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Cascade Grass!

R

Rutus

We've been blessed with some really tremendous fall weather here in the Seattle area for the last week or so - those of you familiar with the area know what I mean:D

So, yesterday I decided to do something I've been thinking about for a while: visit some grass strips in the Cascades. I planned to leave Bremerton and drop in at Easton State (ESW), Lake Wenatchee State (27W), and Skykomish State (S88). All three are operated by the State of Washington, and are detailed on WSDOT's Aviation page http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/aviation/Airports/default.htm, and I figured they would be in good shape after the dry weather we've had.

Winds were light and I had clear skies and 30 mile visibility climbing out of Bremerton. Sea-Tac did not sound too busy, so I asked for the VFR transition and was promptly granted same by a friendly sounding gal at Seattle Tower. It is an interesting view cruising through the Class B and crossing the approach end of the runway at 1,500 MSL while there is landing and departing traffic. My friendly controller turned me south towards Kent and then I was clear of the Class B and climbing to the east.

Easton is just east of Snoqualmie Pass (I-90) and as I understand it was put in as an emergency field after DC-3s started serving the area. Despite the mountain terrain, the area for maneuvering near the airport is fairly open and not too demanding. The field is wide and more than long enough at 2300 ft., plus a 300 ft displaced threshold on the west side. I made an overflight to check the condition (well, as good a check as you can do 500 ft up and at 90 kts) made another approach and landed on 27. I gave the displaced threshold a generous margin, and good thing, too - it isn't just some paint on the pavement, it appeared to have a small dropoff or drainage feature there. Would NOT want to land short :eek:

Taxi back, 1/3 flaps and a soft/short field takeoff, then climb northwest and over the next ridge and drop down into the Leavenworth-Cashmere valley (where US Highway 2 crosses through) and follow it back west to Lake Wenatchee. Lake Wenatchee State was a bit more challenging than Easton as far as terrain near the pattern, and had some taller trees on the approach end. I again flew over and gave things a look at 500AGL, and all appeared OK - though I saw what looked to be some kind of "less maintained" area at the extreme west end. Coming around and landing on 27 I saw that that area did indeed look pretty scrubby and probably to be avoided, which I did, but there was plenty of room even so. There is a pretty sizable building off the east end of the field, but I did not stop in. And, there is plenty of camping space along the perimeter - as was the case at Easton.

Another short/soft field takeoff, and fly west/southwest back over the ridge and descend into the valley where Skykomish lies at about 1,000MSL. This is a bit shorter strip, 2000', and is tucked in pretty tightly between two ridges. I had lots of altitude to lose and thus lots of time to think as I circled down, which was good. My first approach to Rwy 06 left me high over the approach end, and as I went around I saw that my guess on the wind was wrong. The next one, to 24, worked great and I was in with plenty of room to spare. The trees on the approach end of 24 are fewer and smaller, too.

Another taxi back and takeoff and I was on my way west through the valley, which leads out into the Monroe area, with Everett (PAE) further west and the Seattle and Eastside urban areas just a bit further south. I dropped down under the northern part of the Seattle Class B, coasted over north Seattle and checked out the boats on Puget Sound (time for Eric Clapton on the IPOD), and continued over the shoreline near Bremerton, rolling in at about 2:20 flight time. A pretty good way to see the local area, and about as nice flying weather as you can get in these parts. The air was smooth everywhere, even in the mountains, and great visibility all around.

Observations:

1. These were all pretty well maintained grass strips, and were (so far as I can tell) in pretty good shape. That said, it is a real change to roll the wheels on and then be bouncing and thumping along, as you feel every deviation in the surface. It sure ain't that smooth Bremerton asphalt. I can't help but think that the RV would get a little beat up with a regular diet of this, even though they are strong birds. And, controlling the bird on the ground - both on landing and takeoff - adds some additional challenges because of the varying surface, or at least it did for me.

2. The O-360 and CS prop are very handy for this kind of flying; plenty of drag when you need it to get down where you want to be, and plenty of thrust when you want to rapidly get away from the ground. It was a warm day with airport elevations of 1,000MSL (Skykomish) to 2,000MSL (Easton and Lake Wenatchee), and while I did not calculate density altitude, I am sure DA was in play. I would not have wanted to be in a wheezy C172 or similar aircraft.

3. Situational awareness takes on a whole new importance - you're not worried about an airspace bust, you're worried about a mountain bust! :eek: At this stage I feel pretty comfortable flying my RV at the lower speed end of the spectrum and in varying maneuvers, and being able to spend relatively less mental bandwidth on that task leaves more for terrain avoidance and setting up both the approach and the "what will I do if it doesn't work?" plan B.

4. On a clear day, with light winds (as I had) these are fun yet a bit challenging places to visit. On a murky winter North Cascades day? Or in high winds with lots of turbulence? Only if I had no other choice, or a really compelling reason to land there. All other things being equal, to my eye Easton would probably be the pick of the bunch in those circumstances, as far as odds of making a usable approach and landing.

5. I like finding and checking out various airports I've not been to in here in Washington (and down in Oregon, too) just so that I know where they are and what they are like - that way, if I ever have to divert to one because of a problem, etc., I'll have been there before and can at least take that variable out of the equation.

6. The grass strips are interesting to visit, and with any luck I am going to see a few more of them - and the other State airports - this fall before the weather takes us back to the usual Pacific Northwest routine. :rolleyes: If you haven't checked out one of these strips yourself, I encourage you to give it a try - they are a different experience, and open your eyes to some of the fishing/camping/backpacking opportunities in those areas.
 
Thanks for report John, I havn't flown into any of those airports for quite some time... guess I should try to get out there before the snow falls or the airports close for the summer. Has been nice out hasn't it?
 
Pictures!!

Pictures, pictures, pictures. Us flatlanders want to see pictures!

I'm always amazed at the terrain you folks out West get to fly in. Not much more than corn and bean fields out here (although there are plenty of "emergency strips" if need be.)
 
No Pictures

Sorry guys, I did not bring a camera with me (dumb move), so I don't have any pix of these fields. :( The WSDOT website does have some pretty decent images of each field, with additional information that is helpful to review before flying in.

Here's Easton:

Easton_ESW_10.jpg


And Lake Wenatchee:

LakeWenatchee_27W_06.jpg


And Skykomish:

Skykomish_S88_05.jpg
 
Flying into Lake Wenatchee State Airstrip - 27W

Any recent Pireps about conditions at this grass/gravel strip? Thinking about a quick Saturday flight there this weekend. Lots of recent flight hours in my pretty RV7 but very few landings off pavement. Any comments out there?:)
 
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