OR05

OR05/Flying M Ranch

Never had a burger at the Flying M ranch, but their brunches just can not be beat. This is the perfect place to grab some grub before a day at the MMV/McMinnville air museum or the S47/Tillamook air museum. Or you can spend the afternoon at the ranch and go on a trail ride.

This strip can sometimes be hard to find as there are several nearby farmers strips that can look similar in a haze. I just follow the Newburg VOR 251 radial westbound for 16 miles until I can see the airport, that leaves you in a perfect position for the upwind leg. Chuck Forsberg has even created an Approach Plate for OR05. Chuck has over 200 landings at OR05 and his web page is a wealth of OR05 lore.

Just be sure you know this is a one way gravel strip, landings to the west and take-offs to the east. Your best plan is to fly an upwind leg on the north side of the runway, then fly a normal downwind. The gives you plenty of time to check for pilots taking off without announcing on the radio or checking the pattern first. Just about every pilot that has flown in to the Flying M more than a few times has met a plane going the other way on final here. There is a little ridge about where I would normally turn base, so instead I extend the downwind and turn base past the ridge. Then follow the road/creek that leads to the runway as a wiggly final. Just a few more things to be careful of. There is a road that crosses midfield, but unless you are a STOL aircraft you need to land much nearer the eastern end of the runway. I aim for the pond and try to have my wheels down just past the pnd. That gives enough time to recover a bounced landing or two with runway to spare. Do not consider going around below about 400/500 feet, so if everthing does not look perfect long before then do the go around. If you can not put your plane down in a 2,100 feet runway reliably then stay away until you can. Otherwise this strip should be no problem.

Flying M Ranch
Airnav - OR05
Chuck Forsbergs' OR05

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