RV-8 and the Day the Clocks Changed!

 

10/31/20

We planned to go to McMinnville today, but there was fog up and down the entire I-5 corridor and we didn’t know when it would clear and we needed to leave pretty early in order to get back before dark.  We ended up going to Richland instead and it was a perfect day for it.

It was clear and smooth the whole way.  There was a 15 kt wind from the northwest, so we had a tailwind going and made about 210 MPH over the ground.  Of course, that meant a head wind coming back, so it was more like 175. 

It was 39 degrees at 9,500' and it was obvious that it wasn't too cold.  There had been a wet system come through last week that did dump a good bit of snow in the mountains and even down to a relatively low level,  but it was obvious that it didn't stay very cold as even though there was still snow evident on the mountains, the mountain lakes were still liquid without even a trace of ice in them.

We got there only to find that the restaurant was closed.  There was a number on the door, we called and found out that they are only open Tuesday through Friday at the moment.

We came back by way of Moses Lake.  On the way there I noticed a long line on the ground.  It took me a while to figure out what it was.  It was a shadow, a shadow from a contrail that I was almost right underneath.  I have never seen that phenomenon before, though I doubt it is that rare if one were to look for it.

There are still an awful lot of planes parked at MWH.  It is going to take a lot of time to get them all back into service.

It was mostly smooth and calm all the way back so we returned at 8,500' instead of 10,500'.  I think that allowed for perhaps some slightly better video. 

Upon arriving back home we found Arlington to be a total zoo.  There were more airplanes in the pattern and in the general area than I have ever seen before.  There were 5 airplanes in front of me and at least 2 or 3 behind me.  I heard one guy call in that he was departing the area and would come back at a more opportune time.  Note to self: don't plan to come home at 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon when no one has been able to fly in a month.

So, we were little hungry when we got back, but it was a really good trip.

Pictures can be seen here: https://steverush.smugmug.com/103120/

Video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eaxMzT2cUs

Outbound Track Log here:https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/90193556-C9AD-4D25-A92B-71B431BFEA77

Return Track Log here:https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/C92B6E61-C02D-4215-A2D6-3E91EE1A43DF 

Sunday 11/1/20 was a much warmer day than one would expect for this time of year.  It was in the upper fifties on the ground, but it was in the low sixties at 6,500'.  It stayed warm until quite high.

Ordinarily this would not be a problem, in fact some might even think it a good thing, but for Carl and I it posed its own unique challenge.  We are both flying RV-8s with very similar powerplant installations.  Under ordinary circumstances they keep the engine very cool.  Sometimes too cool.  Ideally we want to see oil temperature in the 180 degree range, give or take 10 degrees or so with a little warmer being better than a lot cooler.

Under ordinary circumstances around here, even in the summer time it will run a bit cool, so we have part of the oil cooler face blocked off with aluminum tape.  This reduces airflow through the cooler and increases oil temperature.  In the winter we have to block off the whole face to have any chance of getting anywhere near 180 degrees.  

Well, last weekend we had a cold snap and figured we were now in that time of year where we should tape off the remainder of the oil cooler.  It isn't that hard to do, but you do have to take the top cowl off.  Carl decided to bail since it would likely be a one time occurrence and we would get back to the cooler temperatures.  I also didn't want to make the change but decided to go fly to do some testing.  I was wondering if I could keep the oil temperature under control by using lower power than I ordinarily would.

 I took off normal (full power, everything forward) and climbed normal (25 inches and 2,500 RPM) to 2,000' then lowered the nose and pulled the power back to 23.5" and 2,400 RPM to do a cruise climb to 6,500'.  Oil temp at the top of the climb 202^o.    The OAT at 6,500 was 60^o.  Oil temp slowly climbed to 205^o.  I hoped it would come down at the lower cruise power setting of 20.5 inches and 2,400 RPM and hung out for a while.  It gradually inched up to 207^o then 210^o.  About that time I figured I'd better get back down before it went too much higher.  It was obviously climbing and not going down.

I pulled the power back to descend at 18”.  The temp quickly started to fall and was at 196^o by the time I entered the pattern.  There was no one in front of me and only 2 behind me.

Interesting note: I went to Pt. Townsend and then south toward Bremerton.  Upon turning around back to the north at 23.5" and 2,400 RPM at 6,500' I was indicating 150 MPH with a ground speed of 182 MPH (TAS 171 MPH) and a fuel burn of 8.8 GPH.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST AERO MUSEUMS

 With all of the attempts to get the COVID-19 Pandemic under control there have been many types of facilities closed or forced into some kind of restrictions in an effort to protect the public.  One area that has had a  particularly large impact on me is aircraft museums.  There are quite a few in the Northwest within easy RV-8 range that I had in the past visited semi-regularly.

In the current climate there are some that are surviving, hopefully a couple that are thriving, and at least one that faces a very uncertain future.

This all lead me to to wax nostalgic for places I have been, but may not be able to go again in the near future.  This in turn lead me to want to put all of the places I have been and all of the pictures I have of those places in one place, not only to help me be able to bring back fond memories, but to share with others places that may be of interest.  If the worst should happen, it might be a repository of what once was.

I don't know of a particularly good way to organize the various museums, so I am going to go with distance from my home base of Arlington, WA (KAWO).

FLYING HERITAGE COLLECTION

Paine Field - Everett, WA

 The first stop on our journey literally comes before we leave (well kind of).  The Flying Heritage Collection started out here at Arlington.  The collection was housed in several hangars on the airport for a few years until the facility at Paine Field was ready to move into.

The Flying Heritage Collection is truly a gem among museums.  It boasts a relatively large collection of exquisitely restored airplanes.

This is one of the sadder tales as the people that run the museum don't know when, or if, it will ever open again.  From their website "The current global situation is making it difficult for us to serve our mission and we will spend the months ahead reassessing if, how, and when to reopen." 

Museum web site: http://flyingheritage.org/

The pictures that I have can be found at the link below.  We had our office Christmas party here a few years ago and that's where most of the pictures came from.  The most recent pictures are first with the oldest, taken at Arlington, are last. 

https://steverush.smugmug.com/Flying-Heritage-Collection/ 

HISTORIC FLIGHT FOUNDATION

Paine Field - Everett, WA

 The other museum at Paine Field is John Sessions' Historic Flight Foundation.  They have a nice collection and also have a good number of civil aircraft as well as some warbirds.

I have only been to the museum itself once and didn't go inside, but they used to host an annual vintage airplane weekend in the summer and the pictures below are largely their aircraft, but also some from other collections as well as private owners.

I would have liked to get more involved with this museum particularly as they have some pretty good flight opportunities, but they opened a new facility in Spokane a few years ago and have been slowly moving the collection over there.  All of the event notices that I get in email are for Spokane.  I don't know if they will keep anything at Paine Field long term or not.

 Museum web site: http://historicflight.org/hf/

What pictures I have are here: https://steverush.smugmug.com/Paine-Field-Vintage-Weekend-2011/

THE MUSEUM OF FLIGHT RESTORATION CENTER AND RESERVE COLLECTION 

Paine Field - Everett, WA

Also located at Paine Field is the Restoration Center for The Museum of Flight in Seattle.  I have only been through there once.  I have a friend who was a docent at the Museum of Flight at the time and he arranged a tour.  At the time, they still had 727 serial number 1 that was being prepared for its last flight down to the museum.  They also have a de Havilland Comet that they have been working on for many years.  It was set up for tours inside.  Very different from what you see today.

Museum web site:  https://www.museumofflight.org/Explore-The-Museum/Aircraft-Restoration

My photos:  https://steverush.smugmug.com/Museum-of-Flight-Restoration-Center/

HERITAGE FLIGHT MUSEUM

Skagit Regional Airport - Mt. Vernon, WA 

This museum moved from Bellingham a few years ago.  I haven't been there to see exactly what they have, though they have had a few events at the airport.  One thing they have is the P-51 Val-Halla.  The museum was founded by astronaut Bill Anders.

Museum web site: https://heritageflight.org/ 

 NORTH CASCADES VINTAGE AIRCRAFT MUSEUM

Concrete Municipal Airport - Concrete, WA 

Sadly the North Cascades Vintage Aircraft Museum no longer exists.  As so often happens when the founder of a museum dies there just doesn't seem to be anyone willing and/or able to step in and keep things going.  Not that they didn't try.

One of the saddest parts of this story is that the museum used to host the  Concrete Vintage Fly-in, formerly the Concrete Good Old Fashioned Fly in.  In the days that I first started going, some time in the early 2000's, there were antiques from all over the West Coast that would fly in for the event.  It happened two weeks after Arlington and was probably the most fun fly-in in the area.  It was a small, laid back, personal affair without any uptight controllers and, best of all, no announcer.

The collection was mostly sold off and I have seen some of the airplanes at other venues.  One being the next museum on the list and another being the WAAM discussed further below.

Jim Jenkins, brought in to run the collection, at least for a while, was working on a replica of the Hall Bulldog.  I saw it in the back under construction, but the last time I saw it it was cocooned in plastic, maybe never to be finished.

Of course, one of the other reasons I like this outfit is that the first year we had the RV-12 finished I took it to the Concrete Fly-in and it won Grand Champion Experimental.  Of course this is an antique outfit and there weren't that many experimentals, but hey, I'll take it. I didn't know I has won, heck, I didn't even know I had entered.  About 9 months later I got a package in the mail with a plaque and a letter congratulating me.  

The next year I won Champion, though I did check the "Judge Me' box at registration.  Same thing, about 9 months later I got a package in the mail.

The photos linked below are of both the collection and airplanes that showed up for the various events.

 https://steverush.smugmug.com/North-Cascades-Vintage-Aircraft-Museum/

 PORT TOWNSEND AERO MUSEUM

Jefferson County International Airport - Pt. Townsend, WA

This is the museum that got me started on this.  We went there last weekend thinking to go through the museum but it was closed indefinitely.  I hope it does reopen as I don't have any real good pictures of it.  It is a smaller museum that has mostly civil aircraft, they do have a PT-22, and the aircraft are all in great shape.  They do restoration work on the side to generate funds for the museum.

Mt photos: https://steverush.smugmug.com/Pt-Townsend-Aero-Museum/

 Museum web Site: https://ptaeromuseum.com/

 OLYMPIC FLIGHT MUSEUM

Olympia Regional Airport - Olympia, WA

The Olympic Flight Museum is another small museum located not far away.  According to their web site they are also closed for the duration.  They usually put on a pretty big event for Father's Day weekend.  In years past they have had participation from the Commemorative Air Force and other local museums. 

The day we stopped by there was no one else there and we got to spend a good bit of time with the people working there. It was an interesting and informative time, but they only have a few aircraft on display and there is nowhere nearby to eat, so it doesn't lend itself as a destination.

 Museum web site: https://olympicflightmuseum.com/ 

 THE MUSEUM OF FLIGHT

 Boeing Field - Seattle, WA

 I have been to the Museum of Flight a number of times and, as mentioned above, I had a friend who was a docent and that got me into other areas.  It is a fine museum and I haven't been there since they opened the newest display area, where the restored #1 727 is displayed.  I would go more frequently, but I really don't like flying into Boeing Field (not that I have ever done it) and I won't drive to Seattle for anything.

Sadly I don't really have any pictures for all the times I went.  They too are currently closed.

Museum web site: https://www.museumofflight.org/ 

EVERGREEN AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

McMinnville, OR

Probably most famously known as the home of the Spruce Goose, the Evergreen Air and Space Museum is actually quite a great destination in its own right, which is good since it is pretty much in the middle of nowhere.   It is a fun and easy flight from Arlington.  In the old days they had a pretty good cafeteria in the Space Museum building, but that hasn't been open for a few years and at best they seem to only have light snacks.  This is troublesome as there is nowhere nearby to get something to eat.

Though they are not on the airport, they are right across the street.  There is a shuttle to the airport (at least there was pre-COVID) as they really don't want people walking across the street.  It is a major thoroughfare and the only way to get to the coast from I-5.

I usually try to go at least once a year, and it is about that time again, so I hope I make it.  The museums in Oregon seem to be open as opposed to those in Western Washington.

Museum web site: https://www.evergreenmuseum.org/ 

My pictures:  https://steverush.smugmug.com/Evergreen-Air-and-Space-Museum/

Video from the last trip we took there:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nfgmHFmcfE&t=41s

TILLAMOOK AIR MUSEUM

Tillamook Airport - Tillamook, OR 

 The most interesting thing about the Tillamook Air Museum is that it is housed in an old WWII blimp hangar.  Just looking around in the hanger in interesting enough, even more so when you notice that it is all wood.

Up until a few years ago the major part of the aircraft on display were from the Erickson Collection.  It was (is) a fine collection of airplanes and that coupled with the fact that museum had a decent cafe and was a really fun flight flight made it a favorite destination for a number of years.  We used to go a couple of times a year.

More recently though, the Erickson Collection has moved to Madras, OR and the cafe at the museum hasn't been open for a couple of years.  It is still a fun flight, but not a lot to do when you get there.  Again, there isn't any place to eat anywhere near by.  The museum is still open and the Port of Tillamook is trying to make a go of it, but it just isn't all that exciting a destination any more.  

That said, if you are in the area, it is worth the trip just to see the hangar itself. There used to be many of these up and down the west coast during the war, but only a few remain.  There were originally 2 at Tillamook, but one of them burned down.

Museum web site:  http://www.tillamookair.com/

My pictures (from when the Erickson Collection was still there):  https://steverush.smugmug.com/Tillamook-Air-Museum/

ERICKSON COLLECTION

 Madras Municipal Airport - Madras, OR

As mentioned above, the Erickson Collection moved from Tillamook to Madras. They had many reasons for doing so and I'm sure, to them, they were good reasons.  It is not so great for me as Madras is significantly farther away than Tillamook and is on the hot side of the mountains.

They have a nice facility to house the collection and the one benefit of the new location is that they fly the collection more often than they did in Tillamook.

At least as of the last time we were there they did not have a place to eat in or near the museum, so that always necessitates a food/fuel stop making it pretty much a whole day event.  I don't really have any pictures of the new facility and hope to correct that in the not too distant future.

Museum web site:  http://www.ericksoncollection.com/

WESTERN ANTIQUE AEROPLANE AND AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM (WAAAM)

Ken Jernstedt Airfield - Hood River, OR

This is another excellent museum and it has more than just airplanes, there are cars, and even steam engines.  The collection is highly fluid as not everything on display is owned by the museum, so it is different every time we go.  They recently opened another building to house more items.  Also in the summertime they have fly days each month where they roll things out and fly them.  They also have a fly-in in September.  I haven't been because, frankly, it is just too hat there in September.

The WAAM is not on the way to anywhere, unless you are driving from Idaho to Washington or Oregon, but it is well worth the trip.  There isn't any place to eat at the museum, though I hear there is a burger joint across the street from the airport.

Museum web site:  https://www.waaamuseum.org/

My pictures:  https://steverush.smugmug.com/Western-Antique-Airplane-and-Automobile-Museum/

Video of our last trip (7/20/19): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPC8T17L9PY 

The one big thing I learned from this exercise is that, in general, I don't take enough pictures of the places I go.  I'll have to try to rectify that in the future. 

  

RV-8 And The Long Weekend

 The weekend of 8/7/20 through 8/10/20 was a nice change of pace for me.  I hadn't had a long weekend in a while and wanted to make the best of it.

There was more weather to deal with than would be expected in the early part of August.  We got a pretty sizeable rain system on Thursday with rainfall in the neighborhood of a quarter inch.  While it is not unheard of to have measurable precipitation in August around here, it is definitely not the norm.

There was also another small system that came through on Saturday giving us a little more rain over night.  Two days of rain in August, definitely not normal.

The result of this was that Friday was a day between two systems, so while it was a pretty nice partly cloudy day, there was more atmospheric activity than would normally be seen.  As Carl said, it was a good soaring day, which meant turbulence for us.

We decided to go to Chehalis for lunch as there weren't many alternatives.  We had intended to start with a turn around Mt. Pilchuck, but the top of the mountain was surrounded by clouds, so we just went on to Chehalis.

We wanted to be above the clouds to avoid the bumpy air under them.  In order to clear the clouds we had to go to 6,500'.  At Bremerton we change course enough that we have to either go up at least 1,000' or down.  With where the clouds were it didn't look like down would work so we went up to 7,500'.

On the trip down, about 20 miles before Bremerton I had an Alaska Airlines 737 go over the top of me headed for SeaTac.  We're skirting the edge of the Seattle Class B, so that happens with some regularity.  Based on the direction he was coming from, he must have been coming from Alaska.

The big question was would we be able to get down in the vicinity of Chehalis.  From that altitude it takes a while to get down, so planning ahead is important.  Get it wrong and you have to back track to a point where you can get below the clouds and then proceed to the destination.  The last satellite image that I looked at before departing looked like it would be breaking up.  As we got past Bremerton though, it didn't look much like breaking up so I decided to head down and go below.  The bases were at about 4,500' so there was plenty of room to clear the Class D at Olympia and be below the clouds.  As expected, it was bumpy underneath.

The track log for the outbound leg can be seen here: https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/6441FA75-5F71-459D-B5BE-E0397757830D

We headed back about 3:00 and it was obvious that clouds were building from the west, though they were also quite high.  Once again, to get the smoothest ride we headed back at 8,500' and that was just barely enough.  If we wanted to go any farther west we would have had to go higher. To do that we have to stay high for a while and go around the north end of the Class B.

This time, as I was a little past Bremerton and in the vicinity of Bangor I saw a C-17 that passed on my left about 2 miles away and 500' above me.  It is odd, but there is a good bit of C-17 activity and often at relatively low altitudes. 

The track log for the return leg can be seen here:https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/303804FD-3BFC-43E9-8793-110FB5FB40D2

The video from that flight can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xotylc8U_rM

Saturday was right after the second rain even went through and the weather was really rotten for most of the day.  It did clear up in the afternoon, but by then I had embarked on another project.

Since I won't be moving into a new hangar after all I decided to go ahead and clean and organize the one I have.  I bought some Craftsman cabinets last year to use in the new hangar and they have been just taking up space in my Dad's hangar ever since.  

This weekend I went and retrieved one and put it together.  Not at all as easy as it sounds.  I have one more to go and hope to have almost everything put away in cabinets.  I hope to gain three things from this: 1) to make the hangar look cleaner and neater, 2) to be able to find things easier by having them all in one place, and 3) to keep them cleaner.  I end up with dust, dirt and bugs on everything.  

By the end of the day I was quite tired and sore and new I would regret it in the morning.  I was right.

Sunday was a much better day.  When I got up it was severe clear and remained that way for the day.  It did get a little windy, but that is part of what kept it from being hot.  Temperature in the low 70s and most everything green is definitely abnormal for August, but I'll take this over searing heat any time.

I decided that I needed a little landing practice.  Now, I don't practice landings like most people.  They just go round and round the pattern at the same airport and frankly, that gets a bit boring.  

I went from Arlington to Eastsound on Orcas Island, then to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, then to Pt. Townsend, then back to Arlington.  Maybe not the most efficient practice since I only got 4 landings in an hour and forty minutes, but it was definitely a lot more fun.  Also this way I get the benefit of encountering many varied conditions rather than always the same thing.

What I learned was that I really need practice.  The first one wasn't great, though the second one was pretty good.  The last two got progressively worse.  Well, better practice some more.

Here is the track log: https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/1A1EC274-3614-4DA8-9A56-E20C270AE729

Here is some video I shot:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgCBaL7j2aA

 Monday turned out to be another really nice day.  It was supposed to be uncomfortably warm, and probably was in places, but was nice where I was.  

We were planning to go to Forks for lunch, but in checking weather I noticed a NOTAM for the airport stating that it was closed.  Only for a few hours, but right when we wanted to go. 

We decided to go to Pt. Townsend instead.  We hadn't been there for a while (like a couple of years) and were also planning to go through the museum.  The lunch part worked out well, the museum part, not so much.

When we walked over to the museum it was obvious they were closed.  There was a sign on the door stating that due to COVID the museum would be closed until April first.  April first?  Is this a joke?  What year?  The point was moot as they are normally closed Monday and Tuesday anyway, so they would have been closed today no matter what.  I thought they might be open since the Staggerwing was out yesterday and they had the doors to one of the hangars open.  Oh well.

Here's the museum web site: https://ptaeromuseum.com/

It says that they will be closed until Jefferson County enters phase 3. 

After lunch we went out to Forks to see if we could discern the reason for the airport closure.  In short, we couldn't.  The runway markings seem to have been repainted in the recent past.  There are a lot of cracks though, some with weeds growing out of them, so it could have been some kind of maintenance.  The NOTAM had been taken down by the time we got there which was before it was scheduled to terminate, so whatever they did only took a few hours.

As I was departing I noticed that some people were milling about that Commonwealth mentioned in last week's post.  I wish I had seen them before I mounted up, I would have liked to walk over and see if I could ascertain what transpired.  They had a flat bed trailer with them, so I assumed they were going to take it apart and cart it off.  As I was landing I saw the airplane on the trailer.  I was hoping they would still be there after I got gas, but by the time I got back they were gone.  I guess we'll never know.

Here is the outbound track log:  https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/F891E56C-13FE-4569-B15C-6FF9FCF8283D

Here is the homeward track log:  https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/5826A7EB-42A9-4C25-A285-7FF0511B1009

Check back in the future as there may be a video posted of today's adventure. 

All in all, it was a really nice weekend, can't wait to do it again.

RV-8 and the First Weekend in August

Saturday 8/1/20 marked the end of a very long, hot week.  Monday was the hottest day of the year, so far (hopefully for the rest of the year).  Saturday was scheduled to be much cooler with morning clouds and afternoon sun.  The clouds appeared right on schedule, but for a while the clearing was in serious question.

As soon as I got to the airport I saw the airplane shown below.  I knew it wasn't the run of the mill, but I couldn't quite place it.  I thought maybe Porterfield and Carl thought maybe Aeronca, but the tail was wrong for both of those.  With nothing else to do I walked over to take a look.  Once I saw the name on the tail, it didn't help all that much.

OK, great.  Commonwealth.  I've heard of them, but Commonwealth what?

OK, Commonwealth Skyranger. Well, that still doesn't help a lot, can I buy a vowel?  It is pretty common for designs of the 1940s, but I didn't have anything in the memory banks, so off to the Google.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Skyranger

In walking around, it didn't take long to figure out that something was amiss.  Now, that is a real high speed, low drag design, but I don't think it will go very fast without a propeller.  I wonder where it is?

Oh, there it is.

That's an interesting security system.  I suppose no one is going to fly off with the airplane if the propeller is in the pilot's seat.  I looked at it and it looked to be in fine shape, so why was it removed.

At first I didn't notice that wrinkle in the top cowl or other damage to the nose bowl or bottom cowl.  After I looked in the passenger side window, it made a little more sense.

That's not what you want to see.

You can't really see it in the above picture, but the leading edge of the blade that is largely missing is undamaged.  If it had hit something, you'd think the front of the blade would be damaged also.  It looks like the blade just failed, but it wasn't on a lamination, it went across all laminations.  It looks like it might have started at one of the bolt holes.  Maybe it was cracked for some reason.

Here are a couple more pictures.

The sky was still not clearing as fast as we would have liked and there was quite a bit of debate about whether to go or abort.  All indications were for clearing and for that trend to continue, so we decided to launch a little after noon.

There aren't too many choices of where to go, particularly if you want a place to eat, and we do.  In this case we decided to go back to Forks.  It is always an interesting trip and no two are exactly alike.

There was a fire at Crescent Lake just to the southwest of Port Angeles so we had to go a little farther out over the water than usual to stay clear of it.  For some reason, it went all the way up to 10,000'.  That's pretty high for a firefighting TFR.

Even though the clouds were still pretty low at Arlington, there was brighter sky to the west hinting at higher ceilings or even fewer clouds.  It turned out to be about normal, as soon as we got over Pt. Susan the clouds disappeared and we could climb on top.

When we got out to Forks it was still a little low, but higher than Arlington so we went through our usual hole in the hills.  The ground is lower through this small pass allowing good ground and cloud clearance even on low ceiling days.

Before leaving I decided to get a shot of the airplane in front of the logging museum that is just across the street from the parking ramp.

The trip home was easier as there were fewer clouds.  There were still some in the vicinity of Forks, but it was clear that they ended not too far away.  There was a hole just off the end of the runway, but I thought it might be too small so I stayed beneath the clouds until I got to the coast.  I think it was more dramatic that way.

We played around a bit on the way up the coast and turned at Neah Bay to head back down the Strait.

Here is the outbound track log: https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/0C6B9176-D59D-43FD-90E7-2102A9CB5F04

Here is the homeward track log: https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/CC0B5BB8-CB54-487C-ABCF-79DB37F1EB8D

Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyBe0xdm1mU

And this week you get an extra, special BONUS video!!!

For the first time in a couple of months I actually had the time to fly both Saturday and Sunday.  On Sunday I chose to go and get a good look at Snoqualmie Falls since I hadn't really done that before.  It was mostly clear, but as expected a bit bumpy down low.  I was amazed at how many people there were on the river.  I think I got some good footage though, so here is that video as well.

Track log:https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/5016A36F-C951-4769-890B-6BDC09B7B990

Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_kQtVOhgUM

RV-8 and the Dam Flight

Saturday 7/25/20 was a fine clear day in the upper left hand corner of the country.  It was one of those very rare days that was both clear, not very windy and not very hot.  We get very few of those a year, even fewer on days I don't have to work.  Carl suggested an interesting  flight around the North Cascades and into Eastern Washington.  Since he was grounded due to cowling/baffle interface issues I went it alone.

Prior to departure there was a brand new, and very blue, Stearman on the ramp.  As we headed over to look at it the owner walked up to us asking where the gas pumps are (it was parked on the ramp by the restaurant).  We told him and then went over to look at it.  It had just come out of restoration in Bellingham and is on its way to its new home in Pocatello, Idaho.

The most interesting thing about this airplane is that it registered as experimental, racing and exhibition that is.  The reason for this is that it had a Lycoming R-680 on it that was fuel injected.

Just behind the cylinders all the way around you can see a bundle of wires that are for the EGT and CHT input on an engine monitor.

He said that the fuel injection made it much easier to start as well as adding a few horsepower.  I managed to get a picture as we were taxiing past each other.

The online track log can be seen here:

https://plan.foreflight.com/s/track/C39AB4BA-531F-4833-8D41-8E7EB05DB6C3

I took off about 12:30 and headed north.  I climbed to 11,500 feet and headed toward Mt. Baker.  I started by going over the top of Baker and was surprised to see people on top of the mountain.  It looked like a dozen or so people standing on the very top.  From there I headed over to Spike, known by some as Mt Shuksan. 

Spike

Spike

From there I headed toward Ross Lake, first passing Diablo Dam then Ross Dam, and followed it up to the Canadian border.  From there I headed southeast toward Lake Chelan.  From there I headed to Grand Coulee Dam.  On the way, I passed over Chief Joseph Dam in Bridgeport.

I was hoping to get a little lower to get some better pictures of the dam and Steamboat Rock, but it got really bumpy below 9,000 feet.  It was OK at 9,500.  I thought I had gotten some really good video, but when I got home the video from the main camera was really jumpy and jittery, I have no idea why.

I circled around the dam and headed to Wenatchee.  I climbed to 13,500 headed that way (I had the oxygen bottle with me this time).  It’s a good thing I went that high as there was a fire just to the east of Wenatchee and the smoke went almost that high.  I could see the flames through the smoke.  Unfortunately, I could also smell it.

There was another fire further east that was throwing up a huge mushroom cloud.  I'm sure that was nothing to worry about.  Right?

I climbed to 14,500 for the trip back.  The good thing about that altitude is that I got the fuel flow down to 8.6 gallons per hour.  The bad thing is that I don’t like that nasal cannula. It makes my nose itch.  Not only that, it seems to use a lot of oxygen.  In about 2 hours I pretty much drained the bottle.  I thought it was an on demand system, it would only deliver oxygen when you inhale, but I could feel it flowing all the time.

The other thing about cruising at 14,500 is that it takes a LONG time to get back down.

I was surprised at how many dams there are in this general area.  There were several more that were close to my route of flight that I didn't go directly over.

The Dam video can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2CTOHLQM8s

Now that you have seen the Dam presentation and the Dam video, are there any Dam questions?