N291DR 0.9 Airball data gathering flight with Melissa

Flight from KRHV towards Lick Observatory, low pass over unpopulated area, air work, and return for 1 landing at KRHV.

N291DR 1.0 Airball data gathering flight

Short data gathering flight towards Calero Reservoir. 1 landing, at KRHV.

N291DR 1.1 Mary Short landing practice

Short landing practice with CFI "Mary", all in closed traffic at KRHV.

Learned to come in at ~ 40 knots, using power to control glide path, round out just after the fence at Rwys 31 at KRHV, and be able to stop well before taxiway Bravo. Many touch and goes, 2 full stop landings. In all of them I could have stopped at Bravo; one was a bit long but that was because I came across the fence at 45 kias instead of 40 kias.

On one circuit, I slowed down to 40 kias while still on downwind, and CFI noticed I was in a skid. Very bad combination! Next time, I will remember to maintain my normal approach speed of at least 50 kias until I am established on some sort of final approach, then back off the speed.

On one landing I was coming in with lots of energy so I basically held it at 40 kias, cut power. and "parachuted" down on a very steep glidepath, and flared successfully.

N291DR 1.8 Flight to the coast with Melissa

Flew to the coast with Melissa and back to KRHV. 4 landings.

Departed KRHV "left downwind IBM departure", flew over Calero Reservoir, then landed in CA66 after a low pass. Landing was okay but a high flare, ended up bouncing but the grass absorbed enough energy and we did ok.

Departed CA66 with soft field technique. Flew to 1C9. Did 2 landings. The first was a short approach that came up short; added some power. Passable landing. The next was a good short approach with a smooth landing.

Returned to KRHV, straight in landing on 31R. As usual (!) I mis-judged my energy and came up short on the glide, and needed to use some power. Landing was okay.

N291DR 1.3 Quick Airball data gathering

Short flight KRHV E16, 2 landings at E16, then flight back and landing at KRHV. 3 landings total. Practiced steep turns and stalls at altitude, with cross-reference to the performance of the Airball instrument.

N291DR 1.6 Flight with my friend Caryn

I went for a flight with my friend Caryn today. Just for fun. We weren't sure how the fog would be around the coast, so I got a very broad briefing covering the entire area South of KRHV, and planned to follow the weather.

We first went South and then cut over to the West till we were over the Calero reservoir and checked out the Calero park. It's rather pretty and my family and I were just there yesterday.

We then turned South and, as permitted by the KSJC Class C, punched up to take a good look at the coast. The entire area West of the Santa Cruz mountains was covered in clouds, and was not something we wanted to tackle.

We then went to Hollister where I attempted one short approach -- pattern altitude was 800' AGL so I came up short and was not stable and went around. On my second try I needed a burst of power to stabilize on centerline before landing, but the landing itself was un-eventful. So for some reason this was a bad energy management day. :)

We looked at cool planes in KCVH for a while then flew back to KRHV. Caryn took the controls for a little bit.

My first approach into KRHV was a straight-in glide where I ended up with too much energy and had to go around! But then I was in the regular pattern with traffic, so my next approach was a standard pattern and landing with power and full flaps. It went ok except for a bit of a ballooning and a slight bump. Nothing bad but ... could have been better.

So I guess, 2 landings, and an iffy landings day, but a lot of fun!

N291DR 1.8 Mary right seat familiarization

Today was a right seat familiarization dual to see what it would take for me to be able to fly from the right seat. CFI and I flew from KRHV to Frasier Lake and did a bunch of low approaches, then returned to KRHV. CFI did the landing at KRHV, so zero landings for me today.

The sight picture was weird. I had real trouble doing air work. I had none of the comfortable sense of mastery that I have when I'm sitting in the left seat.

I spent a long time figuring out which way is forwards. :) My normal sight references were not there, and the "bulk" of the horizon and panel is on the "wrong" side so it shifts my attention in the wrong direction all the time.

The flight also uncovered "undiagnosed" over-reliance on my instruments. My air work was very poor without the constant reference to the ball and VSI. This is something I can work on from the left seat on my own, and I should indeed improve that before coming back to more right seat practice.

During one low pass, the CFI noticed I had a rudder wiggle. That's because we were sinking a bit and my brain decided my left hand was the "stick" and my right hand the "throttle" as usual. So I "added power" while adding right rudder, anticipating the torque. But of course the result was to dive for the runway and veer off to the right. Which I tried to adjust but ended up in a bit of PIO.

In general this was eye-opening and will lead to further learning experiences, but it was also a very rough day, reminiscent of my early days as a student where I wondered if I would ever be able to fly anything.

N291DR 4.2 Flying with friends

Flew 3 co-workers / their spouses today. Post cold front passage, very clear with lots of Cu, light to moderate turbulence in many places.

1. KRHV to Frasier Lake, 1 landing, off to sight-see on the coast, back to land at KRHV.

2. Brief flight KRHV KRHV, pax got airsick.

3. KRHV KRHV, flew down to the coast then over Santa Cruz, back over Lexington Reservoir and transitioned KSJC Charlie.

N291DR 1.0 Airball demo flight with Key Dismukes

Short 1 hour flight with Key Dismukes, to demonstrate Airball.

N291DR 2.3 Practice grass landings at Frasier Lake

I went out for a series of practice landings, at Frasier Lake (1C9). I did 10 landings on the grass, then 1 landing back at KRHV. All my landings were power-off approaches, except in some cases where I mis-judged my energy and had to add a teeny bit of power to land on the runway threshold rather than the grass prior to the "official" start of the runway. Generally things went really well. I was using Airball too, and that worked quite well!

N291DR 0.8 Airball data gathering flight

Quick flight out of KRHV to get data from the airdata equipment. Went out over and past UTC and did some stalls and slips at different speeds, then returned for closed traffic. Came in hoping to make a fast descent up till short final but ended up with too much energy and went around. My second time around I did a good touch and go, though floating more than I would like even though I kept it at 50 kias full flaps on final. The last time was a full stop landing, again floating a bit more than I would like. It was bumpy today so I was instinctively holding more speed later in the approach, so that could have been a big part of the float.

N291DR 1.1 Airball data gathering flight

Quick Airball data gathering flight. Departed KRHV, did one landing and two go-arounds at E16, then returned and landed at KRHV.

At E16, I went around once because I misjudged the pattern and ended up offset, with bumpy air. The next time around a Cessna was ahead of me. They went around reporting something about "--ong wind". I was like, wrong wind? I am not the brightest dude but even I don't fancy landing with a tailwind if I can help it. I tried to look at the windsock as I was on final, and all I could tell is either it was pointing straight at me or straight away from me. By the time I realized the wind was indeed favoring the runway I was on, I was too high to make a clean landing so I went around again. And anyway by that time I needed to go home and analyze my data so I decided to return to KRHV.

N291DR 2.4 Solo Boonville to Reid-Hillview

Flying back from vacation in Boonville. Departed and flew direct Cloverdale, climbing to 7,500' MSL for safe clearance of mountains. Flew to Petaluma, landed, and fueled up. Did a few takeoffs and landings, then flew back to KRHV.

Milestone: My first ever solo touch and goes! :) I need to get a bit of a feel of these; in one case I pushed power in and the airplane leapt into the air in 3-point attitude! But generally okay.

I got relatively good at short field landings. Approach 50 full flaps, slip if needed, a touch of power if needed, then round out and make a 3-pointer. Nothing to it. I was off at the first taxiway every time.

I think I also had lost the habit of looking at my horizon when landing -- I'm not sure where I was looking. I re-drilled into myself: Learn 3-point position, then look for it, keep your eyes forward. What do you know, it worked. Better 3-point landings. #themoreyouknow.

N291DR 1.8 Flight from Boonville to Gravelly Valley and Ukiah with Melissa

Flew from Boonville to Gravelly Valley, but did not land because it was too bumpy. Went to Ukiah and stopped for lunch. Took off and did one practice landing, then back to Boonville. 3 landings total.

N291DR 2.6 Solo Reid-Hillview to Boonville

Flew from Reid-Hillview to Boonville via Petaluma. 2 landings at Petaluma, one at Boonville.

N291DR 2.9 Practice flight

Routine practice flight to prepare for an XC trip.

N291DR 2.0 Flight to Watsonville with Aden

Flight with Aden to Watsonville for lunch. 3 landings total.

Departed KRHV and flew to check out the Calero reservoir where we had been hiking the day previous. This is under the 3,000' KSJC Class C shelf, and we were at 2,000' MSL, so we decided not to buzz the actual lake but just flew South of it then peeled off Southwards.

We saw that KWVI was still clouded over, so we went to Frasier Lake to do some landing practice. My first landing was a bit floopy -- I was about to bounce -- so I went around. My second landing was a good soft field 3-pointer. I pulled off the runway hoping to tie down and talk to folks in their hangars, but the guest tie-downs required that you bring your own ropes, and with the wind the way it was, we were not leaving the plane untied! So we took off again.

We checked the KWVI Wx and found it was now clear, so we went there. I did a short approach to rwy 20 and ended up coming out of my turn just as I passed the threashold, and a bit off centerline. I could have saved it but I just decided to go around and try again. My second landing was a good 3 pointer.

We had lunch and puttered around a bit.

We took off and came back to KRHV in somewhat bumpy air, and I elected to do a wheel landing. It was all good except for some tailwheel shimmy when I let the tail down. It's possible I should have waited for the plane to slow down some more.

N291DR 2.6 Birthday flight with Melissa

As seems to be becoming the tradition, on my birthday, I went out for a flight with Melissa. 2 landings.

We took off and flew over to the Monterey Bay then up the coast, going as far as the Pigeon Point lighthouse before the clouds started looking rather thick and we decided not to press on. Going further would have meant either flying over the deck (what fun is that?) or flying quite low over the ocean (that area has a 2,000' floor per NOAA).

We went back and overflew the Monterey Bay Academy airport. The runway was closed, so we didn't try to land. It looks like an awesome place to go sometime, now that I've been cleared for grass strip landings by my CFI! :)

We landed in Watsonville and took a break, then got back up in the air and returned to KRHV.

N291DR 3.4 Mary

Epic training flight with my friend CFI (code named "Mary") to get up to snuff and learn grass field landings. Easily 10 full stop landings done.

We flew to Frasier Lake and did some landings, where I tried to learn short-field technique (full flaps, 45 kias approach). Our airplane glides and glides! In that configuration it will happily parachute down at a 400 fpm descent rate! It was VERY bumpy due to thermals from the nearby fields, so it scared the crap out of me. Also, the wind was strong enough that it was absolutely necessary to use proper taildragger control placement relative to the wind, and at some point when the wind was broadside to us on the ground, it was actually hard to turn the plane away from the wind and we thought we'd have to do a 270 into it to reposition. Overall I'm glad I had a chilled-out CFI with me to help.

We decided to go to E16 for some more practice.

At E16, we did a bunch more practice where I got used to true short approaches and doing slips to final. I had previously been really scared of slipping, thinking that it would lead to a stall/spin right away. This got me on track to manage my energy and by the time we were done, I was much more confident and doing a better job of energy management.

We went back to Frasier Lake (!!) where it was a bit calmer, and did a couple of landings. I felt much better now.

We then returned to RHV uneventfully.

N291DR 2.0 Bumpy Airball data gathering and general puttering around flight

Today I went up for a flight to gather data for Airball. 3 landings total.

I tried to figure out whether to go South or East, and decided on East based on clouds near the Monterey bay.

I rigged up Airball, a laptop and an accelerometer and off we went.

I departed to Calaveras and did some stalls and slow flight while remaining near zero lateral acceleration. I then proceeded to Byron for some landing practice.

Enroute to Byron, I passed under a large cloud and ended up getting some pretty massive lift and sink (later analysis revealed I went to -0.2g, not quite zero-g but close, and in the other direction I had some 2g updrafts).

Now thorougly scared out my wits, I observed some folks were landing on Rwy 23 and some on Rwy 30. It looked like the winds favored 30 so I took that.

Meanwhile of course "Elevator" (the parachute jump ship) was doing weird patterns and I had to worry about them. It's always like this at Byron -- it's bumpy and hard flying, and meanwhile people are trying to get me to think about their Very Special [tm] traffic pattern. Oh well. I think in this case Elevator just settled in behind me.

I did an okay landing -- good 3-point -- but meanwhile the wind had changed by the time I got near the ground and I was having a really strong left crosswind, so I ended up being blown across a bit. Nothing disastrous, but something to watch for the future.

I stopped and used the bathroom.

I took off again with the hopes of doing some takeoff and landing practice. Again Rwy 30 seemed favored. I came in for a landing with massive bumps, and then realized omg the wind has changed and it's favoring Rwy 23. I decided to get out of there and just go home. I'd had enough excitement for one day.

On the way back, of course I had to pass under the massive scary cloud, leading to some more fun and games and excitement, but again that went fine.

I did 2 landings at KRHV. Both were okay, decent flares, not much crosswind.

For some reason my tailwheel shimmies when I land, so I need to figure out why this is an issue.

N291DR 1.3 short flight with Lisa

Went for a flight with my friend Lisa. We went to E16 and did 2 landings, then back to KRHV and landed. She gave me some good tips.

On my first landing at E16, I was wiggling too hard on the rudders. This is because I am trying to "loosen" myself so I am mentally prepared to make whatever corrections I need to stay on centerline and pointed forwards, but I was over-doing it. I ballooned a little, and Lisa said it was due to my own stick input not due to a gust.

On my second landing I did better with the rudder.

Lisa then showed me a real short approach with an aggressive slip. I was scared that we would stall/spin but she explained how this was not a problem -- keep the nose down and slip (outside rudder) rather than skid (inside rudder). She also pointed out that my "short approach" was not a short approach at all, given that I was puttering around at glide speed making a huge arc over and back again.

On our landing at KRHV, I got a straight-in approach, and I did a reasonably executed "chop and drop". I also did a decent flare. However I flared a bit high, which led to a bit of a wallop when we came down.

Today was rather bumpy under a lot of cumulus clouds, so this was a chance to fly with an experienced pilot and get over some of my anxieties about turbulence and bumps.

N291DR 1.7 Flight to the coast with Rick

My father-in-law Rick is visiting so we went for a flight in N291DR!

3 full-stop landings.

Wx was cloudy with ceilings around 4,000 feet, and bumpy due to lots of cumulus clouds, but definitely flyable for a local VFR flight.

We flew to E16 and did a couple practice landings, then stopped to use the port-a-pottie. Then we climbed up again and flew to Moss Landing, then up the coast to Santa Cruz, then up Hwy 17 to the Lexington Reservoir, across midfield KSJC, then back to KRHV.

As I noted, it was quite bumpy, but a blast, and that's why we fly LSAs -- to feel like we're flying! Rick is an instrument rated pilot himself and he flew for a while. It was great!

The landings at E16 were short approaches, both okay, but sort of bumpy bouncy landings since I was focused on making the runway and less on landing technique. The landing at KRHV was a longer approach but I was too high and ended up having to hit the flaps and burn energy like crazy, and doing a passable wheel landing.

N291DR 0.6 Airball data gathering flight

Quick data gathering flight for an Airball test. Took off and straight out departure from rwy 13L, climbed to 5,500' and did a couple stalls, then burned altitude like crazy to 3,500' in a steep turning slip and overflew UTC, bumpy downwind 13L again, and a landing where I was on centerline and straight, but sort of flat so I got some tailwheel shimmy. Overall okay but I could really have done a better job with the flare.

N291DR 1.6 Practice flight to E16

I had some time in the afternoon. It was a hot day. There was a towering cumulus cloud over the Calaveras Reservoir, but otherwise the sky was clear. The METARs and TAFs showed normal afternoon winds, but I expected it would be bumpy due to the convective activity. I decided this was a good time to face my fear of flying during bumpy weather.

I'll say I got about 6 landings in today.

As predicted, the area around E16 was quite bumpy indeed. At no time did I go zero-G and stuff did not float around the cockpit, but keeping the airplane wings-level and coordinated required constant work.

The AWOS reported winds favoring runway 14, but for some reason people were using runway 32. I asked about that and someone in the pattern reported the winds were "calm". Hm. So I followed everyone and tried one landing on 32, but it was really bumpy so I went around. The next time I did an okay wheel landing. By that time the runway 32 fans had departed, and the windsock clearly favored 14, so I announced profusely that we were switching over and from that point on, we were doing 14 patterns.

Over the several landings I did, I got significantly more comfortable controlling the plane in the bumps. As my CFI told me a couple days ago, once you are near the ground, the wind can't go up or down and so it just stays horizontal. :)

I had a bit of trouble maintaining pattern altitude -- I would over-climb by maybe 200 feet every time. My speed control was also not great. Mostly, I was just very nervous and trying to keep up my speed so as not to stall. I know I was very, very far away from stalling, but for some reason this is where my nervousness went.

Another thing is that I was a bit ground-shy, especially when turning base and final, so I ended up high on most of my patterns, and had to chop-and-drop with full flaps to make the runway. On the other hand, it's pretty amazing how much the RANS Coyote can burn energy with flaps down.

As my CFI predicted, once near the ground, things always got really quiet. I could just keep ratcheting the stick back, and float over the runway, and if I caught a tiny gust and floated up I would just be patient and let the plane float back down a bit, and eventually I would make this super gentle 3-pointer at bicycle speed. Doing this several times really improved my confidence.

By the time I was done and heading home, I was just riding the bumps without worry, and also therefore doing a better job of maintaining positive control over my altitude and heading.

    *   *   *

I commute to work by riding my skinny-tired bike to the bus station. At the station, there is a large patch of smooth gravel pebbles. I have made a point of riding over these for the past year and a half, at least, twice a day, 5 days a week. I started out super scared of falling, and over-controlling and wiggling around. Now it's a non-event.

I hope I eventually get to that point with flying in rough air. I may or may not want to take my hapless pax on roller coaster rides, but just for safety, I think this is something I need to be able to do comfortably.

N291DR 1.4 practice flight to 1Q4 and back

Today it was a hot day over the Central Valley, and I knew it would be bumpy. I wanted to go to 1Q4 (New Jerusalem) to try to do some landings, so I would be ready if I ever had to do an emergency landing in some arbitrary conditions.

On the way there, I did a practice emergency glide at our best glide speed of 52 kias. The wind was blowing across -- GPS speed and IAS agreed pretty well -- so I got a pretty good idea of my glide ratio. With the engine idling, solo, I had about 2.5 "fingers" of glide, when I held my hand up to the horizon. 2 "fingers" was a stretch; 3 "fingers" was easy.

Landing at 1Q4 honestly did not seem safe. It was really bumpy in roll and yaw, which was much more scary than just normal lift and sink.

I flew back to a gusty but safe crosswind 3-point landing at KRHV.

N291DR 1.5 Practice flight to E16 and Airball flight

Now with an actual antenna installed, I took off to do a data gathering flight with Airball. Things went fairly well, except that I think my altitude math was way off. Oh well.

More interestingly for this blog, though, I did lots of takeoffs and landings at E16 with a decently strong (but steady) left crosswind.

At first, there was a yellow gyrocopter in the pattern:

Gyro: Black and yellow copter entering right crosswind behind Cessna...
Me: Hey, I ain't no Cessna!
Gyro: Sorry.
Me: Ha ha!

Later:

Me: Experimental 291DR abeam the numbers for short approach Runway 30.
Gyro: Hey I'll show you a short approach!!!
Me: Ha ha!

I did a bunch of crosswind wheel landings and seemed to get mostly okay at "unicycling" the plane on the upwind wheel. I still need some more practice but I'm definitely better than I was. It was very confidence inspiring to do this again and again and become more comfortable.

On my landing at KRHV, which was a pretty straightforward straight-in, I used full flaps and came in at 50 kias for a very short rollout. I need to become comfortable with that kind of approach so I can master true short-field landings.

N291DR 0.7 Intro flight for friend's son

I took our friend's son up for his first ever flight in a small airplane. He was worried about airsickness, but he actually did pretty well. We took off from KRHV and went South, and I got up to 5,500' so he could check out the Bay Area from high altitude and see all the sights.

N291DR 0.9 Solo flight with Airball

Quick solo flight to try out Airball. Because I am a doofus, I forgot the antenna on the receiver unit and so I had bad reception. I got to tool around a bit and have fun though, so yay.

N291DR 2.6 Flight to Columbia with Melissa

A quick morning jaunt to Columbia (O22) with Melissa! Now that I co-own an airplane, and the marginal cost of each additional hour is really quite reasonable, doing 2.6 hours of flight is a "quick morning jaunt" rather than the entirety of my flying for a whole month!

The trip there and back was uneventful. Melissa got some stick time and did well, for a newbie. The landing at O22 was interesting, with all the winds around the mountains, but I managed a soft 3-point landing. The takeoff at 3,000 feet density altitude was not as zippy as I'm used to, but I still had a pretty healthy climb and it was also pretty uneventful.

N291DR 1.2 Flight to KLVK with Jatin for transponder check

Our transponder was due for a check, so we set up an appointment with Precision Static Testing at KLVK. tl;dr -- they are awesome people and extremely friendly, and had us in and out of there in a jiffy. Carolina is a walking comedy show. They were very kind to me, being a new airplane owner, giving me everything I needed.

I took my co-worker Jatin along for the ride. He did like maybe 8h of PPL training 5 years ago or so, and was kind of on the fence. Of course this was my opportunity to sell him on finishing his training.

We were worried about the weather since there were forecast showers, but when we got to the airport in mid afternoon, the ceilings were in the high 3,000 to low 4,000 feet, and visibility was excellent. So we anticipated a bumpy ride but were okay for that short trip.

We took off from KRHV and went out towards the area South of the Calaveras reservoir then turned North. It was super bumpy, and over the reservoir, there was a rain shower. I started at 3,500' but descended to 3,000' or so to avoid the angry cloud above us. :) We bumped along until we came to the quarry near Sunol, and then things got more reasonable.

I gave Jatin the stick for a while, and he did very well, though of course he noticed this was way more sensitive than the C172 he flew before! Overall this was not a happy day for a new person to fly -- it required constant correction to fly straight and level, and there wasn't enough altitude under us to do any maneuvers or anything. But he got a taste of it.

We landed on Rwy 25L with a slightly bumpy but not horrible 3-pointer. I will allow myself the bump given the turbulence.

We got off and got progressive instructions to Precision Static and got our business done. We also walked around and looked at pretty planes.

We got Rwy 25R on departure. The wind was down the runway 10G20. By the time we lifted the tail, we were in the air. It was pretty amazing.

On the way back, we flew via the Sunol pass then down past Embassy Suites. The clouds were less angry. I cut power at 3,500' and mostly glided to a landing on Rwy 13R at KRHV.

My landing was passable but could have been better. I was too busy dealing with the bumps. At one point, the right crosswind seemed to slack off, and I leveled the wings to relax my slip. Then of course the crosswind picked up again and I was blown 2-3 feet to the left of centerline. Lesson for the wise: keep your slip in and err on the side of landing upwind of the centerline if necessary, rather than getting blown downwind. It was a wheel landing, but I also did not plant my mains as firmly as I should have. But in general, I think it was okay given the turbulence on short final.

Jatin did not run away screaming, so he must have had fun? :)

N291DR 1.9 Flight to Livermore with Aden

This was my first pax-carrying flight in N291DR, with my son Aden.

We took off from KRHV and flew towards Mount Diablo. Aden flew from the Calaveras reservoir onward, all around the mountain. I coordinated the rudder for him and changed power settings, but otherwise he flew around without any trouble and checked things out.

We then tried to go to Byron, but there were low clouds with haze under them, so I decided to abort and go to Livermore. I made an uneventful short approach and 3-point landing, a bit nose low but not horrible.

We took off uneventfully and landed in KRHV. There I was given a straight in to Rwy 13L, which for some reason threw off my landing (what? all that time to prepare? eek!). Since the air was a bit bumpy I elected to do a wheel landing, which went fine but a bit to the right of centerline.

Aden helped me refuel the plane -- we made a really good "pit crew" and got the plane tucked in quite efficiently!

N291DR 2.1 Solo

Completed my solo requirement for N291DR.

Flew KRHV C83 to deliver my friend's parachute to him.

Was hoping to do some pattern work at C83 but the pattern was full of traffic including people coming in at weird points (someone lower than everyone else in the pattern, puttering along happily, while people sort of negotiate what to do). Thus scared, I departed downwind.

I flew 5,500' towards New Jerusalem (1Q4) then did a simulated engine-out. I was coming from the North for runway 30, so I figured I would rather slip and fly directly to my "low key" point rather than try to circle around and fly a "high key" then do a full 360 to low key -> base key -> landing. This went well -- I did a passable 3-point landing.

I then tried another pattern with short approach and ended up too close to the runway and I could not make it, so I went around.

My 3rd pattern, I spaced myself out better and did another passable 3-pointer.

I need to gain more confidence at doing more maneuvers (e.g. forward slip to landing in a short approach; short field landing at full flaps with steep approach) when things are a bit bumpy, but as matters stand, I am very cautious and will take it really slowly.

I then flew back to KRHV at 5200 rpm and 100 knots over the ground, hoping to make it in time to give my son his first flight with me! But then at KRHV, the radio started acting up (we suspect there's a short in the PTT circuit) so I had to put the plane away for the day.

N291DR 3.5 Solo

Insurance requires 10 dual + 5 solo for N291DR. I finished my dual and got a TW signoff. Today was my first solo time.

I flew KRHV C83 (Byron) and, at Byron, spent a long time doing various takeoffs and landings. My co-owner and CFI Sergey Kataev was there, and he gave me encouraging remarks. I was mingling with the skydiving ops; the glider launches; and the normal folks, which made for a sometimes harrowing experience. At some point a Cherokee showed the frack up really low, barreling in a curving path for the runway, without announcing themselves on CTAF or joining the pattern. We were all aghast. When we asked what they were doing they said something about leaving the area, banked sharply, and buzzed away. Whack.

N291DR 2.6 Mary

Epic flight to do taildragger practice. 5 landings.

We took off from KRHV and went to E16 where we did a bunch of short field, soft field, and normal takeoffs and landings. We then went to KCVH and did one landing on Rwy 24, then a couple of low passes over Rwy 31 to feel what a strong crosswind is like. The gusting crosswind was strong enough that there was no way we would even think of trying to land -- the gusts were such that the plane simply did not have enough control authority to stay on centerline. Finally, we flew back towards KRHV. I got a couple of engine-out practice maneuvers; for one of these, I set us up over a random field and made a good approach; for the other I did a pattern over Frasier Lake and made a good approach into the grass runway, which was closed (waterlogged) so we went around. Back at KRHV, we tried a couple of wheel landings. These went okay, except that instead of "kissing" the ground I tend to "slap" the ground, and so I need to build up some experience with touching down super gently. I've done it well before -- it's just that I need more practice, I guess. Also it was the end of a long flight.

The good news is I got the CFI's endorsement for tailwheel, and I completed the insurance required 10 hours of dual to fly N291DR.

Next is an insurance required 5 hours of solo, which I will likely spend working more on my takeoffs and landings.

Exciting times!

N291DR 3.5 Mary

Flew out of KRHV to KCVH, and did extensive takeoff and landing practice, then flew back to KRHV and did a few more landings before shutting down. Total of maybe 5 landings.

We did mostly wheel landings today, fine tuning ground handling and learning about the energy needed to come in -- approach at 70, start rounding out and kiss the runway at maybe 50 or so, then plant the wheels and slow down. My directional control improved. My energy management is not perfect but it's getting better as I get more used to the airplane's glide characteristics.

I had a couple of bounces but I learned to recognize a bounce and go around. In this plane, going around is not difficult since the stall speed is so low; there is no long acceleration phase. Just push the power in, and by the time you glance down at the ASI you're doing 50 which is Vr and you can start climbing and push down to 60.

We did a couple of landings with full flaps to a 3-pointer, and yes indeed, the RANS comes down pretty nicely at full flaps. :)

We tried "impossible turn" exercises while KCVH was empty, going up Rwy 31 in one direction, cutting at 500' AGL or a bit more (which would happen right at the far end of the runway), looping back to touch and go and make it to 500' AGL by the time we got to the opposite end of the runway, and repeating the experience. I got a lot better at keeping the nose down when the power is cut, and maintaining speed and coordination to get back to the runway.

Back at KRHV, I was coming in high and hot. I need to become more aware of excess energy and do something about it earlier. The CFI noted that I was doing that previously in the SportStar too. In all cases these were "short approaches" or, at least, power-off to glide from abeam the threshold. I think I could probably do a long "stabilized" approach easily. But I should probably practice that sometime. It's much too much fun to do the power-off 180s in this plane though. :)

CFI said my next challenge is to do crosswind landings -- we plan to go to E83 next time and use the cross runway if possible.

Overall this was a great flying day, with lots and lots of flying and hard work and visible progress.

N291DR 1.5 Noel

Practice in N291DR with an experienced CFI "Noel" who instructs in Citabrias a lot. We did about 7 landings at KRHV, staying in the pattern all along. All were no-flaps.

CFI instructed me to fly approaches at 60-65; it turns out that is waaay too fast for the little puttery plane! I floated and floated! When we slowed down to 55 or so, we were able to get good 3-point landings. However, the following remain as issues I need to work on:

1. When taking off, I sometimes put the nose down a little too much. Take it easy.

2. When slipping to a landing, remember: You use rudder to choose the amount of drag you want to add, and aileron to steer the airplane in the direction you want to go.

3. The RANS S-6S 3-point position does not look "extremely" nose-high, so remember that position and duplicate it. I had one landing where I slammed down on the tailwheel and the CFI had to rescue it for me.

4. Careful of floating back up again while in the flare. Gentle on the stick. Take it easy.

5. Do not over-control with the rudders when flaring. Take it easy.

6. You don't need to "rudder walk" so hard when taxiing. It's okay. Take it easy.

Overall I would say I'm making better progress than I feared in transitioning to tailwheel, but the "take it easy" advice comes up again and again -- I'm doing way too much.

N291DR 1.9 Mary

Type conversion and tailwheel training with CFI "Mary". Did 3 landings. KRHV KWVI, break at KWVI, then KWVI KRHV.

We took off from KRHV with CFI doing most of the takeoff, then flew to KWVI. I did a bunch of "floaties" to maintain direction and centerline, then we attempted a 3 point landing. I am used to the SportStar (low wing) so, in the S-6S, with a huge window right there below me and the ground seemingly close enough to touch, I flared too high. We whumped down, but it was on 3 wheels. Next landing was pretty decent.

I learned to take off, and started getting the hang of directional control on the ground while rolling. In general it's not as difficult as I feared, but it's not trivial and requires practice and effort. When I dab the rudders in my "rudder walk", I am keeping them deflected too long, which causes over-control.

On our last landing at KRHV, we accepted a short approach request from the tower for spacing. CFI offered to use flaps but I declined; I didn't want to mess up my mental model just yet. I slipped in but still had lots of energy. I did a wheel landing, which went mostly okay, but I let the tail down a bit too soon and got tailwheel shimmy. We rolled out all the way to the end of the runway and puttered off. Will do better next time. :)

N291DR 1.1 Mary

Familiarization flight in my club's RANS S-6S with CFI "Mary" (code name). Zero landings -- just steep turns, slow flight, stalls and falling leaf maneuvers, and general controls familiarization.