October 2007 – Powered Paragliding. A most Personal form of Flight

94

Nice long late season flight with john Sieb. No Ipod and it made me more sensitive to motor noise. I heard a sympathetic vibration between 4400 and 4700 RPM. I also heard the spare”non vented” clipping against the frame. I hung over John while he flew low at the south west end of the lake. The landing was a hard surprise, I remember feeling a drop in temp just before flare. Proof that Vince’s repair was good.
I’m working on getting as much speed as possible before lift and trying not to use any brake.
I reversed the throttle to be able to get to the kill switch easier.

93

Broke the top left joint by the motor mount. Probably flew with it that way because the take off and landing were very smooth. I seem to remember that the motor was moving a little more on its mounts during the pre-flight.

91 92 Simms

Chip Marek and I …. Beautiful! Spoke with Bear Creek Ranger…no problems.
Problems with GPS. Great pictures of the guys with the moon.

88 89 90 Chatfield

Light and variable winds. Chip was also there. I did the pre-flight twice because I felt like I was missing something. Halfway through the taxi I found it…my Leukemia Cup has was on my head instead of the helmet. I located the cap after the 3rd flight in tiny little pieces. I hope this is the last time I lose a trusted hat this way.

86 & 87 Chatfield

Two quick flights Moderately bouncy air. Forgot seat belt. The only thing to note was that I had sink on final and then at the last lift. I floated for a long time before setting down

85 Titan

High Humidity and low cloud cover. Nil winds

Taxi was a little long with one take off bounce, but the wing was well centered and so was the buggy. I stayed low below the clouds probably 300 to 400 feet. The whole area over by the marina was socked in. The new exhaust is quieter and the whole unit feels stiffer somehow.

After the flight I was feeling nostalgic and walked around the field to the site of my last foot launch . The crash site was very apparent with bits of cage and tubing scattered around. I picked up a big piece of sun bleached prop and took it home to hang in the shop as a keepsake.