I love the smell of Avgas in the morning.

So this is my first ever post on a blog. I feel like I just jumped into the year 2002.

This past week has been a busy week. As Kt said I am working for Frito-Lay in a warehouse on the West side of Eugene. My boss Brent is the proud owner of a 1946 Luscombe 8 A/E. Here is a picture in which you can (kind of) see Mt. Hood in the background. It is a 2 seat airplane designed for people smaller than me but I am certainly not complaining. If I remember right it has about 95 HP and weighs just over 3000 lbs which makes it a very small and light airplane.

Brent and I went into work at 5am last Sunday so that we could be done early. We flew north from Eugene about an hour and a half to a Fly-In with about 50 other planes and about 40 classic cars such as these.

On the flight up the weather was partly cloudy with ceilings at about 4500 ft with light turbulence. Visibility was about 25 miles and hazy. With the clouds at 4500 ft we could see that the hills on both sides of the Willamette Valley were very close to the clouds. (more on them later) On our way to the airport we passed a friend of Brent's that was flying a 1930's biplane that was painted a bright blue and yellow.
                                                                             I took a picture.

As we neared the airport we needed to be on the lookout for other planes as we were not the only ones arriving. My former aircraft spotting skills were not wasted. By the time we got to the airport we were 4th in line at an untowered airport. Brent had obviously done this many times as he was very comfortable in traffic. At the airport Brent and I walked around looking at planes and cars, talked to some of his pilot friends, admired a 1936 DC-3 that flew in for the show and eat pancakes. There was a helicopter giving rides for $95 and a couple biplanes for $65 including the flying dentist.
                                                                 And here he is!

He and his wife travel around to airshows (him in the plane and her in their VW Westfalia) giving rides and just having fun.

We did not participate seeing as we had our own plane to play with. All told it was a good time at the airport. After noon we said goodbye to friends and interesting strangers and jumped back in the plane for a circuitous route home. Instead of flying South towards Eugene, we flew West to the ocean. To get there we had to fly over the coast range which rises to about 4000 ft in the area. For those of you paying attention you will remember that the clouds were only at 4500 ft, which means we had to climb above them for a few miles.
                                                                  I took a picture of that too.

Those of you who have been to the Oregon coast know that the rivers and forests of Oregon abruptly end at the Pacific Ocean in steep cliffs and boulders jutting out into the sea. We flew about 100 miles of the Oregon coast about 1500 ft above the ocean descending sometimes for a better look. At the ocean the clouds disappeared and the sun shone off the perfectly smooth blue water as far as we could see. As we flew South, Brent pointed out towns, rivers, lighthouses and the sea lion caves. At the caves we descended and turned around so I could get better pictures.
                                                                   Here are some of them.

                                                               

After the last picture we turned inland and landed back at Eugene Airport. It was very good to be in a light plane again. Hopefully Brent will take me up again soon. If not, it was a great experience and I'm very happy I  had the opportunity.

In other news my parents are on there way to Eugene with the rest of our stuff, Amanda was in town for a couple days and we went to see CCR at the Lane County Fair. All of which deserve there own post so I will finish here and hopefully we will post again soon.

Wishing you clear skies from Michael (and Kt)