Part 5/5 Missouri to Washington, Trip Report - N3934V
Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 5:38 am
We left Salmon (SMN) following the Main Fork of the Salmon River into the heart of the Idaho mountains. The river leaves town flowing 15 miles north before turning west. This route is rugged and scenic. The mountains top out around 8,500’. The canyon is fairly wide with the river and for the first 25 miles a road running through the bottom. The wind was approx. 10-15 mph with only light turbulence. As a whitewater kayaker, it was nice to have Jared flying so I could study the giant rapids below. We soon saw the Middle Fork of the Salmon River flowing in from the south, doubling the volume of water as the river enters into the tighter canyons and the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness area.
The river takes a turn to the NW at this point. The next 25 miles offer nothing but a few small riverside ranches, whitewater rafting parties and spectacular scenic views. As the river turned back towards the southeast, we climbed direct enroute towards Grangeville, ID. We very slowly kept descending across the rolling farmland towards Lewiston, ID. The Snake river, with it’s wheat, lintel and pea filled barges led us from the corner of Oregon, Idaho and Washington towards my hometown of Moses Lake, Wa. Thirty more minutes of Columbia Basin farmland passed under us until we were on final for one of the timothy hay fields at my brother’s farm. We slipped over the power lines and touched down onto the somewhat rough 1600 foot long landing area. We quickly taxied across the county road into the farmyard shutting 34V down between the swather and baler. We enjoyed the evening with my family celebrating my brother’s birthday.
The next morning featured calm winds and sunny skies for the final 150 miles home. I suspected the small 8.00x6 tires might limit our acceleration in the hay field we landed in the evening prior. I briefed Jared of our no-go point. If we weren’t airborne by the mid-point of the field, easily determined by the irrigation equipment, we would abort the takeoff. We taxied to the far end of the field and fed full throttle as we slowly bounced along with a slow acceleration rate. The airplane was getting very light on her gear as we hit midfield, but she wasn’t airborne so I aborted the takeoff. I kept enough power to allow us to quickly taxi over to the county road, my brother had already accelerated down the road ahead of us in his pickup, sweeping our secondary runway. We rolled onto the blacktop, pushed the power up, rolled under the powerlines and easily lifted off after a 600 foot takeoff roll, immediately turning back towards the west. We rocked the wings as we passed by my parents and flew the 15 miles to Grant County International Airport for a quick fuel stop. Tower cleared us to land on 13,500-foot long runway 32R and to expect a back taxi. A nice full flap, slow approach speed STOL landing allowed us to touchdown and immediately taxi clear in less than 500’ at the first taxiway, negating the requirement to back taxi.
Jared soon had 34V fired back up and taxing for runway 36, one of 5 runways, 10 if you count both directions that this old air force base offers. Runway 36 is where I soloed in a Piper Tomahawk in 1984. Jared received clearance for takeoff and his new to taildragger feet kept the nose straight and the centerline between the mains. We soon were skimming over the dryland wheat fields of the Palisades. This region of high dryland fields, 1,000’ high basalt cliffs and hay field lines bottoms is one of my favorite places to fly and the best aspect of the flight from my home in Snohomish and our family farm. There is only one set of obstacles, a set of high-tension power lines. There is always a place to put the airplane if problems occur. The fields are home to lots of wildlife and flying low over the edge of the cliffs never gets old. The Palisades are also featured in my favorite flying movie, “ALWAYS.” The bus driver heart attack scene was filmed there. We then progressed up the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers to the scenic Bavarian town of Leavenworth. Leavenworth sits against the rugged edge of the eastern flanks of the Cascade Mountains and is the gateway to Stevens Pass, leading to the Puget Sound region. As you overfly Leavenworth there is a massive wall of granite with a narrow cut and hard 90 degree turn directly in front of you, and a large inviting canyon just to the left. Both have similar rivers flowing through them. As Jared overflew town, he gently banked towards the large inviting option. I quietly sat beside him and let him proceed, knowing that there were several great lessons about to be realized and learned from. After about three minutes Jared was looking around more than normal and you could tell something didn’t seem right to him. I let him continue and then asked him, “what’s up?” He admitted that this didn’t seem like Stevens Pass. He had never flown through it, but had driven it many times and it just wasn’t looking correct to him. So I took the opportunity to introduce him to the basics of canyon turns and we demonstrated and then practiced several turns. We flew the 5 minutes back to where the wrong decision was made and took another look at what we saw out the window.
We talked about the details of this portion of flying Stevens Pass and reviewed multiple options. We continued on up the pass and enjoyed the clear skies to the summit. High clouds started to appear as we descended the last thirty miles to Harvey Field in Snohomish. I pointed out several scenic points on the route. We talked about known areas of turbulence in the area and several of the local training areas and good emergency options. Jared soon entered the pattern and rolled 34V’s wheel on the grass strip of it’s new home. I smiled to myself and felt the satisfaction of having brought the third 170 home to S43 in the last 5 years. Thanks for letting be a part of this adventure Jared and welcome to being a proud 170 owner. Two days later Tom and I watched as Jared flew 34V solo for the first time.
The river takes a turn to the NW at this point. The next 25 miles offer nothing but a few small riverside ranches, whitewater rafting parties and spectacular scenic views. As the river turned back towards the southeast, we climbed direct enroute towards Grangeville, ID. We very slowly kept descending across the rolling farmland towards Lewiston, ID. The Snake river, with it’s wheat, lintel and pea filled barges led us from the corner of Oregon, Idaho and Washington towards my hometown of Moses Lake, Wa. Thirty more minutes of Columbia Basin farmland passed under us until we were on final for one of the timothy hay fields at my brother’s farm. We slipped over the power lines and touched down onto the somewhat rough 1600 foot long landing area. We quickly taxied across the county road into the farmyard shutting 34V down between the swather and baler. We enjoyed the evening with my family celebrating my brother’s birthday.
The next morning featured calm winds and sunny skies for the final 150 miles home. I suspected the small 8.00x6 tires might limit our acceleration in the hay field we landed in the evening prior. I briefed Jared of our no-go point. If we weren’t airborne by the mid-point of the field, easily determined by the irrigation equipment, we would abort the takeoff. We taxied to the far end of the field and fed full throttle as we slowly bounced along with a slow acceleration rate. The airplane was getting very light on her gear as we hit midfield, but she wasn’t airborne so I aborted the takeoff. I kept enough power to allow us to quickly taxi over to the county road, my brother had already accelerated down the road ahead of us in his pickup, sweeping our secondary runway. We rolled onto the blacktop, pushed the power up, rolled under the powerlines and easily lifted off after a 600 foot takeoff roll, immediately turning back towards the west. We rocked the wings as we passed by my parents and flew the 15 miles to Grant County International Airport for a quick fuel stop. Tower cleared us to land on 13,500-foot long runway 32R and to expect a back taxi. A nice full flap, slow approach speed STOL landing allowed us to touchdown and immediately taxi clear in less than 500’ at the first taxiway, negating the requirement to back taxi.
Jared soon had 34V fired back up and taxing for runway 36, one of 5 runways, 10 if you count both directions that this old air force base offers. Runway 36 is where I soloed in a Piper Tomahawk in 1984. Jared received clearance for takeoff and his new to taildragger feet kept the nose straight and the centerline between the mains. We soon were skimming over the dryland wheat fields of the Palisades. This region of high dryland fields, 1,000’ high basalt cliffs and hay field lines bottoms is one of my favorite places to fly and the best aspect of the flight from my home in Snohomish and our family farm. There is only one set of obstacles, a set of high-tension power lines. There is always a place to put the airplane if problems occur. The fields are home to lots of wildlife and flying low over the edge of the cliffs never gets old. The Palisades are also featured in my favorite flying movie, “ALWAYS.” The bus driver heart attack scene was filmed there. We then progressed up the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers to the scenic Bavarian town of Leavenworth. Leavenworth sits against the rugged edge of the eastern flanks of the Cascade Mountains and is the gateway to Stevens Pass, leading to the Puget Sound region. As you overfly Leavenworth there is a massive wall of granite with a narrow cut and hard 90 degree turn directly in front of you, and a large inviting canyon just to the left. Both have similar rivers flowing through them. As Jared overflew town, he gently banked towards the large inviting option. I quietly sat beside him and let him proceed, knowing that there were several great lessons about to be realized and learned from. After about three minutes Jared was looking around more than normal and you could tell something didn’t seem right to him. I let him continue and then asked him, “what’s up?” He admitted that this didn’t seem like Stevens Pass. He had never flown through it, but had driven it many times and it just wasn’t looking correct to him. So I took the opportunity to introduce him to the basics of canyon turns and we demonstrated and then practiced several turns. We flew the 5 minutes back to where the wrong decision was made and took another look at what we saw out the window.
We talked about the details of this portion of flying Stevens Pass and reviewed multiple options. We continued on up the pass and enjoyed the clear skies to the summit. High clouds started to appear as we descended the last thirty miles to Harvey Field in Snohomish. I pointed out several scenic points on the route. We talked about known areas of turbulence in the area and several of the local training areas and good emergency options. Jared soon entered the pattern and rolled 34V’s wheel on the grass strip of it’s new home. I smiled to myself and felt the satisfaction of having brought the third 170 home to S43 in the last 5 years. Thanks for letting be a part of this adventure Jared and welcome to being a proud 170 owner. Two days later Tom and I watched as Jared flew 34V solo for the first time.