LAURAN PAINE, JR.
Airport Hopping
Experiencing the Charm
CORVALLIS MUNICIPAL AIRPORT (CV0)
IT LIKELY WILL NEVER BECOME a spectator sport, but I am sure of
this: Airport hopping is fun. Here’s how you play: Get up in the
morning and drive to the airport. Open the hangar door and push
your airplane out into the sunshine. Then stroll around it and
touch and wiggle it—preflight it and deem it ready to fly. Next, pull
out the sectional chart and pick out some airports not too far apart
you’d like to fly to…one after another.
Fly a square route, a triangle, a rectangle, a circle; I don’t care.
Just pick some airports and go there. They’re all different, each
with their own personality. And therein lies the joy.
Today I went south, then west, then north, then east. Each
airport had its own charm and, at the end of the day, left me
feeling lucky to be a pilot, free in the air.
First I went to Lebanon State Airport (S30), Lebanon, Oregon.
I’d been there a couple times before and liked it. Why? The
solitude. It’s one of those one-runway airports nestled on the edge
of a small town. Inviting, paved, 50 feet by 2,877 feet. Something
else I like about it? The only air traffic control is a windsock.
INDEPENDENCE STATE AIRPORT (7S5)
