We just moved from Virginia to Washington State. This was a big change for a whole bunch of reasons. We drove both cars across the country with our dog and got our household goods moved into the home we rented for a year. Once we were moved in enough for the house to be functional for my wife and our hound, I returned to Virginia to get our Maule. I'm too lazy to repost each picture, so here is a cross link from the Maule Pilot's site where I uploaded a sample of the shots I took on this 4 day trip. A movie will be posted once I get around to editing all of the raw clips I collected on this flight. The only major disappointment was that I couldn't land at Caveman. There were big white X marks across the middle of the runway and I took that to mean it was closed. I hope that is just a temporary situation.

Here is the link to my trip report:

http://maulepilots.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=33713#33713

Great pics! Looks like you had a fun time. A friendly bit of advice, I would think twice about flying VFR on top or at night over the Cascades, if that motor quits…

Have fun in Washington and the rest of the Pacific Northwest, lots of cool places to check out!

G44

Welcome back to the Wild West, Amigo.

Great TR Gary! Glad you made it OK- what day did you get to PT? I'm assuming you got squared away in Patrick's hangar, I'm sure we'll catch up with each other at the airport one of these days.

Gary, welcome to the west coast. Great pictures by the way. Probably meet you one of these days.

Cheers...Rob

G4: Yeah, I'm pretty conservative with flying VFR above the clouds. For this flight, the gorge was closed off by clouds down to the power lines at Cascade Locks. When I circled up through the hole in Hood River, I followed my planned route of flight that basically took my up the I-5 corridor once past the gorge. I knew ceilings below me were about 3500', so in the event of an engine failure I could have descended through the clouds with no obstructions below me and would have popped into the clear with time to pick an emergency LZ. Still, I'm glad the little 0-360 kept purring.

Hotrod150: I arrived in PT Tuesday evening. The winds were a bugger and almost directly across the runway. I figured I'd make one low pass and if the rough conditions didn't abate closer to the ground I would have flown back to Apex or Bremerton for a runway better aligned with the wind, and less turbulence. The turbulence subsided as I sank below treetop level and then it was just a strong X-wind landing. Still, I am ready to stay on the ground for a while before I go flying again. My rear end is tired and there is more unpacking to do at home. I also need to do an oil chance since I put 30.1 hours on the engine this trip.

8GCBC & Oregon Maule: Thanks for the welcome. I look forward to becoming a regular part of the flying community here in the NW. I look forward to meeting all of you at some of the local gatherings. It's too bad I arrived just as winter is approaching. I'll buy a dehumidifier for the plane and keep my fingers crossed for some flying opportunities here in the rain shadow.

Gary - aka Flyhound

I lived in NW Washington Port Orchard) 20 years ago, and I was partners in a couple of planes back then, so I am familiar with an older version of flying in this neck of the woods. I have an instrument rating, but I'm WAY out of currency. Do any of you have suggestions for an instructor that could help me prepare for an instrument proficiency check?

I've started fussing with the video clips I made during the flight. A composite movie will be ready in a week or so. In the meantime, here are some stills from the video footage:

This is the approach to Gaston's on the White River in Arkansas


Here is the cockpit view of the thunderstorms blocking my way into Albuquerque:


Here is the desert sky over the Manzano Mountains just east of Albuquerque International once I got past the storms:


Another shot of Canyonlands in Utah:


and the mountain pass just before Provo, UT.


Reliving the trip as I edit my own pictures is almost as much fun as the flying. There were some REALLY boring stretches out there, and my rear end got plenty tired crossing over them. Still, the highlights are what make the trip worthwhile, and there were plenty of those! My composite video of the trip will be ready in a week or so. I still have lots of unpacking to do to get our rental house fully functional.

Gary - aka Flyhound
_________________

There's a couple of CF double-eyes on the field, Gary, I can introduce you to them some time.

Flyhound wrote:We just moved from Virginia to Washington State. This was a big change for a whole bunch of reasons. We drove both cars across the country with our dog and got our household goods moved into the home we rented for a year. Once we were moved in enough for the house to be functional for my wife and our hound, I returned to Virginia to get our Maule. I'm too lazy to repost each picture, so here is a cross link from the Maule Pilot's site where I uploaded a sample of the shots I took on this 4 day trip. A movie will be posted once I get around to editing all of the raw clips I collected on this flight. The only major disappointment was that I couldn't land at Caveman. There were big white X marks across the middle of the runway and I took that to mean it was closed. I hope that is just a temporary situation.

Here is the link to my trip report:

http://maulepilots.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=33713#33713

It looks like you had a great trip, Gary! I'm glad you took the southern route and came up through the Rockies that way - much prettier, if you ask me. I'm sure you've got a lot more pics to post sometime, too!

Flyhound, as an appreciator of a good pun, I have to say thank you for the title. And the trip report was great! Four days is a long Maule, definitely, but I'm jealous, especially of all the views.

" I knew ceilings below me were about 3500', so in the event of an engine failure I could have descended through the clouds with no obstructions below me and would have popped into the clear with time to pick an emergency LZ.


Gary - aka Flyhound[/quote]



Excellent!

Flyhound wrote:.......I arrived in PT Tuesday evening. The winds were a bugger and almost directly across the runway. I figured I'd make one low pass and if the rough conditions didn't abate closer to the ground I would have flown back to Apex or Bremerton for a runway better aligned with the wind, and less turbulence. .......

Another good bet when it's blustery out of the southeast as it often is at 0S9, and an easier retrieve for your wife, is to head over to Sequim Valley or Port Angeles. They are sheltered from that south / southeast wind by the Olympics, so quite often it's calm over there when it's blowing 30-40 at PT. Another good bet is Sky Valley, the grass strip just northwest of Jefferson. If it's out of the SSE at Jeff, it'll usually be right down the runway there. That strip is by invitation only, but one of the residents turns wrenches at Tailspin Tommys. I'll introduce you.