It’s been too long. I wasted a couple of weeks trying to re-establish clearance to fly at Shell Creek Airfield. As of now I’m awaiting word from one of the landowners who is having a waiver drafted. And, the weather has turned, we are past the winter and experiencing a dry but breezy period. Either way it had been too long. I wasn’t in any danger of forgetting how to fly….but it’s more fun when your skills are sharp. Especially when your launching at an unfamiliar field.
This morning was just fine. Dawn had an early flight so we were both up by 5:45. There was nothing on weather radar and the winds were 7 at Placida. I didn’t get out of the house early enough to make the drive around the Harbor to Placida so I crossed over the Peace River on I-75 and set up at Mike’s home field at Peachland.
The surface was slower than I liked and a dense ground fog obscured the patches of weeds and occasional irrigation trench. There was a very slight flow from the South West so I drove to the North East end of the field. I was met by some dog trainers who met me and moved to the other side of the field. By the time (10 min.) I was set up and ready, the ground fog had mostly burned off. The wing came up clean and I quickly climbed to 1000 feet and turned north to follow I-75 for awhile. With trims at neutral I was penetrating at 20 mph. The air was smooth but I could see the clouds moving toward me and the beginnings of virga so I turned back at the 20 minute mark and scooted back just under 50 mph. It was interesting that there was a pronounced layer with the wind almost 180 degrees opposed but in neither the accent or the decent did I feel the transition. No Drama…. and it was good to get back into the air.
I finished off the flight with coffee and pastry at the top deck on Fishermans Village.
Powered Paragliding. A most Personal form of Flight 