Brett psyched to enter the IMC soup!

Last Sunday, after a full day of working at the airfield, Brett and I decided to fly over to Aurora to meet up with some friends for the evening. Brett wanted to get some IFR time, and the weather looked like it was going to cooperate fully, and by cooperate I mean clouds sitting from 2000ft-8000ft. Brett filed the flightplan, we grabbed the Diamond, and off we went.

We only had patchy clouds to contend with initially, which in the evening light was absolutely gorgeous. This was short lived though, and somewhere over Cascade Locks we took a deep breath and plunged into the solid wall of cloud.  Watching from the right seat this all looked fairly effortless, aside from noticing Brett had become more focused. Communication with Seattle ATC was regular, which I would have found comforting if I was pilot in command.

Just before plunging in...

Approaching Aurora we realized we would have some time before our ride arrived, so Brett decided to fly a missed approach and let me take controls. Previously I had somewhat gotten used to flying somewhat off of feel. In the clouds I had to learn not to trust my internal sense of up and down and put all my focus into the instruments. And it did take all my focus. I can’t yet imagine talking on the radio, or studying a map or approach plan. It was all I could do to maintain altitude within 100 ft and hold a heading or coordinated turn. It really drove home the point that at my level of skills flying into a cloud is no joke.

After 25 minutes of intense focus, Brett took controls again and we landed. Not only was I a bit worked from the effort, but looking up from the panel I ws surprised that adjusting to the visual reference below the clouds was not immediate.

Anyway, even though it was hard work I really enjoyed the engaging nature of the flying. What a cool learning experience.

View of Portland on the return trip

-IB

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!

After making no-go decision on Friday due to freezing rain, we were anxious to get in the air today. Turns out the temperatures were favorable, with an inversion layer providing ice-free cruising at IFR altitudes above. We made sure that we had a solid alternate in the desert down south (KRDM) due to the ceilings near minimums for the approach back into The Dalles.
We filed and blasted off into the murk that was blanketing the valley and were consumed totally as we climbed through 1200′. Soon we were rewarded wih magnificant views as we climbed above the first layer at 3500′.
We had planned an extended route to allow for lower altitudes in case we found ourselves in cooler clouds above, but it turned out to be unecessary. Later on our descent into YKM we realized that the low IFR weather we had been expecting had mostly lifted. The coupled ILS approach was flown professionally by my student, who I’m sure enjoyed the autopilot’s help with the 35kt crosswind for the initial leg of the approach.

We renegotiated a more direct routing for the way back and blasted off on the Gromo 2 departure. Soon after leveling off we turned toward VECCU, the initial fix for the LDA 25 approach back into KDLS. This was to be the second of three approaches planned for this flight, and the automated weather told us that it was going to be close. Sure enough after a well executed approach we found ourselves at Decision Height still very much in the clouds. Up and away we went and headed south, quickly regaining the mostly clear skies on top. We negotiated to fly the GPS-A approach and soon we were diving back into the clouds in search of the runway below. This approach allows us to descend a little lower and that turned out to be just enough. We broke out right at the bottom and circled for the runway. There is no better feeling than breaking out of the clouds at the bottom of a well flown approach, it’s magic every time. All in all a glorious day flying with great views on top, wishing we could bring everyone along for the flight. Kudos to Wayne for a great flight and moving on to the last stage of his IFR training.

Some photos… Commentary to follow.
5.1 hours non-stop, great flying, beautiful weather, nice work Travis.

Flying the Northwest is one of the most enjoyable experiences I have encountered in my flying career.  I have been fortunate enough to fly most of the Western states and have seen many forms of the natural beauty it portrays. But geographically, flying the Northwest is tough to beat.
I am a flight instructor based at Columbia Regional Airport (KDLS) and I want to share a flight I went on with two friends in a S35 Beech Bonanza. It was the day after Christmas and we got bored of cleaning up after a Christmas dinner. So what better way to escape the boredom than a aerial tour of the NW?

It was a gloomy afternoon due to the thick overcast clouds overhead, but this was not enough to keep us on the ground. After pre-flight, we started up, taxied and took-off westbound over the Columbia River. We planned on a short odyssey over the Columbia Gorge,  but this quickly turned into a scenic flight to Boeing Field.

Upon reaching Troutdale the skies cleared to unlimited visibility enabling us to see Mt. Hood, Rainer, St. Helens, and Adams; wow what a sight. We picked up flight following and and soon landed 13L at Boeing Field. We bought some charts, visited the restrooms, and climbed back aboard the bird that got us here.

For the flight back we decided we would fly direct to KDLS and shoot the LDA instrument approach into RW 25. 30 minutes out of KDLS I filed IFR so we could legally shoot the approach, which was IMC. After being cleared for the approach we descended into the clouds to begin the approach. This was a “fun” experience for the owner of the aircraft because he has never done one in IMC in his 30 years of VFR flying. We soon had the runway environment in sight and landed just as the day the was turning to dusk.

I can’t say enough about flying the Northwest. This region offers mountainous terrain, dessert, volcanoes,  and ocean views. It is special to have all these qualities in one area. For those of you that haven’t flown here, you’re missing out. Cheers.