Author: JoeO

Powered Paraglider pilot since 2005

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.

83 & 84 Apex

Dry Lake Bed Apex

Dry Lake bed 30 miles North North East of downtown Vegas called Apex. I got to the field at 6:15 and flew with Pierre and another pilot that he had invited. One of those guys who acted like he knew everything but didn’t know anything! He had a 7 year old monster that he had owned for three years but never flown?! What a goof! He started it and walked around with the motor running but never set up for a flight.Apex is a nice place to fly. Big Dry Lake bed with smooth air. I noticed that it started to get bumpy when you flew past the border of the lake. Huh?Mechanical:I had to bush out the motor considerable to get the thrust line back to horizontal. The frame damage is all too abvious when you can see the curve in the vertical tubes that should be straight. The 176-C his still shutting off. It’s been a problem ever since I moved it to the trike…

#78 Chatfield

Good long flight .Practiced touch and gos. Take off was a circle jerk with me re setting twice trying to chase the wind.
Note to self: if the wing changes after you set-up…wait a while before you reset…It could be a short wait…or the wind may change again and surprise you twice!
Several balloons were up including “The Big Blue Guy” who went high and headed North on a X-Country flight. The corn maze is looking good!

#76

Great day! Marek and I took of in moderatly strong winds. It was great crabbing around the south end of the park. There were areas where it was blowing hard enough that there was no way to penitrate and just 100 feet away it was lite air. I really felt like a leaf in the stream.

That evening I won the last race of the season by a good margin.

A very good day!

#75

John Sieb and I covered alot of ground all over Chatfield and Roxboro Park. Three Ballons were up with us and I was digging it. On landing I broke the lower motor mount on both sides of the frame. it was not a hard landing so I think it was just metal fatigue. Also damaged were the prop tips and netting.

#74

Not a long flight and I was lucky to get it! I slept on the boat and was out at Titan ready to go by 6:00. The wind was blowing and getting stronger. I waited until 7:30 and when I saw the Balloons taking off at the air port I packed up and hustled over there…it didn’t look like they had any wind at all. When I got to the port the balloons were off and the Pikes Peak guys were starting to launch. I aborted the first attempt because the wing was oscillating but got off clean on the second attempt. Later Paula told me that the crowd let out a big cheer When I launched. I saw several people I knew in the crowd including my family, the Riggeros and Mike Steel and his fiance. I decided to land out to avoid the crowd