I departed S50 with overcast to the East and a layer of broken clouds to the West. I stayed below 1600' until past the SeaTac class B, and then once over Dash Point began a climb to 2500' and called up Tacoma-Narrows on the radio to request transition of the class D. The broken layer was holding at about 3500' and rather than risk getting caught on top I stayed at 2500' the rest of the way to Ocean Shores.
About half way to W04, I spotted an eagle circling ahead and to the right. As I passed I held up my camera and pressed the shutter. By pure luck I caught him in the frame as I went by:
Here's a cropped image blown up:
I've encountered birds before, and other species have always made an effort to get out of the way, usually by dropping straight down. This guy was completely unperturbed by my passage. I was clearly the interloper in his territory.
After that exciting encounter, the rest of the flight to W04 was uneventful, and I made a nice landing in a slight crosswind.
Ocean Shores Airport is a nice little field. There are no services available, but they have
tie-downs, a bathroom, and a nice little pilot's lounge. I used the bathroom and signed my name in the guest book. On the wall the number for the local dial-a-ride is posted, but I decided to walk into town and then to the beach. It was a little further than I thought, and I think I ended up walking about two to three miles all told. There were lots of kites flying at the beach.
After wandering around the beach I stopped for lunch and then called the dial-a-ride for a lift back to the airport. I had to wait 45
minutes, so while waiting I made an attempt to find a local geocache but had no luck. Supposedly it's somewhere near this sculpture, but the hint didn't make any sense. The bus finally came and dropped me at the airport. The dial-a-ride is a great service at Ocean Shores. They'll pick you up and drop you anywhere in town for 50 cents.
Once back at the airport I pre-flighted 34H and took off on the next leg. I planned to fly up the coast to Quillayute (UIL), then up to the Tattoosh VOR and around Cape Flattery, then follow the coast to Port Angeles to refuel at Fairchild International (CLM). After lifting off I contacted
flight service to check on the status of the Olympic MOAs. I was pretty sure they were cold, but I wanted to make sure. Unfortunately flight service didn't know the status, and I was unable to raise Seattle Center on the radio. I elected to fly up the coast at 1500'. The floor of the MOA starts at 1200' and since I was pretty sure it wasn't hot I felt safe from any intruding fast movers (though I kept a sharp eye peeled the whole way!). I passed Copalis Beach airport (S16) and snapped a shot of a Cessna parked on the beach. Copalis is interesting in that it's the only beach registered as an airport in the United States. I haven't landed there yet, but I plan to this summer.
On the way to Quillayute, I noticed the ceiling starting to lower. As I moved inland from the coast, it was at about 2500', and getting lower. It especially didn't look good toward Cape
Flattery. I called flight service for a weather update and they said Fairchild was reporting clear below 12,000'. So rather than head all the way around the peninsula I turned right and made straight for Sekiu (11S). Over Sekiu the sky was clear and beautiful. I then made direct for CLM, where I landed for fuel. I hadn't landed there before, and I didn't see the fuel pumps as I was landing, so I taxied over to the likeliest looking building, which happened to be the airline terminal (Fairchild is an international airport, and Kenmoore Air provides scheduled service from there). That was not really where I was supposed to be, considering the ramp there is a secure area, so I asked where the pumps where and was kindly escorted back to my airplane and pointed in the right direction. :) I got back in the plane and taxied over to the right place and refueled.
I then took off for the final leg of the trip. It was an uneventful but nice flight from CLM to Jefferson County (0S9), and then from there to the CARRO intersection, and from there direct to S50. I landed, topped off the tanks and put the plane to bed. All in all it was a great day for flying.
You can find more pictures from the flight at Picassa Web
Total time: 4.1 hrs.
Here's a cropped image blown up:
I've encountered birds before, and other species have always made an effort to get out of the way, usually by dropping straight down. This guy was completely unperturbed by my passage. I was clearly the interloper in his territory.
After that exciting encounter, the rest of the flight to W04 was uneventful, and I made a nice landing in a slight crosswind.
Ocean Shores Airport is a nice little field. There are no services available, but they have
tie-downs, a bathroom, and a nice little pilot's lounge. I used the bathroom and signed my name in the guest book. On the wall the number for the local dial-a-ride is posted, but I decided to walk into town and then to the beach. It was a little further than I thought, and I think I ended up walking about two to three miles all told. There were lots of kites flying at the beach.After wandering around the beach I stopped for lunch and then called the dial-a-ride for a lift back to the airport. I had to wait 45
minutes, so while waiting I made an attempt to find a local geocache but had no luck. Supposedly it's somewhere near this sculpture, but the hint didn't make any sense. The bus finally came and dropped me at the airport. The dial-a-ride is a great service at Ocean Shores. They'll pick you up and drop you anywhere in town for 50 cents.Once back at the airport I pre-flighted 34H and took off on the next leg. I planned to fly up the coast to Quillayute (UIL), then up to the Tattoosh VOR and around Cape Flattery, then follow the coast to Port Angeles to refuel at Fairchild International (CLM). After lifting off I contacted
flight service to check on the status of the Olympic MOAs. I was pretty sure they were cold, but I wanted to make sure. Unfortunately flight service didn't know the status, and I was unable to raise Seattle Center on the radio. I elected to fly up the coast at 1500'. The floor of the MOA starts at 1200' and since I was pretty sure it wasn't hot I felt safe from any intruding fast movers (though I kept a sharp eye peeled the whole way!). I passed Copalis Beach airport (S16) and snapped a shot of a Cessna parked on the beach. Copalis is interesting in that it's the only beach registered as an airport in the United States. I haven't landed there yet, but I plan to this summer.On the way to Quillayute, I noticed the ceiling starting to lower. As I moved inland from the coast, it was at about 2500', and getting lower. It especially didn't look good toward Cape
Flattery. I called flight service for a weather update and they said Fairchild was reporting clear below 12,000'. So rather than head all the way around the peninsula I turned right and made straight for Sekiu (11S). Over Sekiu the sky was clear and beautiful. I then made direct for CLM, where I landed for fuel. I hadn't landed there before, and I didn't see the fuel pumps as I was landing, so I taxied over to the likeliest looking building, which happened to be the airline terminal (Fairchild is an international airport, and Kenmoore Air provides scheduled service from there). That was not really where I was supposed to be, considering the ramp there is a secure area, so I asked where the pumps where and was kindly escorted back to my airplane and pointed in the right direction. :) I got back in the plane and taxied over to the right place and refueled.I then took off for the final leg of the trip. It was an uneventful but nice flight from CLM to Jefferson County (0S9), and then from there to the CARRO intersection, and from there direct to S50. I landed, topped off the tanks and put the plane to bed. All in all it was a great day for flying.
You can find more pictures from the flight at Picassa Web
Total time: 4.1 hrs.
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