Today, I flew from Albany out to Newport on the Oregon coast; and I took up a first time flyer to and from as my passenger! The trip to the coast was so we could attend a gathering of young single adults from church!
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| Taking N5174E to the coast. Is there anything better to do with a General Aviation aircraft? |
Following a delay in departure to allow weather to improve over at Newport (which happens to be always cloudy and overcast in the mornings during the summer!), I did my pre-flight, passenger briefing, engine start-up, and run-ups. Before taking off, we took a selfie!
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| Obligatory selfie! (Photo credit goes to Josh Garvin, my passenger; this was his very first flight in an airplane, ever!) |
Once we were off and airborne, we headed west directly to Newport; I also contacted Cascade Approach (who later handed us off to Seattle Center) and picked up VFR Flight Following and traffic advisories. It wasn't a long flight at all, and Newport soon came into sight. I flew us over the city and went out over the water and flew the coast line; the Newport Municipal Airport is to south of the city and we basically flew an extended downwind for Runway 34. After an uneventful landing, we parked the plane, secured it, and met with our ride to the beach (thanks Walt and Cindy Myers!). We had a fun afternoon playing and enjoying the outdoors at the Agate Beach State Recreation Site on the north side of town.
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| Looking to the north with the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. |
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| Hmmm? Remind what I flew out here in? |
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| Before you ask, the water was cold! Outside air temperature was around 60 degrees during our time on the coast, which is WHY Oregon does NOT have any beaches; only coast! |
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| Another look at the lighthouse. |
After some lunch and more socializing, we got a ride back to the airport (thanks again to Walt and Cindy Myers!).
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| N5174E parked on the ramp at Newport prior to departing back to Albany! |
After checking out with the FBO that provided us with free parking, I did a quick pre-flight and walk-around before hopping in. After start-up, we taxied over to Runway 34 and did the run-ups prior to takeoff. Once airborne, we flew over the coast during climb-out before turning around over the Yaquina Lighthouse; there was a solid cloud layer further north, so we headed east and made our way back to Albany.
Once again, we picked up VFR Flight Following with traffic advisories; around Corvallis, the controller at Cascade Approach had us maneuver around for traffic advisories due to quite a few aircraft flying into the area, mainly the Corvallis Airport. Once Albany came into view, the approach controller cut us loose and we had another uneventful landing, a safe arrival back home. After topping off the fuel tanks, we taxied the plane over to my uncle's hangar and we called it a day and drove back to Salem.
It was an absolute privilege to take a first-time flyer on this trip and I'm grateful for the people who helped make this trip (along with the arranged accommodations!) possible.
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