The Courtesy Car

The courtesy car was at one time commonly available at small airports for use by visiting pilots. Due likely to liability, few airports still offer a courtesy car.  Still, LebanAir Aviation at Lebanon State airport offers three.

Matti and I flew down to Lebanon State (S30) on a nice morning to pick up a courtesy, have breakfast, and look around town a bit.



The Miata was not available, but, compete with saddle blanket seat covers and a bag of dog treats, the Lincoln Towncar was.

Not the hight of performance or economy, but if I was in need of a luxury highway cruiser, the Towncar would be high on the list.

Breakfast was good, the company was great, and was the flight. I'll need to search for other destinations with available courtesy cars.

50th Anniversary

Recently, the Starks celebrated the 50th anniversary of Starks Twin Oaks with a barbecue, fly-in, open cockpit, and Audrey's favorite... a water slide.

There was also a video on a loop documenting the history of Twin Oaks.  

No other place quite like Starks, no other people quite like the Starks, and a fun day celebrating the place I learned to fly.

Unexpected Stop

Neither Sasha or Carolyn had been in a small plane, and Sasha has on occasion mentioned her fear of flying. Both had asked if I could take them along sometime.

A recent Friday looked like a great day to go have some breakfast and take a couple of friends along.

Taking someone new along is always fun, but not without unknowns with new passengers and a big breakfast. During the preflight I did quietly take a peek to make sure some sick-sacks were on board count.

The skies near Twin Oaks were mixed with low ceilings to the east, and clearing to the west. Current conditions towards Independence were good, with improving conditions forecast.

We made a turn to the west after departure to reach the clear, and turned south with good conditions.

As we approached the ridge south of Twin Oaks on the return from breakfast, we were met with solid overcast below. Hillsboro was reporting overcast at 1500ft, so we turned west to see if we could come in under the overcast from the lower terrain at that end of the valley.

As we descended in the clear, I could see that the overcast was to low in the west end of the valley to get under comfortably, so we we turned back east to land at Sportsman Airpark in Newberg. Here we could wait for the overcast to breakup, or call for a ride if it came to that.

Once on the ground at Sportsman, I called over to Twin Oaks to state the obvious that we would be late returning, then made a call to my boss, who I was overdue for a meeting with, and fill her in on our status. I knew she would be good with it.

After hanging around the office and ramp for an hour, the clouds began to break up north of us, and we launched back into the air for Twin Oaks.

Approaching the pattern, I talked with a pilot friend of mine that we'd seen on the ramp prior to departure, just now taking the runway. Apparently we had gotten out that morning just prior to the conditions becoming IFR, delaying their departure.

We got back to work a little later than expected, but it was a fun morning.

Made it to Bend and Sunriver

This time, we made the drive to Twin Oaks under some widely scattered clouds and a forecast for clearing and fairly light winds for all points along our planned route.

We departed in glass smooth air for the short trip over to Mulino (4S9), where we would meet up with any others from Mulino OPA that would also be flying out to Bend for breakfast.

After watching a Ryan PT-22 land and taxi into the grass, we settled into the FBO building and waited to see who else would show.  With such a great forecast for the day, we hoped to be joined by a good turnout.  By 9:00 we were a group of three planes departing Mulino, with a fourth meeting up with us along the way.

The plan was to travel south approx 30 miles before turning southeast climbing to 9,500 feet and following the Santiam Hwy over the Cascades, then on to Bend  (BDN). 

In route we checked in with each other on the air-to-air frequency, listened to others discuss troubles with the charging system on their aircraft, and watched the amazing scenery pass below as it changed from valley farmland, to tree covered foothills, to snow covered peaks.

 

As we reached the Santiam pass, our companions in the planes ahead began to report some turbulence descending over the high desert past the mountains.  Tightening our belts, and looking around the plane for any loose items, we began our descent down to 5,500, with Mt Jefferson’s 10,497ft peak off our left wing and Three Fingered Jack off the right.

It didn’t take long to enter the turbulence ourselves.  Not the worst we’ve experienced, but would remain consistent through our day in the high desert.

We overflew the Bend airport to descend and enter the pattern for 16, and wrap up the first leg of our day, ready for some breakfast.

The airport café is located above the FBO, with windows overlooking the ramp and runway beyond.  A total of 8 of us talked flying, watched planes come and go, and enjoyed our breakfast.

About noon, we all headed back to the ramp, wished each other a great flight, and went our separate ways.

We followed our OPA companions down the taxiway for run-up and departure on 34, listening to a towplane and glider communicate through the process of hooking up on the runway.  My glider knowledge is pretty limited, but it seemed like a pretty good day to find some thermals.  

Our next destination was Sunriver, so we climbed out and turned south, crossing the city of Bend, following Hwy 97 past Lava Butte and for a quick look at Paulina and East lakes, turning back north for Sunriver.

Our turn back north set us up nicely for a straight in approach for 36 at Sunriver.  I prefer to fly the standard pattern, giving time to be on speed and altitude for the final approach path and better awareness of other traffic, but we’d been listening to a quiet Sunriver CTAF for 20 minutes, I was nicely aligned with the runway, and, I had a few glasses of iced tea with breakfast.

We were greeted over the Unicom as we taxied in to park, as well as on the ramp by a friendly women on a bike from the FBO, asking if we needed any services.  Yes, restroom.

We gathered a change of clothes and the bike helmets we’d packed along from home, and headed for the FBO.

The FBO a selection of free loaner bikes, and the Sunriver Resort ( www.sunriver-resort.com ) has 35 miles of paved bike trails that wind through stands of Ponderosa and Lodgepole pine, along the Deschutes river, past horse stables, golf courses, swimming pools, lodges, and vacation homes.  We were off to tour the resort, and enjoy the beautiful high desert surroundings.  We really enjoy the Sunriver Resort, and will need to book a stay for out next visit.

As the afternoon became late, we turned our attention to topping off the plan with fuel, and the final legs of our trip, Madras and back home.

Climbing out, our expectations of increased turbulence were confirmed.  Fortunately the wind was light, so the turbulence was mostly due to convection, and not winds rolling off the mountains, or both.  But, after about 20 minutes of bouncing along after a long day, we decided to climb to smoother air, and head for home.  We’ll stop by Madras, and mark that off out Western Flight Tour, another day.

VFR cruising altitudes above 3,000 AGL are odd thousands plus 500 on a magnetic heading between 0 and 179 degrees, and even thousands plus 500 between 180 and 359 degrees.  The turbulence remained with us though 9,000, so we leveled out at 10,500 in smooth air that remained with us until descent on the west side of the Cascades.

Transitioning from snow and tree covered mountains, back into the relatively flat farmland of the Willamette valley, we turned northwest direct to Twin Oaks.

After refueling the plane and returning it to the hanger, checking in with Betty, and heading down the road, there was one more stop to make – Sushi!

Having the plane for the entire day to go where we wish sure was fun.

Approx 325 miles of ground covered (plus 8 by bike), 3.6hrs flying time, and 23 gallons of 100LL fuel.

Western Flight Tour

Flew down to Lebanon (S30) and picked up my Western Flight Tour passport book. (This day was also the third anniversary of my checkride)

The goal is to fly to each of the 13 airports located around Oregon listed on the flight tour, take a picture of yourself and airplane with an identifying feature in the background. Land at at least 6 airports on the list and you are entered in a prize drawing.

The flight tour ends with a barbecue and the prize drawing Sept 22nd at Lebanon airport. A few of the airports we've been to, most we have not. 

I'm looking forward to getting started!

www.westernft.com

Open Cockpit Day

The Pearson Air Museum, located at Pearson Field Airport (VUO), hosted its annual Open Cockpit Day.

The airfield has an interesting history, dating back to 1905 when Lincoln Beachey flew from Portland in a lighter than air craft, and landed on the polo field at the Vancouver Army Barracks.

Several aircraft were open to climb into the cockpit, including the North American T-28 pictured with Heatherle and Audrey at the controls.  Seemed to swallow them up when they climbed into the cockpit
  

The EAA had a Young Eagles event planned, which offers a short ride to kids ages 8 through 17 free of charge. The weather had stalled this activity until early afternoon when the ceilings became high enough for a few planes to get in.

Pearson is not a large or fancy museum compared to Evergreen or WAAM, but it is unique in it's early aviation airfield style, open restoration area, and other historical points of interest close by.

http://www.fortvan.org/pages/pearson-air-museum

Not Quite Bend and Sunriver...

Nearly a month ago, i had reserved a plane for the entire day. Our plan was to join the Mulino chapter of OPA for a fly-out to Bend for brunch. Audrey, Heatherle, and I would then fly south to Sunriver, returning in the evening.
Unfortunately, as Sunday approached, the weather forecast became more April showers than May flowers. But, if the weather didn't look especially promising for a trip over the Cascades, it was at least forecast to be sufficient for any number of destinations in the valley or Columbia Gorge.


Up early Sunday to pack up and get a weather briefing. Still looked like Bend would be possible by either going south before crossing the Cascades, or via the Columbia Gorge and The Dalles before turning south.

A few sprinkles began as I was pulling an assortment of airplanes out of the hanger to reach 4KU, then rain while prepping the plane, proving the effectiveness of a high wing as shelter.

After landing at a quiet Mulino airport, we intertained ourselves with an assortment of aviation magazine past issues, waiting to see who else would show.

Our small group ended up making the trek across the field for lunch at a local Mulino diner. 

Before leaving, we made a plan to fly over toward Troutdale (TTD) to enter the Columbia Gorge, then up to The Dalles (DLS).

Once airborne we could see that the ceilings were lower than forecast, and visibility had also decreased, so east of Oregon City, we decided to head back to Twin Oaks knowing the terrain from here would avoid the need to climb any higher.


While still VFR, it was probably the worst ceiling and visibility conditions I've flown, so I was happy with the decisions made, and to be back at Twin Oaks. It was kind of sad to leave a plane that I had for the entire day with only an hour of flight time though.



Audrey was not the least bit worried...