Ice at Medford, Valleys to Oakland
We say our goodbyes to the team at the museum, Terry et al and set of for the airport next door to fuel up, KMMV. This is were I promote a fabulous aviation book by Richard Lengel, Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot, a truly great work.
For our trip to Oakland we need to refuel at Medford. Before we set off the weather does not look to bad , but we are aware that weather will deteriorate enroute. Medford is in a valley so we are hopeful of being able to stay clear of cloud. Enroute our hopes were dashed, in order to clear the mountains we had to climb, above us the clouds were getting thicker. We had to climb, and the temperature was getting close to zero. As we climbed we had to pass through a tin layer of clouds. As we climbed through the thin layer the temperature dropped to below zero. It took longer to punch through the cloud than expected, and we saw the result immediately. Ice!, ice was on the windshield, ice was on the leading edges; was there ice on the blades? The helicopters performance was not hindered, so I am guessing not. Above the broken layer of cloud the temperature was reading a positive 2 degrees, this was good news.
As we proceeded to Medford the clouds thickened further, we headed for the clearest area, but things were getting scary. With about 28nm to run we find a clear spot near the valley, here we made a tight circle through the hole and descended below the cloud. As we broke through we had the airport in sight and made our way to a safe landing and a well earned break at Million Air.
Time to think about our route to Oakland, we had some hills to fly over and we had to avoid the clouds. While planning my honey phoned, miss her loads. We decided to head of and use the coast as a n escape route if needed. We would find a route through the valleys and mountain passes, without taking any risks. I observed that the cloud seemed to be thicker and lower towards the coast so we pressed on inland along the valleys and over flew a few small airports in the knowledge that if need be we could always turn back, land at on of these, get shelter, food and fuel.
We did not need the small airports and soon found ourselves in the Sonoma Valley and onwards to Oakland. This was not the best day to arrive in Oakland, today was the final day of the NBA finals with Oakland set to win in game five, it was business. We were due to land at Signature and we duly did, but were directed by Kaiser Air to another spot. Kaiser Air were stealing us from Signature! I contacted Signature to confirm whether Kaiser Air was part of Signature, I was correct Kaiser was not part of Signature. Back to Signature we went.
We land and set off to our hotel at the Fisherman's Wharf, Hotel Zoe. The Hotel is being remodelled but is good, it was also one of the cheapest around. Dinner in the nearby bar I head of to meet an old fly buddy from Mazzei, Fresno, Marc Ameryrich at his private club 550 Montgomery, 10th floor.
Another fun night!
For our trip to Oakland we need to refuel at Medford. Before we set off the weather does not look to bad , but we are aware that weather will deteriorate enroute. Medford is in a valley so we are hopeful of being able to stay clear of cloud. Enroute our hopes were dashed, in order to clear the mountains we had to climb, above us the clouds were getting thicker. We had to climb, and the temperature was getting close to zero. As we climbed we had to pass through a tin layer of clouds. As we climbed through the thin layer the temperature dropped to below zero. It took longer to punch through the cloud than expected, and we saw the result immediately. Ice!, ice was on the windshield, ice was on the leading edges; was there ice on the blades? The helicopters performance was not hindered, so I am guessing not. Above the broken layer of cloud the temperature was reading a positive 2 degrees, this was good news.
As we proceeded to Medford the clouds thickened further, we headed for the clearest area, but things were getting scary. With about 28nm to run we find a clear spot near the valley, here we made a tight circle through the hole and descended below the cloud. As we broke through we had the airport in sight and made our way to a safe landing and a well earned break at Million Air.
Time to think about our route to Oakland, we had some hills to fly over and we had to avoid the clouds. While planning my honey phoned, miss her loads. We decided to head of and use the coast as a n escape route if needed. We would find a route through the valleys and mountain passes, without taking any risks. I observed that the cloud seemed to be thicker and lower towards the coast so we pressed on inland along the valleys and over flew a few small airports in the knowledge that if need be we could always turn back, land at on of these, get shelter, food and fuel.
We did not need the small airports and soon found ourselves in the Sonoma Valley and onwards to Oakland. This was not the best day to arrive in Oakland, today was the final day of the NBA finals with Oakland set to win in game five, it was business. We were due to land at Signature and we duly did, but were directed by Kaiser Air to another spot. Kaiser Air were stealing us from Signature! I contacted Signature to confirm whether Kaiser Air was part of Signature, I was correct Kaiser was not part of Signature. Back to Signature we went.
We land and set off to our hotel at the Fisherman's Wharf, Hotel Zoe. The Hotel is being remodelled but is good, it was also one of the cheapest around. Dinner in the nearby bar I head of to meet an old fly buddy from Mazzei, Fresno, Marc Ameryrich at his private club 550 Montgomery, 10th floor.
Another fun night!
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