Jun 2018 Mount Shasta!
It’s petty to whine about one single thing when you’re lucky enough to fly the perimeter of the U.S. With so many incredible views constantly outside our cockpit canopy, how can I possibly complain? But I truly do have one tiny regret – missing so much of the Pacific coastline. Low ceilings, not only along the California coast but up the Oregon shoreline too have forced us inland. I’ve been looking forward to miles and miles of lapping waves, rocks and sand but haven’t seen much of it this side of the Rockies. On the positive side, our deviation has given us beautiful views of snow topped mountains and terrain we would have otherwise missed.
Our WingX pix of the day. KRDD Redding, California to several airports in the Portland, Oregon area.
We climbed out of Redding, CA, northbound later than we planned, hoping our 12 pm departure wouldn’t be a teeth jarring experience. Boyd and I had studied the sectional long enough to be more than a little intimidated by the mountains we were about to cross. We debated striking out on a straight line course for Portland but being chickens at heart we opted to follow a 4 lane highway instead.
Mount Shasta
Wish I had a picture of our view as we climbed out of Redding, nose sucked back as much as possible to clear whatever was in our path. With the minimum clearance altitudes reading between 9,000′ and 14,500′, we were paying attention. Yikes. That first 15 minutes, part of me just wanted to close my eyes until flatter land, but guess that’s something a pilot’s not supposed to admit. Forget I said that!
Shasta National Recreation Area
Vans Aircraft quick build fuselages. We stopped in unannounced, after normal factory tour hours, but they couldn’t have been nicer and insisted on giving us a tour anyway.
Lower cowls
Our tour guide told us approximately 65 people work at the Vans RV factory
Forming small parts with a press brake. If you’re flying an RV or want to fly or build one, I highly recommend making the trek to visit Vans Aircraft.
And last stop of the day, we made a surprise visit to Scappoose Airport to see Mike Dennis and Gayle Crowder at Oregon Aero. Nice to see them at their home base instead of just OSH. And note to self….Right traffic for 33!
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