Author: JoeO

Powered Paraglider pilot since 2005

#72 Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival

The evening before the Festival. We launched from the South end of the Balloon Port to the North. It was not an ideal site because you had to clear the trees and if there had been an engine out there were no places to put down safely. But…nobody had a problem and we floated around the area in perfect glass off conditions. Earler in the afternoon Bubba Alex and I went for a sail. Good start for the weekend!

#71

Motor Out!
Take off was a normal early morning launch. I was heading to the Balloon Port and approaching the crook of Chatfield Res when the engine died. I tried several times to restart but gave up and landed in a field of tall grass. It must have been 5 feet high and almost caused a hard landing because I didn’t realize how tall it really was and flared a bit early. I hitched a ride to the port and Alex gave me a shuttle out to the truck. When I got back to the park Bubba quickly diagnosed the problem as a broken wire which we repaired immediately.

Flights 66 thru 70

#66 & #67 Aug 18, 2007 Simms
Wonderful flight…I took off into 3-4 knots and flew west to Red Rocks Park. I didn’t go right up to the Amphitheater because it was after a hot day and I thought there might be hot air rising off the Rock mixing with cool air flowing down from the mountains. It is definitely a place to come for a sunrise flight. So I played it safe and climbed 2600 agl and checked out Bandamire Speedway and Red Rocks from on high.

#68 &69 Aug 19, 2007 Simms
Chip and I waited 45 minutes watching a scary bank of clouds over the foothills the winds were 8 to 12 mph and I didn’t think we were going to fly but very quickly the winds died and the cloud band broke up. It was amazing it was there and 5 minutes later it was gone. One thing of note was that I did my first Touch and Go on the second flight. Despite the scary looking sky earlier it was relatively smooth everywhere.

#70 Aug 22, 2007 Chatfield
Nice long flight! I’ll always remember this one because as I was coming back I saw lightning coming from Blue Sky. More on that later. I took off at 6:30 am with the wing coming from the South. After climbing 2000 ft AGL I headed south following Roxborough Rd. until I go into some turbulence that was being kicked off of Wildcat Mountain which is really only a little cone that sits along about 1 mile east of the hogbacks. So I turned east for a ways and then continued south until I was over Sedalia. This is really beautiful country. The homes are widely spaced and fabulous, the term estate better describes it. Some were Tuscon others were French chateus and there were a few plain old ranch houses. This was my farthest afield yet and when I got to Sedalia damn if the wind hadn’t turned 180˚, so, I was fighting a headwind all the way back. For a bit I was worried that I was going to have to “land out” until I dropped 500 feet and was better able to penetrate.
As I was approaching the LZ I was looking at blue sky ahead and all was well…then out of nowhere lightning struck in front of me. I didn’t loiter over the field like I had planned instead I checked the windsock and set it down on the first pass. While I was packing up the wing it started to rain with great big drops, not enough to get me wet, just a few minutes and then it was gone. I guess next time I’ll make it a point to check my six once in awhile.

#70 Cross Country

Nice Long Flight !

I’ll always remember this one because as I was coming back I saw lightning coming from Blue Sky. More on that later. I took off at 6:30 am with the wing coming from the South. After climbing 2000 ft AGL I headed south following Roxborough Rd. until I go into some turbulence that was being kicked off of Wildcat Mountain which is really only a little cone that sits along about 1 mile east of the hogbacks. So I turned east for a ways and then continued south until I was over Sedalia. This is really beautiful country. The homes are widely spaced and fabulous; the term estate better describes it. Some were Tucson others were French chateaus and there were a few plain old ranch houses. This was my farthest afield yet and when I got to Sedalia damn if the wind hadn’t turned 180˚, so, I was fighting a headwind all the way back. For a bit I was worried that I was going to have to “land out” until I dropped 900 feet and was better able to penetrate.
As I was approaching the LZ I was looking at blue sky ahead and all was well…then out of nowhere lightning struck in front of me. I didn’t loiter over the field like I had planned instead I checked the windsock and set it down on the first pass. While I was packing up the wing it started to rain with great big drops, not enough to get me wet, just a few minutes and then it was gone. I guess next time I’ll make it a point to check my six once in awhile.

51 thru 64th

#51 July 12, 2007 Chatfield
#52 July 13, 2007 Chatfield
#53 July 14, 2007 Chatfield
#54 July 16, 2007 Chatfield
#55 July 21, 2007 Chatfield

#56 July 22, 2007 Simms and Hamden
First time at this site. Good country with a golf course a state park and just a hop over to Red Rocks. The air was real bumpy so I just did a couple of laps and set it down.

#57 July 24, 2007 Chatfield
Great flight! Over an hour …went to 8230 ft AGL…Flew west between the hogbacks this was the farthest I’ve gone from the LZ.

#58 July 29 2007 Chatfield
Beautiful morning flight…flew south past the King Soopers. I had to move east because the air was bumpy near the foothills.

#59 July 31, 2007 Chatfield
Flew all the way around the lake, got some good video of the corn maze

#60 August 6, 2007 Chatfield

#61 August 8, 2007 Chatfield
7-10 knots highest wid yet on the buggy…dead stick landing.

#62 August 12, 2007 Chatfield
Dan Kamisar Monte Flemming Marek and I….Bumpy air short flight.

#63 Aug 13, 2007
High winds…Launched with the trimmers out…it worked just fine.

#64 & 65 Aug 14, 2007 Chatfield
First launch was so sloppy I landed and tried it again. On the first launch I went to full power before the wing was stable and I took off with a 30˚ yaw. The good news was that I was turning to the right with the torque so I just went with the turn and climbed out. On my second attempt I consciously kept off the throttle until the wing was good and stable. When it was time to land the wind had come up and my final approach was very steep.

The Big Five Zero !

#50
July 8th 2007
Chip and I. Blue Sky, clean take off and landing. There was a convergence at 50 feet that caused a wobble just before touchdown making the landing slightly exciting for both of us. A couple of mechanical issues; the C-176 is losing satalite lock. I’m not sure if the unit is just getting old or vibration from the buggy is messing it up. The little fortrex is working fine and I like having it for rate of climb and decent but I really want to have the big screen of the chartplotter. I’ve found a way to wire the muffler so that if it breaks again it won’t swing into the prop and I insulated the rubber with a nylon washer so that it won’t get as hot. I flew for 40 minutes and came in as soon as it started to get bumpy.

Flight 49 Flew with Chip and a chopper

#49
July 5th 2007
Good Flight. I’m still getting used to the new throttle and all the buttons (starter and Kill). This morning I hit the starter when I was trying to kill it. I hate the sound if metal on metal. Chip and I flew for at least an hour. We covered a lot of ground and I spent some quality time getting to know the new machine. At one point the Fox News Chopper was snooping around, I tried to wave him off but Chip just turned straight at him like he wanted to play chicken. That worked …the chopper pilot took his picture and bugged out. Sure enough the next day Chip was on TV.

48th Flight

#48
July 4th 2007

I can’t believe it’s been a month! I was a little nervous but there was a light breeze and I figured that if I started my turn right away I would be able to clear the wires. It didn’t take much the torque helped me to turn and my climb was about the same as with the Snap 100. I fooled around for a bit with the foot steering and went for awhile with the trimmers out. 40 minutes into the flight the rubber mount that attaches to the exhaust broke. I was forced to shut it down and come in dead stick…No worries..
I spent the afternoon repairing the prop and replacing the exhaust mount. I was good to go.

Albuquerque Fly In The Trike Buggy

#46 & #47
June 9th 2007 Albuquerque New Mexico

After waiting 3 days for the weather to cooperate I’ve evolved to the trike. It is so much better on so many levels that it’s going to take a book to list them all. Of course the best thing is that you do not have to run with the damn motor on your back! But…That’s just the beginning. Instead of struggling to get into the harness with three buckles and lots of adjustments followed by the hassle of getting to your feet with the the motor threatening to quit if you bend over too much all you do is sit down and buckle the seat belt. On inflation it’s easy to look up at the wing and when it’s overhead you can look at the mirror between your legs. AND Landing…It’s a dream…all you do is idle the motor and when you’re a couple of feet up, flare and you glide in as smooth as a feather. It’s too easy!
The Albuquerque Fly-in was a good opportunity to meet a great bunch of pilots but it wasn’t the best weather for flying. I spent some time talking with Chad and a lot of time looking over the FreshBreeze Simonini Trike Buggy.
This machine is no stranger to flying, there are lots of chips and scratches, it’s not too clean and there are some distortions in the cage from being rolled. My biggest concern was a sprocket that the electric starter turns. The teeth are half chewed and I’m not sure if that’s the way it is or if I’m going to have to replace it someday soon. However it does have an electric starter as well as a pull start, the prop is carbon fiber, the whole unit seems solid and sound and Chat will trade my 24 meter Eden III for a Eden III 28. I was intimidated by the bigger motor with lots more wires and connections but I figured I had learned to work on the snap and I could master this machine too. So I loaded it into the pick-up and drove home a “Trike Pilot”.