Jim's Biplane Rides

Crystal Harris of Corbett arranged a flight for her husband Richard and their son Wylie on a flight to celebrate Wylie's upcoming birthday. It was a nice flying day which turned out to be the last one for this year's season. We circled their house and took a bunch of photos. Richard wrote afterward: "Fantastic! Open-air flying is the way! Blast from the past and scenery can't be beat! Such a birthday treat!"

Last weekend of flying this year. The wet and cold is on the way. The biplane is flying tomorrow Saturday the 19th. Forecast is for a nice Fall day with light winds, warm mid sixties temps and dry. Have room for more. Give me a call if you would like to go, 503-647-1929, thanks, Jim. Photo of Multnomah Falls and Lodge taken Oct 11th.

Anybody interested in going flying on what looks to be the last seventy degree day we see until next spring? Fall flying at it's finest today will change to wet and cold tomorrow and continue through the week. Give me a call if interested. 503-647-1929, thanks, Jim.

Sue Crawford of Corvallis arranged a one hour flight for her husband Mel Garcia, a retired aircraft mechanic. His birthday is after the end of this year's flying season, so they flew on this beautiful day. Like the last several is was very windy in the Gorge. The flight was accomplished a little higher up where it was less windy and smoother. A smokey haze in the area prevented a clear view of the Cascade Peaks. The fall colors however were just amazing. Sue wrote afterwards: "What a hoot! We thoroughly enjoyed our ride. Amazing to see so much from a unique vantage point! Greatest birthday present ever. The flight was wonderful!"

Randy Logue of Boring Oregon arranged a surprise flight for his wife Debi's birthday which was yesterday when she had to work. Today they flew. The forecast for yesterday and today called for light winds at Troutdale and in the Gorge. The National Weather Service got it wrong both days. It was very breezy both days and the windsurfers were lovin it at Rooster Rock State Park. The Gorge is very difficult to predict the wind speeds as they can vary from place to place, sometimes 180 degrees different. So on today's ride we went up higher where the air was much smoother. Some of the Cascade Peaks were visible under the high clouds other than Mt Rainier which was covered. Randy afterwards wrote at length: "It's Debi's birthday and what a way to celebrate her 60th, by a biplane ride. Debi was very unsure at first, but once in the air she enjoyed it. The Gorge is beautiful, but from the air it's amazing. Also amazing was flying over Boring around our house. Boring landscape was so colorful. Debi and I will do another biplane ride in our future. Jim was a great pilot!!"

Mel Yeates of Portland works doing van based scenic tours in the Gorge and elsewhere. She flew by herself in the biplane for an aerial view of locations she has visited on the ground. She wrote afterwards: "You haven't lived until you've seen the Oregon mountains & the Cascades from the air!"

Lori and Ron McFate of Cedar City Utah on a road trip stayed in Portland last night and asked someone, what is there to do around here? That person recommend a flight in my biplane. Lori called and they flew on this awesome day. They also saved the day by coming to get me after my truck died in Gresham on my way to the airport. Love my 88 Toyota pickup but with hundreds of thousands miles some parts do wear out. My mechanic thinks it could be the aftermarket fuel pump. This one was replaced not that long ago. Lori expressed the hope the biplane runs better. I told her yes as it has no fuel pump, gravity fed and there are no foreign parts on it, all USA made. Great flying day, lots of photos, to late to caption, so enjoy. They wrote afterwards: "Beautiful views of the whole area. We loved the ride."

Ranae Johnson of Vancouver arranged a 45minute flight for her son Brian Allen of Portland. It was to celebrate his 38th birthday coming up later this month. Ranae decided to go today when the weather was guaranteed to be nice. She couldn't have picked a better day. It was perfect with clear warm skies with calm winds. The air was like flying on glass it was so smooth. Great visibilities, saw four Cascade Peaks in Washington and Oregon. The fall colors were in bloom with their radiant hues. Sorry no inflight photos as I forgot my camera at home. No matter they both thoroughly enjoyed their flight. Brian wrote afterwards: "Great Birthday flight with my mom. We'll be back again." Ranae wrote: "Best adventure ever, would do it again, Jim's wonderful + great B-day gift for my son+ I."

Montie Lehman and his wife, Cindy flew in the Travelair back in the Spring of 2021. Today the 1st of October they took a 45 minute flight up to Beacon Rock. They drove from Highlands Ranch Co and are staying in Welches. They wrote: ' This is our second ride-we went longer this time and it was spectacular- lots of twists and turns and the weather was awesome."

Great flying weather! After the rainfall Thursday the air has been cleansed. Fall flying at it's finest. With temps in the seventies and calm to light winds makes it ideal. The schedule for the Travelair is wide open. Only have a few on the books. Available daily now until sometime later this month when it will become to wet and cold to fly open cockpit. The biplane will then be put away for the winter. Flying daily from the Troutdale Airport. Plane seats two plus pilot. Give me a call if you would like to go! 503-647-1929 Jim

Sauvie Island Flight tour today!
Back in March Alicia Lehrie of Hillsboro purchased a one hour gift
certificate for her grandson Ian Groven's 10th birthday. After two cancellations due to the weather and Ian having a cold he finally got to fly today, the last day of September. He flew with his dad's mother-in-law Debbie Rice. Because of very high east winds in the Columbia River Gorge it was decided to fly west to get over Sauvie Island. It was very smooth flying there with calm winds. Ian enjoyed it, writing afterwards: "Had fun" Debbie wrote: "A Blast!! Beautiful."

Ben Lundeen of Lakewood Washington promised his dad, David a ride in the Travelair last summer for his birthday. Didn't work out then. They were going to fly in early September this year, but it was too hot, nearly one hundred and high winds. Cooler now, today the 29th they drove down and flew the one hour up over Bonneville Dam to the Bridge of the Gods. They wrote afterwards: "Great time! Great adventure! Great experience. Thanks for showing us a great time and scenery."

Amy Vandetta arranged a one hour flight flight for her father, John Clausen's 80th birthday. John's family thought it would be a gift he would enjoy as he is a pilot. John is a farmer from Dufur Oregon and has a Carbon Cub that he has owned and flown for twelve years. Family members came from the Dalles to witness the flight. Was disappointing that no one wanted to fly with John. Ashley Clausen, a student from Oregon State showed up and was talked into going with her grandfather. She wrote afterwards: "Thank you! Made me remember why I love Oregon." John wrote: "Great ride."

Teresa Jackson of Corbett purchased a one hour gift certificate for Christmas last year for a friend who was not able to use it. Today she flew with her neighbor Gabriel Dolan. Neither one of us got a clear photo of Teresa's house nestled in the trees. Did get one of Gabriel's and other nice shots on this beautiful blue sky day. Teresa wrote afterwards: "Wonderful experience!! What a ride! Thank you!" Gabe wrote: "Amazing ride, would do it over again and again."

Alex Garcia from Vancouver Wa flew with his 8yr old son, Sebastian. Sebastian had been on a airliner, never anything smaller, and was very excited about going for a biplane ride. They took the half hour flight up to Multnomah Falls. Alex wrote afterwards: "What a great ride, we had a Great experience!

The heavy rainfall yesterday made for very clear skies today. Noreen Bowdon and Sonia Bynum took a forty five minute flight up to Beacon Rock. They are both local pilots and airplane owners. Noreen operated a scenic tour business at Tillamook with her late husband, Larry flying Stinsons and a Travelair biplane. Sonia took me for a nice flight in her immaculate 1955 Cessna 170B on Monday. Noreen wrote afterwards: "It's my Birthday and a great day for a biplane ride. Fun Day!!" Sonia wrote: "So much fun! Thanks Jim (don't sell the plane!)"

Josh Doughty of Portland purchased a one hour gift certificate for his GF Lauren Montgomery of Vancouver Wa for her birthday in April. Today they flew. We flew mid morning before it got to hot. It was forecast to reach ninety degrees and to be nearly calm at Troutdale with light westerlies. The Gorge was forecast to be 12 with gusts to twenty out of the NW, no problem. That easterly flow is what gets Portland hot with the very warm air from the east. The National Weather Service forecast missed it this time. The winds at Rooster Rock State Park were a good thirty with gusts to forty plus. The windsurfers must get better weather reporting as there were a dozen on the river jumping and tearing it up. Flying east at 85mph airspeed our ground speed on the GPS was showing less than fifty. The cars and trucks on 84 were passing us. It was very bumpy down low passing by Bonneville Falls so a climb was done to get into smoother air. It was much smoother and less windy up at 3.5k' . We stayed up high back westbound to keep the flight smoother. Leaving the Gorge flew over the farmland east of Gresham down low where it was less windy and smoother. Lauren wrote afterwards: "Beautiful day for a biplane ride. Thank you so much for the site seeing!"

This morning made for a great morning to accomplish a BFR, a biennial flight review. Every pilot needs to do one every two years or have done a check ride for a additional or higher rating. Since my biplane does not have dual controls, the flight was taken in a Gorge Winds Cessna 172. Last time I flew in one was two years ago. The difference is remarkable between an efficient monoplane and a very draggy biplane. It was like going back to flying in a sailplane, the glide is so much flatter power off. That all went well with Sonia the instructor. Afterwards she took me for a scenic tour in her airplane. a 1955 Cessna 170B. Like my BFR airplane except it is a tailwheel and not a nosewheel airplane. I haven't flown over Sauvie Island and it's corn mazes and pumpkin patches for quite some time. When I flew out of Hillsboro and Woodland it was one of my favorite places to fly. It still is. It is just a little further away. If you would like to go there, it is within my regulatory 25 mile limit. I would love to take you. This season will soon be over with it becoming too cold and wet for open cockpit flying. A final decision is yet to be made after doing this for 32 years. I'm letting everyone know this could be my last year for commercial scenic tours. Do get a hold of me if you would like a local biplane ride. All the other operations are quite some distance away, with no one nearby. Cheers, Jim.

Today Saturday Sept 21 was the last full day of this Summer 2024. What a beautiful day it was to go flying in the Gorge. Dennis and his father, Don Wheeler of Gresham took an hour long flight up over Bonneville Dam to the Bridge of the Gods. Today was spectacular with great visibilities, little to no winds, and warm blue skies. Don wrote afterwards: "I've flown a lot miles around the world in the USN. Never a more awesome ride than the one you just gave me Jim. Thank you so much for the experience." Dennis wrote: "Awesome!! Thank you Jim, my dad and I had a great flight

Flew Monday Sept 16 on just a perfect day. Blue warm skies with great visibilities. George Eischen had scheduled a flight in early September to fly with his wife, Dina, but that was canceled due to high temps and winds. After George described his house near Oxbow Park, imagine my surprise to find out it was the very nice 'country estate' I have admired on other flights. Few people out at the usual viewpoints, yet got some waves from hikers and from a fellow that has flown multiple times in my biplane. Check out some of the great photos taken on today's flight. Dina wrote afterwards: "Checking off Georges bucket list. What an amazing breathtaking ride, mountains, rivers, lakes, farms. Thank you for the amazing tour of our home. Perfect weather.....couldn't have had a better day!!! Very Special!"

Good morning! Hope all had a great weekend. Mine was good on Saturday with several nice flights. This morning got a call for a one hour flight this afternoon which is great as today is just the perfect day to go flying. Light winds, warm and sunny skies. The flight is scheduled for 4:30pm. It had been scheduled for earlier in the month but canceled to being to hot and windy. If anyone would like to fly between now and then, do give me a call, 503-647-1929. Tomorrow will be cool and wet, so no flying. Later this week and upcoming weekend is looking good. This season will be coming to a close soon, sometime in October and that will be it for the year. This could be my last year of doing commercial scenic tours. If you would like to go or know of someone who would, please don't put it off. Photo taken Sat Sept 14, 2024.

On the next flight of the Knight family today, Brandon Knight of Tigard flew with his brother Andrew Knight of Battleground.

Shelly Knight arranged a couple of half hour flights for her husband Jeff, sons Brandon and Andrew, and son-in-law John McClatchy, all live locally. The air was quite smooth for nice flying. There were widely scattered light rain showers, just as forecast. We were able to scoot around them. They all wrote afterwards the following with no names to who wrote what: " Amazing Flight! Great job!" "Awesome bucket list check off!" "Great ride and amazing views." "Tons of fun to be in the open air!"

Today the last Saturday of this summer, Jorge Pacheco and his wife, Leah Foster came down from Seattle to take a biplane flight in celebration of their 15th wedding anniversary. Jorge is a seasoned airplane and helicopter pilot who has learned and taught locally. Including ten years ago here at Gorge Winds. It has been a stepping stone for many. He has flown scenic tours in the Grand Canyon, flown Alaska, and now flies one of the University of Washington's Medical helicopter transports. They wrote afterwards: "This was an absolutely incredible experience- it was amazing and the most fun I've ever had in the sky! Thank You!!"

Elaine Chatfield of Vancouver WA recently saw Andy's Adventures: Jim's Biplane Rides, broadcast originally June 2023 on KPTV-12. She flew today on her birthday with her son Bach Chatfield of Ridgefield WA. At first scheduled for 12 noon we decided to fly later at 2:30 when it was sunnier and warmer. Still it was cool enough for sweatshirts. We flew up a little over three thousand feet to take in the views of four Cascade Peaks. Elaine wrote: "Happy Birthday, Great experience." Bach wrote: "Had an amazing experience following the landscape valley's. Seeing everything I would normally experience from a motorglacers." (not sure what a motorglacers is ? Jim).

Jeff Adams sent his wife, Sue and his grandson, Korbin, all of Gresham up for a one hour flight today. Korbin will be a senior this year at Barlow High School. Sue wrote: "Fantastic flight." Korbin wrote: "Wonderful time."
Jeff wrote: "Jeffrey Adams treated my family to this ONCE IN A LIFETIME experience. Thank you so much to Jim!!!"

Today the first day of September, Ed Clark took an hour long flight with his brother John of Sandy Or. Ed has flown many times before in the Travelair as far back as some twenty years ago when flying out of Hillsboro. John wanted to fly over his house near Sandy Oregon so off we flew. After that turned north to fly over a large expanse of wooded forests to reach the Columbia River Gorge. Ed wrote afterwards: "Fantastic-my 4th trip."
John wrote:"Awesome ride. flew over my home N of Sandy."

Today Rick and Mary Williams of Portland celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary which was last month while it was raining. They have done prior celebration flights as far back as 2015 and 2016 from Seaside on the coast. Those were short flights which work well at the beach. Today they flew for an hour to enjoy the Columbia River Gorge. They wrote: "Great ride, great pilot, wonderful biplane ride. Beautiful view of Gorge and mountains. Thanks so much."

Harry Braunstein of Vancouver Wa, pilot and plane owner purchased a one hour wedding gift for Julia and David Konstaniciak of Troutdale last fall. They have yet to go on their honeymoon and recently made an appointment to fly today. Due to the extreme heat this afternoon we all agreed to meet in the morning and take-off around 10:00. The winds were light out of the west at Troutdale. Not as forecast they were very strong in the Gorge with east winds around 25mph with gusts over thirty. The windsurfers at Rooster Rock State Park were loving it. David is a newly certificated helicopter pilot and instructor. This was his first flight in a small fixed wing aircraft. They wrote afterwards: "What an amazing experience!! This flight was gifted to us by a good friend for our wedding present, ❤️. Jim is amazing and we live in such a beautiful place!! So thankful for this breezy ride."

Akash Pandey from Mombai India flew into Portland yesterday with friends and arranged a half hour flight today with Shree Kabra from Las Vegas. They are visiting Oregon for the Labor Day weekend and saw an offer for a scenic flight. Neither had flown in a small plane before and when they arrived at Gorge Winds Akash actually asked which plane they were going in. They agreed to give the open cockpit biplane a try which was perfect on this very hot afternoon. The beaches and rivers were also crammed with sunbathers, tubers, and floaters trying to escape the heat. They wrote afterwards: "It was the most pleasurable flight that I tried. The weather was perfect. Jim made it more memorable with the whole history of the plane and his flying skills were just perfect."

Jonah(Richard) Weller of Canby flew with his good friend Gary Holman of Troutdale on a one hour flight today. They had taken the local Cessna tour last year together and thought the biplane was a lot more fun. Gary wrote: "Thanks-Best Ride!" Jonah wrote: "Beautiful day, great ride!"
Myself after not have flown in over a week, thought today was magnificent! West wind on takeoff from Troutdale turned to calm over the river with a slight east wind at Cascade Locks. The air was silky smooth with great visibilities. Went up to 3500' to take in the views of four Cascade Peaks. A great day to be in the Gorge with no crowds on the beaches, river trails, or viewpoints. The joy of this flight made me rethink my thought of making this the last year for commercial tours. I had no problem taking a bunch of photos. Hard to pick out which ones are nice, so here they are. Let me know what you think.
😃

Cody Walke of Longiew Washington arranged a one hour flight for her husband, Michael Turner in celebration of his birthday in July. This is the second flight for the two of them, having flown back in Sept of 2018. After hearing this could be my last year flying tours Michael remarked he would like to fly again next year if I continue. He has done much volunteer work on trails in the Gorge including some bridges built for passage of horses. With the mostly overcast skies and light winds it made for smooth flying and nice lighting for photos. Cody wrote: "What a fantastic flight-always so much beauty!" Michael wrote: "What a ride-was the 2nd time and even better-felt like a bird! Thank you Jim."

Ron and Debra Blister drove three hours up from Cheshire Oregon to take a one hour flight in the biplane. They have both flown previously both in southern California with 'Fun Flights' and in Oregon near Dundee with some unknown. Ron wrote afterwards: "Very good flight! My wife & I are celebrating our 50th anniversary."

Tom Doucette sent his son, Sean, and his friend Julie, all of Battleground Washington up for a one hour flight today. The Doucettes are big supporters of Jim's Biplane having had three generations fly with me. Sean flew as a youngster thirty years ago at Ilwaco. Today was Julie's first flight in a biplane and she wrote afterwards: "That was incredible! A once in a lifetime experience! Thank you so much! I'll never forget how amazing the Gorge looked from a plane!" Sean wrote: "Plane Good. River pretty. Much Fun."

Kip Fletcher of Oregon City has for five years now tried to arrange a flight in the biplane with his father, Roland Fletcher from Albuquerque who visits ever so often. Roland now 91yrs old flew DeHallivand Tiger Moth biplanes back in England. He went on to become an air traffic controller. Before it got too hot we took off late morning on a one hour flight up over Bonneville Dam. Kip wrote afterwards: "That flight was the Best!! Can't thank you enough!"
Roland wrote: Brought back great memories, Thanks Jim."

Kay Wolfe of Portland paid for a 45minute biplane flight for her husband, Ken, for Father's Day. Today they flew in the morning before it became to hot up to Beacon Rock. Yes even in an open cockpit biplane when it gets into the nineties and today 100, it is just too hot. It's like flying in an oven. They wrote afterward: "Such a lovely day for a plane ride! We had a ball-Thank you."

Had two interesting flyers today. Chris Wood from Woodland WA took his visiting friend Phil Kockerbeck up for a one hour flight over the Bonneville Dam to the Bridge of the Gods. Phil wrote afterwards: "Jim is most definitely Down 2 Mob! We had an incredible ride, and learned a ton! Thank you, Jim!" Phil is a social media creator who is traveling full time. Google 'Down 2 Mob' for his info.
Chris retired after twenty years with Union Pacific. Now works for Max Light rail. After he retires for the second time three years from now, he is planning to drive the entire Pan-American Hwy from Alaska to the tip of Argentina in a special expedition vehicle, a two year adventure! He wrote afterwards: "Life Changing! Incredible! Jim is amazing! Thank you!"

Also on Sunday Doug Harkness of Saskatchewan CA was visiting family. Back in 2019 he flew a couple of short flights with his grandsons. Another grandson ,Indigo was only two. Today he got his turn in a 30 minute flight up to Multnomah Falls. They were going to go Monday, but due to the weather forecasts they flew today when it was dry. Doug wrote afterwards: "Indigo and his grandpa had a wonderful time viewing the waterfalls from a new perspective. Great time and memory! Thanks, Jim." Doug also took his orange lion along with.

Sunday, July 28th, Rich Hannan of Gresham sent his daughter, Hanna, up with Brady Goodman of Eugene up for a one hour flight up over Bonneville Dam to the Bridge of the Gods. This flight was a surprise for Brady. They are getting married in Sept and we flew over the spot they are getting married near Bridal Veil Falls. They wrote afterwards:"We had a fantastic time with Jim today! It was incredible weather and we got to explore the Gorge where Hanna grew up. Wonderful experience! Such an amazing time! Thank you, Jim!"

Cobey Kempe of Gresham, had flown 6 yrs ago in the biplane with his dad. He purchased a half hour flight for his partner Brandee Damiano and her sister Lisa Trantham of Albuquerque New Mexico. For Lisa it was a true bucket list. She is fighting cancer. Lisa wrote afterwards: "What an amazing experience! I hope that many get a chance to do this! Thank you for the cherished memory. ❤️ Always."
Brandee wrote: "Thank you for a safe flight, the most awesome view+ the landing was amazing! this was better than any Big Plane "commercial" flight I've ever taken."