Flying

Flying airplanes, mostly Cessnas

Selected Seaplane bases depicted on FAA aeronautical charts

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Here’s some of the various and interesting seaplane bases (SPB) from FAA aeronautical charts that I found while working to get my ASES rating this year. I’m a total map nerd and can spend hours looking at maps. I’d love to develop this type of page into training materials that CFIs could use for seaplane … Read more

Fly Washington Passport stamps 20 October 2025

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After the Lord Huron concert we stayed in the historic Davenport Hotel and then headed home, visiting five more Washington state airports! Spokane International Airport (Geiger Field) (GEG) I’ve flown out of GEG many times over the last 25 years – it used to be to get anywhere from Missoula you had to drive to … Read more

Fly Washington Passport stamps 19 October 2025

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As we were headed to Spokane for a Lord Huron concert, we took the opportunity to visit some North Central and Eastern Washington airports. Here’s what we found! Othello Municipal Airport (S70) As is expected with most “east side” rural Washington airports, there’s not a lot here except agricultural operations. Othello Municipal has no pilot … Read more

Aleutian Aviation musings

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I love looking at Google Earth satellite images of far-away and remote places and dream about what it would be like to explore these isolated corners of the earth. Here are some musings about aviating in the Aleutian islands of Alaska. Akutan Akutan is a small fishing village, population ~1500 in the Aleutian islands northeast … Read more

The first seaplane pilot

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While reading Jay Spenser’s highly recommended “The Airplane: How Ideas Gave Us Wings,” I learned that motorcycle and aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss was the first seaplane pilot and considered the father of Naval Aviation! Of course, having recently earned my Airplane Single Engine Sea (seaplane) rating, I was thrilled to learn this! Curtiss was the … Read more

Good airports for camping PNW

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Daryl airplane camping in 2003 in Montana

Here’s an alphabetical list of some airports that are potentially great for camping in the PNW. In addition to those, I leave you with a list of ones that are less desirable and the reasons I think as much, in case you’re wondering. In all cases, get yourself some earplugs from Loop, you might need … Read more

Lost PNW Airports: Wax Orchards (WA69)

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General Aviation lost another Seattle-area airport with the recent closure of the private Wax Orchards (WA69) strip located on Vashon Island here. 47.400182,-122.499415 I’m not a long-term local so I never got to fly into Wax Orchards or know any stories about it. Do you? If so please leave a comment below!! Air Nav archived … Read more

Public soft-field runways in Washington

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Here’s a list of selected soft-field runways available to the public in Washington state. Airports participating in Fly Washington Passport stamp are listed in bold. Runway surface is “TURF” unless otherwise indicated. Region Airport ID Runway length Elevation Northwest Bandera State 4W0 2344 x 100 1636 (Southwest) Cedars North W58 1960 x 50 275 Olympic … Read more

Shortest Paved Runways in Washington State List

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This page contains lists of the shortest runways in Washington State by several variables: Note: Public on this page means publicly-available, whether the airport is publicly or privately owned. Shortest paved public runways in Washington state by Available Landing Distance (ALD) Rank Airport Runway Available Landing Distance (in feet) 1 First Air Field (W16) Monroe … Read more

Float Plane Rating, Kenmore Air Harbor July 2025

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After years of driving through Kenmore on the way to and from work, and years of watching the Beavers and Otters head back to base every evening, I finally did it- for my 53rd birthday I decided to pursue my seaplane rating, officially Private Pilot Airplane Single Engine Sea (ASES) at Kenmore, the most well-known … Read more

Flying Grays Harbor July 2023

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Back in July I flew out to Grays Harbor on the Washington coast to knock out the last three Fly Washington Passport Stamps I had to collect to finish the 18 airports in the Olympic Region!! Gray’s Harbor is surrounded by several airports and is the mouth of the Chehalis River. What a great trip! … Read more