Going for a flight on the last day of vacation had worked out well after our trip in June, so prior to leaving for a week at the coast, I scheduled a couple of hours with 4KU for Sunday morning. Again the last day of vacation, and in my favorite plane.
The original plan was to fly from Twin Oaks to Astoria, overfly Ft Stevens, head south to Tillamook, and return to Twin Oaks. I’ve been to Ft Stevens many times including a visit during this vacation, and have wanted to see it from above.
The weather around Astoria was clear with little wind on Saturday prior to leaving the campground at Ft Stevens, and the flight looked possible.
When we arrived home, the forecast for Sunday was low clouds and mist.
So, on to plan B. Plan B was to fly around the south side of Mt Hood, turn north for a stop at Hood River, follow the Columbia Gorge west, turn south to Oregon City to avoid Portland’s class C airspace, and return to Twin Oaks. I could request transition through Portland’s class C, but it’s easy to avoid the need to do so.
We departed Twin Oaks at 7 am and turned east towards Mt Hood. It took only a few minutes to realize that Mt Hood was obscured in the haze and morning low clouds. We could fly above the clouds and haze, but then there would not be much to see below.
So, now were on to coming up with plan C on the fly. Plan C became a trip to Independence for breakfast. Independence is southwest of Salem, and includes the Starduster café at the airport.
It was a bit hazy in the Willamette Valley, but the air was nice and smooth, and along the way we saw several hot air balloons just south of Newburg. Pretty cool... We were about 2000ft above their altitude, and looked as though they were skimming the ground.
We approached Independence, and entered the pattern, and landed with no more than a squeak. Heatherle asked if that what’s referred to a squeaker. Yep, sometimes you get lucky…
We enjoyed a nice breakfast and headed back out on the ramp. Still feels a bit strange to walk out of a restaurant, headed for an airplane.
A quick preflight and we were taxiing for run-up and takeoff to head back to Twin Oaks.
On the return trip we had to lose some altitude at few points to maintain clearance from some pesky clouds, but it was nice to cruise along about 1000ft above the farmlands of the valley anyway. Audrey apparently was not so impressed with the view, and found the return trip a good time for a nap.
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