Robin Hood Airport 1RHA

1RHA – Robin Hood Airport Hood River, Oregon Some airports you fly into because you have to. Robin Hood is the kind you can't stop thinking about. The field sits on the bank of the Columbia, deep in the Gorge, with Mt. Hood filling the windshield to the south and Mt. Adams answering from Washington to the north. You'll spot both peaks long before the runway. Don't let them distract you on short final. Two ways in: 3,937 ft of asphalt, long enough for a light twin and short enough to keep you honest, or the river itself. Set the floats down on the water lane and taxi up to the shoreline. On the ground: 3 GA spots, 2 seaplane spots, 2 medium parking zones, a cargo area, and fuel. From the pattern you'll see the Hood River Bridge reaching across to White Salmon, kites and sails crowding the waterfront, and the Mt. Hood Railroad winding south through the pear and apple orchards of the Fruit Loop. Pick out Panorama Point on the ridge above town, where the whole valley and the mountain line up in one frame. Worth the fuel: head west past Wind Mountain and Dog Mountain, over the Bridge of the Gods and Bonneville Dam, past Beacon Rock, all the way to Multnomah Falls and Vista House on Crown Point. Turn back east over the Mosier Twin Tunnels and the Rowena Loops, then The Dalles Dam as the forest gives way to dry hills. Swing south for Lost Lake and the classic reflection of Mt. Hood. A word of advice: respect the wind. The same air that made Hood River a kiteboarding capital funnels down the canyon and will test your crosswind skills on a summer afternoon. Watch for turbulence near the walls. Mornings are glass. Evenings, when the river turns gold and the peaks go pink, are why you came. ...Fly in for lunch...Stay for the light.