Fred called my cell from the airport as I was driving home from work, and we made an impromptu flight to the coast, then to Salem for dinner. Fred was Pilot in Command, and I provided navigation services. We started west, with Tillamook programmed into the GPS as our first waypoint, dodging puny cumulus clouds as we cruised over the coastal range at 6,500 feet. It was as hazy as it has been for the last few weeks, and we couldn’t see the ocean until we were about 15 miles from Tillamook. After reaching the coast we couldn’t bear to leave, so we headed south along Cannon Beach to Pacific City before turning east to Salem.
Salem tower gave us Runway 31, and Fred made a fine landing; the approach was a little low, but it was nothing a little throttle couldn’t fix! I put Fred’s approach and landing up on Youtube. We had a nice dinner at the restaurant at the Salem Airport, and enjoyed a beautiful night flight back to Hillsboro.
After crossing the Newberg Ridge we encountered a sky full of pilots with English that was difficult to understand over the radio, to put it politely. The tower had closed, and one pilot reported he was “in the area at 2100 looking for the airport.” Poor guy–Fred helped him out by giving him a radial to fly from the Newberg VOR. We had difficulty making out some of the other transmissions, so we played it safe and overflew the field before entering the pattern. Having two pilots really made it a smooth flight; we could share the workload and the experience. Nice flight Fred!
May 18th, 2007 - 10:24 am
that was a cool flight…..My only regret was not doing more “touch and ah go’s” at HIO when we got back :}
May 23rd, 2007 - 7:35 pm
Great pictures. I think that if I became a pilot in the fashion you did, I’d be tempted to pay no attention to my controls and take constant pictures. What a cool opportunity. It must be a great feeling.