Meanwhile, I've added a few more pictures to previous pages including the Flying M Page.
Below: Sportsman Airpark 2S6, Newberg Oregon.
Hillsboro Airport vicinity, from the west, October 28
Sunday November 4th the weather forecast was uncertain for breakfast at the Flying M. I decided to get some actual IFR practice. The weather was expected to improve later in the morning, so maybe I could get into the Ranch for a late breakfast.
Below: A typical view out the window for the first hour - when there was a view.
I don't have all that much experience flying in actual. I almost always encounter cloud formations that are subtly different from what I remember from previous flights. This sime the ceiling was rather tenuous. Things started to go gray after climbing several hundred feet, but I could see the ground below for another thousand or so. But the top of the clouds was more definite. Once I let the altitude creep up to 4200 feet, at which point I shoved the nose down and got back into the soup where I was supposed to be. (I could have asked for higher, but after all this was a practice session.)
I flew a practice ILS and NDB approach into Hillsboro.
I had the autopilot warmed up but never used it.
By the time I finished the NDB approach conditions had improved
to basic VFR.
I canceled IFR and flew the low route to the Ranch.
Left: Low clouds near Gaston.
I could have flown to the right of the cloud, but decided
it would be better to follow Highway 47 through the pass
in order to maintain my familiarity with it.
Left: Yamhill river leading to the Flying M Ranch.
(The river is behind the ridge.
You can't see the river from the air because trees cover it up.)
The usual suspects were late getting in due to the weather.
Three weeks later the weather forecast was promising, and so too were the morning's local weather reports.
TAF AMD KHIO 251237Z 251312 VRB03KT P6SM SCT025 BKN035 OVC060
TEMPO 1318 -SHRA BKN025
FM1800 VRB03KT P6SM SCT025 BKN040 TEMPO 1806 -SHRA BKN025
METAR KHIO 251553Z 16004KT 10SM -RA SCT038 BKN050 OVC080 04/04
As I prepared for the runup Tower advised me that two
instructional flights were returning to base because of lowering clouds.
I called McMinville weather and they stuck to their story.
The weather does not change very quickly in the area unless there is a storm afoot, which there wasn't. So in the Oregon tradition I decided to take a look. The ceiling went up west of the airport, but not to the extent promised. I followed highway 47 to Yamhill. I slowed down and dropped half flaps so I could turn around quickly if needed. I flew northwest to look for the Yamhill river canyon leading to the Ranch. No luck, visibility up the canyon was not agreeable.
There were sun breaks in the clouds, so I wandered to the south to
see if the Ranch was reachable that way.
The view was stupendous, with the snow dusted tops of the higher hills
basking in the sunlight.
The picture below doesn't even come close to the grandeur of the scene,
but it's the best one I came up with given the higher priority task of
flying the aircraft.
The ranch itself was clear.
I plotted an approach that avoided pockets of ground fog
and landed uneventfully.
Over the next several hours some of the usual suspects showed up and I was treated to stories of serious scud running. "How did you know it's fifty miles? I read it on a road sign"
By the time we left the weather had improved considerably.