We had an unexpected visitor for gas here at the airport today.  On his way down south for some airshows.  Neat. Video: Skyraider Low Pass

More information here:  http://www.heritageflight.org

The sometimes stubborn winter weather allowed for a great last-minute hop over to KBZN the other night.  I was able to blast off from KDLS and gain beautiful VFR-on-top weather with a great tailwind for the trip over.  I was even asked to slow up to follow 3 private jets for the arrival into Bozeman.  Big Sky country is a popular destination for the President’s Day holiday.  Yellowstone Jet Center was accommodating despite my small aircraft compared to a ramp full of Gulfstreams.

I enjoyed an evening with friends and the weather forced me to sleep in a little bit the next day.  By noon I was able to depart VFR and climb again to blue skies above.  Thanks to turbo and oxygen I enjoyed smoother air and ice-free blue skies on top all the way to Lewiston, ID.  I opted for a rest stop and a bathroom break before enjoying a scenic VFR flight down the Columbia River back to The Dalles.  It turns out with a little flexibility in scheduling, even longer cross-country trips can be successful and even routine any time of year.

To bad all the other guys missed such a great concert.

Yesterday we lucked out with a great break in the weather to have a little fun.  We arranged 6 folks in two airplanes and headed off on an adventure.  We took our flight school Diamond DA40, and a Cessna T182RG to the monthly pancake breakfast at Twin Oaks Airpark in Hillsboro (7S3).  The Dalles was high overcast on our departure and we chose to fly the gorge to Troutdale before tuning SW direct to Twin Oaks.  I was flying the DA40 and we made a scenic lap through downtown Portland on the way.  I negotiated with TTD tower first and was granted the north bank transition: This allows us to fly fairly low-level along the north bank of the Columbia, cross PDX at mid-field around 1500′, then proceed directly over the city to our destination.

This event is always popular, but great weather in February brings out a lot more people.  EAA Chapter 105 is the home wing of the Vans Air Force, so there are always plenty of RV’s.  They run one of the smoothest breakfasts around.

After increasing our personal weight & balance we blasted off back home.  This time we chose to hop up on top of the clouds to sneak a peak at the sun and Mt. Hood on the way back.  We capped off the day with the LDA/DME 25 approach and broke out at 2200.  What a neat way to start the weekend.  Thanks to Clint for some great photos!