No Drama ……
BUT….I did blow the first launch. Somehow I neglected to have the left brake in hand with the A’s and throttle. The wing came up fine but when I went to damp the surge, it was only right brake, my left hand came down and “surprise” …. No pressure. Immediate abort.
I reset into the wind and prepared for a forty degree left turn either on the runway or in the air, depending on launch distance. The APCO behaved nicely, coming up straight and turning quickly above the trike as I steered to a better course for launch and climb out. Takeoff was quick and the climb rate was impressive.
The pond where I spotted a family of wild bore a couple of days ago is dry. I was expecting to see it filled from the recent rains. Surely, this area got dumped on like everywhere else. Why didn’t it retain any water? Its a mystery.
I tooled around the patch for half an hour climbing above 3000ft. The cool air felt good. I started encountering bumpy air at 700ft and it was downright rowdy at 200. My plan had been to go low and practice power management for awhile but the thermals were popping and the wind was building. It was time to get down ….now.
Using both WTS and brakes, I made one pass by the truck to confirm wind direction, then powered through a 360 turn and used the energy from the turn to swoop the landing. I popped up , lined up and greased the best landing this machine has had. It took conscious effort to get the last couple of inches of brake and I had to work the shoulders and position my arms for maximum effort but it paid off with the rig bleeding off speed nicely. Despite the rough surface I barely felt the rear wheels touch and the front came down very gently.
The wind had come up considerably and continued to build while I packed. When I was ready it leave it was a steady 15mph.
Very nice little flight.
Powered Paragliding. A most Personal form of Flight 