Sleeping under the wing, no wind, almost full moon, no tent. Doesn't get any better than this! Cheers

[b]WTH![b] Closed the airport? How is it that my work schedule / family schedule works out for one get together out of half a dozen, and the airport gets closed? That is a bummer. I was going to wake you guys up with a little zip job at sun rise tomorrow.
Oh well, maybe I'll run up to Hood River and check out the fly-in instead. Pavement! How lame..

OregonMaule wrote: Me and Alex made it 1 hour before Oregon Department of Aviation closed the airport. The wx is perfect!

NOTAM sez "closed except firefighting aircraft". I assume this closure is due to the fire NW of Sisters? Sounds like all those fires are going great guns with little sign of surrendering anytime soon-- might be that the airport is gonna remain closed for a while. Hope ya got plenty of provisions.

We would have made it, but Chad decided to check for TFR's and notams 5 minutes before lift off....saved our bacon.
Made it to Nehalem Bay with 65 degree weather, had to change from 95 degree shorts to jeans and sweatshirt......and white man fire.
Lots of camping spots left!

Back home and getting ready to go to my niece's wedding. Last night at McKinzie Bridge was one of the best nights ever under the Maule wing! Almost a full moon came up at the east end of the runway at 10PM It arced across the sky parallel with the runway. It had an orange tint to it from the smoke. The moon went over the horizon at 4:30 ish. I gazed at it for about an hour ay 3AM

I didn't bother to ask permission to leave. To close the airport so 3 helicopters could come and go with fire bosses and get fuel is just the effing height of arrogance. Those people work for us! They weren't even using the runway, they used the heli pads. Before I got there a FS person ask Alex what he was doing there. I gathered he was not real nice either. If there is a real need to take the runway to park 5,6,7,or what ever number of copters ok I get it. That was not the case. Looks like they just don't want to deal with none fire airplanes. ARROGANCE!!

It is not the fire pilots who did this we talked to one of them and he is a great guy.

Good day

I am so pissed off. This was the one fly-in I could make this summer. There was little smoke down at airstrip level. The conditions were great. Yes, helicopters were there but, what the hell, they are entertaining to watch. It would have been a great fly-in. Closing the airstrip was stupid. As to danger: My home airport is more dangerous. There they do helicopter training. You just have to use your radio and see and be seen.

Maybe - while people are still reading the topic - we should reschedule the whole thing for Sept 24th and 25th. Any thoughts?

Alex

OregonMaule wrote:......I didn't bother to ask permission to leave. To close the airport so 3 helicopters could come and go with fire bosses and get fuel is just the effing height of arrogance. Those people work for us! They weren't even using the runway, they used the heli pads. Before I got there a FS person ask Alex what he was doing there. I gathered he was not real nice either. If there is a real need to take the runway to park 5,6,7,or what ever number of copters ok I get it. That was not the case. Looks like they just don't want to deal with none fire airplanes. ARROGANCE!!...

Rob, I'm surprised that you would take this attitude. As I recall, you're a retired firefigher -- did you ever butt heads with someone who felt that the FD had no right to keep him from driving into his own neighborhood, or down his own road, or to keep him back from a fire or accident? After all, it's just a buncha firetrucks, a buncha volunteer firefighters' personal rigs, they work for me, I wanna go there, if there was a real need, etc etc.
I get pretty pissed off when they close what is the only through road (hwy 101) in several places in my area to mop up & investigate a car crash-- why not just shove the wreckage outa the way, load up the ambulances, & let us through? Doesn't work that way though. I bet if I just drove through on the shoulder, the local law would have a thing or two to talk to me about.
Didn't that Senator Inofre just catch a buncha shit for using a closed runway & when braced about it, justifying it by saying in his opinion what he did was OK? Even a lot of pilots (myself included) think he kinda screwed the pooch on that one.

Was on my way there myself Saturday morning. It was my first chance this summer to make a fly-in but would go there later if scheduled. Turned back east and flew the desert area.

hotrod150 wrote:

OregonMaule wrote:......I didn't bother to ask permission to leave. To close the airport so 3 helicopters could come and go with fire bosses and get fuel is just the effing height of arrogance. Those people work for us! They weren't even using the runway, they used the heli pads. Before I got there a FS person ask Alex what he was doing there. I gathered he was not real nice either. If there is a real need to take the runway to park 5,6,7,or what ever number of copters ok I get it. That was not the case. Looks like they just don't want to deal with none fire airplanes. ARROGANCE!!...

Rob, I'm surprised that you would take this attitude. As I recall, you're a retired firefigher -- did you ever butt heads with someone who felt that the FD had no right to keep him from driving into his own neighborhood, or down his own road, or to keep him back from a fire or accident? After all, it's just a buncha firetrucks, a buncha volunteer firefighters' personal rigs, they work for me, I wanna go there, if there was a real need, etc etc.
I get pretty pissed off when they close what is the only through road (hwy 101) in several places in my area to mop up & investigate a car crash-- why not just shove the wreckage outa the way, load up the ambulances, & let us through? Doesn't work that way though. I bet if I just drove through on the shoulder, the local law would have a thing or two to talk to me about.
Didn't that Senator Inofre just catch a buncha shit for using a closed runway & when braced about it, justifying it by saying in his opinion what he did was OK? Even a lot of pilots (myself included) think he kinda screwed the pooch on that one.

Hey Hotrod: don't confuse me or the firefighters who save lives and property with the guy in the white shirt and white helmet with the clipboard. They make the calls. We do the work. The difference is night and day. It is a common mistake.

Cheers...Rob

Sorry you guys all got smoked in/out.... if you all reschedule I might even make my first
appearance in the new (to me) Kitfox 5. I'll keep watching this thread I guess in hopes

Take care all! Hi to Rob, sorry I haven't seen you on Live Chat in a while...

~CRAZEDpilot

crazedpilot wrote:Sorry you guys all got smoked in/out.... if you all reschedule I might even make my first
appearance in the new (to me) Kitfox 5. I'll keep watching this thread I guess in hopes

Take care all! Hi to Rob, sorry I haven't seen you on Live Chat in a while...

~CRAZEDpilot

I'll be back to chat in the evenings as our wx goes down.

Cheers

flybymike wrote:Was on my way there myself Saturday morning. It was my first chance this summer to make a fly-in but would go there later if scheduled. Turned back east and flew the desert area.

Stay tuned, Mike. I'd still really like to check out your bird.

Alex wrote:Maybe - while people are still reading the topic - we should reschedule the whole thing for Sept 24th and 25th. Any thoughts?

I'd be all over this but I have another wedding in SoCal to attend that weekend.

Bar open

Alex wrote:I am so pissed off. This was the one fly-in I could make this summer. There was little smoke down at airstrip level. The conditions were great. Yes, helicopters were there but, what the hell, they are entertaining to watch. It would have been a great fly-in. Closing the airstrip was stupid. As to danger: My home airport is more dangerous. There they do helicopter training. You just have to use your radio and see and be seen.

Maybe - while people are still reading the topic - we should reschedule the whole thing for Sept 24th and 25th. Any thoughts?

Alex

I agree Alex, bummer deal.
This was probably my last airplane camping trip of the season, hunting season starts in a couple of weeks.
Hope you guys can put something together.

My date ditched me this weekend. Tempted to fly out to Little Goose then see if I can land on my folks absentee run farm in the area. Bushwheelers would have no problems. That dusty soil might still be a bit soft for my new tires. Two hills. North one probably 1/4 mile, relatively flat. South hill much shorter and rockier but more of a hill. Heading over depends on the weather, looks like it's deteriorating right now on the wet side and I'm just a VFR fool.

Alex,

McKenzie would be fun but depends on weather and what I end up doing this weekend.

I've got other stuff this weekend. My only window of opportunity is Sept 24th - 25th.

Alex