Scenic Flight Around Mount St. Helens

I had a client who wanted to fly a relative around Mount St. Helens so we decided to turn it into a dual cross country by landing at an airport greater than 50 miles from our point of departure along the way. It was beautiful June day with light winds so we were able to fly around the mountain without getting bounced around as one typically would on a warm summer day.

Circling
Mount St. Helens

Short Hop Across the Oregon Cascades

I have been trying to fly over to Bend this winter, but the weather hasn't cooperated on the days that I'm free to fly. A clear day finally arrived and  we loaded up the club's 182 and departed for KBDN. As we climbed to 7,500, we pointed the airplane between Mt. Washington and Three-Fingered Jack, which kept us clear of two wilderness areas and offered one of the lower eastbound mountain crossing altitudes. As we got closer to the pass, we climbed briefly to 8,500 to increase our margin for terrain clearance and looked for our crossing point, which was the junction of highway 22 and highway 20. There is also a state airport (8S3) at that junction that makes for an ideal landmark.

Over Santiam Junction (8S3)

After crossing the pass, we started our descent into Bend and dialed up the AWOS and started monitoring the KBDN CTAF frequency. At about 15 miles, the airport was visible and we setup for a right pattern entry to runway 16. Though the sectional and third party airport information websites sites list the pattern flow as left traffic, there is a permanent NOTAM in place that calls for right traffic to runway 16 for fixed wing aircraft as there is a high volume of helicopter training at the airport and rotorcraft fly left traffic for the same runway.

After landing, we fueled the plane and walked across the tarmac to the Pickled Pig Restaurant. The restaurant is located on the second floor of one of the FBO’s and has nice views of the airport both inside and from the outside deck. They serve breakfast all day and tout their award winning barbecue on the menu.

The flight back was slightly bumpy as the winds had picked up and the temperature had warmed since our arrival. The forecast called for a broken layer forming at 5:00 pm, but was starting to form a little earlier than expected, so we had to pick our way in between and sometimes over the cloud layer. We opted in most cases to climb above the deck instead of going under in order to keep a safer altitude above terrain to avoid turbulence and other mountain phenomena that occur when wind blows across a ridge. 

Mt. Jefferson and Three-Fingered Jack

Overall, I’d recommend the Pickled Pig as a breakfast or lunch destination if looking for a fun flying outing and mountain crossing. Though, I’d recommend going early in the morning and returning before the afternoon winds and temperatures rise as the ride could be quite bumpy (especially in the Summer).

Dinner in Chehalis

Willamette River at Sunset

One of our recent club fly-outs was to Chehalis, WA. (KCLS), to grab some dinner and get the opportunity to log some night cross country time. We departed before sunset and enroute watched the sun set and eventually see the skies darken as we crossed into Washington. The Willamette Valley had experienced some snow a day or two prior to the flight, so there were some photo opportunities for snow covered arial shots.

We arrived at KCLS in the dark and after parking, made the short walk to the Riverside Golf Club adjacent to the airport. After a nice meal, we loaded up and flew home on a cold clear night which seemed to offer unusually exceptional visibility as we were able to see the lights of Salem from what seemed like 75 miles away.

2016 AOPA Fly-in

This year, Bremerton (KPWT) was one of AOPA’s fly-in destinations. Since I wasn’t able to attend the last fly-in in Spokane, I thought it would be fun to fly up to KPWT and attend the event. I have flown into KPWT numerous times while living in Washington, but getting to fly there from Salem was almost like a 'new’ destination, so I invited couple of fellow aviators to come along and enjoy the adventure. The main event was held on a Saturday, but Jeppesen hosted a BBQ the night before so we decided to fly up on Friday and camp out.

The unique aspect of the AOPA fly-ins is the fact that 100’s of airplanes will be converging on the airport over the two day event. So much so that there is a published NOTAM with special VFR arrival procedures and the normally non-towered airport at Bremerton becomes towered of sort by utilizing an air-boss on a special frequency (not the CTAF frequency) to handle the arriving and departing traffic. 

VFR Arrival Procedure

The flight up to KPWT went as planned and after arriving over Olympia, we followed the published procedure for south arrivals. After calling the air boss on the special frequency he instructed us to fly the procedure and after entering the terminal area instructed us to cross midfield and enter a right downwind. There were four airplanes ahead of us in the pattern and probably five more behind. We were given a clearance to land and given a turn-off point for the camping area. After setting up our tents we headed to the main event area for the BBQ and live music. The main stage was in a very large hangar and there were numerous large tents set up for the next day’s activities and vendor exhibits, as well as a static display of vendor’s aircraft. The most notable new airplane was the Piper M600 featuring the Garmin G3000 avionics suite and GFC 700 autopilot. 

This airplane also has hypoxia recognition which will automatically command the airplane into an emergency descent to a lower altitude if certain pilot inputs are not given while in the flight levels. 

Over KPWT (lots of airplanes parked on the closed runway)

Band Setting Up Around the B-17

The highlight of the evening was a U2 cover band (fake Irish accent, Bono sunglasses and all ), with an old bomber parked behind the stage for a backdrop.

Saturday started with some entertainment by listening to the airport frequency on my handheld as the air boss managed airplane after airplane as they arrived into the Bremerton area. There must have been 30 planes that landed between 6:30 and 7:30 am. After that, we headed to the pancake breakfast and scored some swag at the vendor tent. The remainder of the day continued with aviation seminars, followed by a pilot’s town hall presented by Mark Baker the president of AOPA.

We decided to return to Salem a little early in order to beat the rush of departures and took the opportunity to fly to Langley (W10) which is one of my favorite $100 destinations in the Puget Sound area. W10 is located on the South end of Whidbey Island and adjacent to the runway is Mukilteo Coffee Roasters which has some off the finest airport food and coffee around. The airport is nestled in the trees with a 2470' x 25’ North/South runway.

After enjoying a latte at the restaurant (and wishing that this place was 25 minutes from Salem), we departed for the one and a half hour flight back to Salem. The flight back was smooth and was able to get a clearance to climb through the Seattle class B airspace which allowed us to fly south over Puget Sound until having to turn toward Olympia in order to avoid the active restricted areas south west of Joint Base McChord. Overall, it was a good trip and recommend to everyone to try and attend an AOPA Fly-in in the future.

Disc Golf

I've been looking for other alternatives to the $100 hamburger and recently decided fly to an airport that had a disc golf course nearby. After some searching and looking at satellite images, I found a course near Cottage Grove, OR., (61S).  After pitching the idea to some fellow disc golfers from work, we found a free Saturday that worked for us all and planned to depart early morning, fly to 61S and play 18 holes and then grab lunch nearby.  We loaded up in the club's 182 and made the 66 mile flight to Cottage Grove. After parking the airplane, we headed out the airport property and walked about a mile to the course. The actual entrance to the course was actually a mile or two farther, but the course was accessible adjacent a nearby road so we started our round on hole #5.

http://www.cottagegrove.org/community/page/cottage-grove-disc-golf-course

Update, Version 2.0

I recently relocated from the Seattle area to another region of the Pacific Northwest (near Portland, OR.) for a new job and new adventures. Along with moving, getting settled in a new area and Winter weather a day finally opened up for a day of flying. I had joined a local flying club back in September, but my schedule and nice weather days never seemed to line up. I managed to get airplane checkout flights in the club planes out of the way but today was my first time to be able to take a plane out and explore some new territory.

The morning started out foggy but the forecast called for clearing and warming by Noon and the coastal areas were forecast to be clear all day. After getting a weather briefing for the area, I opted to head West and do some sightseeing and get in a couple of landings at KONP and S45. The main goal of the flight was to get familiar with a different cockpit layout than what I was used to and to learn some of the landmarks around my new home airport. I also wanted to take in any nuances of the KSLE tower controllers and how they did things relative to other towers that I've been to. Obviously, phraseology is consistent with all things FAA, but every ATC has it's own "personality".

Glass to the Max

After a thorough pre-flight, I departed KSLE and headed West toward KONP. The C172 that I was flying is equipped with a full Garmin glass panel, not just a simple upgrade but full-on glass PFD/MFD and dual GTN's. But, I wasn't distracted by the eye-candy and kept to the task at hand and navigated by what I saw out the windows. Soon enough KONP was in site and after getting the automated weather decided the best runway was 02. After a landing and taxi-back, I headed North and pointed the nose up the coast for Siletz Bay. The airport was easy to find and after a flyover checking the windsock, I entered the pattern and landed on 17. I understand that there is a nice eatery across the highway from the airport called the Side Door Cafe, so I'll make a trip back over to S45 and take in a meal. And besides, I don't have any favorite spots yet for Oregon so will write about this destination in a future blog entry. 

Arriving S45

After snapping a few photos on the ground at S45, I launched East and headed for KSLE. This time though, the sky had turned quite hazy and there were pockets of fog that made identifying ground landmarks difficult. So, I punched in my route on the GTN and tracked the CDI until I could at least make out the Salem area. From there it was easy to identify Independence and then the KSLE terminal area. After contacting the tower I requested some touch and goes and made a few before calling it a day. Overall, put 2.1 hours on the hobbs and am ready to get flying again on a regular basis.

So Long Niner Zero Seven

Today, after 377.9 hours as PIC of N52907, I waved goodbye to the the blue and white bird as the new owner flew her to Texas. 

Nearly eight years ago I inquired about an add in the Seattle Times for a 1/5 share of a 1974 182P.  At the time I had reached the point in many a pilots' journey that it was time to own or share the cost of ownership of an airplane. Renting was fine for day trips or short hops, but wasn't flexible for overnights or last minute getaways. So, after a few calls with the owners and a breakfast meet and greet, I bought a share of the airplane. I remember how "fast" the 182 seemed at the time compared to 172's that I'd been flying and dealing with the extra blue knob took some getting used to. But after a 10 hour insurance checkout, I was good to go. This airplane has taken me all over the Pacific Northwest, Canada and as far East as Montana. There have been failed alternators, broken valve guides, and other things that are par-for-the-course with a 40-year old airplane. The destinations and adventures in 907 are too numerous to mention (many are documented in this blog), but it was good run in this airplane and am looking forward to the next ownership opportunity that comes along.

Logbook Entry From 2006 Demo Flight In N52907