June 30th to July 16
Lots of flying in a couple of weeks. Lots of equipment issues and changes. I sold the MacPara Colorado 2 29m and bought a DaVinci Duet+ 34m. The new owner is delighted and I’m glad to be done with that experience. It’s been 10 months of bad launches starting with the day my reliable old Colorado flipped and spun me. The Colorado 2 was the shrew that could not be tamed.
The DaVinci Duet was designed to be a tandem free flight wing but it has also found a home with heavy PPG trikes. It launches easily and flys very predictably. It has respectable speed and lowers my fuel burn significantly.
The climb rate is also noticeably better than anything I’ve flown since transitioning to wheels 15 years ago. On the second flight, while climbing WOT there was strong oscillation reminiscent to the factory warnings on the APCO Lift EZ. I will experiment with bringing the RPMs up more slowly and see if I can avoid the oscillation and maximize the climb. I believe 275 ft/min is realistic.
Another issue is the trimmers are incredibly stiff. The cams are not high quality and possibly the trimmer webbing is not the right fabric for that cam. Maybe I’m just too light and weak! I’m going to quiz Elizabeth about replacing the trimmers with something better.
I would also like to investigate adding a Wing Tip Steering line. I hear it’s been done and works well.
When I got it, the brake lines were very long. I shortened them 5 inches and I could probably go another 5. Ergonomically it might help to raise the toggles so I can apply more pressure early into the input.
Another thing that has been going on is the GoPro camera is having trouble uploading files. I’m still searching for the fix but with GoPro in financial trouble they have discontinued the phone support. I wish I was better with reading and following their e-mail support.
Powered Paragliding. A most Personal form of Flight 