Editor's Dispatch

Independence State Airport is a residential airpark where aviation is the organizing principle of the neighborhood. The taxiways double as residential streets, meaning your rollout on the 3,002-foot asphalt strip is usually observed from a dozen front porches. The airspace requires your full attention. Standard powered aircraft fly left traffic for Runways 16 and 34, while a heavy local population of gliders and ultralights flies right traffic. For calm winds, Runway 34 is the preferred arrival, though you need to clear a fifteen-foot road obstruction just short of the threshold.

Beyond the airpark, the town of Independence is built along the Willamette River. A former agricultural heavyweight once known as the hops capital of the world, it has matured into a sharply preserved historic district. The community avoids manufactured tourism, operating instead as a working river town that happens to have exceptionally good taste in hospitality.

The obvious target is the Starduster Cafe, an institution located literally on the ramp. It is a two-minute walk from transient parking to a table overlooking the runway, where the kitchen turns out massive portions of their "Mountain Man" breakfast and giant pancakes. If you miss their 1400 closing time, grab the Hyundai crew car from Nutsch Aviation—or make the twenty-minute walk—into downtown. The local dining scene punches far above its weight. Baobab Southern Kitchen plates an exceptional order of shrimp and grits with Pacific Northwest influence. Just down the street, Mangiare Italian Restaurant serves house-made pasta in a renovated historic storefront.

This destination easily justifies an overnight stay. The Independence Hotel anchors the riverfront, offering boutique rooms and an upscale in-house restaurant called Territory. Eating a refined regional dinner on their patio while watching the Willamette flow past is a sharp and welcome contrast to the diner coffee you drank on the ramp that morning.

Independence is a mandatory stop for West Coast pilots. Fly in for the ramp-side breakfast at Starduster, but leave enough time to take the crew car into the historic district. The main operational catch is the winter surface condition. Seasonal standing water pools on the taxiways until the spring, and migratory waterfowl treat the field as a cold-weather rest stop. Keep your eyes outside in the pattern and dodge the puddles on the taxi in. It is worth the effort to visit an airport community that actually wants you there.