Made the trip to Madras, OR. (
S33) to view the
Erickson Aircraft Collection. Madras is 80 nm from Salem and the weather had been VFR all week
leading up to Saturday, but in typical Willamette Valley fashion the ceilings
at KSLE were MFVR Saturday morning while across the cascades at Madras, the
conditions were VFR.
 |
| On top headed to S33 |
After a short IFR climb to on top, it was a beautiful flight over the Oregon Cascades. We entered the pattern about an hour later for landing on runway 34. After securing the airplane on the ramp, the museum was a short walk to the
north end of the airport. The museum is actually a large hangar and houses
about 20 aircraft and most of them are still in flying condition. The museum
also had lots of WWII memorabilia such as uniforms, newspaper clippings, etc.
One of the unique items was the once top-secret Norden Bombsite.
 |
| Norden Bombsite |
After taking lots of photos and exploring the airplanes, it
was time for lunch and we elected to make the short flight to KBDN for bbq at
the
Pickled Pig. After devouring some
competition grub, we fueled up and departed home for Salem.
 |
| Has prop and jet engines |
