Citabria N1806G
Originally uploaded by jzawodn.

Today I flew N1806G (see aircraft) again with Dave. This time we followed through on the plan from last time. We headed down to Frazier Lake airport so that I could practice landing on the big wide grass runway there.

Arriving at Frazier Lake, I flew over the field once to get a good look at it. I'd never been lower than about 3,500 feet there before. There was little wind, so I setup on a right downind for runway 23, cut the power to idle at the end of the runway, made my base and final turns, and drifted over the approach end of the runway. Down low, I flared and let the plane settle itself onto the ground in a 3 point landing.

Damn, that felt good. :-)

Landing on the grass was fun and seemed very easy. I taxied back to the beginning of the runway to take off and do it again. The second landing was similar to the first.

Dave wanted to see one more, so I did it one more time. I was a bit higher in the pattern this time and didn't quite compensate, so we touched down a bit farther down the runway. But the landing was still quite respectable.

With three landings done, we headed back toward San Jose. Got the ATIS and called the tower over UTC, clearance for landing on runway 31 Left, and landed with a very minor bounce. I don't know why, but landing on the grass just felt more natural.

With the Web 2.0 conference next week I won't get a weekday lesson, and Dave's out next weekend. So my next lessons will be in two weeks. One will be another morning session to practice landings on a hard surface runway. The other will be a late afternoon session for crosswing landing practice on runway 31 at Hollister, an aiport I know well.

Posted by jzawodn at September 29, 2005 10:03 PM

Reader Comments
# Ramana Kovi said:

Since your are getting into flying, you should get in touch with one of my employees - Walter. He can be a great resource if you are flying in bay area. He is part owner of hollister airport and a pilot for over 40 years. He got couple of planes in Hollister hanger and he runs lot of aviation related activities in bay area. Drop in a e-mail, I will send you his contact information.

-Ramana

on September 30, 2005 08:03 AM
# Jeremy Zawodny said:

Thanks for the reference. I need to meet Walter sometime. :-)

on October 2, 2005 09:52 PM
# Steve Foster said:

What's gas cost out there? Here at RDU I think it's almost $4.

on October 4, 2005 04:09 AM
# Jeremy Zawodny said:

I rent the planes wet, so I haven't looked yet...

on October 4, 2005 07:27 AM
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