Chelan Fly-In

Today, Andrew and I flew with Todd from Renton, WA to Chelan, WA, in Todd's Cessna 182. The day started earlier than usual for a Saturday. My alarm went off at 5:50 and I was ready to go by 6:30. Todd called and said the trip was on. Susan packed Andrew's clothes and vitamins and we were off to Renton. On the way, I remembered that I needed some cash, so I started looking for an ATM. We drove past a grocery store at 7:10 that looked open and pulled in. The clerk out front told me that the store opened at 8:00, but if I was using a debit card, he'd let me in. Perfect! We went in and bought an orange juice and requested $20 cash back. Oops, the teller had no cash yet. He told someone else he needed $20 and the manager stepped up and pulled a $20 bill from his pocket and handed it to me. Excellent.

Ten minutes later, we were at the airport. I squeezed Andrew's car seat into the plane as Todd wrapped up the pre-flight. We were in the air by 7:50. The flight over the mountains was uneventful. As we cleared the eastern slopes, we turned north towards Wenatchee, and then towards Chelan. We first saw the airport from 11,000 feet and 20 miles. Todd began the long descent down to the airport (1,200 feet MSL). While descending, I shot video of the surroundings. Then I spotted a biplane flying back and forth close to the ground. I then realized that the plane was not only flying extremely low, it was flying under the power lines! Unbelievable!

On the ground in Chelan, we followed a man wearing a bright orange vest and riding a bicycle to our parking space. The flight time was about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The turnout was pretty impressive. The star attraction was Miss Veedol; a world famous airplane that was flown across the Pacific Ocean in 1931. The other attraction was the pancake breakfast. We headed directly to the end of the line to wait our turn.

After eating, we toured the airport grounds. There were plenty of airplanes to look at. Andrew found some rocks to play with and was very interested in the taxiway marker reflectors.

By noon, the temperature was beginning to be unbearable, so we headed back to the parking spot. Two guys helped us push the plane across the soft grass, then we were on our way. While climbing, I asked Todd to circle over the town of Chelan as I shot some more video. The return trip was again uneventful and Andrew slept most of the way. The only things that would improve the fly-in are: 1) Have it in May instead of June, and 2) Provide free transportation into town (about two miles away).