Moving on with Summer Daze

Yesterday was an enjoyable transition day.

With the one big, long-anticipated Lovestead event of the summer now history, it was time to think ahead and to tackle little projects to ensure that upcoming events would be as seamless as possible. 

In my old age and with past near disasters due to last-minute scurrying around, I've found logistics to play a major role in preparing for future events.

And, so, having the horse trailer cleaned up and in order for the week ahead appeared on my mental list of "to do's," as did making sure the barn was ready to receive this year's hay supply. 

In both cases, some dirty work was involved along with some tidying up. 

On a wonderfully pleasant day, I took my time and rather enjoyed sweeping out the hay stall and the trailer. 

Piles of twine went into a bag which went to Bill's pickup enroute to the dump. 

A carpet of loose hay went to the outside shelter in the first pasture. 

A saddle, blankets and a bridle went to the horse trailer tack room for Terra who will be showing Lily at this week's Spots of Fun horse show. 

And, some organizing of brushes, combs, fly spray, etc. improved the entrance to the barn and allowed me room to set another saddle and its rack in that area. The handier it is to grab the saddle, the more likely I am to take a ride, so that was a good stroke of business.

With grass and tansy nearly four feet high in the dog run, I also spent some time with a scythe, knocking it down so Liam and Foster can find their way around the enclosure. 

Again, twas a pleasant job because of no real urgency, just something that could be done which usually doesn't happen because of other urgencies taking precedent.

I also took a trip to Co-Op Country Store to pick up a horse halter for Terra to use this weekend. 

I love days like yesterday because stuff gets accomplished with little or no sense of stress. 

Bill went fishing at Lightning Creek.  He invited me to join him, but I wanted to continue my day of accomplishing little tasks. 

And, so a paint brush and a gallon of white paint came out with plans to paint a stretch of barnyard fence. This morning it's half done, and, if time allows, I might just finish it off sometime today. 

My day was topped off with something I rarely do.  I climbed into the 4-wheeler with my camera and took a pleasant spin around the place.  Last week some guests who were riding the rig came upon a tiny fawn. 

I was hoping for the same, but no critters last night, 'cept maybe the crows who never shut up. 

Anyway, a lovely day, and this morning I'm enjoying the feeling that those little jobs are done, making the rest of what looks to be a busy week ahead a lot easier. 

We need days like that every so often, and I'm thankful whenever they come along. 

Several weeks ago, I used my Buck knife to scratch out this heart on one of the logs from our giant lodgepole which crashed to the ground a few years ago. 

I'm thinking that it would be nice to add more log art and once again enhance the area where we took so many people in the far pasture to sign our Lodgepole Society log.

So, if any artists would like to try their hand in adding to the art, let me know.  Kinda like the halls of Sandpoint High with murals done each year, these logs could eventually become something to behold. 

A beautiful trail through our woods with trail side evidence of Bill's forestry projects.  

When I planted the petunias with the nasturtiums, I did not envision the color combination. 

A bit odd but funky and pretty. 

These red poppies started appearing along the north fence line where I dump limbs,  brush and other residue from yard clean-up.

A beautiful surprise in an otherwise blah area.   

Miss Sunny was out for a walk last night when I passed by on the 4-wheeler.


~~~~~

This morning I ran across this story about Nellie Bly. It's a fun read.  Plus, it got me to thinking about some of my own journalistic on-site experiences.  

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/remembering-nellie-bly-rabblerouser-and-pioneer-of-investigative-journalism?utm_source=pocket-newtab

I'm sure anyone who's practiced journalism would love to have some on-site experiences like Nellie's undercover investigative adventures. 

I never had the opportunity to do anything undercover like Nellie, but journalism has led me on some interesting adventures in pursuit of a good story.  

One such involved getting to fly alongside the pilot who, delivered UPS packages to Sandpoint Airport each day with unbelievable precision. 

So, for a Monday diversion, let's go to "Wayne's World," written after a flight from Spokane to Sandpoint with Wayne Sommers a few years after I retired. 

Wayne’s World . . . in the air

Panhandle Pieces

Spokesman-Review

by Marianne Love

It’s 9:15 a.m.  Sandpoint’s UPS drivers are loading their 21 trucks to distribute today’s 2,000 or so packages.  Their routes include local stops and rural destinations within Bonner and Boundary,  Pend Oreille Counties and south to Chilco.

 A familiar loud, roar begins to resonate overhead with increasing volume.

“Wayne’s coming,” someone yells.  With that distinctive sound, the UPS crew knows that the overnight air freight has arrived for another day.  

Sure enough, after descending over the Pend Oreille River west of Dover, Methow Aviation Co. pilot Wayne Sommers touches down a few seconds later at Dave Wall Field, completing a 25- minute flight from Spokane.

A UPS driver leaves the center, heads to the nearby airport and backs up to the Beechcraft 18 twin-engine white plane with “Methow” written in prominent black letters just above red and blue trim running the length of each side.

 Sommers waits at the cargo door to start exchanging several hundred pounds of freight from his craft to the brown UPS truck.  Within 15 minutes, the truck heads to the distribution center where the packages will be sorted and sent along their way for delivery.

Meanwhile, Sommers will hang out at the airport until late afternoon giving flying lessons, administering biennial flight reviews or building transmissions for the Powertow™, an aviation-towing product of Northwest Manufacturing, Inc on Airport Way.

 

 Just after 4 p.m. another UPS truck with Sandpoint-area packages, bound for destinations worldwide, will back up to the Beech 18.  Sommers will load the freight area behind the cockpit, placing big boxes on the bottom and distributing heavier weight toward the front.

“Gotta get that tail off the ground,” he says.  Once the plane’s loaded, the 65-year-old pilot takes off  to deliver his cargo at Spokane International (SI) before flying back to Spokane’s Felts Field where the plane resides in a hangar while not in use.

  Usually, he’s home in Hayden Lake to greet his wife Claudia by 6:30 p.m.  Occasionally, however, low clouds or fog at SI divert him on to Sea-Tac south of Seattle to ensure that UPS overnight freight stays on schedule.

Sommers repeats this pattern with meticulous regularity on Tuesdays-Fridays.  On Mondays, his half-day schedule simply involves picking up Sandpoint-area packages and transporting them to Spokane.  

Lots of Sandpoint locals claim they can set their watch by Sommers’ afternoon take-off for Spokane International at 4:30 p.m. 

 For his fans, both on the ground and among airport groupies, the Coeur d’Alene native brings more than just packages. With his daily visits come a wealth of aviation knowledge and a passel of tales about his 40-year career as a flight instructor and freight pilot throughout the West and Midwest.

“His knowledge of flying airplanes, areas of the country and acquaintances can fill a book,” says Sandpoint flier Tom Lane who’s taken lessons from Sommers for the past 18 months.

  “He manages to keep everyone at the airport busy and laughing.  He is an encyclopedia of aviation information.”

  The mere image of Wayne’s noisy plane overhead also evokes a touch of World War II aviation nostalgia.  The Beechcraft Model 18 light utility transport first flew in 1937. 

During World War II, Beech 18 models saw multiple use transporting cargo or troops and even as a trainer for navigators or bomber pilots.  The model turned out to be Beech’s most successful airliner with more than 9,000 manufactured over the next three decades. 

These days, many Beech 18’s are used by the U.S. Forest Service or by freight companies across the country. 

  “It was a very effective engine design which has driven aviation technology, and its nostalgia is a very important part of aviation,” says Felts Field customer service agent Gregory Kessinger. “You don’t have to look up to know what it is. The sound is extraordinary.”

Becky Reynolds, who works directly under the flight path just south of Sandpoint Airport, loves the sound.  

When Sommers flies over, she and her colleagues are wrapping up another day at The Community Action Partnership on Baldy Mountain Road.

“You can definitely hear it as it leaves,” she says.  “Sounds similar to the . . . bombers in World War II newsreels . . . lots of roaring and rumbling.  You just want to run outside and wave to all the pilots as they leave on another dangerous bombing mission---but it’s only the UPS plane and hopefully he won’t be throwing his packages at anyone on his way . . . .”

Quite the contrary.  Sommers, known for his conscientious work ethic, nearly  lost his load over the Columbia Gorge several years ago while flying mail to Portland on a stormy winter night. While passing over The Dalles, Ore., he heard an explosion.  The rear cargo door flew open.

 

“I didn’t know what had happened.  I had lost air speed and could barely keep it flying,” he recalls. “At the slower speed, it took 45 minutes to get to Portland, but by the time I was there, I hadn’t lost a single piece of mail.”  Sommers figures the explosion was caused by a large piece of ice falling from a larger transport plane above him.  The cargo door had to be completely rebuilt.

Another time, during his nightly gig of flying 2,200 Wall Street Journal newspapers from Seattle to Missoula, an engine quit west of Ellensburg.

“That was the ‘high pucker factor,’” Sommers recalls.  “It was a total ignition system failure with heavy fog and a non-precisioned approach [into Ellensburg] on one engine.”

 

Keeping the plane under control after losing 80 percent of its normal performance ability required some tricky flying.

 

“You keep your cool, and you can fly it,” he says.

 

Sommers’ 1957 model is one of seven Beech 18’s that Methow Aviation Co. uses out of its Burlington, Wash., headquarters for delivering freight to the rural air strips in Washington, British Columbia and Northern Idaho.

“They’re a good mid-size plane [for carrying freight],” says Methow owner Blair Estensen. “They can carry a large load because of their weight and volume.  The company also views the  plane as cost efficient in comparison to going a step-up to a jet.

Sommers’ 17 years of flying the Beech 18 with Methow has also netted him a good reputation for efficiency.

“He’s very knowledgeable, skilled and reliable,” Estensen says. “He’s also friendly, easy to talk to and good with the younger pilots.”

Having spent almost 3.5 years (nearly 30,000 hours) of his life in the air, Sommers is looking forward to many more of getting overnight packages to their destinations.   

He also won’t mind the added pleasure of  knowing that his classic plane continues to delight nostalgia buffs like Becky Reynolds as he flies over. 

 

Besides, after many years of flying freight at night, he views his present UPS day duty as a dream job because of  regular hours that allow him to be home every evening.

“As long as I pass my annual flight physical and flight proficiency test every six months, I’ll probably still be flying,” he says.  “After all, flying is peace with noise thrown in.  It gives a sense of freedom you don’t get on a freeway.” 

~~~~