Kickstand up for Tillamook Day 4

Day 4 September 11, 2007.

Another cool foggy morning. I head north on highway 101. Between fog banks I see some nice places to stop and take some more pictures of the coast.






























Lots of heavy forest lining both sides of road now and with the foggy weather it makes the roads wet and a bit slippery. I am being very conservative in my riding, I really don't want a close encounter with Mr. Pavement today. Another concern as I ride are deer and even worse elk on the road. Lucky for me I don't have any problems. I notice along the way a closed truck scale and as I pull through it displays the weight on my bike with me on it. 850 pounds! No wonder my bike feels like it weighs 1/2 of a ton, it almost does! The road goes a bit inland after Lincoln City and the country changes from seascape to dairy farmland. Very beautiful and I suspect that the cows here are just as happy as the ones in California.












I finally make it to the Tillamook Airbase.
The air museum is located in a blimp hanger. Blimps were used to protect the United States from enemy submarines during World War II. The base at Tillamook was one of 14 constructed across the country at the beginning of the war. They were built on the west coast, the gulf coast and the east coast. This hanger was one of two built at Tillamook. The other hanger was at the right of the air museum. Unfortunately someone decided it would be a good idea to store hay in the hanger in the 1990's. It caught on fire and quickly destroyed the wooden hanger. Now there is only one hanger left.


This building is so big that it could hold five blimps inside of it at the same time.






















Inside are some interesting aircraft to see and also some other interesting displays. Outside of the hanger is the plane that I came to see, the Mini Guppy.

The original Pregnant Guppy was built to transport rocket components from their manufacturers to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The only other option for transporting these oversize components would have been a 3 month barge trip from California to Florida. They took a C-97 Air force transport plane and added an oversize fuselage to accommodate the cargo. The Pregnant Guppy and the much larger Super Guppy were a big part of this nations quest to put men on the moon before 1970. Next came the Mini Guppies. Two were built in the hopes that air transport of oversize cargo would be a commercially viable business for AeroSpacelines, the builder and owner of the the Guppies. The tail of the aircraft swings open to allow loading of cargo. Unfortunately during flight tests of Mini Guppy number one the simulation of a lost engine during take off caused the plane to unexpectedly roll causing the wing to strike the ground. The plane was destroyed with the loss of the flight crew. The remaining Mini Guppy seen here had only limited commercial success. I worked for Aerospacelines when we were undergoing flight certification for the Super Guppy Transport (SGT1). After that was complete we started SGT2 but I got laid off before it was done. Later on SGT3 and SGT4 were built. They were all bought by the company that builds the A300 Airbus. The planes were used to ferry fuselage sections from England and Germany to the final assembly plant in France. They have been retired now except SGT4 which was bought, ironically, by NASA, to transport rocket components which was the original purpose of the Guppies. I feel kind of bad seeing the Guppy here as it is. There is no plaque or other information about the plane and it is a very interesting piece of aviation history that was built by some very creative and talented people. The plane looks to be in pretty good condition but I sure would like to see it inside and protected from the elements. It would be pretty cool if the public could get a look inside of it too. The cargo area is very impressive to see how big it is.

After I left the museum I decided to continue north to Astoria. The road goes back to the shore line and then at the Columbia River it turns east towards Portland. One can continue north on highway 101 by crossing the bridge at Astoria, it is several miles long. I find a little restaurant near the bridge and have a great dinner of fried clam strips and rhubarb pie for dessert.








The object in the foreground of this picture is all that is left of a boiler that served the cannery that used to be located at this site.











After dinner I take a ride to the top of a hill in Astoria to see a monument called The Astoria Column. You can see all around the area with great views of the Columbia River.
One can climb to the top of the tower if they wish but I pass this time. I continue east on highway 30 which follows the Columbia River to Portland. My plan is to find a nice little campground along the way but I really don't see anything. I continue on in till it gets dark and before I know it I am in Portland. Humm, no campgrounds here so I find a motel for the night. At least it is nice and warm and dry here.

288 Miles.