On route to Packwood, Part 1/3
Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 6:06 pmThe past few days have been spent around Concrete Mum, enjoying the beautifull surounding area, lakes, mountains, forests, and even roads. It was time to leave now, so I got my stuff in my Baron and started thinking about the possible nearby destinations.
It was the early morning, but some clouds were already there.. well I thought it would be okay to make a short trip above them. I had finally decided: takeoff for Packwood ! I knew that place quite well, since I had been playing there for a long time, so I was sure I could recognize the area easilly without the help of any GPS or ATC.
So no IFR there. The road seemed very clear in my head -> go south following the western limit of the mountains, until I would see a very big snowy one....what was the name ? Rainier?... Anyway ! I took off my plane gently on runway 25 and started a climb to 7000 feet. Everything was going fine, and suddently...
...Rain! Lightnings! Wind! Damned, maybe the trip wasn't going to be this funny after all. What should I do? Return to Concrete Mum, less than 10 miles behind me? Come'on, the rain was not really violent ,and the visibility was still good. I would just continue flying straight forward for a little while, and see what happen...
Well... it was a good idea. The sun was raising, and the clouds were getting fewer. The sky was opening and letting the sunlight invade the beautifull landscape around me. I was feeling that very soon this rain would be just a bad "souvenir".
That was it! The rain was over, the highway was clear and all for me. I checked my instruments and had a shot look around:
"Yeah, mountains are there, ok...
I'm heading south, ok...
flat landscape on my right side ?...errr...Oh! Sure! That's certainely the Seattle area!
I'm still on the good way."
Yep, I've always loved the professionnal way...
It was the early morning, but some clouds were already there.. well I thought it would be okay to make a short trip above them. I had finally decided: takeoff for Packwood ! I knew that place quite well, since I had been playing there for a long time, so I was sure I could recognize the area easilly without the help of any GPS or ATC.
So no IFR there. The road seemed very clear in my head -> go south following the western limit of the mountains, until I would see a very big snowy one....what was the name ? Rainier?... Anyway ! I took off my plane gently on runway 25 and started a climb to 7000 feet. Everything was going fine, and suddently...
...Rain! Lightnings! Wind! Damned, maybe the trip wasn't going to be this funny after all. What should I do? Return to Concrete Mum, less than 10 miles behind me? Come'on, the rain was not really violent ,and the visibility was still good. I would just continue flying straight forward for a little while, and see what happen...
Well... it was a good idea. The sun was raising, and the clouds were getting fewer. The sky was opening and letting the sunlight invade the beautifull landscape around me. I was feeling that very soon this rain would be just a bad "souvenir".
That was it! The rain was over, the highway was clear and all for me. I checked my instruments and had a shot look around:
"Yeah, mountains are there, ok...
I'm heading south, ok...
flat landscape on my right side ?...errr...Oh! Sure! That's certainely the Seattle area!
I'm still on the good way."
Yep, I've always loved the professionnal way...