Sunday Flew to Corvallis to swap ICOM radios with Frank H. My radio was weak transmitting, but I needed to use it on all my travels.
Monday Off to W52 at 7:15 AM Loaded equipment, files, overnight bag, flight bag, etc. Departed for Kalispell City Airport, S27 just after 8 AM, flew alomost direct except for a slight bend around the Yakima Firing Range (I trusted that their aim was good!) Arrived in Kalispell about 10 minutes to 11 Am my time, just before noon their time. Red Eagle Aviation put 22.7 gallons in the tank for $93. Budget had dropped the car off, so drove past the job site on the way to lunch, came back, took all the measurements and sketches I needed. The checked into room that Red Eagle reserved for me at the Aero Inn - $38.26/night. One vehicle inspection later, I met a friend for a BBQ dinner north of town. Turned in early to get an early start next day.
Tuesday Schlepped equipment into plane and pre-flighted. Drove into town to pickup photos at 9AM (MDT; 8AM PDT) Back to airport, called client to alert that I would be arriving at KPSC @ 10:15 AM (PDT) Did I remember to say that flights east & west across Eastern WA and the ID panhandle were beautiful? I love mountain scenery. I literally got disoriented over the top of Tri-Cities. Must have picked up a road and mistaken it for one of the runways. I wish this 6A had a DG like my Cherokee. Never embarassed myself like this before. Client picked me up and hauled me around to two scenes, lunch, then back to the airport. It was 2:30PM and my daughter's HS soccer game began at 4PM, so I blasted off. Strong east winds were forecast in the Columbia River Gorge so I used the climb advantage of N544WB to climb to 8500 and pass south of Mt. Adams. Everything was going well until I had to descend toward W52. The last 10 - 15 minutes were bumpy as I was intent on keeping the speed up going downhill. I arrived at Goheen Field just befroe 3:30, backed the pickup out of the hangar, pulled 544WB in and was off to Union HS nearly 45 minutes away. I arrived at 4:25, missing Erin's first shift since she starts. Both teams played hard but Erin's Battle Ground Tigers scored in the 2nd half to win 1-0. I realized that I was close to Grove Field in Camas, so I went to the EAA Ch. 105 meeeting for a Stewart Finishing Systems presentation that I thought I would miss.
Wednesday .. was a catch-up day in the office until remembering that I had triple-booked Friday. I managed to get my schedule sorted out, but only got in 2 raquetball games at the health club due to late arrival.
Thursday It looked like the weather would be perfect Friday morning, if one could wait out the ground fog. However I could not. So after a home soccer game, in which Erin scored the Tigers only goal in a 3-1 loss, I raced back to the office to load equipment into the truck, grabbed some clothes on the way by the house and headed to Bainbridge Island. When I got to Poulsbo at 11PM I called it quits for the night.
Friday Got up early, grabbed some breakfast and worked in the motel room until I had to leave for my appointment. Completed the inspection and headed for home. Arrived home at 3:30 - in time to take a nap then get ready for La Boheme, the opera I had talked my wife into going to and almost missed until discovering and correcting being triple booked. The Portland Opera production was fantastic. La Boheme is a great 1st opera for those with open minds who have never been. Opera is the NBA of the vocal world.
Saturday Despite the late Friday night, I had a 9:30AM appointment, setover from 8AM Friday. The rest of the day was spent doing chores, although it hardly seemed fair. I am going to try to do some recreational flying tomorrow before I send the radio in to ICOM.
Summary When I look back at everything that happened this week, the fact that I am blessed with an RV-6A is one of the main reasons that it was possible. Not only did I accomplish a lot, but I flew to Kalispell and Pasco on one trip for a fuel cost of about $200. A round trip ticket on Horizon with checked baggage was $600!
Finally I would like to thak all the really bad drivers out there who keep me very busily employed despite the current recession. I couldn't do it without you!
Larry Tompkins
Monday Off to W52 at 7:15 AM Loaded equipment, files, overnight bag, flight bag, etc. Departed for Kalispell City Airport, S27 just after 8 AM, flew alomost direct except for a slight bend around the Yakima Firing Range (I trusted that their aim was good!) Arrived in Kalispell about 10 minutes to 11 Am my time, just before noon their time. Red Eagle Aviation put 22.7 gallons in the tank for $93. Budget had dropped the car off, so drove past the job site on the way to lunch, came back, took all the measurements and sketches I needed. The checked into room that Red Eagle reserved for me at the Aero Inn - $38.26/night. One vehicle inspection later, I met a friend for a BBQ dinner north of town. Turned in early to get an early start next day.
Tuesday Schlepped equipment into plane and pre-flighted. Drove into town to pickup photos at 9AM (MDT; 8AM PDT) Back to airport, called client to alert that I would be arriving at KPSC @ 10:15 AM (PDT) Did I remember to say that flights east & west across Eastern WA and the ID panhandle were beautiful? I love mountain scenery. I literally got disoriented over the top of Tri-Cities. Must have picked up a road and mistaken it for one of the runways. I wish this 6A had a DG like my Cherokee. Never embarassed myself like this before. Client picked me up and hauled me around to two scenes, lunch, then back to the airport. It was 2:30PM and my daughter's HS soccer game began at 4PM, so I blasted off. Strong east winds were forecast in the Columbia River Gorge so I used the climb advantage of N544WB to climb to 8500 and pass south of Mt. Adams. Everything was going well until I had to descend toward W52. The last 10 - 15 minutes were bumpy as I was intent on keeping the speed up going downhill. I arrived at Goheen Field just befroe 3:30, backed the pickup out of the hangar, pulled 544WB in and was off to Union HS nearly 45 minutes away. I arrived at 4:25, missing Erin's first shift since she starts. Both teams played hard but Erin's Battle Ground Tigers scored in the 2nd half to win 1-0. I realized that I was close to Grove Field in Camas, so I went to the EAA Ch. 105 meeeting for a Stewart Finishing Systems presentation that I thought I would miss.
Wednesday .. was a catch-up day in the office until remembering that I had triple-booked Friday. I managed to get my schedule sorted out, but only got in 2 raquetball games at the health club due to late arrival.
Thursday It looked like the weather would be perfect Friday morning, if one could wait out the ground fog. However I could not. So after a home soccer game, in which Erin scored the Tigers only goal in a 3-1 loss, I raced back to the office to load equipment into the truck, grabbed some clothes on the way by the house and headed to Bainbridge Island. When I got to Poulsbo at 11PM I called it quits for the night.
Friday Got up early, grabbed some breakfast and worked in the motel room until I had to leave for my appointment. Completed the inspection and headed for home. Arrived home at 3:30 - in time to take a nap then get ready for La Boheme, the opera I had talked my wife into going to and almost missed until discovering and correcting being triple booked. The Portland Opera production was fantastic. La Boheme is a great 1st opera for those with open minds who have never been. Opera is the NBA of the vocal world.
Saturday Despite the late Friday night, I had a 9:30AM appointment, setover from 8AM Friday. The rest of the day was spent doing chores, although it hardly seemed fair. I am going to try to do some recreational flying tomorrow before I send the radio in to ICOM.
Summary When I look back at everything that happened this week, the fact that I am blessed with an RV-6A is one of the main reasons that it was possible. Not only did I accomplish a lot, but I flew to Kalispell and Pasco on one trip for a fuel cost of about $200. A round trip ticket on Horizon with checked baggage was $600!
Finally I would like to thak all the really bad drivers out there who keep me very busily employed despite the current recession. I couldn't do it without you!
Larry Tompkins
