See it all…

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.