Top Of The Mark
- Thread starter Willy
- Start date
Nice flight across Oregon. Kodaks show Mt. St. Helens passing to the north, and a short low level diversion up the Columbia River, as we approached the Hood River area. The landing at Ken Jernstedt was uneventful. Forgot to check for cement blocks before I took off from Bowerman, but apparently Lana chased off any evil doers with nefarious intentions while I was away...
A fun flight up the east side of the mountains formed by the infamous Cascadia Subduction Zone. In fact several of the more prominent volcanoes were visible to the west throughout this leg. The airport is on the shore of the Columbia River, and as we approached the river from the south we had to “schooch” on over the Wenatchee mountains, which was quite a lot of fun for me, but maybe not so much for my banker passenger. I think he's starting to have second thoughts about my abilities as an airplane driver. Come to think of it, that would make him sort of smart, but I'm not telling him that.
Jeff's Centurion Silver Circuit is complete. A terrific route and great fun. I really enjoyed this event. I'm buying until the next pilot arrives.
Some highlight snaps from run.
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Some highlight snaps from run.
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Willy
Administrator
Great Ozzie
Charter Member
Famous last words?
Decided to take Ms. Monroe out to the Sitka & Spruce last night, in hopes of lubing her up before springing my request.
...After 'a few' ales...
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"So uh, Ms. Monroe..."
"Murphy... or Murph... Murph... smurf... surf... ...hey surfing soundsss... like fun... you ever surf?"
"Uh... No... Ok Murph, I got another entry."
"Fire away. Cheers *clink* by the way."
"I was thinking of using the X-15 from Xtreme Prototypes. But I'll need an Altitude waiver.... and I'll need some sort of, ehem, (big) fuel cost adjustment. Also, in the interest of transparency, there are turbines... but those just for some pumps. Got to be some pistons in that engine somewhere."
"Want another ale?"
"No ma'am, thanks... about the X-15..."
"No Problem.... and cut out the 'ma'am' stuff... itsss Murph." "Anywho... I think someone already flying a P-51... you like P-51s?"
"Yes... but.. no problem? What about Berinsky?"
"Burrr who?"
"Berinsky... your chief pilot... won't he have a problem with it?"
"You're my new chief pilot..." *clink*
"No, no... that's not what I want... I'm just looking for approval for a fast plane."
"Fast plane... Fast plane... How about a P-51? I really like P-51s... P-51s are fast planes..."
*Sigh*... (too much 'grease')
"Oh... oh... sure... no problemo. X-whatever you want. You just tell 'em ol' Murph sent ya..."
"Wow great... just one more thing Murph... there's no room for the banker..."
"Don't like bankers anyway... just take good pictures..."
Oh boy... maybe this wasn't such a bright idea.
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Xtreme Prototypes X-15-3B - FSX version
[@ 100,000ft]
KTAS = 2668kts
M = 4.485
Fuel Burn = 46,585lb/hr
max_indicated_speed=2700
max_mach=6.700
Critical Altitude = N/A
No Turbo/Super-charging
Example Flight (OR12 - KSUN):
http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=d57n3TrAphrdCCzrBlZKHzyqXwE
(available in 1080p in selected locations)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CafGbVVwT58
srgalahad
Charter Member 2022
One of the entertaining things about working undercover as a janitor at the Top of the Mark is getting to listen in to, and learn about the 'encounters' of the guests.
Maybe I shouldn't tell tales, but it seems the "Murph" or Ms Murphy that GO was chatting up was one of the family sales reps for
After he passed out.. err wandered off, I heard her say something to her friend about "how that fella was looking to get his clock cleaned..."
We got to kidding about it in the break room and one of the guys said that when he worked at Santa Anita race track they used Murphy's to wash horses... and then he added 'saddles' but I think he was chuckling about something else
Maybe I shouldn't tell tales, but it seems the "Murph" or Ms Murphy that GO was chatting up was one of the family sales reps for
After he passed out.. err wandered off, I heard her say something to her friend about "how that fella was looking to get his clock cleaned..."
We got to kidding about it in the break room and one of the guys said that when he worked at Santa Anita race track they used Murphy's to wash horses... and then he added 'saddles' but I think he was chuckling about something else
oldpropfan
Charter Member
So what to do after the event is over and the bar tabs are getting ever higher? Fly again but in another class, a possibility for sure. Maybe fly the course in reverse, now that sounds interesting. Lets get a bigger plane, just to up the challenge some. Have all of our ill gotten Vegas winnings, should be some classic yet sensible. I know, buy a cargo plane to carry stuff from place to place, make more money.
Grabs vintage bottle of Reposado tequila and heads to elevator. Now which floor was Ms. Monroe's room on?
Two days later - Contracts coming in fast and furious, grab half repainted plane ( bought from airline that didn't seem to be using it much ), and head back to Mariposa with 7000 lbs cargo for CDF.
The wholly unauthorized ( he's flying a what? ) plausible deniability run is on!
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Grabs vintage bottle of Reposado tequila and heads to elevator. Now which floor was Ms. Monroe's room on?
Two days later - Contracts coming in fast and furious, grab half repainted plane ( bought from airline that didn't seem to be using it much ), and head back to Mariposa with 7000 lbs cargo for CDF.
The wholly unauthorized ( he's flying a what? ) plausible deniability run is on!
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Great Ozzie
Charter Member
Hi all,
A link to SmugMug of the Beech Duke on the "Gold Course".
-Rob O.
http://greatozzie.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=29369566&AlbumKey=wjw9Nc
Great fun!
A link to SmugMug of the Beech Duke on the "Gold Course".
-Rob O.
http://greatozzie.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=29369566&AlbumKey=wjw9Nc
Great fun!
Willy
Administrator
Near Disaster
Taking off from KHQM in the CDM, it almost lived up to it's nickname. Taxi to the active seemed about normal. The start of the takeoff it seemed a bit slow, but nothing major. Once it got off the ground though, it began to try to kill me. I could just barely stay above stall speed while wobbling through the trees as it wouldn't climb above them. A quick glance at the engine gauges revealed the problem. The rear engine was stuck at idle. A quick reselect of the engines freed it up and I was able to climb out of there and head on to Hood River.
I've heard about pilots in the C337 unknowingly taking off with the rear engine out and single engine takeoffs being verboten in it. Now I know why.
No pics as I was somewhat occupied while all this was going on....
Taking off from KHQM in the CDM, it almost lived up to it's nickname. Taxi to the active seemed about normal. The start of the takeoff it seemed a bit slow, but nothing major. Once it got off the ground though, it began to try to kill me. I could just barely stay above stall speed while wobbling through the trees as it wouldn't climb above them. A quick glance at the engine gauges revealed the problem. The rear engine was stuck at idle. A quick reselect of the engines freed it up and I was able to climb out of there and head on to Hood River.
I've heard about pilots in the C337 unknowingly taking off with the rear engine out and single engine takeoffs being verboten in it. Now I know why.
No pics as I was somewhat occupied while all this was going on....
MM
Charter Member
A Moment over the Olympic Peninsula
Some excitement over the Olympic Peninsula. It started as a routine flight with the usual grumbles from the pilot about headwinds. After passing Mt Olympus, dark clouds started to appear on the Pacific side and the METAR gave 3 miles visibility. So put the Red Baron on autopilot to descend and started to fiddle with the navigation radios. (New stuff here, so I was concentrating…more than I should have been.)
Then I looked out the windscreen to discover a detailed view of the Olympic National Park's finest evergreen trees. Close up. Needless to say, I punched the autopilot and pulled back the stick! Whew!
No worries, mate.
The rest of the flight was uneventful, with the visibility turning out ok and the landing as smooth as a baby's cheek. The only disturbance was the pilot's heart thumping almost loud enough to hear against the wailing screams of the middle-aged banker.
Some excitement over the Olympic Peninsula. It started as a routine flight with the usual grumbles from the pilot about headwinds. After passing Mt Olympus, dark clouds started to appear on the Pacific side and the METAR gave 3 miles visibility. So put the Red Baron on autopilot to descend and started to fiddle with the navigation radios. (New stuff here, so I was concentrating…more than I should have been.)
Then I looked out the windscreen to discover a detailed view of the Olympic National Park's finest evergreen trees. Close up. Needless to say, I punched the autopilot and pulled back the stick! Whew!
No worries, mate.
The rest of the flight was uneventful, with the visibility turning out ok and the landing as smooth as a baby's cheek. The only disturbance was the pilot's heart thumping almost loud enough to hear against the wailing screams of the middle-aged banker.