Pictures of the day: A fine get-together

Frequent photo contributor Gary Lanthrum sent in these photos, explaining: “A group of Maule pilots met at AJ Eisenberg Airport (KOKH) on Whidbey Island in Washington state for a tour of the Naval Air Station nearby. One of the pilots is also a Lieutenant Commander on the base and organized the tour.

“After that we flew to several sweet little airports tucked away in the Cascades, or in the farming areas below the mountains. All was well until bad weather moved in and grounded everyone for a day before they could fly home.

All-in-all it was a fine get-together. The pictures are a combination of screen shots from my Contour +2 action camera and a Lumix G5 micro four thirds camera with a 14-42mm zoom.”

The pictures show:

This a shot of the nose of my Maule turning left base for runway 25 at 3W5, Mears Field in Concrete, WA. The snow covered peak in the background is Mount Baker and the river below me is the Skagit River.

This a shot of the nose of Gary’s Maule turning left base for runway 25 at 3W5, Mears Field in Concrete, Wash. The snow-covered peak in the background is Mount Baker and the river below is the Skagit River.

This is a shot of the bridge over this narrow pass that moves water between several of the bays in Puget Sound and the waters of the Straits of Juan De Fuca. The tidal currents through this pass are REALLY strong.

The Maule pilots gathered around one of the EA-18 Growlers based at the NAS. These are the Navy’s electronic warfare aircraft.

A peek at the deteriorating weather as we flew into Jefferson County (0S9) for lunch. By the time we finished eating, the clouds had dropped to the deck and we were all stuck here for the night. There are worse places to be stranded since the airport is just outside of Port Townsend, a Victorian seaport on Puget Sound.

This is a look at some of the country we were flying through as we hopped from airport to airport in the area. When the weather is good, this is a stunningly beautiful place to fly.