This was my first real terrain flight in the Riverside foothills, learned the spatial awareness of setting a line through the peaks, while managing the updrafts.

 

This flight was a difficult one because the governor (engine regulator for engine RPM) was off, which meant it was a very active throttle/collective/cyclic dance while flying in a new environment. At certain points of the flight, you can actually see the small yellow light come on right above my left shoe - when that light is one, I am manually managing the throttle.