{"id":3500,"date":"2015-08-13T04:59:43","date_gmt":"2015-08-13T11:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=3500"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:55","slug":"136-ground-below-air-above","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/136-ground-below-air-above\/","title":{"rendered":"#136 Ground Below, Air Above"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Written October 1, 2013<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a regular flight for me.\u00a0 But I never get tired of studying the route.\u00a0 The route is described by what it takes me over.\u00a0 But the terrain never changes.\u00a0 The air, however, does.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what makes every trip a little or a lot different.\u00a0 If you draw a line on a map which runs from Sisters, Oregon to Medford, Oregon, you\u2019d have the general route.\u00a0 But first you\u2019d have to bend that line just to make the trip safer.\u00a0 You\u2019d want to<\/h3>\n
\"DSCN2518\"<\/a>
The Three Sisters.\u00a0 An area best avoided on the trip to Medford.<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

bend it so that you\u2019d have more places to go in the event of an engine failure.\u00a0 So, instead of going directly, a track which would take you right over the Three Sisters and then over some fairly hostile mountainous terrain, you\u2019d want to fly to a place like Sunriver first before gradually veering back on course.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

\u00a0That\u2019s what I usually do.\u00a0 Then I fly over Wickiup Reservoir, past Diamond Lake and<\/h3>\n
\"IMG_0667\"<\/a>
My favorite mountain, Mt Thielsen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

my favorite mountain, Mt Thielsen.\u00a0 You can see Crater Lake as you proceed along and pass just north of the Prospect airport.\u00a0 You begin a very gradual descent<\/h3>\n
\"Crater<\/a>
Crater Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

around Lost Creek dam and cruise down into the Rogue Valley and the Medford Airport.<\/h3>\n

But the air is what changes everything.\u00a0 The air moves.\u00a0 The air carries moisture.\u00a0 Large high and low pressure systems cause the air to flow over the Cascade Mountain range.\u00a0 If that air is laden with moisture, it may condense as it rises up to clear the mountains.\u00a0 That condensation forms clouds that a guy flying a little beater like mine has to avoid.\u00a0 If that air is moving fast enough it may become what we call Mountain Wave.\u00a0 Wave is like a sinusoidal snake.\u00a0 The uplift caused by the mountains doesn\u2019t limit itself to that terrain.\u00a0 Once the undulation starts, it continues as the wind moves along, each area of lift or sink becoming less intense but usually just as smooth.\u00a0 Mountain wave is a glider pilot\u2019s delight.\u00a0 Finding it and cleverly utilizing it can take a glider pilot to dizzying heights requiring oxygen to avoid passing out at those heavenly altitudes.<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m heading over to Medford with a lot on my plate.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to get together with \"DSCN2515\"<\/a>George for some needed maintenance, including the overhaul of those magnetos which have been supplying millions of sparks for the little Continental Engine since I bought the plane several years before.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to meet with my editor about some issues with \u201cBrian\u2019s Flying Book\u201d as well as to herd our next publishing efforts into the stream leading to the publisher and the reader.\u00a0 I\u2019m also going to meet with my old friend, Denis, whose performance as the glider pilot in \u201cDawn Flight\u201d certainly helped launch my own career as a film maker.\u00a0 Denis and I will begin preliminary<\/h3>\n
\"Denis<\/a>
A lot of actors like to say, “I do my own stunts”. \u00a0Denis really did, performing most of the flying scenes in “Dawn Flight”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

brainstorming about an upcoming project.\u00a0 As riveting as they may be, my upcoming labors are the farthest thing from my mind as I leave Sisters.<\/h3>\n

Normally the wind socks at Sisters may be ignored.\u00a0 They don\u2019t usually\u00a0serve the function of determining which direction to take off, contrary to what so many pilots think.\u00a0 Because the air rolls into Sisters after a vertiginous roller coaster ride over the mountains, it is still roiling when it arrives at our little airport.\u00a0 The result is a mess of air which burbles and boils in mostly a crosswind direction, changing constantly, but failing to favor one direction of landing or takeoff from another. \u00a0In fact, spots on the runway where lift or sink will be found are far more important than wind direction.<\/h3>\n

This morning is different.\u00a0 I normally select the takeoff runway solely on its suitability for subsequent actions on my part if the engine should fail on takeoff.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I almost always take off on runway 02.\u00a0 It runs downhill.\u00a0 Right off the departure end there is a small ridge with homes and trees.\u00a0 A struggling, underpowered airplane would have trouble clearing that ridge and it serves to con most pilots into choosing the opposite runway for their departure.\u00a0 They don\u2019t see the river bottom which runs right past the departure end of runway 02.\u00a0 A steeply banked turn in an airplane which has been kept close to the ground on takeoff so as to increase speed and \u201cG\u201d available is, in my opinion, an extremely safe departure.\u00a0 It takes me around the last house along the airstrip and then along the riverbed as I leave the airport and climb over lovely pastures where I can easily set the ship down if its little engine should stop producing that motive force.\u00a0 I like that route a lot better than taking off in the same crosswind but uphill with nothing but downtown Sisters to land in if the engine should quit.<\/h3>\n

But today it\u2019s clear to me that the takeoff should be made toward town.\u00a0 For the first time in weeks, the wind is definitely racing down the runway with both windsocks standing straight out and screaming, \u201cUse two-zero!\u201d<\/h3>\n
\"Cessna<\/a>
\u201cNo sweat\u201d, I cleverly mutter. \u201cI\u2019ll just lower the nose and haul ass\u2026\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The little Cessna 140, at its maximum gross weight with fuel and tools, is airborne well before the halfway point.\u00a0 The air is pretty smooth, too and I\u2019m thinking that this is okay, as I climb slowly to a point above the highest treetops.\u00a0 And then I get the crap kicked out of me.\u00a0 Full aileron deflection is required to keep the plane right-side-up as we climb into severe turbulence.\u00a0 \u201cDuh\u201d, I guess I should been smart enough to realize that the cousins of the air molecules causing the windsocks to stick straight out would also be burbling with kick-ass alacrity across my route.\u00a0 \u201cI guess I won\u2019t be trying to drink any of the coffee in my thermos\u201d, I thought as I worked my butt off just to stay on course with the wheels pointing down and the skylights pointing up.\u00a0 I was resigned to having my butt kicked all the way to Medford, but the weather gremlins had other tricks up their sleeves.\u00a0 They were probably snickering as they watched the little Cessna jerk and lurch along its selected route.<\/h3>\n

By Sunriver the turbulence has abated.\u00a0 Almost seamlessly my little ship and I are hoisted up. I breathe a sigh of relief as I realize that I am in the transparent half of a low-lying mountain wave.\u00a0 But I can\u2019t ignore the irony:\u00a0 \u201cOh, sure\u201d, I grouse.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I was flying gliders out of Sunriver I never found wave.\u00a0 Now that I no longer need it, here I am, going up 2,500 feet per minute in a plane that\u2019s as heavy as it can be!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I get over it.\u00a0 At first I\u2019m jubilant to be in all this amazing lift and I even chortle confidently as I pour myself a nice, hot cup of coffee from the thermos.\u00a0 But then I check the groundspeed.\u00a0 Forty five miles per hour.\u00a0 Holy crap!<\/h3>\n

\u201cNo sweat\u201d, I cleverly mutter.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll just lower the nose and haul ass\u2026\u201d\u00a0 I lower the nose until I\u2019m indicating about 120 on the airspeed indicator.\u00a0 Pretty good for a 140.\u00a0 But the groundspeed has only increased to about 60.<\/h3>\n

I decide to relax and enjoy the experience and study the weather.\u00a0 I\u2019m just fine on time; I\u2019ve got lots of fuel.\u00a0 I think of the woman in the frame shop in Florida a few years before.\u00a0 Everyone in there was Southern, their accents rich and just filling the small shop with a culture as rich as mint juleps, beignets and pecan pie.\u00a0 The poor woman just needed to drop some work off and get on to her errands.\u00a0 Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shift her weight from one foot to the other.\u00a0 No one in front of her seemed to have anything important to take care of, but they were in front of her and keeping her from her errands.\u00a0 Finally, she had enough.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, I don\u2019t mean to be \u2018Northern\u2019 but can I just drop this off with you so I can be on my way?\u201d<\/h3>\n

I understood her perfectly.\u00a0 And, like the woman in the frame shop, I decided that I would not be \u201cNorthern\u201d.\u00a0 I sat back and set to my own task of navigating my way through wave, clouds, headwinds and terrain.\u00a0 My route was designed to keep me somewhat safe in the event that I was forced by mechanical failure to tumble from my perch.\u00a0 I\u2019d followed highway 97 this far, but I needed to bear right and go more directly to Medford.\u00a0 A route that took me just North of Crater Lake, then past Prospect and into the Rogue Valley was the safest and that was what I would pursue.<\/h3>\n

On a clear day, I would navigate my way pretty much by the \u201cRocks in the Creek\u201d method.\u00a0 I would fly from one emergency landing place to another.\u00a0 If I spotted a particularly good one, I\u2019d average my desired course with a course to it.\u00a0 I\u2019d stay within easy gliding distance of it.\u00a0 I\u2019d keep track of it as it receded behind me even as I sought out the next spot.\u00a0 Once within gliding distance of it, I\u2019d repeat the process.\u00a0 Not today.<\/h3>\n

Today I could spot the terrain below, but the clouds and mechanically induced turbulence dictated my course more than the land did.\u00a0 Years ago, I remember ol\u2019 George commenting that a professional pilot simply has to stick his neck out sometimes and depend on that engine.\u00a0 I was doing that now, often forsaking the search for landing spots in favor of smooth air and a route between cloud canyons that would get me to my destination.\u00a0 At no time during this phase did my groundspeed get above seventy-five miles per hour.\u00a0 My radio had been largely silent.\u00a0 I\u2019d monitored Seattle Center, but I didn\u2019t use flight following.\u00a0 I guess I figured that I didn\u2019t want to advertise my occasional skud running or have to answer the question, \u201cCessna Eight Four Victor, do you see the terrain ahead?\u201d<\/h3>\n

Below, I could just make out the big straightaway that takes drivers from highway 97, up Highway 138 and past Crater Lake.\u00a0 It was at that point that I realized I just couldn\u2019t out-climb the clouds.\u00a0 As much as I lusted after that smooth ride on top, it would be safer for me to go underneath.\u00a0 Down I went, until I could see the route more clearly from my slow-moving perch at the cloud bases.\u00a0 I never saw Crater Lake.\u00a0 It was obscured, but my altitude and visibility were pretty good and I don\u2019t think I could be accused of \u201cskud running\u201d.<\/h3>\n

I think there were only four or five other aircraft talking to Seattle Center as I crossed the Cascades\u00a0 and as I reached Lost Creek dam, the clouds began to thin.\u00a0 The turbulence decreased.\u00a0 My groundspeed increased.\u00a0 \u201cOh, sure,\u201d I muttered, \u201cNOW the groundspeed increases when I\u2019m practically there!\u201d<\/h3>\n

I end my radio silence.\u00a0 Instead of monitoring Seattle Center, I switch to Cascade Approach and give them a shout. They give me a transponder code and ask me to ident.\u00a0 As I push the little red button on the transponder, a blossom erupts on a screen in a darkened room in Eugene, verifying that it\u2019s me on that large cathode ray tube.\u00a0 \u201cRadar Contact\u201d, I\u2019m told.\u00a0 The approach controllers hold my electronic hand and funnel me toward Medford.<\/h3>\n

The family farm appears up ahead and sweeps past as I\u2019m told to contact Medford<\/h3>\n
\"IMG_0487\"<\/a>
The family farm sits alongside Little Butte Creek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tower.\u00a0 I know that I need to get off Medford\u2019s long runway quite a way down, so I ask the controller for a short approach and a long landing. \u00a0I just hate big patterns. \u00a0The bored controller probably perks up a bit at the request, then probably cranes his attention to watch the brief demonstration of a landing in a turn.\u00a0 It sure wasn\u2019t my best.\u00a0 I ended up taxiing tail-up too far just to get to my exit.\u00a0 Gotta practice that a bit more.\u00a0 Too much teaching; not enough doing. That’s one of the hazards of my profession.<\/h3>\n

I cleared the runway and rolled up to the hangar.\u00a0 There was George, lounging in a beach chair in front of the hangar, just waiting for me to roll up.\u00a0 It\u2019s always good to see this guy who was instrumental in teaching me to be a CFI and who, after a career in the FAA and lots of varied flying jobs before that, is still teaching those lucky enough to fly with him in a little BC12D Taylorcraft.<\/h3>\n

\"DSCN2503\"<\/a>The cowl is quickly removed.\u00a0 The hot oil is released from the engine.\u00a0 The magnetos will be removed for inspection and overhaul.<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m looking forward to a return trip in a couple of days with much improved weather.\u00a0 The routine trip was unlike any other, just as a future trip will probably be.\u00a0 The ground, as scary as it can be, hadn\u2019t changed.\u00a0 It was the air above which ruled this day.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I guess I figured that I didn\u2019t want to advertise my occasional skud running or have to answer the question, ‘Cessna Eight Four Victor, do you see the terrain ahead?’ “<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35,38,67,78,174],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3500"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}