No. 271 Heritage Flight Museum Grand Opening

Heritage Flight Museum
15053 Crosswind Dr.
Burlington, Wa 98233
Website: http://www.heritageflight.org/

April 26th, 2014 - Skagit Regional Airport

The morning started off with overcast skies and rain but that was not going to stop the organizers of Historic Flight Museums from showing off their new field based operations at Skagit Regional Airport.
HFM had previously been located in Bellingham Airport but over the winter closure relocated to Burlington, WA.
The staff and volunteers of HFM welcomed nearly 1300 visitors during it's Grand Opening celebration for an afternoon of sights, sounds and smells of aviation history. In addition to having HFM's collection on display other aviation organizations brought in their aircraft for static and aerial display including North Cascades Vintage Aircraft Museum, Canadian Museum of Flight and Historic Flight Foundation.
Even before the doors officially opened at noon the parking along Crosswind Dr. was nearly at capasity with people having to park on both sides of the street.
For Heritage Flight Museum this was one of their most successful events ever and it was just opening day at their new location. Stay up to date with events and fly days in 2014 at Skagit Regional Airport by following their Website and facebook page.

Here is a recap of some of the sights and sounds of Grand Opening Day along Runway 22 / 04

T6-D Texan “Hog Wild Gunner”

T6-F Texan 

North American SNJ

Canadian Aviation Museum North American SNJ -5

HFF B-25 Mitchell "Grumpy" / P-51 Mustang HFM 

North Cascades Vintage Aircraft Museum

P-51 Mustang "Val Halla" 

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No. 270 Seattle Maritime Events May 2014

May 1st 12pm to 5 pm
First Thursday at Lake Union Park 

May 3rd
Opening Day of 2014 Boating season
Lake Union, Ship Canal, Lake Washington 

May 3rd
Opening of Cruise Season
Pier 91

May 3rd 10am to 8pm
Center for Wooden Boats Member Day 

May 7th 6pm to 9pm
Charting Practices of NOAA
Ivar's Salmon House 

May 8th 1:30pm to 3:30 pm
Fishermen's Terminal Walking Tour

May 8th 11am to 12pm
Tugboat Story Time
Lake Union Park

May 10th 11am to 5pm
Harbor Open House
Pier 66
Seattle Waterfront

May 11th 4pm to 5pm
Mother's Day Cruise on Lake Union
Virginia V, Lake Union

May 11th 11am to 5pm
Family Fun Day at Lake Union Park

May 16th 12pm to 7pm
NOAA Open House

May 16th 7pm to 10pm
Adventure: Two Years around the Pacific Ocean
Center for Wooden Boats

May 19th, 20, 21st 1pm
Behind the scenes tour of Lightship Boats
Historic Ships Wharf

May 22nd 11am to 12pm
Tugboat Story Time 11am to 12pm
Historic Ships Wharf

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No. 269 Air Force One lands in Everett, WA

Paine Field Airport
Everett, Washington
April 22nd, 2014

One the 1 month after the Oso, Washington landslide President Obama arrived in Washington State to meet with state officials, local first responders and families affected by the landslide.
At 12:42pm Air Force One appeared over waters of Possession Sound on a 5 mile final and was cleared for landing on 16R at Paine Airport in Everett, WA. 6 minutes later the queen of the skies ,a late model 1990's Boeing 747-200, touched down in Snohomish County with sunbreaks.
President Obama met Washington State officials awaiting his arrival at the bottom of the air stairs and then boarded USMC VH-3 helicopters to be flown to KAWO Arlington. VH-3s were escorted by 3 HMX-1 MV-22B Osprey.

onlookers arrive at Future of Flight in Everett, WA for POTUS arrival

USA Air Force One / Boeing VC-25A (747-2G4B) / 82-29000 short final

Air Force One flares on arrival at Paine Field next the Boeing Flight Line

SAM Flight follows AF1. ALong for the Asian ride 

After touring the Oso Landslide from the air and ground and meeting with local President Obama returned to Paine Field aboard Marine One and at 17:15 (5:15pm PDT) Air Force One was wheel up headed for Japan.

Wheel up for Japan Air Force One

C-32A VIP Transport departing Paine Field behind AF1

  Watch the National Geographic Documentary Inside Air Force One

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No. 268 Meadowdale Beach Park

Meadowdale Beach Park
6026 156th Sw
Edmonds, WA 98036
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Meadowdale Beach Park surrounds the lower section of the Lunds Gulch Creek north of Edmonds, WA. The 108 acre parks features trails that meander through old-growth forests and lead down to an access point to the salt water beach.

Picnic Shelter and play fields 

BNSF Rail Road Tunnel 

after heavy rains the train tunnel can become flooded with runoff 

Low Tide

North bound BNSF train 

Abandoned barge 

Boat Ramp 

Sunset Bay 

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No. 267 Recap Of Doolittle Raid Afternoon

Historic Flight Foundation
Paine Field
Everett, WA
April 19, 2014

Saturday morning started off promising with a few sunbreaks around Snohomish County. But by 11am overcast clouds started rolling in from the south east and a light drizzle soon followed. Owner and pilot John Sessions begun his B-25D Mitchell pre-flight just after 11am but moved the pre-flight discussion out of the rain and inside the hangar.
A few of the volunteers and myself took shelter from the rain under the wings of the B-25 and waited for the V-22s and Vh-3s to startup and take off on their Presidential Transportation exercise over Snohomish County and Arlington Airport.
Although the rain made the afternoon a little uncomfortable there was still plenty of activity on the airport including an American Bald Eagle soaring overhead, take off of V22s, VH-3s, a Dreamifter, Boeing 737s and 777s.
Here is a recap in video and images.

HMX-1 MV-22B takeoff  configuration

HMX-1 MV-22B forward flight transition 

HMX-1 MV-22B Take Off

HMX-1 MV-22B returning from Arlington Airport 

HMX-1 MV-22B landing configuration

HMX-1 VH-3D Marine Corps Marine 1

HMX-1 VH-3D Marine Corps Marine 1

Air China B-2047 Boeing 777-300ER

Historic Flight Foundation  N88972 B-25D

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No. 266 72 Anniversary of Doolittle Raid on Japan

Historic Flight Foundation 
http://historicflight.org/hf/

ADDRESS

10719 Bernie Webber Drive
Mukilteo, WA 98275

PHONE

(425) 348-3200

Saturday April 19th, 2014
Paine Field, Everett Washington 

Historic Flight Foundation will honor Lt. Col. Edward J. Saylor (ret.), one of four surviving Doolittle Raiders, on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the raid on Tokyo. A B-25 aerial demonstration will begin at 4 followed by a gourmet dinner at 5:30. Jonna Doolittle Hoppes, grandaughter of Jimmy Doolittle, leader of the raid, will speak after dinner. Following Jonna’s remarks, Lt. Col. Saylor will offer his reflections. To conclude the evening, HFF will present the film “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” in an environment reminiscent of a 1940s movie house. Tickets are $50. Click here to purchase. Students and families are encouraged to come. Seating is limited to 250. Proceeds will benefit the “Edward J. Saylor Aviation Scholarship Fund.”

Read my about my visit to Historic Flight Foundation here 

B-25D "Grumpy" on the flightline during VAW

Grumpy on the ramo 

low pass 

Head on with B-25D

Short final before sunset 

Wikipedia Article:
 The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, on 18 April 1942, was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu island during World War II, the first air raid to strike the Japanese Home Islands. It demonstrated that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, was retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, provided an important boost to U.S. morale, and damaged Japanese morale. The raid was planned and led by Lieutenant ColonelJames "Jimmy" Doolittle, U.S. Army Air Forces.

Sixteen U.S. Army Air Forces B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched without fighter escort from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep in the Western Pacific Ocean, each with a crew of five men. The plan called for them to bomb military targets in Japan, and to continue westward to land in China—landing a medium bomber on Hornet was impossible. Fifteen of the aircraft reached China, and the other one landed in the Soviet Union. All but three of the crew survived, but all the aircraft were lost. Eight crewmen were captured by the Japanese Army in China; three of these were executed. The B-25 that landed in the Soviet Union atVladivostok was confiscated and its crew interned for more than a year. Fourteen crews, except for one crewman, returned either to the United States or to American forces.^[1][2]

After the raid, the Japanese Imperial Army conducted a massive sweep through the eastern coastal provinces of China, in an operation now known as the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, searching for the surviving American airmen and applying retribution on the Chinese who aided them, in an effort to prevent this part of China from being used again for an attack on Japan. An estimated 250,000 Chinese civilians were killed by the Japanese during this operation.^[3][4]

The raid caused negligible material damage to Japan, only hitting non-military targets or missing completely but it succeeded in its goal of raising American morale and casting doubt in Japan on the ability of its military leaders to defend their home islands. It also caused Japan to withdraw its powerful aircraft carrier force from the Indian Ocean to defend their Home Islands, and the raid contributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's decision to attack Midway Island in the Central Pacific—an attack that turned into a decisive strategic defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the U.S. Navy in the Battle of Midway. Doolittle, who initially believed that loss of all his aircraft would lead to his being court-martialled, received the Medal of Honor and was promoted two steps to Brigadier general.

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No. 265 Springtime is a great time to visit Washington State Water Falls

As we enter the 5 week of Spring of 2014 the flowers are in bloom everywhere it seems and the weather is producing more blue skies and warmer temps consistently. Which puts most people in a happier mood.

Temperatures in the lowlands are staying above 40 degrees and the temperatures in the mountains are getting warmer as well. This means the snow and ice that fell and accumulated since last October is beginning to thaw and looking for a way to the ocean. 

Now is the best time to go out and see waterfalls running at full levels. The April Spring Showers combined with ice and snow melt add dramatic volumes of water rushing down the sides of mountains and cascading over the edges of waterfalls. 

Though some trails still may have residual snow and may be muddy they are worth the hike. During the summer months when forest floors and trails are dry there is upwards of 60% less water moving down the mountain causing larger falls to run at low levels and many smaller waterfalls disappear as their water sources dry up. 

Here is a list of waterfalls inside Washington State Parks that are worth a hike:

Palouse Falls - Eastern Washington
The Palouse Falls is tucked away in the Eastern part of Washington State. After a very windy drive, including a few miles on dirt roads, you can find this amazing location. The falls consists of an upper falls with a drop of ~20 feet (6.1 m) which lies 1,000 feet (300 m) north northwest of the main drop, and a lower falls, with a drop of ~180 feet (55 m).



Wallace Falls - Gold Bar, WA
Wallace Falls, named after homesteaders Joe and Sarah Kwayaylsh members of the Skykomish tribe, is a 4,735 acre forest land on the western slope of the North Cascade Mountain range in Snohomish County. The park has three back country lakes, Jay Lake, Shaw Lake and Wallace Lake which are connected via the Wallace River. The river trickles, snakes, gurgles and plunges its way through the park until the valley basin. 







Cascade Falls - Orcas Island, WA
At about 40 feet tall, Cascade Falls is the largest waterfall in the San Juan Islands. Cascade Creek squiggles down a flume, dropping through a jumble of logs and branches before it veils out over a broad bulbous face into a small grotto lined with several old growth cedar trees. 




Rustic Falls - Orcas Island, WA 
Rustic Falls is part of Cascade Creek, which runs between Mountain Lake and Cascade Lake in Moran State Park. The 0.8 mile walk from the trail head is located on the east side of Cascade Lake in Moran State Park Orcas Island

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No. 264 Crown Point Vista House, Oregon

Crown Point Vista House

40700 E Historic Columbia River Hwy
Corbett, OR 97019

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Crown Point Vista House was built between 1916 and 1918 by Multnomah County as a scenic viewpoint and rest area for early motorist traveling on the Historic Highway 30. Vista House octagonal stone structure sits 733 feet above the Columbia River. The domed rotunda is 44 feet wide and 55 feet tall with clerestory windows feature opalescent glass in a simple tracery pattern, with similar colored glass at the tops of the windows. Stairs lead from the rotunda to an elevated viewing platform at the base of the dome. The exterior is gray sandstone, with a green tile roof. The interior is extensively finished in marble, even in the toilets. The dome interior has bronze lining. 
Crown Point was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971 and Vista House was later placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. 

Vista House Interior - Matthew Roberts 

Taking a break along Historic Highway 30 

Glass Windows of Vista House 

looking west down the Columbia River 

Looking east down the Columbia River 

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