site's operation. I believe it was simply a matter of space and capacity on the "server" which caused HQ to combine the B,C and Super-C (that's a type-C coach on a heavy truck chassis -- nose looks like a tractor-trailer rig, body looks like a wide type-A) forums. I saw a note in another part of the Forums, which called type-B coach owners the "trendsetters" in the motor coach world. I could see that being true: when space is at a premium, a lot more thought goes in to where / what / how the coach fits together. More to come around / after GLAMARAMA. "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13059S / NZMCA #19250

27 March 2014 9:55 Hello, Type B fans! I'm the owner of an Airstream 190 type-B coach, and I did an experimetnal survey amongst the type-B members at the Madison, Wisconsin convention. It seems that we in our coach community are interested in a Chapter of our own, and yet the ways and times we travel in our coaches varies much more than in owners of the "big rigs". The simple fact that I am still in the "working world" means that I can't attend all of the conventions and area rallies I would like. Perhaps, one way to form a chapter would be to set up a "community" of type-B owners in each FMCA geographic area, and then have a pool of members in that area serve as the Chapter Officers for a term. The Officers would answer to the membership via online feedback to a Web site or social-network page. After their term, members from another area would fulfil the next term. "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13059S / NZMCA #19250 Webmaster, Ohio Nomads Chapter

8 June 2010 11:10 I have just returned home from hosting my first Chapter Rally event, the "Keep 'Em Flying Rally" in Urbana, Ohio. The information I received in the first two replies on this Forum were very helpful, and I would like to follow on from that with a few bits of advice gleaned from my own experience. 1) It is possible for one person to host a Chapter Rally. It is not, however, the best way. Don't be bashful about requesting help, either from the Chapter members who pre-register, or from the early arrivals. In the most recalcitrant cases, you may be able to bribe assistants by offering them a rebate on their Rally fee, in echange for their services. I didn't need to do that at Urbana: enough attendees were willing to help, but I was reticent to accept it, on the grounds that "I'm supposed to do that: it's the Rallymaster's job". 2) When choosing a Rally venue, consider whether or not a branch of your local bank is nearby. Many of your Rally attendees will be paying for catered dinners, "drop-in" Rally reservations and so forth with checks, which may require one or more "runs on the bank" to deposit them during the Rally. And, if you don't have a "toad" with you, that means disconnecting your coach from its site to make the trips, or asking a Rally attendee to take you to the bank. 3) When coffee and doughnuts are served, remember that the large coffee urns may take more than 30 minutes to brew a full load. You can save time and hassle by "pre-staging" the urn after each use: dispose of the spent grounds and unused coffee, clean the urn and refill with fresh water and grounds. That way, it will only require turning the urn on to start the brewing cycle before the next serving. 4) I found it very beneficial to have a wireless broadband adapter with my laptop computer, as it enabled me to keep the Rally attendees informed about fast-breaking weather information. Since I'm only 'on the road' in my coach around five weeks per year, I chose a pre-paid plan which I can use when I need it, and leave idle when I'm not in my coach. Well, I finished the Rally on Monday 7 June. The results were: a. 19 coaches and 40 attendees. b. 11 dozen doughnuts, 280 cups of coffee, 19 litres of lemonade, 40 bottles of water and 33 kilograms of ice used. c. 40 catered dinners served. Roughly, the Rally cost US$2300 to operate, a tad over US$100 more than was received in reservation fees. That's not necessarily a failure, as it isn't easy to predict how may people will be coming to a Rally, and set the Rally fees in advance to ensure that all of the Rally's expenses will be met. I am pleased to say that the surveys I received (I placed two survey forms in each 'welcome bag') were overwhelmingly positive. I'm not necessarily going to host "Keep'Em Flying II", but I did have fun, and I'm interested in hosting more Chapter Rallies in the future. "Happy Cybercamping!" Michael Canode, F13059S Webmaster - FMCA Ohio Nomads Chapter