Landed in Pasco Thu Jun 13 @ noon - Leg 3 - Logan (LGU) to Baker City (BKE) to Pasco (PSC)

It has been perhaps the best flight that I have ever taken - flying tandem to the Air Race Classic - 3 delightful days from the prairies of the Midwest across the Rockies to the Pacific Northwest. My co-pilot and I are enjoying the view from above as the terrain has changed. We've had a riot in the cockpit talking air-to-air with Sue Jones in her "Stealth" Beech Sundowner flying just 2 miles off our wing and 300 ft below us somewhere...checking and rechecking our respective positions...trying to get a word in edgewise on the frequency with 2 other guys yapping about their elk hunting and full voice mailboxes.

Sue tried her best to hold us to a commitment of wheels up at 0600, but we prevailed and delayed until 0645. Still as I take the runway, I told Lynn it was probably about the earliest launch I ever made. Clouds moving in a bit...sun was up...cool air. We launch from Logan to be sure to beat any weather today and land in Pasco at the Start.

Our mission is to overfly P&R Field, which will be the first flyby of the race - it's a tiny private strip northwest of Mountain Home ID. P&R is a runway/street (2,600 ft x 24 ft) with 3 homes on it. As a private field, the GPS coordinates are estimated and known to be inaccurate.  Just a little more fun to locate it...while avoiding the nearby restricted airspace that the controller is reminding us about, talking position of our aircraft with Sue, and circling to get eyes on this little airstrip for a visual image that will be useful for that first flyby.

We've got this bit of sightseeing done, and now we're off to Baker City OR (BKE) for fuel. Another new state to add to my collection for landings. It's a great little airport with photos of Amelia Earhart on the way and a poignant photo of Robert F. Kennedy walking his dog on the airport just 8 days before he was assassinated. It's a gorgeous view on the ramp. An FBO guy offers us a lift into town to pick up some lunch, since the jet guys have the crew car. We relax a bit over lunch talking with the guys at the airport, and then we're off for the short 1-hr hop to Pasco. We climb to about 8500 ft, cross the last ridges and mountains, start  the "downhill" slide, chasing our Stealth winglady, and overtaking her. Bingo! Lynn catches a glimpse of her at our 8 o'clock as we've overtaken her for the final ride into Tri-Cities Regional Airport (Pasco, PSC).

The elevation is now a bit over 400 ft (less than Iowa City's 668 ft)! The Tri-Cities area includes Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland - all at the confluence of the Columbia, Snake, and Yakima Rivers. Beautiful country from the sky. We are vectored into land, and we touch down about noon on Thursday.  We are just the 4th and 5th planes to arrive at the race start, and we receive a great welcome with volunteers immediately plane side to offer cold water and help getting us tied down and taking our gear and bags inside. We are here!