Good air

Lately I have been making "Dawn Patrol's". I check the local strips & make sure no aliens have landed during the night. I wander aimlessly around from covington To Eatonville & back. I'll practice what passes for a low pass with me by flying 1000' AGL over lakes Ohop & Kapowsin, and all the way to Orting. Usually it is calm out so early, but if there is turbulence it is worse closer to the hills & higher up. We had some real nice air this winter. I took advantage of them to land at Spanaway & find then land at Shady Acres. Shady is a fun strip to land on. Summer would be less of a challenge, but i hit it with snow on the ground. Deep enough to keep me honest & on the pavement. It was calm so I didn't have to back taxi. With those two I think i have landed at most of the local places. Except Vashon. I have seen Vashon from the ground as well as having flown over. I am waiting till they log it all off. A few mornings about all I could manage was a quick flight from Boeing to Auburn. Makes for a fine Saturday morning in glum winter weather. I don't need much ceiling to hop ten minutes down the valley. Heck I don't even need a chart. Then i get to hang out at Auburn Airport lounge to listen to some sage hanger flying from the more seasoned aviators . My wife doesn't get it. I could drive fifteen minutes to Auburn & have Coffee. Or I can drive fifteen minutes to Boeing, hop in a C-150 & fly to coffee. It makes perfect sense to me , & I bet if you're reading my blog then You too would take option "b" and drive the equal distance to Boeing. And on those lucky morning that I find good air I can fly around my little sandbox, and make sure hoards of tanks are not rolling out of the hills to invade our way of life.

Holes in the Sky

It was TJ's idea. He had seen a sign advertising the War birds Museum in Nampa Idaho while visiting his Aunt."It's a destination, Dave." He said. That's all we need , a destination. so this trip had been planned , the three of us, TJ, Lauri, & I were flying to Nampa. Museum hours were 10 to 5, but we needed to be done at the airport by 3 to suit his aunts plans. That gave us a 9 am last departure time to allow time to see the P-40 Warhawks , among the collection. I awoke just after 4AM. I wandered out to the deck and peered upward.
the Moon broke out of the overcast, then dimmed as a few wisps of cloud and teased me with a clear full view. A sight that only lasted a few minutes before once again the clouds hid the bright glow of the reflecting surface of the Moon. but that was enough. After quickly showering and dressing ,I gathered my bags left at the stair the night before and kissed my wife before locking the house behind me. One last wave and I am on my way to Auburn. It has been a long time since I have been up this early, or out this late, and the traffic is sparse. It is not long before my Breakfast Jack is served and I have driven across the street and into the airport. The Moon, it still teases me. How big are those holes I wonder? I keep seeing them so I believe there is hope I can fly thru one to the bright clear VFR I know awaits me on top.TJ and Lauri are on the way as soon as I call, we board and taxi to the line, mags check, radio call , pullout a,turn and apply the throttle. in less than a minute we are climbing out. Late, I pull up the take off flaps and the Cherokee immediately responds by jumping up to 120 mph. Gathering speed we are soon hurtling along under the scud at better that 140 looking for those holes we saw. Finding what looks like an opening I use my airspeed to zoom up at over 1000 FPM. The sky closes up and we are between layers. The lower layer is scattered and the ground below can still be seen. I circle. Checking the GPS I assure myself I am outside the 3000' class B lid.I can go to 5 if I need to, but the tops should not be that high. .Pacing back and forth over eastern King county we probe first one than another glimpse of blue.It is just to early I decide. Going back to Auburn, TJ asks to be let out while I gas up again. We load on almost full tanks this time. with over 40 gallons I have the range to make Nampa with a hour reserve. Computer weather doesn't give me much hope, but the moon keeps on teasing us with prolonged gaps in the clouds that reveal the bright crescent of the moon. Although it is loaded heavier than I have ever been, the aircraft easily climbs out. Soon we are again chasing spots of blue above us. Each time I zoom up until my airspeed drops off and the cloud begins to creep closer. With the opening misting over I dive back to the still visible surface below me. the metar's seem to have reported a higher ceiling up north, so I decide to try to look there for an opening. Even if I have to gas up later because it takes longer to get out we can still make Nampa before 1 local.I talk to Renton , then flight watch. I am not given much hope, and as we cruise north the layers only get worse. We are not going to Nampa today.

Great NW Air Race

We had the windows open as we slowly followed the biplane down the taxiway. There was no hurry now,we were awaiting the departure of the scheduled airline. Our timing was good, the fastest plane stops for less than a minute before the turboprop full of paying passengers rolls out to the runway. Then it is on. The fastest classes depart at 15 to 30 second intervals. We creep forward steadily , till at last the biplane turns into the wind and accelerates away. He is much faster so I am waved out a mere 15 seconds later. I climb to 1000 agl and accelerate toward the start line. It is only a few minutes on this heading until we reach the confluence of the Wenatchee River & Columbia, our next Checkpoint. Gil, my Co-pilot, calls the turn and I pivot the Cherokee to the right as we follow the gorge of he Colombia northward. Chelan is on our left as we climb gradually just enough to clear the bluff ahead by the merest of margins. 200 ft is good enough for me, then everything gets light as I nose over on the far side losing a few hundred feet before the turn at Anderson Field, Brewster. The Southeast leg to Mansfield takes us over a few dry valleys and ranches. Below I spot a few developed lots among a maze of roads & graded right of ways for future roads. All part of a grand scheme of a bustling community of homes and dreams that never sold or came true. A few had pioneered , only to have a vast sprawl of roads without homes surrounding them. The next ridge was cleared by a few hundred feet and the altitude maintained. This kept us 1000 agl over the turn at Mansfield. I made one of my mistakes next. Crossing the next ridge I saw a small town at the base of the next rise , and assumed it to be Quincy. It wasn't. I was far short, but I had let down and now the climb cost me. over one more ridge , past a cell tower, and there it was, Quincy. But where is the airport? Gil spots something ,He thinks it is the field, but I can't see it. I keep flying on another few precious miles before I realize I have to be past it. Banking hard right I steady on the final heading hoping the Grumman who had been a mere two minutes behind as we called in to Quincy had not past me.The gauges were all good.EGT steady just ROP. RPM at max cruise 75%. There the edge of the gorge again, now I can descend another few hundred feet and pick up a few more mph. The 5 mile call. the Grumman calls in too. We are neck and neck. I know he is straining to see me. Gil and I are frantically looking to the plane we know is very close and only two hundred feet above. We sped on,tugging the throttle out a touch to be sure i am getting all the throttle the POH allows.(It is a shared airplane, I might consider running at full T/O rpm if I owned it outright.) A red roof, we are aiming for a red roof and there it is! keep it smooth & steady center the ball, everything slick.Without a single noticeable difference it is over. The red roof has vanished beneath us and I am cooling of the engine. Slowing to pattern speed. The Grumman beat me by seconds, but he is not in my class. The waiting is as exiting as the race itself, then they announce , " The winner of the GOLD in FAC3FX, Dave Rice, in a PA28-180, at 136.95 mph. My first air race , my first win. My co-pilot Gil was a great help. We had chow and chatted with the other racers before we made our return over the rocks to the green side of the hill.












sgl over the turn at Mansfield

Expanding the sandbox

It was a clear calm Saturday morning . After a cup of coffee at the Auburn Pilot lounge, I took 34H, the 172, south past Eatonville. I climbed as I reached the hills around Alder Lake. I've read Sparky's book, and was not sure if these were mountains but I still tried to gain 2000' over the peaks. I had reached nearly 7,000' before I spotted the town of Morton. Descending at the top of the green arc I made my first call about 8 out. An answer came from local traffic with an advisory. Morton is a small strip on the east edge of town. The 25 x 1800' paved runway is not especially hard to approach if you are landing 25. On the west side is rather imposing terrain rising steeply just south of Hwy 12. The Ultralight crowd has Strom Field buzzing with activity. The advisory had come from a Trike motoring about over the tops of the hills. I flew out to Riffe Lake before reversing and coming into 25 on a dogleg approach. After some chat with the ultra light crowd I departed on 7 and continued East toward Packwood. The valley is pleasant & wide, Hwy 12 clearly leading the way. Packwood at last appeared as I rounded a left hand bend in the valley. Having not heard anything on the CTAF I made the straight in on 1. At 2400'x38 Packwood poses no challenge. They were mowing the edges while I was there. I used the permanent facility to relieve my bladder then remounted & took of on 19. Hugging the North side of the valley till near Randall kept me directly over 12. At Randall I veered over to the south side of the valley and followed the River to Riffe Lake. Having camped there many years ago it was interesting to see the lake from above. It is spring, so it was not surprising to observe the water level was quite high. Many areas often dry, were now under water. Overflying the lake at about 1000 agl was very smooth and provided a great view. Finally we were at the dam then Mossyrock. There are several private strips marked on the chart but only found a couple. I did find Fantasy Field, and circled it. Not seeing anyone I set course for Chehalis. I actually did a proper pattern at Chehalis and upon parking immediately noticed a familar Ercoupe. Sure enough , It was Ercoupe Eddie And his flying partner Gene. After a chat they got gas, and it was time for me to head home. Two and a half hours on the hobbs, and two new airports in my log book. Best of all , my sandbox got bigger.

My sandbox

I have been farther afield, but today I wanted to grow my familiarity of the area close to home. I had flown past Eatonville south over Alder lake , before returning to the known safety of the flat lands. Today I pressed on , following the highway south and climbing until I spotted Morton.Not having a lot of experience in Mountain flying( I have read Sparkys book) I had climbed to almost 7000' to be 2000' above the peaks of the nearby hills. It was smooth so I made a powered decent into the valley around Morton. I made my radio call and received a reply for Morton area traffic. After overflying the airport I finally spotted what looked like a hang glider off my right wing. A trike He corrected me. Not liking the narrow ( by my standards) valley I flew to Riffe lake to turn around. I had good speed control on approach so the short 1800' runway was no issue in the 172.The Trike had reported light winds, local smoke confirmed that. I launched back to the east, avoiding the right turn to avoid the mountain. next time I will work on flying a proper pattern in the tight confines of the valley. I decided to suck it up and continue to Packwood since I had come this far. Since I was low, I stayed low, taking in the sights. The peaks, still spotted with snow loomed above my wingtips warning me of their power. Knowing my destination was mere miles up the valley, and seeing the blip on the Garmin inching closer, I flew on. Rounding the corner of a small hill on the left I spotted the strip. I made my calls , and saw mower's off to the sides of the area, clearly not a factor. After using their permanant outhouse facility's I again took off in reverse of my landing. Flying 1000 AGL along highway 12 provided plenty to see as the Cowlitz meandered below me. Carrying it's load of spring silt and runoff downriver. At Randall a pilot called in his arrival to the private airport there, I responded with a position report first then a sighting. A short time later I announced my crossing the valley as he landed. He was home at his airpark. The Cowlitz passes south of the hill by Morton, and soon the campground and several of my past fishing sites rolled below me. It was a beautiful flight along the lake till finally the damn then Mossyrock & it's damn were behind me. the charts listed a number of private strips in the area but other than Fantasy Field Ionly spotted one. I circled Fantasy once but not seeing anyone, set course for Chehalis. Stretching my legs at Chehalis I saw what looked like a familiar Ercoupe. Sure enough it parks one hangar over at Auburn. After edging around Grey & McCord's airspace, Making a position report south of Thun traffic I finally rolled into the home valley at Orting. My sandbox is slowly getting a little bigger.

Fly like Bob

Reading the auto biography of the greatest pilot of all time , I read that he became airsick during his first flights. This queasiness persisted after his soloing. His solution was to fly through it. He did loops , rolls, and stunts until his stomach acclimated. One cannot go far astray following the advice of Bob Hoover. Last weekend I started out bound from Auburn. about 3 miles out I decided that it was not a very pleasurable day to be flying, so I returned and put the aircraft away. Easter Sunday began with a calm clear still, cloud free morning. I was informed I was not required to be at my daughter's for Easter breakfast until 11AM. When I took off at 8:30 it was still calm at the surface. I had expected it to be glass smooth and was surprised by the mild but persistent turbulence.Later I learned that the winds above 3000' were over 25 knts. That caused a layer of shear below 3000', making for a bumpy ride. However today I stuck it out. Occasionally dropping down in the valley's around Kapowsin & Ohop to carve the "canyon" (at close to 1000agl). Then climbing back into the rough air . My left hand started to go to sleep from gripping the yoke, I had to ease my grip, pilot with my right, and flex my hand a few times. I don't expect to be the next Bob Hoover. I have no real desire for acro. It would be nice to be a bit more relaxed in rough air, a to fly a bit more like my Dad, Who my Uncle Called the best instrument pilot he had ever known, and a bit more like Bob, the greatest stick & rudder pilot of all time.

Because I can.

Recently a pilot lounge blowhard told me that " If you're doing something in an aircraft just because you can, You probably shouldn't be doing that.". Huh? OK, the comment was made shortly after I had expressed a desire to land on 13R at BFI, and make the Alpha one turn off, in a 150. I had questioned the penalties for landing on the displaced threshold and if they would even notice. I know I am capable of doing this, especially if I have a good headwind, but would never risk a violation or penalty just to say I did. The way the statement was made was that anything one did in a plane just for bragging rights was wrong. I guess if I were to believe that, it would mean quitting flying. Much of my flying is just to say " I did it". Would I believe that landing at Eatonville, Port Orchard, Eugene, Concrete and Monroe to be something I should not have done? Does he mean I should not keep myself night current? Or stop taking occasional IFR lessons, with no real desire to fly IFR. Is there a reason I should not have taken advantage of a beautiful day to cross the rocks to Ellensburg? I really enjoyed the Out of the Blue poker run, and flying the Cherokee to Dave Wheelers Hanger party. I was hoping to go to Apex now that it is open the the public. Is there a great danger in that I am unaware of? Again this yr I hope to attend the Fantasy Field Fly-in , landing at the private grass strip in a 150. I often drive from Des Moines to Auburn, pay my bill there, then fly to BFI to pay my Alt Air dues. Just because I can. Mostly, I fly just because I can. The best part about flying , is , just because I can. I may not know everything about flying(or anything else),and I may not be the highest skilled pilot, but education fixes that. Stupid is forever.