Pilot Life: Quick Cross-Country Through the Willamette Valley

I'm beginning to think and plan ahead for my flight training after the Instrument Rating; the plan is to pursue my single-engine Commercial Rating afterwards, but something else I'll eventually need is a multi-engine add-on rating. The flight school I'm currently receiving instruction from does not have a multi-engine trainer, so I had to get some research in regarding where else I could possibly go. After a day or two of Internet searching, I've narrowed down two possibilities; one up in Aurora, and the other down in Corvallis. After measuring the distances, I decided to fly to these respective locations and made a cross-country flight out of it flying in a triangle!

A quick cross-country triangle flight in N5174E!

My first flight leg was from Albany to Aurora State Airport, the second-longest of the triangle route I had planned. My route of flight took me through Salem's Class Delta airspace northbound before going into Aurora's Class Delta. After establishing radio contact with the tower controller at Aurora, I was instructed to make a straight-in approach to landing for Runway 35. After landing, I was instructed to call up the ground controller, who gave me taxi directions all the way to the north side, which was where I needed to go to make my inquiries!

After my business at Aurora was done, I flew my second leg of the triangle, which would be longest! I departed Aurora via Runway 35 (after a long wait holding short!) and made a left downwind departure to the southwest. My next destination would be Corvallis. As I made my way southwest-bound, I had a moment to appreciate how nice of a day for flying today turned out to be! After making the 50 mile hop from Aurora to Corvallis, I entered the left downwind for Runway 35, as the winds were favorable according the AWOS report. After landing, I taxied to the ramp with transient parking and shut the engine down. I then made my inquiries, which ended up being a partial dead-end; thankfully, I got some contact information I could call at a better time!

With the sun setting, I hopped back in the airplane and taxied over to Runway 35. I did a quick run-up and then held short for some local VFR traffic beating up the Corvallis pattern before departing. I turned to the northeast and flew the shortest and my final leg of the triangle back to Albany. It was quiet in Albany, which I found unusual. I made my approach via an extended left-base for Runway 34 and made an uneventful landing. With the last bit sunlight, I taxied over to the fuel pumps and topped off the tanks before taxiing back to my uncle's hangar, where I put the airplane away for the night.

Every opportunity to fly counts at this point, and I'm glad I got a quick cross-country today!