31. Okayama to Yonago - 3 July 2004

	Descending into the coastal plain.
	DC-3 in background practicing the traffic pattern

Very brief flight: 78 nm at 6,500 ft, but with low visibility, so visual interest was minimal. Last night, I did some calculations: if the Mooney should descend at 150 knots and 750 fpm, then I should allow 3.3 nm for each 1,000 ft of altitude, not 3 nm, the rule of thumb I had been using earlier. For a flight at 6,500 ft, this makes about 3 nm difference, or not quite 1,000 ft! With this in mind, and after some collation of the Mooney checklist with the flight notes, I was able to obtain some better results in the landing pattern, mainly because I was entering low enough and slow enough. Still need to find the right combination of throttle and elevator trim to maintain altitude at 105 knots, but I feel I am on the right track here.