Trip Page 1   2   3   4   5  6  7   8   9   10

Lewis and Clark Route by Parachute

Lewis & Clark Chase Vehicle Stories

Leonard's Story

We started our trip to follow the Lewis and Clark trail back from Astoria, Oregon to the vicinity of Independence, Missouri, by a powered parachute.  Leaving Quincy, Washington at about 8 AM, our trip was going good until noon when we stopped for lunch.  As we were preparing to order, the waitress said it looks like your rig got hot.  What looked like steam to her was actually smoke.  With a fire extinguisher borrowed from the café, the fire was easy to put out; but could have been very bad, if it wasn’t spotted as quickly as it was.  The waitress called a local wrecker who happened to be headed to the café.  After lunch our pickup was hauled to a local mechanical shop.  After a check over and ordering parts for delivery they got us back on the road with only a four hour delay, we were expecting a day or two delay at best.

Our schedule was to leave Astoria, and to possibly get as far as The Dalles, Oregon before dark, but with the delay and some head winds, Bob decided to start tomorrow at 5 AM, hoping to possibly make it as far as Hermiston, Oregon, before calling it a day.

Bob took off from Astoria around 5:30 AM, on June 18th and arrived at Woodland, WA at 8:55.  The wind at Astoria was only a light head wind.  He did encounter some winds aloft that slowed his progress, and made it questionable that he could reach Woodland.  By the time he did reach the airport it was dead still.  After fueling, he took off for The Dalles, after about ten miles the winds forced him to turn back and find another place to set down, which was the Camas, WA airport.  At one point the chute was dropping 700 feet per minute and going sideways 27 miles per hour, at that time his elevation was low enough to cause some concern.

The wind didn’t abate enough to try again that day, so after laying around the park during the afternoon, we found a motel in Portland, OR.  On Saturday morning we again headed for The Dalles at about 5:20 AM with no wind.  The Columbia river gorge can have high winds at times, that is the reason for early flights, since winds are of less speed before it gets hotter during the day.  Again we had head winds, that made the trip to The Dalles a little slow.  After Bob left Camas, I had to pickup fuel for the parachute, (we carry 20 gallons of high octane premium gas) and still beat Bob to the airport by more than an hour.  A quick fill of fuel on the edge of the runway and Bob was off again.  Since he does not need much room to takeoff, we turned the parachute around and lifted off on the runway end.  On this leg for the first time, we where in visual contact most of the time, by leapfrogging and waiting for him.  It was about 5 or 6 PM when we got to Hermiston, OR, after a quick fuel up, we had dinner.  Vickie the night manager at Oxford Suites, showed us how to pickup and send email, Leonard still has trouble with his server, but can get on line with the high speed service.  We worked on our email and writing reports, finally getting to bed about 10:00 PM.

We got up at 4:00 AM had a quick breakfast and left for Waitsburg, WA.  For the first time, we didn’t have any head wind, so made good time.  Arrived at Waitsburg at 7:30 AM, and after short fuel stop and inspection left at 8:10 AM.  At that time we where not sure where we would end this leg of the flight.  At 10:10 AM Bob flew over Spaldings mission on the Clearwater River, east of Lewiston, Idaho, and informed me that he was going to cut across country for Kooskia, ID.  He said he would beat me there, and evidently set his GPS for Kamiah (about 7 miles short), not finding the airstrip he turned back to Orofino.  About that time his radio quit working, he could hear me but could not transmit.  I didn’t get the message of the turn around so waited at Kooskia.

After more than an hour longer than he had fuel, I called 911, they checked with 4 adjacent counties, Bob had also called 911 since he didn’t hear from me.  After going back to fuel up, he found a loose radio wire, it was good to again have radio contact( our radios would work up to 20 miles line of sight, so a small hill could cut off our connection).  We returned to Kooskia for the night.  And just had time to get something for breakfast before the grocery store closed, had dinner, topped off our fuel and scouted about 30 miles ahead for possible fuel or emergency stops, and turned in by 10:15 PM.  We seem to only have time to eat 1 or 2 meals a day, anything else has to be a snack on the go.

On Monday June 21st we awoke at 4:00 AM, for a 5:00 AM takeoff, by 6:00 AM we where back to were we started, after being down to 1 mile per hour at one time.  We had breakfast, a short nap, and left again at 10:30 AM Pacific time.  This time he reached speeds over 40 miles per hour a time or two, that makes a big difference.  Bob got over Lolo pass, and landed at Lolo, MT before 2:00 PM Mountain time.  A TV camera man arrived just after Bob’s landing, but will be back at 6:00 AM to film the takeoff.  We were provided a three bedroom home for the night, by Bob’s friends Mr. And Mrs. Bill Holt, as well as a barbeque, along with a neighboring couple.  In the morning the Holts gave us a big send off breakfast of sausage and biscuits and gravy.

The chute lines got tangled last night, as changing winds dropped it on the machine.  After getting the lines straightened out, Bob lifted off at 6:15 AM, again with a shifting wind.  He had good winds for travel, and touched down at the Lincoln, MT airport, at about 8:30 AM.  A quick fueling and Bob attempted a flight to Townsend, MT.  Again the winds where not constant, but were changing speeds and directions, under those conditions we should have backed off farther down the runway for more room.  After an apparent successful takeoff the chute dipped, rose, then dipped and rose again, then, noticing a main power line he turned and saw a private power line ahead, he tried to drop to the ground, but the chute top caught the wire and brought it down.  It started a small grass fire that he put out by the time a group of forest service firefighters and the ambulance arrived.

With no cell phone coverage in the area, I had to go to the locked airport gate and drive a half mile to the rangers office to call 911.  A couple of pickups followed me back, after entering the airport we discovered a fence that kept us from the downed chute.  Two firefighters walked to the scene while I and the rest drove around, locking the gate again.  From my vantage point I could not see the cage of the chute, so could not tell the condition of the pilot.  I was very happy to see him walking around.

Bob was unhurt, but the cage, an axel, and the prop had quite a bit of damage.  The accident happened on Tuesday 22nd of June, and Bob intends to start again as soon as the repairs are complete, hopefully by Friday July 2nd.  He will start again at Lincoln, but I will not return with him as my wife will be having back surgery soon.

Leonard

Larry's Story

My name is Larry and I was the chase vehicle for Bob Holloway in his adventure of following the Lewis & Clark trail on the return route from Astoria, Oregon to St. Lewis Mo.

I joined Bob in Spokane, Wa on July 1st, 2004 in route to Lincoln, Mt. where his powered parachute {PPC} was being repaired after a mishap 10 days earlier.

Jeff, his mechanic was completing the repairs and at 6 P.M. that night we loaded the PPC in his pickup and headed for the airport.  Time for a check out and at 7 P.M. with checking everything out and a full power with the new prop its time to do a check out flying test.  Being a new prop was installed, we need to know it's right as tomorrow he has to climb to over 6376 of mountains to the south going to Helena, Mt.

ALL TREES and 30 miles of them!  Need 8000’.  Everything seems good so we cover it and head to get some rest for the night.

We arrive at the airport around 5 A.M. and having rained all night, the plane needs uncovered and dried off.  Especially the air cleaners we/I forgot to cover with anything.  The runway is covered with 15’ of fog and its 55 degrees.  Time to warm up the plane but it won’t start.  So after a lot more drying and looking and listening, I spotted the reason.  I unscrew the plug I put in the exhaust and, show it to Bob who is in the pilots seat and we try again.  It fires, a little bit flooded but soon cleans out.  Time for a little chuckle.

Warmed up, he heads for the right end of the runway, the one with no bad downdrafts or anything like that.  Bob puts on his snowmobile suit and all the trimmings as it's going to be cooler up high.  The fog is clearing and we have checked out the radios and I watch him set his GPS.  Time to fly and it’s a beautiful take off and he’s climbing fast, heading south towards Helena, Mt.

I am on my way for my first chase heading east 17 miles so I can go south where he is going and all I have to do is find him when we both get over the mountains.  I’m over and I can’t find him, no radio contact, no visual contact and for 2 hours this goes on.

OH BOY, but I am patient along with some worrying and then plan #2 happens.  My cell phone rings and its his number on it.  GREAT so he has set down and he is in Townsend, 28 miles south.  I will be there in 30 minutes.  On my way and I know where the road is.  I am sitting on it.  Just gotta go.  I have Bob’s National Aviation Airport Directory he gave me and laying it against the steering wheel at 70 MPH and getting my Garmin E-map set for that town I have a real good idea where he is.  But this airport is a easy one to find compared to a lot of them I found out.  One mile east of town and I see Bob walking around just waiting for fuel.  I refuel him and get the next 2 airports written down, just in case and it's looking better now.

Bob’s off, flying and me too, coming up behind him and then he soon slides off to the east and I have a long ways to go to get to our next fuel stop.  He cuts across and I have at least twice as far to go now.  The plan is for me to fill his fueling tanks in the pickup and be ready to fuel him when he lands.  It's one of his better flights and he’s high, 10,000 feet but going around the end of the big mountain and I can see him most of the time.  He has a good tail wind and is flying high and as I arrive at the airport, I can’t get to it.

All the roads on the exit going east only go into town and I can see the airport on the hill just as it says in the book.  Now I figure the road must go out of the town so to town I go, and ask and yep its there going over the freeway and up the hill to the airport.  I got there just in time to watch him come in and land in 10 to 15 mph winds.  Pack it up, refuel and tie it down for the night.  Got all the plugs and covers on and used a aircraft tie roar on the pad.  We are sitting next to a beautiful leer jet also parking for the night too.  Looks good.

The next morning at 5:15 A.M, we get to the airport and the winds are coming up fast.  15 mph or so and the plane is warmed up, and as he dresses I start laying out the chute a little.  A gentleman comes over to watch and as he is watching I asked him if he would help me for a minute.  YES and I start laying it out, with him kneeling on the end cell and As I start tucking the cells under and moving across I asked Bob if he was ready. YES, so I told him to be ready and also the gentleman to get off fast and jump back when I motioned to him.   I waved to Bob and he fired it up and when he hit it full speed ahead, I jurked the chute tight, motioned for the gentleman to get back and it popped up to 10 feet with the winds, slowly went backwards a little and then the chute lifter, POPPED at full height and Bob lifted straight up to about 100 feet and slowly sitting still turned down wind and he was gone.  I thanked the gentleman and ran for the pickup.

A radio call came in from Bob, “see you in a few minutes.”  You must be kidding, I have 15 minutes to get back through town and on Hwy#90.  Be with you in a couple of hours I hope.

"Whats your speed?"  And Bob said 48 MPH.  Here I go again.  What a rush.  The great Continental Divide slowed him a little but not this time.  I don’t need any speeding tickets going through town so that takes a little longer now.  I set the e-map and find his next landing in the book as I go.  I am in the chase again.

Every day he flew the excitement was different but was always there.  Every road presented a challenge, from the 16’ wide 8 wheeled tractor on a 24’ wide curbed bridge without pilot cars to a farmer back road wide load of hay and eguipment to construction pilot cars taking you through 5 mile stretches to freshly graveled roads with 35 MPH signs posted and double fines for speeding.

On Hwy#90 and 94 where they split or separate east of Billings, Mt., Bob hadn’t called me and I didn’t have our next refueling spot.  I kept trying and finally I made a call, "IF YOU CAN HEAR ME I NEED YOU TO MAKE A HARD LEFT TURN IF YOU WANT ME TO STAY ON HWY 90 OR MAKE A HARD TURN TO THE RIGHT IF YOU WANT ME TO GO HWY 94."

As I finished he was in his hard left turn.  GREAT, I am fine now and I feel a lot better.  Hate to go down a wrong road that would take me miles and miles to get turned around on.  Those interstate highways are now getting safety fences in the median so its impossible to cross over, steel posts and 3 strands of cables. Wonder who dreamed this expensive project up instead of fixing the BUMP, BUMP, BUMP, BUMP ????????

The next landing I was there.  I feel better about myself now and things are looking up.  He lands, I am there to fuel him, lay the chute out, check things over and Bob’s off and flying again.  "WOW," here I go again, this is fun.  The next landing after the Hwy 90 & 94 thing he traded me radios.  That will shut me up fast.

My driving the chase vehicle story and every landing was nothing but good.  But as we get south into the Dakotas the grass lands soon disappear and after the hills it turns into a lot of corn fields.  LOTS and LOTS of corn and it's 8 or 9 feet above the roads and there is hardly any grass fields.  The rains flooded all the flat grass lands, and the grass strips at the airports and it's really hard to spot.  Don’t drive out, walk and make sure you look at the lowest spot.  Had to make sure and use taxi ways and landing strips if there was any doubts.

The pilots and airport manager saw us come in as we arrived in Glendive, Mt. and came to visit.  Bob was 4 mph arriving and it seem forever but I knew he had fuel.  Just slow fighting the winds.  That day was a long time for him in the air.  14 hours including the landing refuels and I felt real bad about it.  He's just a flyer, period.  Pat let us use his hangar that night and while we were winded out, so we worked on the plane.

Thanks to Butch for letting us use his PC and letting Bob get a few messages back about our flying to his web site.   Leon, the airport manager and Pat invited us to join them for breakfast the next morning.  What a bunch of nice people, all pilots too.  I know because after I left behind Bob and was in the chase again, I was looking in my right mirror and saw a plane out the window.  Not the mirror, the side window. Thanks, I needed that and it was a surprise.

As Bob landed everyone was really nice, from Lonnie and his wife in the office at Gettysburg, ND.  To Dallas in McLaughlin, SD.  As a example it seems Bob’s exhaust springs decided to get lost while flying and when he landed in McLaughlin, we were grounded.  They were all gone and all that was left was a wire I had put on earlier.  One left, and I wired it and then the other two.  Grounded to find some parts????

Wrong, Dallas came by to visit with his kids, on the way home and when we had packed up he invited us to eat with him that night.  We ate supper with the family and it was great, THANKS and then the conversation came up of what we were going to do.  I asked where there was a snowmobile shop as I thought they might work.  I would make them work I hoped.

Dallas said let's go and he knew where there was a couple of artic cats we could look at.  He owned 2 sitting on a trailer and after we got the covers off, the shrouds lifted.  LOOK AT THAT, and they measured good too.  I had taken the measurement when we went to dinner.  Dallas said, "HELP YOURSELF!"  I am in shock as I remove 3 of them and off we go to fix the plane.  Thanks Dallas and your family for being such good hosts and making our day.

We are back in the air tomorrow.  We left a little bit early the next morning as the winds were coming up fast and were not in out favor.  Headwinds.  Bob had to go now if he was going to.

Every day was GREAT and the excitement for me progressed as the day wore on.  Living on 4 or 5 hours sleep a night was OK and it took all that time to do a days flying.  From finding him a grass field because he had to get out of the sky and winds to a country road just wide enough to land because of a lightning storm.  Bob gets in the air and I get the green flag, just like Nascar so I can stay close enough to use the radios.  I did get the radio he traded me working while I was driving and that was a blessing.  Bob used almost all little airports to land and fuel and I am glad.  All 20 some were open without having to work to get through to fuel him.  I always asked before I entered a airport if someone was there and everyone was great.

I always had a river on one side or the other and Bob did a nice job staying away from the big ones, like Omaha, NB.  I had the feeling he was trying to avoid airports and he did as long as he had lots of fuel to continue on safely.  Some times he was in the air 12 hours a day as he was able to refuel himself with 10 gallons of extra fuel he has onboard.  The wing tanks were always empty and the main tank had all the fuel when he landed.  A good tail wind for him and he was uncatchable.

Especially in Missouri on his final leg of the trip. I never stopped for anything but fuel.  A train crossing was holding up cars when it passed so I ducked into a station real close, fueled and as I came back out the traffic started moving again.  Back in the Chase.  His saddle bag held snacks and his GPS was great.  I worried some but he was safe all the time.

Thanks Bob for inviting me on your trip as it has been one of the best experiences in my life.  I am sure Leonard who started the trip with you also had a GREAT time too.

Larry Chase

Trip Page 1   2   3   4   5  6  7   8   9   10

Webmistress: Judith Tramayne-Barth
Site hosted by Jumpline.com