Pacific Northwest Aviators
8 members · 7 posts · Pacific Northwest
Pilots and mechanics flying in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Mountain weather, terrain, and where to find a decent hundred dollar hamburger once the ceilings lift.
8 members · 7 posts · Pacific Northwest
Pilots and mechanics flying in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Mountain weather, terrain, and where to find a decent hundred dollar hamburger once the ceilings lift.
Jesse Lin (pinned)
Started this after my third winter of guessing about Cascades crossings. Post real conditions, not forecasts, and say what you were flying when you saw them.
Kai Nakamura
Survey flying out here all summer, so a terrain note for the group. The valley inversions in October will give you a smooth 500 feet of visibility over the floor and solid IMC on the ridge at the same time, and the automated stations only see the floor. Look at the hills, not the report.
Jesse Lin
Instrument checkride is coming up and I have still never crossed the ridge in anything but clear air. What are people using for personal minimums out here in winter?
Kai Nakamura
Survey work out of the valley all summer. The marine layer here does something no forecast product I have found predicts well: it burns off on the east side about an hour before the west. If you are planning a morning departure near the coast, that hour is real and it is repeatable.
Dana Kowalski
Flew into Hood River last Saturday and the gorge was doing gorge things. Twelve knots on the ground, thirty two crossing the river. Beautiful, humbling, would do again with more fuel.
Annika Sorenson
Flew a show in eastern Washington last month and density altitude caught me out at a field I thought I knew. 3,200 feet and 96 degrees is a different airplane. Posting it because I was smug about that field beforehand.
Tom Brennan
Night freight through the gorge in winter. My rule is I do not go if the ridge tops are obscured, full stop, whatever the terminal forecasts say. I lost that argument with a dispatcher once and I still do not think I was wrong.