Backyard Flying

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
26 Sep 2011	N21481	5G0 (LeRoy, NY) - GVQ (Batavia, NY) - 5G0	1.4	987.5

I departed Genesee County Airport after a successful VFR transponder check, one of several recurring maintenance items that aircraft owners need to manage.  A scattered cloud deck had moved in, drifting over a landscape already blushing with the faintest hint of autumn. The atmospheric conditions seemed to filter those solar rays reaching the Earth, enhancing the developing color.

Rather than return home immediately, I flew around the local area, a region I've taken to calling the "backyard".

When I was a kid, I had a swing set and a sandbox in my backyard.  When the Warrior and I were based in Michigan, my backyard featured a huge lake and a nifty little red lighthouse at the end of a long pier.  Now I have a 107 foot high waterfall (Middle Falls, Letchworth State Park).  I really like the waterfalls in my backyard.

Here are Middle Falls again.  High zoom + image stabilization = the illusion that I am flying way too low (I'm not).  The little red and white dots in the lower right corner of frame are people and provide a good sense of scale.

Just upriver from Middle Falls are the 70 foot high Upper Falls, a narrow horseshoe that seems to focus the energy of the rushing Genesee River the way a parabolic mirror might focus light or radio signals.

The scattered cloud deck at 4000 (-ish) feet cast blotchy shadows across the farmland in my backyard.

 
Parts of my backyard are striped.  I know there's a practical reason for this, but prefer to ascribe it to whimsy.

The curious quality of today's late afternoon sunlight seemed to make the harvest fields pop with color.

I'm not entirely sure what this area is.  World's dullest golf course?  A tree farm with poor space utilization?  Maybe I don't know my backyard as well as I think I do.  It was Mark who later identified this as Davis Countryside Meadows golf course.

Eventually, just like when I was a kid, it was time to stop playing in the backyard and return home.  Ray recently had new stripes painted on all surfaces.

An obligatory close up of the ramp area, all dressed up with new sealant and paint.  The home 'drome is looking pretty good!

I felt quite content after my casual jaunt in the backyard this evening; over waterfalls, windmills, and patterned fields.  The best part about this backyard is that I can enjoy it without ever needing to mow.