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Some may remember that I was obliged to leave my Taylorcraft in Oregon during a US tour last September, due to a small technical issue. This month saw the repairs complete (major overhaul of the engine) so here I am to take it back to its home in Illinois. I have taken the opportunity to undertake another tour, if only to spread the engine repair cost over a few more flying hours.
My general plan was to spend a day or two in the Pacific North West visiting friends before heading south and east to southern Utah (which I visit quite often by road and foot). My fellow Taylorcraft pilots Mike and Mark were to join me in the southwest, flying from the midwest, but their departure is delayed by extensive thunderstorms and tornados in "Tornado Alley".
(above: storms affecting the departure of my fellow pilots from the Midwest)
Flying into Portland from London, I drove to Prineville, dropping in on the Erickson Aircraft Collection in Madras on the way. All except one aircraft are airworthy.
(above: Grumman Duck)
(above: One point to name the type)
I collected my Taylorcraft on the 6th May. I am very grateful to David, Erik and the whole of EAA Chapter 617 for their help and hospitality. Departing Prineville, I head north to route along the Columbia River Gorge between Oregon and Washington. I met up with a fellow Taylorcraft owner David in Kelso, before an overnight stop with a flying family we all met last year on a private strip in the foothills of the Cascades.
I then route to the Pacific coast (to dip my toes, so to speak, in the ocean) before spending some time with another Taylorcraft owner, Mark. I get a weather delay in Lebanon, right under the Cascade range, for a night because of low cloud, but early doors the next morning sees me climb the Cascade escarpment to 8500 feet to reach the high desert plateau.
(above: the Three Sisters Wilderness Area)
From there, I have tailwinds all the way south to the California border at Lakeview, and east across Nevada to Wendover in Utah, just east of the Great Salt Lake. Groundspeed averaged 120mph, with stretches of 140mph at times. It was a bit of a Nantucket sleigh ride at times!
The winds were blowing 30kts at Wendover, so I was grateful to find a hangar available.
(above: WWII wooden B29 hangar at Wendover)
The next day I brave the Salt Lake City airspace (and the water crossings) to Ogden to visit Tim, who is a knowledgeable Taylorcraft owner with one of the most comprehensive workshops I have seen! I spend many hours at the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill AFB.
(above: Great Salt Lake with the Rockies in the far distance)
(above: two points to guess the type)
I'm now in Mesquite, Nevada, visiting Peter & Vicki (more Taylorcraft owners!), waiting to see how the midwest contingent do battling the storms in Kansas and Oklahoma
(above: the red Wingate sandstone of southern Utah)
[Note: All the Taylorcraft owners mentioned above are of this parish].
More to follow.
Rob
My general plan was to spend a day or two in the Pacific North West visiting friends before heading south and east to southern Utah (which I visit quite often by road and foot). My fellow Taylorcraft pilots Mike and Mark were to join me in the southwest, flying from the midwest, but their departure is delayed by extensive thunderstorms and tornados in "Tornado Alley".
(above: storms affecting the departure of my fellow pilots from the Midwest)
Flying into Portland from London, I drove to Prineville, dropping in on the Erickson Aircraft Collection in Madras on the way. All except one aircraft are airworthy.
(above: Grumman Duck)
(above: One point to name the type)
I collected my Taylorcraft on the 6th May. I am very grateful to David, Erik and the whole of EAA Chapter 617 for their help and hospitality. Departing Prineville, I head north to route along the Columbia River Gorge between Oregon and Washington. I met up with a fellow Taylorcraft owner David in Kelso, before an overnight stop with a flying family we all met last year on a private strip in the foothills of the Cascades.
I then route to the Pacific coast (to dip my toes, so to speak, in the ocean) before spending some time with another Taylorcraft owner, Mark. I get a weather delay in Lebanon, right under the Cascade range, for a night because of low cloud, but early doors the next morning sees me climb the Cascade escarpment to 8500 feet to reach the high desert plateau.
(above: the Three Sisters Wilderness Area)
From there, I have tailwinds all the way south to the California border at Lakeview, and east across Nevada to Wendover in Utah, just east of the Great Salt Lake. Groundspeed averaged 120mph, with stretches of 140mph at times. It was a bit of a Nantucket sleigh ride at times!
The winds were blowing 30kts at Wendover, so I was grateful to find a hangar available.
(above: WWII wooden B29 hangar at Wendover)
The next day I brave the Salt Lake City airspace (and the water crossings) to Ogden to visit Tim, who is a knowledgeable Taylorcraft owner with one of the most comprehensive workshops I have seen! I spend many hours at the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill AFB.
(above: Great Salt Lake with the Rockies in the far distance)
(above: two points to guess the type)
I'm now in Mesquite, Nevada, visiting Peter & Vicki (more Taylorcraft owners!), waiting to see how the midwest contingent do battling the storms in Kansas and Oklahoma
(above: the red Wingate sandstone of southern Utah)
[Note: All the Taylorcraft owners mentioned above are of this parish].
More to follow.
Rob
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