Today I flew 848 miles in 9 hour and 30 minutes. I landed at 12 airports – most of them new to me – three were dirt strips. I did some high stuff (up to 10,000ft), some low stuff (a few feet off the ground/road), I practiced landings and taking off at airports @ 6,000ft. The plane has just over 200 hours on it now. It's everything I hoped it would be... Just do it!
Steve's log - A beautiful Saturday in March 2008
We flew over to the coast and landed on the beach today! The location is designated for emergency and/or recreational use. There was no runway, or any markings of any kind, until our wheels touched the sand. Not having a runway of any kind to line up on was a bit odd, but nice in that I could line up with the wind. It was fun, no seagulls and the tide was out. The pictures aren’t very good, because I took them with my cell phone…
For today's adventure, I flew 384 miles in 4.7 hours. I landed at 9 airports. Had a minor tail strike in Willits because of very strong and gusty cross winds on final approach – no harm done; just a bit if steel missing from the rear tie-down ring.
I had a 10 knot, gusting to 19 knot cross-wind at Ukiah so I did several landings for practice. I did a 14 mph down-wind take off in Healdsburg just to test the concept – yes it does add to the take-off roll – lots of runway left for a Zodiac though. I had beautiful flying weather today with sun and clouds and just an occasional hint of drizzle a few times; lovely land with big trees and cooler temperatures in some areas. The coast looked like a perfect retirement area for persons to the north with webbed feet who shall rename nameless (too bad they could not fly today – hint, hint). My new airplane software continues to work well. I love knowing the near-exact height of the ground beneath the plane and my height above the ground. I ducked over the ocean and back to land several times. The ground elevation went to zero right on queue so my program’s logic is correct.
The plane has about 210 hours on it and is a joy to fly. I have 250.6 hours in my pilot’s log book now with 302 landings.
Steve's log - Another beautiful Saturday; April 2008
