The Grass Short-Field Landing and the One Hundred Dollar Lunch

27 July 2013; Landing on Grass --

I invited my #2 Son to fly with me this Saturday to visit the people that live in the Straw House, "Fort Bale". Without hesitation, my Son enthusiastically accepted my invitation. Little did he know what he was to experience!

We had agreed to meet early in the morning; as experienced pilots know, the cool, calm air of the early morning is favorable for aircraft performance as well as beneficial in the ride comfort department. We arrived at the home field (home to the Mooney, that is) a little after o7oo; the code-secured gate was open!

After preflight-checking the aircraft to ensure its airworthiness, and refueling with twenty or so gallons of low-lead aviation gasoline, Grumpy continued with the in-cockpit preflight check list and, after running up the engine to check that both sets of sparkplugs were firing clean, he radioed for take-off clearance and pushed the throttle to the firewall. The 180 horsepower Lycoming pulled the little airplane down the paved runway and we lifted off into a beautiful blue sky towards Rainier.

As we climbed in the cool morning air, Grumpy pointed out the procedures required to maintain proper engine operation (keep cylinder head temperature below 400: add more air speed); lean mixture as density altitude allowed; adjust throttle to maintain intake manifold pressure in inches equal to engine RPM in hundreds. And be sure that the "far hoizon" is rising relative to the "near horizon". That's to be confident that our climb rate is sufficient for us to clear the jagged terrain that comprises the near horizon.

Grumpy's initial course was a little to the left of Rainier. He had flown this route several times before and knew that the view of this snow-enshrouded queen of the Cascades would be spectacular from the East and South sides at this time of day. We were soon at our cruising altitude of 10,500 and on the Southeast side of Rainier. From here we could see Mt Adams, Mt St. Helen's, Mt Hood and Mt Jefferson (both the latter in Oregon).

As we rounded Rainier, staying near the boundary and at a "respectable" altitude so as to not interfere with the wilderness experience of those people on the ground below, Grumpy set his course for the destination field, "Cedar North" in southeast Battle Ground. This course took us on the southeast side of Mt St. Helen's -- close enough to easily detect the topography of the ridges and ash flow paths down this side of the mountain. We could also see Spirit Lake beyond St. Helen's.

As we passed St. Helen's, we could see nothing but a "sea" of clouds covering the landscape to the South and West. Grumpy had been advised of this situation before we left, but he figured that it would either be thin and broken, or be breaking up as the sun's warmth dissipated the clouds. Neither situation greeted Grumpy's eyes as he gazed across this puffy surface of low-lying clouds; however he saw what looked like a "hole" in the cloud cover somewhat to the North and West of his destination. He checked his Aviation Chart to confirm that the land area in the area -- and all the way South and East to his destination -- was at and below 1000 feet msl (mean sea level).

As we neared the "hole", it appeared to be only a depression in the cloud tops; Grumpy opined, "This doesn't look good." He added throttle to stop his descent and considered his #2 alternative: continue southwesterly to the far edge of the cloud cover (roughly at the Columbia River) and then drop down and fly back toward Battle Ground underneath the clouds.

But as we flew over the depression, we both could see terra firma beneath! Grumpy readjusted the throttle for a continuing descent as he made a gentle turn to his left to remain within the hole clear of the surrounding clouds. The bottoms of the cloud cover was at about 2000 feet msl, so once we were below the clouds, Grumpy set his course direct to "North Cedar", the grass strip on which he planned to land.

"Trees are not as far away as they appear to be!"

The field was not easily identified since there were no aircraft or obvious hangars on the site. But Grumpy discerned a mowed strip about 2000 feet long that he realized was what he was supposed to land on. Making the perfunctory radio communications (with non-existing other aircraft!) he lined up his approach to land on "runway 26". As he neared the threshold he beheld a couple of tall trees; a little power to keep from hedge-clipping them and then a 70 knot airspeed to achieve a steep glide path to touchdown. 

"That's not as far down to the end as it may appear!"

As soon as ground contact was made, maximum brakes were applied to stop us at the far end of the runway. [Grumpy later found that over-run provisions included a filled ditch and a continuation into an Alfalfa field on the other side of a narrow, paved driveway.]

Grandson "Stretch" was there to meet us and take us to the newly-developed "town center" where we later met the Swede and Grumpy's two tall, blond Great Grandsons.

We had a delicious lunch in the local "Public House", with Great Grandson J having the "Steak of the Day" [a big -- according to our server; not according to this Porterhouse-eating young man! -- 8 ounce flat-iron steak] and everyone else getting their choice of items on the menu. Grumpy had invited this gathering for lunch, so of course he paid. [The biggest expense, though was the cost of the flight down here! But it was also part of the pleasure.]

Swede, Stretch, GGs A., GGs J. (on wing), #2 Son, Grumpy

Number 2 Son and his Dad are already plotting their next flight adventure.