Bob and Ginger's Trip Out West

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Day 11, Tuesday, Sept 9, 2008

After a nice breakfast with several of the Independence airpark residents, we took off for the Spruce Goose and Space Museums at McMinnville, OR. You have to see the vastness of the beast to understand its size, and that it is made of wood! The Space museum opened just 3 months ago and is worthy of a visit. I was able to identify with several displays about the Apollo Program, Skylab, the Shuttle Program, and the new NASA Program, Ares 1 and Ares 5. In one of the enclosed photos you can see me standing near one of the actual Saturn 5 instrument units(IU) that I think was one of the test articles that was my project at MSFC in the 60's. It is 33 feet in diameter, while the new Ares 1 IU that is currently under development is 18 feet in diameter.

For those fellow Ares guys at MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center, at Huntsville, AL), the museum has a scale model of the Ares 1 and 5 that you will see me standing near.

From there, we took off eastward toward Portland and followed the Columbia river at a low attitude over the large river to enjoy the gorge view.

Well, the winds got so bad that we had to climb to 5,500 feet to find smoother air, and finally to 7,500 feet. You have to experience these winds to appreciate the effects. Our destination was a grass strip nestled in a narrow mountain valley. I decided that I would have no part of landing in such that would require special maneuvers to get in, and then to get out. So I opted to land at a small airport at Council, Idaho and wait for the other 2 planes to come back. They flew about 40 miles to the strip and decided that the wind was too bad, and with the loaded RV-10, Doug Preston decided that it was too risky to go down to the strip. After their circling the strip, they returned to Council for gas. Council is literally in the middle of no-where! We pumped gas knowing the gallons, but no idea of the price per gallon. Ginger's and my Verizon cell would not work. Ed Banks' AT&T worked for making a call to the local motel, The Starlight Motel. A quick call revealed that they had no vacancies. So, as it was getting late, Ed made a call to Boise, Idaho and found some rooms. We made a quick departure for the 36 minute flight and landed at the large main airport. Tonight, we are staying in a very nice Suite (Cambria). Tomorrow, we plan to fly to Jackson Hole to tour the area for the day and spend the night. Our next hopeful area to tour from the air is Mount Rushmore and surrounding sites. From there, no plans other than heading South. The weather forecast ain't looking good......Stay tuned.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Day 10, Monday Sept 8, 2008

We had a good breakfast this morning where we ate with 2 guys from Jackson, Miss. They had just purchased an RV plane from one of the airpark residents and left this morning with their first stopover at Page, AZ. Bob Brown took me to an alternator rebuilder in a nearby town, Salem, OR. The rebuilder tested both the alternator and voltage regulator and assured me that both are in working condition! So, back to the plane. When we removed the regulator earlier, I recalled the wire connector was unusually loose. We focused on that component first while the alternator was being reinstalled. We cleaned the connector and made some mechanical adjustments to have more insertion friction.

We pulled the plane out of the hangar and cranked the engine. Lo and behold the alternator worked. After lunch, we made a short flight from Independence to Van's factory in Aurora, OR. After a short tour, we returned to Independence to spend another night at this fantastic airpark.

Tomorrow, we will take a short flight to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum that houses the Spruce Goose. From there, Doug Preston, our trip leader, says we will fly up to visit some Idaho mountain grass strips. Stay tuned.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Day 9, Sept 7

After a good nights sleep, we drove back to the Coos Bay airport and had to wait for the heavy fog to lift. As I pulled my plane from the hangar, to my surprise, I was barely able to start the engine, dead battery! Well, the battery was ok, but the alternator had gone south! Since we were going to an airpark where there are over 53 RV's housed, I decided to make the flight without battery power (no radio, no instrumentation, no gas gages, only the standby airspeed indicator).

We three planes flew up the Oregon coast line for several miles before turning inland toward the Independence, OR airpark.

We were met by one of the RV residents, Bob Brown, who had made prior arrangements for lodging with RV owners. They also had a covered dish (plus ribs) supper for us where we met several residents. This place is paradise for flying people. The taxi ways and road are laid out to accommodate airplanes. RV construction is going on everywhere. I wish we had such back home. Well, back to the bad alternator. I was able to pull the plane into Bill Boyle's hangar where we removed the alternator. Bob Brown took me to several auto parts stores, but none had one in stock. In the morning, he will take me to a electrical rebuilder close by. Assuming I get the alternator working in the morning, we plan to go see the Spruce Goose at a museum not far from here. Then on to Van's factory for a tour. Beyond that, our schedule is flexible. The remaining desirable stops are an Idaho grass strip, Mount Rushmore, and Jackson Hole. After that, we will likely head home. Again, you have to see this airpark to appreciate it. The houses and hangars are built as one, and are they nice!!

Photos from days 6 & 7

Looking down from Hoover Dam

Catalina Islands

Bryce Canyon airport

Brian Pyatt in flight

Saturday, September 6, 2008

New Postings

We finally have the internet. So please see our blog postings for Days 6, 7, and 8 and our pictures from days 4 and 5. Hopefully we will be able to get back to posting on a daily basis!