Kenmore Air

By Odnod McDondo (9 February 2007)

I have just finished reading the book "Success on the Step; Flying With Kenmore Air" written by C. Marin Faure, Earmark Publishing. This article is not intended to be a book review. However, Mr. Faure has written an excellent book telling the tale of Kenmore Air, the seaplane airline, a fifty plus year old flying operation like none other in the world. The story's main character is Bob Munro, pilot extraordinaire, entrepreneur, and family man who melded his interest in aviation into one of the world's largest seaplane operations. Sadly, Bob Munro passed away in 2000.

Kenmore Air is located on the north shore of Lake Washington near the town of Kenmore. A more beautiful setting for this book could not be found. This nation's Northwest is without a doubt one of the most scenic sites in the world and surely the reason for the publication of MegaScenery - Pacific Northwest USA for use with Microsoft's FS2004.

While enjoying Kenmore's history I realized that some of the places Mr. Munro flew into and out of must certainly exist in MegaScenery's program. I spent a while with an atlas and Pacific Northwest USA finding a small, shallow lake in the Cascade Mountains (South Cascade Lake, N48° 22.262, W121° 4.274 at 5300 feet) where a research station was supplied by Mr. Munro using the DH2 Beaver. The next revelation was that almost all of the aircraft flown by Bob Munro and company are available within FS2004, FSX or from FlightSim.Com.

Following Faure's description of the route and a bit of floundering around on my own I soon found the lake on South Cascade Glacier serviced by Kenmore Air. Munro's approach path was followed to the best of my abilities. Needless to mention on the first approach, and many subsequent approaches, the Beaver's floats were left on a neighboring pile of rocks. Other approaches were more satisfactory.

The take off was almost as much a hoot as Munro experienced. It wasn't the adrenaline rush that Munro experienced surely, but there was satisfaction in having flown a great FS2004 adventure. I don't profess to be as great an aviator as Bob Munro, but I did learn from this flight that there is a world of adventure with the combination of "Success on the Step" and FS2004.

There is a chapter near the book's end about Kenmore aircraft landing on a glacier near Mount Olympus on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Rest assured I'll soon be firing up a Beaver (in Kenmore's colors) and flying that adventure as well...

Odnod McDondo
dalonso3@houston.rr.com

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