This journal is a log of the flight Lance and I made in September 2014, taking his Luscombe Silvaire from Nevada County Air Park, CA in the Sierra foothills of California, to Bellingham, WA, just south of the Canadian border. Flight plan.
N1139B is a 1947 Luscombe Silvaire 8A/F, owned by Lance. He has owned it for six months, but it was previously owned by his father Noal for many years. Lance has been flying it for many years, and he has known it since it had a 65HP engine. Noal upgraded it to a 100HP Continental O-200.
We met up at Nevada County Air Park around 1500 on the 15th. Lance was already topping off the tanks when I got there, and Mum and Dad were taking pictures. We said our good byes, jumped in and headed out to runway 25. I was fiddling around with the GoPro (they are very fiddly things) whilst Lance ran up the engine, checked the mags, and we waited for a Cal Fire tanker to taxi in. Then we were off, wheels off the ground about 1615.
After a quick rocking of the wings for Charles, as we flew past the fuel stand, we climbed to cruise altitude of about 4000ft, heading just to the north of Beale AFB in the valley, past the Sutter Buttes. We crossed the Sacramento river at 1649, then over the San Andreas fault line and onto the Mendocino National Forest. Lance was giving me some advice on mountain flying here, since we were climbing up over Snow Mountain. Always have an out, and be ready for being carried quickly up or down by winds. The calm air of the valley was a little more active over the mountain, and I was beginning to feel slightly queasy by the time we saw Willits airport. This was to be our next stop, to get some more fuel, and stretch the legs.
Willits was a nice quiet field, with 100LL and a bathroom! There was an open hangar with a few aircraft inside, but the only soul we saw was a 5 year old boy riding around on a bike, a little bit 'Shining'. Tanks topped up again, we took off and headed out to Shelter Cove.
We woke to a bit of over-cast, which burned off pretty quick. After Lance successfully made (OK, heated) coffee using AVGAS out of the Luscombe (it was very good!), we wandered down to the rocks to check out the ocean. Shelter Cove is a beautiful place, but according to a few locals we spoke to, it's changing.
Had an beautiful flight heading North along the coast, sometimes flying at just a few hundred feet over the sea, next to the cliffs and hills of the 'lost coast'. Andy Mc Beth Airport was very nice, nestled in valley alongside the Klamath River.
Leaving Andy Mc Beth Airport, we headed into civilisation again at Crescent City. Filled up with fuel at CEC, spent a little time at the nice FBO there.
Gold Beach was a quite windy, parked next to a N3N-3. Lunch/Breakfast in the Hook'd Cafe. Lots of salmon fishing going on in the river.
Cape Blanco was a big wide tarmac runway in the middle of nowhere!
Stop for the night at Pacific City, camping on the beach.
Wake up on a wet beach, after some light rain over night. Rocket fuel coffee from a gas station, almost bought some VP110 racing fuel to get us over to TMK! But we calculated there should be plenty to complete that short trip, so didn't do that in the end.
Nice flight over very densely tree covered hills/mountains.
Longest leg of the trip. Felt like it too!
Oh no! We're here! N1139B safely in new hangar.
