Family Gathering, November, 2005

On Friday, November 18, two of our sons, Rick and Tim started a trip from San Diego to visit us. They took off from Gillespie Field in El Cajon, CA headed for Seattle, flying a Piper Arrow (Tim is a pilot). About halfway across Oregon, the plane's oil pressure began to drop and the temperature rise (not a good thing). They radioed Seattle Center about their situation and asked the location of the nearest airport. Seattle Center advised them that they were directly above the field at Albany, Oregon. It was determined that a quick return to land would be the prudent thing to do.

Inspection of the aircraft disclosed some oil on the firewall, but the source was not obvious. While turning the propeller by hand a clunking noise was heard (again, not a good thing). Since the engine was going to need some rather extensive repair and still having about 250 miles to get to our house, they decided to leave the plane, rent a car and drive the rest of the way. Easy thing to do, right. Not today for these weary travelers.

They were going to fly back to San Diego on a commercial carrier, so the car rental had to be on-way to Seattle. There were no car rental agencies in Albany. They contacted an agency in Corvallis (some distance away). Delivery of the rental car to Albany took about an hour. They finally arrived here about 10:30pm.

They made it back home OK on 11/21. We enjoyed their visit.