Off airport to Sportsman, no wait, McMinnville.

Flight #: 011
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 1.3hrs
Cumulative Time: 10.7hrs

Off airport flight to Sportsman (2S6) then McMinnville Airport (MMV).


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I was unable to grab a pattern this morning, so we had to do our work elsewhere. The north looked a little hazy so we opted to head to a new airport, Sportsman, which is to the south a bit to try some approaches. The flight out was nice... different areas, but when we got there they were doing lawn maintenance, etc, and there were tractors all over the runway. Rather tangle with them, Kristie decicided to jump us down to McMinnville Airport. Usually it is too far to fly on a single 2 hour block, but since we were already 25 minutes south, we just kept going.

Interestingly enough, I recognized McMinnville from the air... mainly because of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum buildings. We went there last year with my dad to see the Spruce Goose aka Hughes Flying Boat, H-4, HK-1 - the largest airplane ever constructed.

In any case, you can imagine the museum building that is needed to house this monster. To give some idea, all the other planes in the museum fit (more or less) within the area it covers. Not little planes, mind you, big ones like the SR71 Blackbird, etc. Anyway, worth the visit.

Since we had to fly about 50 miles to get here, we ended up doing only a few patterns and had to head back. School rule, you need to return with 1/4 tank of fuel. And, we were going to push that limit as it was. I've been losing weight, but still we're only taking 16gal of 100LL fuel with us. The more I lose, the more fuel we can take.

Overall, decent flight and enjoyable, although I can't say I stretched myself at all on this... straight level flight is pretty easy these days. More of a tour than a lesson. Suppose that is why I need to get myself a pattern!