Back to Base

[Darby]

Trust Herb to find another charter before my cuppa gets cold. Fly two forest rangers to Ranger Creek, drop them off and pick up three members of the Society For The Preservation Of The Hairy Eared Wombat. They have spent the holidays in the Ranger Creek area looking for this elusive beast and must return back to Seattle on account of their funds have run out. Herb sure can find them.

KKLS-21W-KBFI Piper Warrior. 2 Pax to 21W, 3 tp BFI. 126nm @10 bucks = $1260 (that should pay for a new grease rag). Roooollllllllll 5

shoo the nesting birds off the Warrior, dust the cobwebs and "CLEAR"

[Darby]

Ahhhh Ranger Creek. Always tests the quality of the tyres out. As luck would have it the predicted showers held off for a while. Patches of gusty wind were ok but I was hoping it would be calm for the landing. Mt Ranier looked spectacular and was very calming but my descent down the valley toward the airfield soon got the heart rates up again.

I noticed the trees just short of the runway had not moved since last time I was there so it was a swerve, a lurch and a drop, a bounce, another drop and a jarring thump and there we are safely down. The rangers hurried off to track bears or whatever they had to do and I went over to the small hut to collect my charter for BFI.

The passengers from the wildlife mob were three elderly ladies with a great pile of boxes and tents. It took some time to load all this gear into the plane and once ready to go I was keen to take off before the threatening clouds unleashed.

Cranking up the engine to full power and with a notch of flaps I let go the brake and strated to roll. The elderly ladies incessant chatter quietened as we began nearing the end of the runway however resumed as soon as the plane finally lifted off. The climb was slow and I had to bank left to avoid the hill facing the runway. With the heavy weight onboard it was such a slow climb I had to follow the valley all the way up before I could turn on course. Almost immediately the rain began and so the Seattle VOR was my handy target.

The landing at BFI was a lot easier considering and after unloading all their stuff I thanked the ladies and got none in return...........humph

With the rain now bucketing down I will take the opportunity to take a little break before Herb pokes his nose in the door.