Getting Charlie Mike back into the air has been amazing. We worked through the squaks in the local area, and then I took CM out for a ride. There were several stops on the journey, all helping me LOVE CM more than ever!

Taylor, Scott’s nephew and future owner of CM, sold his Cessna 150. He found a buyer in Camas, WA and asked me if I could pick him up and take him home to Bend, Ore. Perfect! I needed a reasonable flight to get more of the kinks worked out on CM.

The Camas airport (1W1) was a surprising joy. It had a nice grass field next to the pavement, a great vibe and there were people everywhere! For a Wednesday, this was a happening place.

While I was waiting on Taylor to take his buyer for a flight, I met “Ian” who is building a Murphy Moose. I waxed poetic about my TK1 landing gear and told him that Tony is working on the fit for a Moose. I told him that using the standard kit landing gear would be a big mistake…….I guess I am an evangelist for my gear. 🙂

The sale went smooth and soon we were in Bend. It was too hot for Taylor to take a few laps around the field, so we decided to wait until the following morning to play. We were up in the air by 6:00am, and on our first landing this happened:

The FBO helped us get the plane off the runway, but wouldn’t help me fix the tire. I ended up finding a mechanic, and finally a tube. The tube had to be overnighted, so I had the day to play.

Lucky for me, I got to fly a Beaver! I met with Alex to do some Burningman work and he offered to take me up in his plane. Sweet! Before that, though, we released about 20 baby ducklings into the river (Deschutes) that runs by his house. So adorable!

We flew from Redmond, Oregon to Madras and did a couple of touch and go’s. What a blast to get to fly such a special plane!

Once my tire was fixed, I was off to meet James and Jason in Electric City. Scott and I started going there in about 2000. The airport is a host with the most! As if the taxi-in camping is not enough, there is an air-conditioned pilot’s lounge, with a bathroom, shower, referigerator, freezer, and all kinds of supplies that you might need to make camping more comfy. The airport supplies power, and a BBQ at the camp site. There is also a car you can use. We put it to good use venturing out to Steamboat Rock, Grand Coulee Dam and Dinner at a Mexican Restaurant.

Then, it was back to Sumas. We flew to Chelan and Wenatchee, then home over Hwy 2. The winds were a bit crazy in Lynden, so I landed back at Arlington and drove back to Dad’s. The following morning I jumped on my bike and rode from the Lynden Airport to Arlington Airport. Yikes, that’s a long way. The flight back was much shorter – thank goodness!

That was a super shake down! The plane purred like a kitten and other than the brakes needing to be bled again, no problems persist.

The shake down’s are over and soon I’ll be off flying around living out of the plane. I can’t wait!