Fall 2000

Mt. Adams (I think) picture taken near St. Helens Oregon.

Left: Karpens Airpark OR23, 1900' runway, near Astoria.

Above: Astoria Regional Airport AST. Below: Seaside Muni 56S, 2360' runway.

Above and below: scenes on the Oregon coast.

Above and Below: Nehalem Bay State Airport 3S7, Manzinata Oregon, 2350' runway.

Above and Below: Pacific City State Airport PFC, 1875' runway.

Left: Siletz Bay Sate S45, Glenden Beach, Oregon, 3000' runway. This airport serves Lincoln City and Salishan Lodge.
The Beaverton Chapter of the Oregon Pilots' Association planned a "Poker Run" for September 30. The kitty buys less than an hour's avgas, and most of the players don't know how play poker anyway, so the Poker Run is just an excuse to fly and get together for hangar talk. Saturday dawned and the weather was rather scuzzy. I was looking forward to making the flight IFR, but the event was put off for a day. Sunday morning the weather was better, notwithstanding what I saw out of my living room window. I programmed the GPS for McMinville and took off for Flying M in hopes of finding breakfast. Near Gaston I encountered some low clouds (below) but visibility at the Ranch was fine. The wind was up at the Ranch. I knew there would be a sinker on final and was not disappointed. Skid marks on the runway ahead of me gave testament to somebody's interesting landing.

The weather cut the number of planes that showed up at Morrow's hangar for the proceeds. Some of the club members rent and were not able to reschedule an aircraft. By the time we flew home the coulds had lifted somewhat.

Sunday October 8 I decided to visit some new airports. I don't wish to get into a rut flying to the same airports most of the time - that's why I never considered a professional airline carrer when I was young.

On the way to breakfast at Flying M Ranch I saw low stratus over much of the valley, but it burned off around noon. Venell (OR52) is located next to Corvallis Muni. Venell is so close to CVO I could see the Corvallis airport's buildings from the Venell ramp. I made my announcements on the Corvallis frequency as well as Venell's.

Next on the list was Sweet Home 2OR7. The strip can be seen as a nearly vertical line in a light rectangle to the right and below the larger body of water. It's a thin line because the paved portion is 20 feet wide.
Below: looking west from the turnaround at Sweet Home.
Workman Airpark OR41 (below) is laid out much like Ollinger Airpark near Hillsboro. A number of houses arranged in a line in the middle of nowhere in particular. This sort of airpark is easy to spot from the air.
The last new airstrip I planned to visit Sunday was Aeroacres 19S. Unlike the others, it was difficult to locate. Once I did locate it (I think) I didn't see enough to satisfy me this was indeed the airport. I saw a number of cars and trailers but no airplanes. A few of the buildings might have been hangars, maybe not. I finally spotted what might have been a limp airsock but I couldn't be sure. I decided to return to Hillsboro rather than risk an awkward situation.
Sunday morning October 22 didn't look too promising. Caddyshack was fogged in. The forecast called for sunny and clear that afternoon. By noon the cloud cover over Hillsboro thinned out to 400 scattered. The west end of the valley was clear and free of haze.
Apple Valley Airport OR61, Buxton Oregon, from the northeast.
Apple Valley OR61 from the west.
Left: Chadwick airstrip west of Banks.

Below: Mt. Hood from Washington County near Banks.

TAF KHIO 051141Z 051212 15005KT P6SM BKN050
     FM1500 15005KT P6SM -RA BKN040 OVC080
     FM1800 18008KT P6SM -RA BKN040 OVC060 TEMPO 2022 6SM -RA BR
     BKN025
METAR KHIO 051553Z 00000KT 8SM OVC070 07/07 A3012 RMK AO2 SLP202 
     T00720067

November 5 Raindance thought I'd be able to have my Sunday breakfast at Flying M Ranch. The 0 degree spread between temperature and dew point (7 deg. C) was the first clue that clouds might be lower than advertised.

I leveled off at about 1500 feet to stay under the clouds. Time to use the "scud running" route to Flying M. Unfortunately the clouds between Yamhill and Flying M Ranch hadn't listened to the weather forecast or the 8 am reading. I flew back to Forest Grove and contacted Portland Approach to shoot a couple of ILS approaches into Hillsboro.

After the second approach I canceled IFR and landed at Stark's Twin Oaks to refuel. By 11 the weather had improved enough to allow a safe flight to Flying M Ranch.

TAF AMD KHIO 271813Z 271818 00000KT 1SM BR BKN001 TEMPO 1820 1/4SM FG VV001
     FM2200 VRB03KT P6SM SCT060
     FM0300 00000KT 1/2SM FG BKN002
METAR KHIO 272053Z 00000KT 8SM SCT012 09/07 A3028 RMK AO2 SLP253

Monday Nov 27 the forecast called for a nice afternoon in a week of otherwise crummy flying weather. A perfect excuse for lunch at the Flying M. I could see pockets of fog (seen in the picture above, left) forming, so I didn't spend too much time at the Ranch. On the way back I indulged in a bit of rainbow chasing as I navigated for a free plane wash. Note the double rainbow visible in the middle picture. At the time these pictures were taken (about 00 hours GMT) the weather forecast called for 6000 scattered, no rain.

Left: Temperature inversion over the lumber mill just east of Hagg Lake.

Sunday morning December 17 the Flying M Ranch was hiding under ground fog. I arrived at 10 from the northeast. I did spot the west end of the strip as I turned crosswind. I departed to the practice area west of Forest Grove to get in some stall practice while the ground fog dissipated.

Just as the stalls were starting to bore me, the Apple Valley gang reported the Ranch was clear. Actually, clearer, as you can see below. The base leg was still "VFR On Top" when this Super Cub came in a few minutes after I landed.

Dodging clouds or groundfog in the mountains rocks big time. But it does mean going hungry now and then when you can't get in safely.