On Sunday I flew down the Willamette valley with Kelly hitting various strips that I knew about that were pilot friendly and the Willamette International airport, also known as a river bar. The gravel was pretty soft and I was a bit worried about the nose wheel digging in. I should have let some air out of the tires for better floatation. I've been shooting with HD mode and the new inspection plate mount seems to be working pretty well. Not nearly the jello effect I was getting before. My biggest problem now is trying to get the lens level with the horizon. It's hard to see looking through the little screen, particularly in sunlight.

Willamette valley flying. This one is uploaded at 75% of full HD as the full size was too big for U-Toob.

Loved it Craig, Thanks Rob

I enjoyed watching also.

Pretty country and fun flying!!!

Good video. It error'd out on me about 4 minutes nto it though.
I've been into Flying M a couple times but it's been several years, the lodge was still operating then. I understand that only the east half tof the strip is open these days?
Where on the river is "Willamette Int'l"? or is that name generic for any of the river bars/islands used to land on? If this is sensitive iinformation & not for public display, maybe you can PM it to me. Thanks.

hotrod150 wrote:Good video. It error'd out on me about 4 minutes nto it though.
I've been into Flying M a couple times but it's been several years, the lodge was still operating then. I understand that only the east half tof the strip is open these days?
Where on the river is "Willamette Int'l"? or is that name generic for any of the river bars/islands used to land on? If this is sensitive iinformation & not for public display, maybe you can PM it to me. Thanks.

A specific river bar. It's been posted before but just in case the locals prefer the location to be not wide spread, I'll send a PM.

You are correct about Flying-M and the east half. It's about 1000' of runway now. It sounds like relations with the neighbors have thawed a little bit. There are now X's on the West part but no shipping containers or piles of cord wood down the runway. The space should be reasonably safe if someone needed it in an emergency.

They serve food between 8:00 - 9:00 on Sundays with advanced notice. As the gal there said, "We're old and that's all I want to do", then she offered us some delicious leftover sticky buns. Yum.