Suggestions for flying around Seattle

Jns_V

Jns_V

Filing Flight Plan
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JnsV
I'm visiting Seattle in late July with three friends of mine and would like to bring them along for a flight around the area. Where should we depart from and where should we fly to? I thought that starting from somewhere like Renton and flying around the Mt Rainier would be nice, but I'm open to any suggestions. It would have to be either a max. 2 hour single flight or two max. 1.5 hour flights with a lunch in between.

I would like to rent an Arrow for the trip, because that is the only 4-seater that I have significant experience with. A C172 or an Archer may work as well.

I'm comfortable with the radio so departing from under the Class B of KSEA should not be an issue. We will have a car, so it is OK if the starting airport is not easily accessible from downtown Seattle.
 
Renaton is a very safe and sane idea,, but you could drive around Seattle viewing the sites for fun,,
then expand your horizons by riding the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton and look around there.
Then drive south to Bremerton National, KPWT to find a plane,, call ahead to Avian flight center 360-674-2111 for a plane.
Fly down Hood Canal, wave to me as you fly past my house,
then up the other side and the floating bridge, then across and south toward Tacoma, across the narrows and
2 suspension bridges , then the north end of Seattle, and the down town area,
space needle and other neat stuff,
across Lake Washington and 2 more,, or is it 3 more floating bridges,
probably a good place to stop for fuel and lunch at this point in this itinary
IS Renton,,, then,,,
Fly over to Rainier and down to Mount Saint Helens, the Volcano!
There is A LOT!! to see around here.
Report back......
 
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I'd start off at Harvey (S43), good food on the field and a grass strip too, close to a nice little downtown, do the cascade loop through the mountains following the road, than hook up with the Columbia river and follow it into norther Oregon, back up the coast line, Seahawk transition over seatac and downtown and back into S43.

Another one is to start off at Harvey, fly up to port Townsend, get some food and the goose, then over the sanjuans, over whidby base and back to Harvey.
 
I'd base the airplane at Kenmore, at Boeing Field. They can get you a hotel and rent-a-car.

The airports to see, for sure......Port Townsend, Roche Harbor, Friday Harbor, Eastsound, Concrete.............and Bremerton Aug 19-20 for the AOPA fly-in.
 
kgruber said:
I'd base the airplane at Kenmore, at Boeing Field. They can get you a hotel and rent-a-car.

The airports to see, for sure......Port Townsend, Roche Harbor, Friday Harbor, Eastsound, Concrete.............and Bremerton Aug 19-20 for the AOPA fly-in.
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You forgot BVS best restaurant in the north sound, and PAE for the Boeing tour & the Flying heritage collection.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, I will keep them in mind when planning.
Maybe the first post was not crystal clear, but I will be flying to Seattle commercially - brining my Zlin 142 from LHHO would be a bit too much I'm afraid. :) So I'm looking for an airport to start where aircraft rental is available, and hopefully with not much hassle (i.e. not half-day checkouts).
 
Jns_V said:
Thanks for all the suggestions, I will keep them in mind when planning.
Maybe the first post was not crystal clear, but I will be flying to Seattle commercially - brining my Zlin 142 from LHHO would be a bit too much I'm afraid. :) So I'm looking for an airport to start where aircraft rental is available, and hopefully with not much hassle (i.e. not half-day checkouts).
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Rgr

http://www.snohomishflying.com/arentals/aircraft.html
 
The whole of western Washington is so scenic that it almost doesn't matter where you fly. However, considering your time constraint, I think your idea of flying around Mount Rainier is a fine one.
 
I would recommend KPAE Paine Field http://www.airnav.com/airport/KPAE or S43 Harvey http://www.airnav.com/airport/S43 as a starting off point. Rainer is beautiful but so is Mt. Baker to the North. Fly north from either airport, then east towards Darrington 1S2 after passing Arlington KAWO. You will fly over one of the largest landslides that has occurred in North America (Oso Landslide). From Darrington fly north to Concrete. Land here if time is available! They have an amazing museum there with vintage aircraft restored to the highest degree. http://vintageaircraftmuseum.org/. From there head west out the Skagit Valley to Orcas Island KORS http://www.airnav.com/airport/KORS. This is a wonderful island airport with a short walk in to town for some great food! The whole trip including flying back to Harvey or Paine would be an 1.5 to 2.0 on the hobbs depending on how many times you circle around for those perfect picture shots! :0)
 
comanche pilot said:
I would recommend KPAE Paine Field http://www.airnav.com/airport/KPAE or S43 Harvey http://www.airnav.com/airport/S43 as a starting off point. Rainer is beautiful but so is Mt. Baker to the North. Fly north from either airport, then east towards Darrington 1S2 after passing Arlington KAWO. You will fly over one of the largest landslides that has occurred in North America (Oso Landslide). From Darrington fly north to Concrete. Land here if time is available! They have an amazing museum there with vintage aircraft restored to the highest degree. http://vintageaircraftmuseum.org/. From there head west out the Skagit Valley to Orcas Island KORS http://www.airnav.com/airport/KORS. This is a wonderful island airport with a short walk in to town for some great food! The whole trip including flying back to Harvey or Paine would be an 1.5 to 2.0 on the hobbs depending on how many times you circle around for those perfect picture shots! :0)
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Plus, at KPAE, you can go to the Future of Flight http://www.futureofflight.org , and take a tour of the largest building in the world, by volume. As a bonus, they have airplanes in there!
 
I would fly from KBFI to KMMV, go across the street to the Evergreen Air & Space Museum, see the Spruce Goose and as much of the other exhibits as possible. Then, I'd fly back, getting plenty of pictures of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainer, land at KBFI and go to the Museum of Flight.
 
There are a bunch of great museums at Paine. Boeing's Future of Flight, Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Museum, and John Session's Historic Flight Museum. They are all very unique and quite phenomenal! I'm lucky to live within a mile or so of them.
 
comanche pilot said:
There are a bunch of great museums at Paine. Boeing's Future of Flight, Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Museum, and John Session's Historic Flight Museum. They are all very unique and quite phenomenal! I'm lucky to live within a mile or so of them.
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Dang... I live 3 times as far as you, by Picnic Point and Beverly Park. It's fun to see the look on peoples' faces when the Dreamlifters fly in.
 
Jeffythequick said:
Dang... I live 3 times as far as you, by Picnic Point and Beverly Park. It's fun to see the look on peoples' faces when the Dreamlifters fly in.
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It was fairly funny to be around KCHS when the plant sprang up there- Sitting at the hold short worrying about getting sequenced out in time and realizing that THING was much farther away than initially appeared!
 
John Bussard said:
It was fairly funny to be around KCHS when the plant sprang up there- Sitting at the hold short worrying about getting sequenced out in time and realizing that THING was much farther away than initially appeared!
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I was down there for a total of 2.5 years, and I never saw one in the air. Now I see them (or hear them) 5-6 times a week!
 
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