Navigators Log - Star Date June 17, 2012 -Bumpy Air, Beautiful Waves

Navigators Log - Star Date June 17, 2012

 Bumpy Air, Beautiful Waves

Bumpy air is just uncomfortable, no two ways around it. A friend recently reminded me that the air is three dimensional, and the wing generates lift, no matter if it is flying right-side up or upside down or sideways. My Sailor Brain knows from years of experience that the boat will not just capsize if it heels to a strong breeze. My airplane brain refuses to make the translation from water to air.

Last weekend we flew to Paisley, Oregon to visit my parents. The sky was smattered with clouds in Hillsboro when we left, and the foothills of the Cascade mountains were loosely wrapped with a cushy white blanket. A brisk southwest breeze cleared the air and from 9500ft I could make out Mt Lassen far off to the south. Looking below to the Mt JeffersonWilderness area, still covered in snow, I saw a small lake that looked like a topaz blue doughnut, with a small icy island in the middle.

The Three Sisters

We had a good tailwind, which turned our 170knts of airplane speed to 190knts speed over ground.

The clouds stopped abruptly on the west side of the mountains, opening the vast expanse of south central Oregon in front of us. Then the bumps started. It felt like the plane was bouncing over rocks. My irrational brain was certain that disaster was imminent. I tried distracting myself by pointing out landmarks. “Look,” I said to Roy, “There's Pilot Butte where I took the kids to watch fireworks.” Bounce bounce. I clutched the armrest. Roy asked me where the highway was that went from Bend to Paisley, and what some of the names of the mountains were. Bump, Bump, BUMP. I responded in a shaky voice, embarrassed to be such a nervous nelly. I tried breathing through my eyelids. Bump, BUMP, BUMP. 

Sun River and Bend far below

 

We passed PaulinaPeak and I told Roy about the two lakes in the middle of the crater there. Summer Lake appeared a few miles ahead. The wind was whipping up dust devils on the wide alkali bed that forms the south side of the lake. More BUMPS.

Landing in a strong cross-wind is another level of stress, but I was so relived to be out of the bumps, I didn't care a wit if we were at a 45degree angle to the runway on final. Roy set the plane Gently Down. Gently is my story and I'm sticking to it. I helped tie the plane down, then made a mad dash to the far side of the utility shed. I think the bumps shook my morning coffee out of me.

We had a pleasant visit with my parents, who drove us to see the new Lake DistrictHospital. My Mother has served as Chairman of the Board for several years and the new hospital has been her baby.

Later in the afternoon, we said our goodbyes, and it was time to climb back in to the plane. I was determined to not be a bundle of nerves on our trip home. Roy contacted Seattle Center to get flight following and was advised of Extreme Turbulence in the Bend/Redmond area at 10k feet. That's just great, I thought. Time to practice breathing through my eyelids again. Roy did not even pause at 10k ft to see just how bumpy it was, and proceeded straight up to 12k ft.

The air was not smooth up there; instead it undulated in long, low waves. We sailed against an incoming tide, with a 50knt headwind that reduced our speed to barely 100knts over the ground.

Sliding up and down waves is familiar to me – no stress involved. My Sailor Brain felt quite at home above the foamy sea that had covered the mountains, their jagged peaks poking up, like rocks awash at high tide. A breaker curled over the top of Mt Jefferson, suspended in the air and splashed over the other side.

I keep flying with Roy, even though the bumps are uncomfortable. Its a matter of choice, like so many things in life. The air gets bumpy sometimes. And sometimes, the clouds curl like soft ocean waves upon rocky peaks.

I can hardly wait for our next trip!!

Waves over the mountains