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.