Erikson Aircraft Collection - Madras, OR. (S33)

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

Pancakes at Mulino

Made the annual hop over to Mulino for their pancake breakfast, hosted by the local EAA chapter.

Sisters, OR. (6K5)

The morning started out MFVR with 1800’ ceilings all around the valley, but the cloud cover only extended east to Stayton and and west to Independence so we climbed up over Independence for the climb eastbound over the cloud layer. After landing at 6K5 the pattern got really busy. Several more planes entered the area, including a 

Cessna 170 and Malibu after watching the two airplanes jockey for position we secured the airplane and headed into town.

Taxiing back to parking

With more than 23 restaurants in Sisters, we ended up at the Depot Café. The food was good and would recommend stopping when passing through Sisters. After breakfast we walked back to the airport and over the time we had been at breakfast, the temperature had risen and the automated weather was reporting 5100’ density altitude (the airport’s published altitude is 3168’). We departed runway 02 which is 3500’ long but has a displaced threshold for some extra take off distance. The runway also slopes down so plenty of runway to get airborne on this hot day.

Parked on the ramp at 6K5

Looking down runway 02

WAAAM - Hood River

Flew over to hood river (4S2) to visit the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum (WAAAM). The museum is a short walk from the west end of the airport and we arrived just in time to catch the airplane restoration tour. After the tour we took some time to browse the 3.5 acres of hangar space housing 130 cars and a similar number of airplanes. The day we were at the museum was also the “second Saturday” which is when they offer rides in some of the antique cars and airplanes.  

After the museum we walked across the street to the Twin-Peaks Drive-in for burgers and shakes. If you are looking for a $100 hamburger destination then 4S2 and the Twin-Peaks diner are for you!

2018 Orcas Island Fly-in

The first weekend in August, the Eastsound EAA chapter sponsors a fly-in and campout at KORS. KORS is located on Eastsound in the San Juan Islands, WA.  I have attended several times over the last decade and this year, I invited a couple of passengers to fly up and camp out with us. The 182 was our aircraft of choice as it can typically handle four passengers and camping gear. When we fly as a family with full fuel and cargo, the 182 is well within loading limits. But this year we had two non-family members who had their own camping gear and along with their combined passenger weight required some scrutiny in aircraft loading. After punching in the numbers in the Garmin Pilot weight and balance feature and using the ‘Quick Set Fuel’ option, we we’re good to go with 56 gallons of fuel and all of our stuff, while remaining just under max weight and within the flight envelope.

We loaded the airplane with two tents, four sleeping bags, camp chairs and miscellaneous items, and departed KSLE late Saturday morning for the planned two-hour flight. The flight north bound took us over Olympia, Bremerton, Port Townsend and then after getting a clearance with Whidbey NAS, we transitioned the class C airspace into the San Juan’s. You can navigate into the San Juan’s around the class C airspace, but on a weekend, traffic in that area can be pretty crazy so getting radar services is a good idea. We probably had half a dozen traffic advisories from the controller while crossing the Strait of Juan De Fuca into Eastsound. After getting dropped by Whidbey we setup for a right pattern for runway 34 at KORS.

When we landed, there were a lot of airplanes and tents lining the taxiway and we were marshaled into a spot on the grass where we pushed the airplane in and setup camp.

After getting the campsite situated, we made the short walk into town for a late lunch and a trip to the grocery store to pick up snacks. One of the things I like best about this fly-in is that EAA hosts a pot-luck dinner on Friday and Saturday night and the Orcas fire department hosts a pancake breakfast at the fire station across the street from the airport on Saturday and Sunday morning so you don’t have to pack a lot of food for the trip. 

After a nice lunch at a local cantina in town called Mijitas, we walked back to the airport for some relaxing time at the campsite and to enjoy looking at all the different airplanes including some vintage models. 

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast at the fire station and packed up the airplane for our next stop on the San Juan adventure. The plan was to do some kayaking and we had planned to fly to Friday Harbor and rent some kayaks for a few hours to tool around the harbor. But after checking the weather, KFHR was fogged in with a 100’ overcast. Fortunately, the marine layer in the San Juan’s doesn’t affect all of the islands all the time as KORS was clear and so was Roche Harbor (WA09). With that info we departed Orcas and made the 10-minute flight to Roche where we rented some kayaks and paddled around the marina and adjacent waters. Post kayaking, we grabbed some lunch at the Marina and headed home.

Marine Layer

Approach Into Roche Harbor