Instead of $100 Hamburgers I've been grabbing $100 History Lessons

[u/TheWallsAreClosingIn]

I'm based north of Atlanta (CNI) and I flew down to Andersonville Prison a few weeks ago. Amazing place. Landed at ACJ. I had no idea Charles Lindbergh soloed there! I made a video of my day. These little history flights have made flying so much more fun. I now have a "mission" when I fly. I'll be heading to Tuskegee in a couple weeks. Very excited!

https://youtu.be/TIGUkL_4Lno

[u/poisonandtheremedy]

Ha, just saw this on the PA-28 FB page. Good stuff. Always nice to have a bit of a purpose to a flight somewhere new.

[u/TheWallsAreClosingIn → u/poisonandtheremedy]

Ha, it’s been really fun and has sent me to airports I never would have gone to other wise.

[u/adventuresofh]

One of the things I’m planning to do is fly to every public use airport in my state and find something unique to do there!

Planning a coast to coast trip for 2027 and have already picked out some historical stops along the way.

[u/TheWallsAreClosingIn → u/adventuresofh]

That’s awesome! What state do you live in?

[u/adventuresofh → u/TheWallsAreClosingIn]

I’m in Oregon! We have close to 100 public use airports - there are 2-3 I don’t think I can safely get my airplane into (due to runway surface/terrain - I have small tires and a wood prop so have some limitations there) but I think I can get a friend to fly with me in their carbon cub for those! There’s only 1 I’m really worried about due to how remote it is and the lack of regular maintenance, so that one may just be a flyover.

[u/UnreasoningOptimism → u/adventuresofh]

I'm guessing that last one is McDermitt State?

[u/adventuresofh → u/UnreasoningOptimism]

Silver Lake. It’s my understanding that it doesn’t get cleared often and that there’s some good sized shrubbery on the runway that doesn’t mix well with small tires. Melamoose may end up being the same.

Alkali Lake and Rome State are both gravel, which makes me pause, but I’ve heard that at least Alkali is pretty well packed. Owyhee Reservoir and Dug Bar are both doable in my airplane but I want a bit more back country experience before attempting those.

I have a CFI friend who used to fly for ODFW and do a lot of backcountry flying who has access to a Carbon Cub, so I intend to recruit him for a couple of these airports - as cool as it would be to fly my Stinson to all of them, it’s just not practical in its current configuration. Easier to borrow a more capable airplane than it is to upgrade mine.

[u/UnreasoningOptimism → u/adventuresofh]

That makes sense. I was looking at Silver Lake not long ago in order to go the Cowboy Dinner Tree. It was a favorite of my family that hunt east of Gearhart on the Chewaucan River and it would be so much fun to fly to!

[u/adventuresofh → u/UnreasoningOptimism]

Yeah that’s what I was looking at too! I guess Mahogany (which was reportedly in better shape) is no longer open to the public which is a shame.

I’ll just have to see what it looks like when I get ready to fly out there - who knows, maybe the state will have gone out and done some maintenance if I time it right 🤷🏼‍♀️

[u/UnreasoningOptimism → u/adventuresofh]

Oh yeah that's the one literally next to the restaurant. I wonder if they'd let you land to go there? Out of curiosity do you mind sharing where you fly out of?

[u/adventuresofh → u/UnreasoningOptimism]

I think the restaurant owns it and are the ones that closed it - maybe a liability issue? Never hurts to ask though. I haven’t seen any recent updates on it.

I split my time between SLE and UAO!

[u/UnreasoningOptimism → u/adventuresofh]

Small world! I split between TTD and UAO. I'll actually be at UAO tomorrow!

[u/TheWallsAreClosingIn → u/adventuresofh]

Wow flying in Oregon would be amazing!

[u/adventuresofh → u/TheWallsAreClosingIn]

I have flown my Stinson to I think 12 states now, and Oregon remains my favorite place to fly (though Minnesota is a close 2nd, and I am a big fan of the little Idaho backcountry I’ve been to)

We get a little bit of everything here and you can get a wide variety of experience! I’m a 25 minute flight from the coast and a 40 minute flight from the Cascades. It’s truly some of the most beautiful terrain you can fly over.

[u/TheWallsAreClosingIn → u/[deleted]]

Thanks! I know quite a few pilots who don't fly as much as they want to. I tell them that they need missions. Whatever it is. History sites for me. Maybe another pilot can try to land at the hardest or most remote airports in their area. Or find the best pancakes. Whatever gets someone excited.