Day 6 - Bellingham WA to Kalispell MT
When the weather in northern Washington is good it's truly spectacular (and I can confirm this), but when it rains it's just miserable - or so said the line guy at Bellingham.
Well, today was hot, very hot - but unlike California the vis was unlimited. So why not fly to the Orcas Island, so called from being the home of killer whales. Shamu was not there, nor were his / her family, but if a pod had been swimming by the view from the air would have been breathtaking through the cystal clear water.
Orcas Island airport (ORS) is somewhat like Lynden, short and narrow but at least has a little more space before the housing starts. The preferred approach is over the sea, and departures are again preferred over the sea. All the five airports in the San Juan island group share the same CTAF frequency so care has to be taken to 'listen up' well to avoid confusion.
Back in 1997 'GOOFY' was simply a pile of parts in the warehouse of Stoddard Hamilton at nearby Arlington airport (AWO), so the call of a home visit was strong. But first there was still some island exploring to be done. Low and slow is what the GlaStar is good at, and burning under 5 gph 'GOOFY' meandered around the San Juan islands as though time stood still.
Arriving at Arlington was significant in a number of ways - firstly the GlaStar originated there and secondly AWO was the start of the long haul east over to Bangor ME. No more headwinds, or so I had been told, just downhill all the way - there were just a couple of problems on the way, first the Cascades and second the Continental Divide to be crossed.
It was great seeing the NewGlasair factory for the first time - the GlaStar had been chosen without even seeing the airplane, yet alone flying one. Certainly the reception which 'GOOFY' received from everyone at NewGlasair was encouraging.
Visiting the customer build centre where aircraft are almost complete in just two weeks was in stark contrast to the build of 'GOOFY' - 7 years and some 4000 hrs, with no quick build parts available.
The clear skies beckoned once more, but little did I know what was to come - the dreaded mountain wave!
Mountain wave has its compensations - huge amounts of lft, but where there's lift there are often downdrafts. Across the Cascades was to be no exception today. With the wind blowing across the mountains at approaching 40 kts a decision was made to stay as high as possible and only to follow the valleys where this would mitigate the effects of the mountain wave.
Having altitude hold on the TruTrak autopilot is normally a great advantage - not today however as one minute the airplane would be approaching stall speed and the next it would be pushing vne. Just 'ride the wave' may be a surfing expression, but it sure held good today flying above the Cascades. Forget the minimum 2000 ft mountain clearance, how about 4000 ft - this is what I tried to achieve.
To get this clearance I had no choice but to follow the wider valleys even at 4000 ft above the peaks this still meant a roller coaster ride, but at least the longer valley route passing overhead Sandpoint (SZT, Bonners Ferry (65S) Troy (57S) and Libby (S59) ended up taking a shorter time than planned for the direct route, thanks to the generous quartering tailwinds.
As my overnight destination was a short grass strip at Ferndale (53U), south of Kalispell MT, I thought I should check out the performance on a similar length hard surface runway at Kalispell City (S27). This was nearly a BIG mistake!
Why? The answer was that a temperature which was approaching 95 deg F, a 3600 ft runway, masts / houses immediately after take-off and a 3000 ft msl altitude do not go together well. Despite leaning for full power, there must have been a sudden downdraft immediately after take-off as rather than climbing, albeit slowly, there was a 'sinking feeling' as the masts loomed closer. The GlaStar's fine slow speed handling came to the rescue (it can be fully cross controlled deep into the stall without dropping a wing) and 'GOOFY' clawed its way ever so slowly up and around the masts.
Still, I knew I could land at Ferndale without a problem and that in the morning the cooler temperature would help climb performance, despite it being a grass strip.
My host, EAA Chapter 102 President and local vet Ed Etheridge had other ideas. He had arranged for a local boy to fly in 'GOOFY', and for me to visit other chapter members at Glacier Park International (FCA). So first I had to unload the airplane, then see what the performance was like off the grass strip. As the temperature was not dropping, even though it was evening, I made the decision not to fly the Young Eagle unless he could come to FCA where flying from the 8000 ft runway would be a non-event. Sadly he could not get there so Ed has promised to fly him on a more suitable day.
The reception committee at FCA were most welcoming, particularly as they had another bright yellow GlaStar sitting in their hanger. This was a taildragger with the performance for hot, high and short strips. A number of other interesting airplanes resided in this hanger, and my only regret is that the pictures I took of these airplanes have vanished into cyberspace when my computer crashed.
With dusk approaching rapildy I was briefed about the impending landing at Ferndale - watch out for the deer! It seems that the short grass of the otherwise well maintained 53U tempts families of deer onto the unfenced runway, particularly at dusk. A low pass, quick turn to land and be prepared for a rapid go-around was the order of the day.
Ferndale
Sure enough the deer were there but perhaps the alternating flashing landing lights on the front of 'GOOFY' and the bright yellow paint frightened them away long enough for a safe landing to be made.
