Marqtholomew

I just returned from a wonderful flight up the Oregon Coast in 3555L with my girlfriend. Last night I planned the flight from Hillsboro to Newport, then north following the coast to Astoria, and back to Hillsboro via Kelso/Longview. We did a full stop in Newport, but then decided that we’d rather be in the air to see the sunset, so I taxied back to runway 34 and we took off again.

The sunset itself was somewhat indistinct; the sun sort of blurred into the haze and then disappeared. After my co-pilot snapped a few pictures and took a video of low clouds near the Salmon River, I introduced her to some new flight controls: the rudder pedals, throttle, and the elevator trim. She did such a good job with straight-and-level flight at 4,500 that I had her initiate a climb to 7,500 as we approached Astoria. She kept the Turn Coordinator’s ball in the middle, performed a climbing turn to the right, and controlled the throttle as we leveled-off and returned to cruise flight. She did great–I was impressed!

Once night fell, I turned the instrument panel lights completely off for much of the return flight along the Columbia River so we could enjoy the darkness and the city lights beneath us–it was probably the most peaceful time I’ve experienced in an airplane. We landed in Hillsboro just minutes after the tower closed, exactly 3.0 hours after we departed.