Aug 18-19, 2012 - POA fly-in Shelter Cove

We had a great time as well. Met some nice folks and the flights all worked out. Went up the East side of the Sierras and crossed over Tahoe. Came back down the West side of the Sierras, managed to nearly overfly Edwards (cleared through the restricted area). A really cool trip.
 
I'll post more later but in summary I agree with many of the things Jim said:

1. One night is way too short

2. The weather was not good enough when I first got to Shelter Cove and I, too, diverted to Garberville (later came back to re-attempt)

3. I thought "I didn't give it enough of a chance" and stayed nearby on my second flight to Shelter Cove until conditions improved, but I was several hours earlier than Jim


All in all, I continue to agree with the term "license to learn" and a lot was learned by me on this trip. I said that about my last "big" cross country to a place 2.8 hours away in the 150 but this time (in the 172) was even more epic. So much still to learn but I just don't think I could do it by reading a book. This was a valuable experience and lesson.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
2. The weather was not good enough when I first got to Shelter Cove and I, too, diverted to Garberville (later came back to re-attempt)
Click to expand...

Since I didn't get into 0q5 (Shelter Cove) but did land in Garberville (o16) I can't compare their difficulties, but as we both learned, o16 was a challenge. There is a note in the AOPA airport page for o16 that suggests pilots trying to land there should have mountain flying experience. Obviously not due to altitude, but probably due to these factors: finding it among the valleys that all look similar, then descending into a pattern in hilly terrain with up and down drafts, finally handling the turbulence on final in a small valley where you lose visibility of the runway on downwind.

For others who are wondering, this picture is representative of much what it looked like down most of the southern Oregon and northern California coast:
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Although at one point we actually saw a peak of ocean:

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Here's a shot my wife took as we departed Garberville; I believe this is between the town of Garberville and the airport - just after I made an immediate right turn on departing 36:
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My wife decided to experiment with taking videos in flight with her SLR camera, so she took this quick 30 second video of our takeoff from Garberville. This was her first (and only, so far) attempt to shoot video in a plane.

 
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