N291DR 2.3 Flight to Panoche International with Aden

 Flew to "Panoche International" -- a private glider landout field a few miles South of Mercey Hot Springs -- with Aden. He flew most of the way there. Landing was uneventful if a bit bumpy. We flew back over the Panoche hills and landed at KRHV, again uneventful.

N291DR 2.7 Solo flight to Mercey Hot Springs

I called Mercey Hot Springs to confirm it is OK to land there, since I needed to go there solo to practice the trip before going with a pax.

Took off from KRHV and went to Frasier Lake first, and did 3 practice landings. There was a crosswind from the right -- almost perpendicular but favoring runway 23 -- so it was fairly challenging. I did wheel landings and the third one was fairly decent.

I then flew off to Mercey Hot Springs, winding my way around the hills. I did one low pass and then one landing, all of which were uneventful. I floatbounced (flounced?) a little on landing because I was landing downhill. I got out and checked things out; it's a great place. Definitely coming back.

I took off and returned following Highway 5, with some low and slow flying over empty fields and one practice engine-out. I think I am finally getting my confidence back after having gotten a bit out of practice due to a COVID-19 hiatus.

As usual, when low and slow, the ONE thing I look at is Airball. AoA and yaw, with dynamic pressure just "fyi". That is all I need for maneuvering flight, and I can confirm all that with one glance. The various wiggles and jiggles waggling about all over the place are useless to me. :)

I did an uneventful landing at KRHV and called it a day.

N291DR 1.7 Solo flight to Byron

Flew KRHV C83, 3 landings in crosswinds, mostly wheel landings. Returned to KRHV, 1 landing, 3-point. Just to stay in practice while COVID-19 and the local fires and resulting TFRs have put the kibosh on us a little.

N291DR 1.9 Solo flight to KCVH

 Solo flight to keep my skills up and have fun and try out Airball in stalls. 6 landings.

Right turnout departure from rwy 31R at KRHV, flew South down the valley and eventually made it to 5,500'. It was a bit bumpy. Did a bunch of slow flight and stalls, and verified that the bumps made me stall a bit wing-low to one side or the other; not really a wing drop but enough to require picking up the wing with a tiny bit of rudder. No big deal.

I tried a steep turn test maneuver and got within 30' or so on exit, so I considered myself done and pressed on.

My next step was to try to go to Frasier Lake and do some landings. But the runway was covered with geese, so I went around and skipped off to Hollister.

I set up for left pattern Rwy 24, which the wind was favoring at the time. I did a bunch of landings and kept flaring high for some silly reason. Oh well.

On the way back I flew over the valley again and took in the scenery, and did a pretty good landing at KRHV, not flaring low, touching down just past the threshold at low speed. I was like, so what was up with that?? Probably the fact that I used full flaps at KRHV whereas, at KCVH, it was bumpy so I kept my speed up and did no-flap landings.

N291DR 1.6 Solo flight to Byron for some landings

Evening flight for fun and practice. 4 landings at Byron (C83), then 1 landing back at KRHV.

I flew off to Byron where the winds were favoring Rwy 23 and there was nobody else there. Winds were approximately 15G20 down the runway. My first attempt at landing seemed shaky. My next 4 ones all worked out pretty okay, with a little bit of high flare every now and again but not too much trouble. The main thing I needed to work on was keeping my patterns squared off. I really had to pay attention to keep my crosswinds from not getting sloppy, and even though I was trying to do power-off 180s, I always had to add a burst of power at the end because I mis-judged the wind.

Back at KRHV, the wind was about 9 down the runway. I did a short approach and I *could* have made it to the threshold, but I cut the corner a bit too much and I did not want to be blowing over the mall in a sideslip at low altitude, nor did I want to slow down too much, so I ended up getting off at taxiway C rather than my usual B.

Overall, decent work, but need more practice cleaning up my patterns and nailing my touchdown point in various wind situations.

The scenery to and from Byron was super pretty, with the sun shining on the Bay. At some point while departing Byron, I ended up downwind of the windmills and took a bit of turbulence and got super scared, and punched it to 5,500' where I cruised comfortably. ;)

N291DR 3.7 Bush flying trip with Aden

KRHV to Red Hills Airstrip, landing at Red Hills. Unable to camp there due to COVID, but met really nice folks! Flew to O22, landed, and found out no camping there either. Overflew a private airstrip near KCPU but did not land. Landed at KSCK for fuel. Returned and landed at KRHV. Total of 4 landings, one of which was on a backwoods dirt strip.

N291DR 2.4 KRHV - KRHV with landing practice

Bumpy and gusty landing practice at KRHV, did 4 landings today.