Second Step

Today I found it.
After visiting 10 dealers in two states, spending hours searching on-line, studying photos, and walking through what seemed like hundreds… I found my new traveling home! In my search I found units with features I liked, but never one with ALL - size, condition, room, comfort and price. Until now. I am the owner of a fifth wheel. Here she is.

Now it’s time to tell why I needed a fifth wheel.

It was my intention, upon retiring, to go flying, a lot. To land in every state, traveling until finally getting all the flying I want. A friend pointed out that a lot of money would be spent on hotels with this style of travel. To solve this problem, The Shuttle Method is conceived.

From Point A, I’ll pull my fifth wheel; say 300 miles to Point B. I’ll park it and make my way back to Point A by catching a ride with another pilot or by taking a bus or train. Next I fly back to Point B which is now my new base of operations. From here I can explore, camp, and make local flights until I’ve seen everything I want. Repeat as needed.


I'm so excited about my new CampHouse that I had to include this interior view. I'll make the three-hour drive to Oregon early next month to bring her home, with a side trip to a hot springs..got to try her out!

About 140 working days left until The Shuttle Method begins.

Winter Splendor

With Winter approaching fast, I’ve found myself thinking about this flight so thought I’d share it. In February of 2006, one of those magical winter days arrived with cold, clear skies inviting pilots and planes to come play. Michelle and I, flying my 172 left Chehalis at 8:00 am and spent the entire day exploring the mountains of Oregon.

Here we are at Country Squire with Mt Hood as a backdrop.

Then we got up close and personal with Mt. Jefferson. Please note that this photo was not zoomed in.
You cannot always fly this close to mountains, sometimes winds or other conditions make this unsafe, but today all the peaks had the welcome mat out.
Here is Mt. Washington.

This area along the Oregon Cascades from Jefferson south to Mt Bachelor are all set in an area that was previously volcanic. This is Three Finger Jack with The Sisters in the background.

Our flight required a great deal of circling to get just the right picture. Outside air temperature was in the upper 20’s and we had a window open for much of the flight – Darn near froze, but sacrifices must be made to “get the shot.” I was flying and Michelle would say “wing up” or “turn more west” as she focused and framed.

We stopped at Bend OR for fuel and lunch. Professional Air is a great FBO and treated us like royalty. The runway was clear but snow remained in patches on the taxiways and parking, much to my delight – first time on snow. So we took our signature “Foot Photo”. Don't laugh. I can go back through the foot pix and remember who what when where. It really works.

Now we flew southwest and visited Mt. Bachelor and the Three Sisters. Note old cinder cone in the foreground, and Broken Top at the near right.

Setting sun as we approach home airport and the end of a perfect flying day.

Goin' South

A friend said "Let's go have some fun."
With us this means flying someplace. We took off (after the blasted fog burned off) to go to Oregon. Perfect conditions with smooth air, great temperature, and unlimited visibility. We had not flown together (in separate planes) before. Pilots negotiate who will lead. Slow plane typically, so I throttled way back to let Judy take the lead. Amazing how much less fuel I burn with airspeed at 100 knots or under. Also decided in advance, is how close we will fly - we settled on 1/2 mile minimum.

Crossing the Columbia river just southwest of Kelso.

Our first stop was Salem, OR. Met a friend of Judy's who took us to his farm where we were encouraged to harvest all the veggies we wanted.

Leaving Judy's plane behind we made a quick run south to Lebanon so I could fill up on cheap MoGas. We also wanted to visit with the couple that runs the FBO. Dana and Larry are the best!
This is somewhere over northern Oregon. Love having pictures of my boy in the air!

Steps to Freedom

With retirement and travel less than 8 months away (Yes, I AM counting!) A lot of planning and preparation is underway.

I rented an entire room at our local fairgrounds for their bi-annual Community Garage Sale. Hauled in 4 truckloads of Halloween and Christmas decorations. I know, that is a LOT, but I loved to decorate a lot, and acquired things for 42 years.

At the end of the sale, I’d said goodbye to some special friends. It was hard to make the cuts, as so many memoires were attached. Then a friend said “If you’re keeping it because of how it makes you feel, then take a picture.” So I took a lot of them, and will create a book of Fuzzy Feelings that I can bring out whenever required.

With each sale, I found myself feeling lighter and freer. Now I’m weighed down by the money I made and into the retirement fund it goes!

Spotted Bear (8U4)

Since I started flying, I’ve made at least one trip a year to the picturesque state of Montana. This year, I decided it was time for a visit to a back country strip. Tucked into a valley, with easy approaches, and a go around possible, the strip still offered a challenge in the form of a dog leg. This would be the perfect spot to introduce my friend, Randy to airplane camping.

Spotted bear is a few miles east of Flat Head Lake, between the Swan and Flathead Mountain ranges. Hungry Horse Reservoir lies to the north, the Flathead River running out if it and curving past the strip. I used my favorite method of checking out new spots, by “flying” to 8U4 with Google earth. Fellow pilots – if you haven’t tried this, I encourage you to do so. While the trees are not 3D, mountains and hills are, allowing for a fairly accurate picture of what you’ll be flying into.

Landing to the North

Approach and landing required close attention, but were not terribly technical. We were the only people on the field, or in the campground. (Good tiedowns, bring your own rope) A dirt road that runs parallel to the field along the west had a surprising amount of traffic. We later learned from some forest service people who came out to do maintenance that in addition to a guest ranch, several outfitters have facilities in the valley.

We hiked off into the trees, seeking the river and found it. So many wonderful stones of green and pink with mica and stripes of white, I found it hard to choose just one to take as my usual souvenir.

The plan was to camp overnight and a darn good thing too. Clouds and rain moved in during the late afternoon and soon the downpour was so bad we huddled in the tent. Before nightfall the tent began to leak through the roof, and we hoped to stay dry enough to sleep. We did stay warm and mostly dry in our bags but awoke to a dripping cold morning. Light rain continued intermittently and clouds were nearly to the ground over the runway. A fire boosted our dampened spirits (Thank you to whomever left that pile of firewood!) as did cups of hot chocolate.Wet, Cold, Dreary

Mid-morning the sun began to peek out and lovely blue holes appeared, but I was uncertain of ceilings around the corner. Then I heard a plane! A Cessna 206 landed and this local pilot described a route out to the north that could be easily and safely flown. He even offered to lead the way if I would wait until he finished his business with the cowboy he’d flown in to see. Randy and I hurried to break camp and pack the plane, finishing just before Noon. The skies were looking very good by this time, so I made the decision to depart, first leaving a thank you note on the 206.

Camp before the rain!

For those who might want to drop in at Spotted Bear. In spite of the name, rangers assure me bears are not an issue, just use common sense. There is a vault toilet, good campsites with fire pits, no drinking water. Flight time to Kalispell (S27) is around ½ hour following the Hungry Horse Reservoir, less if you skip the scenery and go direct. But why would you?

Hungry Horse departing North

Republic Pirep

For you non-flyers, pirep is short for pilot report. We provide these to flight watch as we travel so other pilots have real-time, real-life information on flying conditions.

Republic, WA. This little town in the northeast part of the state really knows how to put on an event. What seems to be the entire town turns out, volunteering to make sure pilots feel welcome – and we do.
Airport located above Lake Curlew, tucked into a beautiful valley.
Plenty of grassy parking for putting up tents. Judy flew with me in Path and we met Bob and Diane to camp together.

Food above average at fair prices. Breakfast is the usual pancakes to which they add ham and cooked to order eggs! Saturday night is the steak feed. They load a beautiful chunk of steak on your plate which you take to the apple wood grill and cook to your own satisfaction. Added is a baked potato, coleslaw, and baked beans.

Live entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights. They have a local “Elvis” that is so good I thought they were playing a CD!

Area tours, at no charge, include a boat ride on Lake Curlew. Yup, a storm was coming in, but blew by without rain.

Visit to and ride on Antique merry-go-round, which is a real work of art.

Townspeople come out and wander among the planes, learning about aviation and sharing info about their beautiful corner of the world.
This Mom and her two boys were especially eager to get involved and inspired us to load them up with information and encouragement.



















This warbird, a Russian Yak (I think) flew in providing an impromptu airshow.

Because everyone attending is so relaxed and happy, the making of new friends and renewing of old acquaintances is guaranteed.
I’m already looking forward to visiting Republic again next year. Fly-in is held the last full weekend in August. Hope to see some of you there!

Arlington

For those who are pilots, or aviation aficionados in the Pacific Northwest, Arlington is like our own Oshkosh. It’s a big fly-in held every year in July. The crowds are amazing, hundreds of planes flying in, campers and cars driving in. For a novice, the approach can be a challenge with specific approaches, 8-10 planes in the pattern and landings taking place every few minutes, frequently two at a time. These procedures are not usual fare for most pilots, thus the challenge. I had “flown” the route to the designated approach spot on Google Earth so was confident I could spot the field located to the SE of Arlington. What a feeling of confidence to spot each waypoint as if I’d flown in many times. On the ground pilots find acres of grass upon which to park and put up tents. Lawn chairs line up under wings, ice chests cuddle into aircraft flanks in the shade. I flew in Thursday evening with a good friend, Jerry. Later my friend, Judy arrived in her Cessna 172. We were thrilled to camp next to each other for the first time.

The fly-in offers seminars on flying and building planes. Vendors sell essentials and luxury items to put on the wish list. Each evening there is an outdoor movie. Afternoons a two hour air show with aerobatic planes and pilots eliciting oh’s and ah’s like you hear during firework displays – in fact one of the acts included fireworks. Yes, you could see them in the middle of the afternoon.


Photo above is Jerry, Ron and myself watching the airshow. We kept saying “It just doesn’t get any better than this.”

No big fly-in would be complete without War Birds. Here I am piloting and shooting from a B52 called Grumpy.

But the best part of the event is meeting new flying friends, reconnecting with old ones and admiring all the planes. Fun, Educational, Relaxing, Challenging. Arlington has it all.