Author: JoeO

Powered Paraglider pilot since 2005

Monument Valley 09 Friday

Friday Johnny Fetz & his “Junk Buggy”

The “Epic Flight”

The first take-off was difficult. I set-up at the North East part of the runway by the hanger. It was an uphill take off and my climb was just barely enough to overcome the the grade of the runway. I cleared the fence at the end of the runway by two feet and turned North where I skimmed the surface for 100 yards before starting to climb. The go…no go point came after lift-off when I was climbing ok, then I hit some sink and and my climb went to hell. Aborting would have been “absolutely bad”, I was committed and had to fly it out, even if I was just going to fly to the crash site. I felt sure that I that I would clear the fence but the terrain West was not a good place to touch down and I was “puckered” to the buggy for awhile. At 1200 ft. the air calmed down and I set off for the Monuments. When I arrived at “lookout point” I turned to Sentinel Mesa and made a slow turn to take some pictures. Absolutely beautiful! I could look into the Valley of the Gods to the South, across to Brigham’s Tomb to the North and back to Gouldings in the West. Later when I was back over the field I resisted landing and loitered over the field for a long time watching the activity below.
That morning and through the afternoon the whole gang showed, Jeff Goin had the top RV spot and Carlos Segnini with his crew were down the hill just south of us. Luc and the Russians were on top and Ola and Faith were in a cabin on the edge. We spent the afternoon hanging around the campsite talking PPG. It was all about Jeff’s upcoming video on Mastering PPG and John Fetz new kevlar prop, where we had flown and where we would like to go. I sat there by my tent, taking it all in and watched my wind indicator as it danced to all four points of the compass. The sky was filled with big puffy clouds that were tinged red on the bottom, reflecting the color of the earth below. It was a great relaxing afternoon.
The evening flights were bumpy but good. I launched during a calm moment between the puffs and only flew for a short time staying close to the LZ. Anyway, it was much more entertaining at the airstrip. Chad was demonstrating the his new ultralite wing, it weighs 5 pounds and kites like nothing I’ve ever seen. Chad was playing it up big, strolling around and occasionally reaching out to tug on a riser making like he wasn’t paying any attention to the wing at all. The hook-in is designed low and the risers are very different, like braided kevlar lines rather than conventional webbing with mallions. I would have loved to fly it but it’s far too small for my rig.


Toward the end we had some excitement, one trike was flipped launching in a puff and another fellow got dumped when he was whacked coming in on final with power off landing. The last part of the video was Beery getting dumped by a rotor at the same place I had a hard time climbing out.

//www.youtube.com/get_player

Video by Fait Wesstrom

Other pilots showed considerable skill and patience waiting for the right moment to set down. I was really impressed by Perry Molter who made several passes before he committed and landed on the runway with an amazingly clean and swift flare. There was other carnage that I didn’t see, but heard about later. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt for which I’m thankful. Much like last year, the LZ was a free for all, but everybody seemed to be a bit more aware of the conditions and respected the site.


That evening Johnny and I shared dinner, his shredded pork and my Italian sausage, it was “wolf camping” at its best. Several of us sat around the campfire talking propeller design. Csaba Lemak of Electric PPG fame joined us and talked about some new products he is working on including a high quality composite prop that could be produced for a fraction of current manufacturing costs. Ivan kept things light trading jabs with Stann Honey and Mark Latham. Mark seems to be a much happier and healthier guy than the last time I saw him. I enjoyed his story of flying a glider up to 24,000ft riding the mountain wave.

Monument Valley 09 Thursday

Thursday

Despite the drama of damaging the rig I got a good nights sleep and was at the field by 6:45. Ivan came to the rescue, with three other pilots, he put his auto body skills to work and was able to straighten the frame beautifully. It’s round and stiff and unless you know where to look… invisible. THANKS IVAN!

AM

The morning was a blow-out, gusty and switching winds. We stood around and some of us kited. A couple of guys even went up for very…very short flights but it wasn’t good air and since there were going to be lots of opportunities over the next few days I didn’t sweat it. About 10:00am I met with Jerry and a few other guys for breakfast at Gouldings. Other than flying, the topic of the day was the foul weather that our families were experiencing only 8 hours away. Denver had just broken a 100 year low temp record. Black ice had put the city in gridlock …but at the gathering… we were enjoying 72 degrees and beautiful skies.

PM

The afternoon was spent with housekeeping, showers and a nap. At 4:30 we headed down to the field and waited for the winds to come down. It was coming from the Northwest and I set-up downhill, across the runway expecting to lift off at the helicopter pads. I missed it, but Ivan was setting up to the left with the same plan and we started our launch together. I saw him …he saw me…we aborted together and it was just dumb luck that kept his wing out of my prop. We apologised to each other and started over. Of course Beery got the whole thing on video

//www.youtube.com/get_player

The Eden III felt good but the climb was miserable. Once I was aloft I planned to stay up awhile and enjoy myself. It felt good to be back at Monument Valley, it’s taken on the feel of “home field” I had flown here in similar conditions several times. The wind was moderate from the west which meant it was going to be twitchy at the south end of the runway, possibly rotor more likely sink. It flows through the cut from the campground and has to be churned up when it comes out of the channel. It’s best to go down the runway at least 100 yards below the hanger. I cruised the open country between the LZ and the highway, enjoyed a few mild wingovers and took in the scenery. Other pilots were laying out their wings and I knew it was going to be a good weekend. The air was a little too rowdy to be getting close to the rock faces but it was fine for playing at 350 ft out in the open. When the air went from level 2, to level 4 bumpy, I turned back to the airstrip and practiced low level approaches from the far north end of the runway. It’s a little more tricky with the thumper because the motor is slow to power up. I touched the runway several times before finding the right combination of power and brakes and finally managed to float several hundred yards before setting down to taxi the wing back to the truck. It was a trick, to keep the speed high enough to control the wing, but not so loaded that a puff of wind would lift me. It is easy to get complacent and let the wing wander because the buggy is so stable, but when the wing is off center and a puff hits… you get light on one side in a hurry!

That night a bunch of us had dinner at Gouldings restaurant. The salad / soup Bar was a big hit and when they ran out of minestrone they replaced it with chili …big mistake… Ivan and Uri probably had 5 bowls apiece. Later, Ivan, Uri, Chad and I watched Sycro-Acro Freeflight videos with Bob Peloquin’s in his RV.

Monument Valley 09 Wed

Wednesday


I left Denver at 10am and arrived at Monument Valley just at dark. I could have been there sooner except that I stopped to catch up with Steve Katers in Glenwood Springs. Ten years of making this drive representing the bike industry has made it hard to just power drive straight on through, there are just too many friends to catch up with! The mountains are spectacular, Indian summer is happening all over ! It’s dry and warm and colorful! Luc and my Russian friend “Crazy” Ivan, were already set-up at the upper tent site. Luc had fixed some pasta for himself and his father and graciously shared it with me. My favorite place overlooking the “Big Indian”was open… so I backed the truck between two Greek Olive trees to unload. When I was backing in, Luc shouted “Joe is the first pilot in the trees”. I didn’t understand at the time and thought he was making a joke, but later… when I was covering the buggy for the night, I discovered that I had caught the cage on a branch and bent it pretty badly. The buggy wasn’t flyable. I was heartbroken and spent the night thinking I was grounded for the duration of the Fly-In.

Beery on Monument Valley 09

Post by Beery Miller:
I’ve got some photos I have posted up on the <http://www.txwingnuts.com/> website that I took while on the way to Monument Valley from Houston, at Monument Valley, and some of the surrounding areas of Monument Valley.

Myself, I flew about 3 hours at Monument Valley. I had 4 flights, the first 3 averaged about 1 hour. The Sunday morning flight, Jeff Goin and Faith caught on video as I launched uphill towards the mesa, cleared the fence by about 3 feet,tried to make a left (eastern) turn, and then did not have enough power to climb from the sink due to some rotor and was dumped from about 5 feet at the edge of the road. Fortunately, the car stopped. Poor choice on my part to launch in the first place. That was Jeff Goin’s first incident Sunday morning he referenced on

http://www.footflyer.com./

I caught some good video of Luke from Quebec and a couple of pilots out in the monuments, flipped the camera upside down to make it look like John Fetz had flipped his trike , two pilots attempting to launch at the same time and colliding on the ground, captured a bunch of other blooper performances,captured several instructional moments where pilots were transferring their wisdom to help others improve their skills, and other entertaining moments. I also went around and shot some video from various perspectives of the valley including one spot from a dry river bed, ten miles off the main road and after the “gravel” road ended. Myself, even though I didn’t consume but 3 gallons of the 20 gallons of Avgas I took, the trip was well worth it. They call it God’s Country. The ground perspective would have made it almost satisfying in of itself, however theflights above the monuments were the icing to the cake.

Monument Valley is a trip every pilot should make sometime in their lifetime. There were a number of pilots that didn’t successfully launch on the trip as it is indeed an advanced launch site. I watch two pilots, one on Saturday nightand another Sunday morning take major sink at the end of the runway. Both walked away, one needing a new spark plug boot, the other needing a new cage. The potential for winds, thermals, rotors, the high altitude, ground hazards for launching, and terrain is not a place for an inexperienced pilot. Even though I have close to 1000 hours of flying in my 5 years, it did not prepare me. Not once was I able to successfully do a forward inflation as either the wing would catch on something or I didn’t have the speed to keep the wing loaded. Coming from sea-level beach flying altitude to an LZ one mile high was part of the issue. Anyways, many thanks to Joe for arranging the event. It was great meeting old friends and meeting people behind their usernames like John Fetz, Lance, Brian, Delia, Ola, Faith, Luke, Ron Nolan, Stann, Jeff Goin,John Black, Jerry Kerr, Sky King, Mo, Sean, George, Joe, and so many others. Oh, and watch out if you ever play Texas Hold’m with Jerry, John, or SkyKing. They funded part of their trip from me.

Beery

Jeff Goin on Monument Valley 09

Jeff Goin
Photo by Faith Wesstrom
Post by Jeff Goin:
It’s breathtaking. You can easily see why film crews found this a perfect backdrop for so many John Wayne and other westerns. They had to love it when Technicolor replaces monochrome. Red rocks and others mix light and shadow in ways that our mind’s eye paint as art. Beautiful art. And its amazing to see it all from the variable perch of our little 3d machines. Unfortunately, that freedom comes at a price. I pulled in well after the morning but pilots reported that it was quite bumpy at Gouldings, where we launch from, as early as 9am. That’s not surprising since a west wind aloft was spilling over the huge mesa just to our west. But those pilots who went out early reported good conditions and gorgeous flights.What a diverse group of pilots. Pilots are here from as far away as Eastern Canada and Florida and I suspect that they are not disappointed. In spite of challenging flying conditions, it’s tough not to appreciate the place–especially with the beautiful weather tossing up brilliant blue skies that interact so well with this incredible terrain.Friday afternoon I was anxious to get in the air. By 5pm pilots were getting their gear positioned all over the aircraft parking area and runway but it was still quite gusty, ranging almost calm to 15 mph. I watched some of the kiting and it was telling. Not yet. By 6pm I figured that, even though it was still kind of gusty, at least the thermals would be diminished and I launched. The best way to launch a paramotor in switchy conditions, in my opinion, is to consider it a two part process. Get the wing up and moving nicely then, when all is well, go for it. Don’t linger in the run since inflation and running are the most vulnerable times, but take stock of your readiness for flight before committing. Running briskly, wing overhead and tracking, then power up using necessary but minimum brake inputs. Sometimes locations make this assessment period very brief, especially in zip wind.Not long after launching it became obvious I probably shouldn’t have. The wind aloft was westerly and much stronger than anticipated, curling over that huge mesa a half-mile to the west. I headed east towards the monuments and away from the rotor. Wow. What a sight! Two other pilots joined me and I did get some video and pictures in spite of nearly continuous level 2 bumps. The video will be nearly worthless but some of the stills worked out. Meanwhile, back at the field, there was some minor trauma when a trike pilot got wind-whacked and flipped over with the usual damage and a scraped up arm. Pavement is not forgiving. Other pilots wisely watched the shenanigans and decided against flying.The strong west wind also meant that I would be taking a long time to come back so I returned pretty early. I’m trying out the Ozone Viper 2 and appreciated having the reflex available. I came down to find a reasonably smooth altitude and motored in. It wouldn’t be pretty near the airport with nearly the same turbulence as when I left so chose to land farther away from where I took off and come in under power. Landing with power gives you more control in shifty air but at some extra risk of damaging the gear. Good thing I had the power because on short final a gust tried to dump me but a good goose of Mr. Black Devil at the last minute averted what could have been a firm arrival. I was happy to be down. Others launched with varying results. One pilot got airborne only to be dumped just a bit before the fence. He wisely chose land and reset instead of pressing on in hope of clearing the fence.Landings were even more exciting. One pilot took 3 approaches before finally getting a good window and setting down nicely. Another came in power off, got lifted then dumped and landed so hard that he tumbled, bending his cage. He’s an extremely experienced flyer who just got weather-whacked. This place, in this wind condition, is not very forgiving. Three pilots didn’t make it back because there were unable to penetrate so they landed out. Good move.I’m glad to have gotten my one flight, and it was spectacular, but it was not an ideal choice. If the wind is like that again I’ll just do video taping from the ground! Morning beckons and is supposed to be better. Winds are typically oozing down the runway, forcing an uphill launch but I’ll take that over turbulence any day.

Saturday Oct 11 Ah, now this is more like it! Morning was perfect and nearly everybody flew. It was tough launching uphill with shifting light winds but, once aloft, many pilots made the monument trek as did I. Good thing, by the way, my exhaust bolts were safety wired in. Wow, now this is some amazing scenery. Calling them monuments is right on.It’s weird how spooky being next to, and just over, these monoliths is. I mean its not like they’re going to suck you in, especially given the relatively mellow conditions. They look so hard, so utterly unconcerned about my wellness, so unforgiving of any misstep. I held the brakes just a bit tighter. It took a couple circuits before I’d let go to snap pictures.It wasn’t perfectly smooth, by any measure, but 2-level bumps are smooth relative to the sharp nastiness of yesterday evenings flights. That this is an airport became abundantly clear when an airplane, coming in for a landing, had to abandon his approach due to a bunch of gliders on the runway–trikes getting ready to launch. He circled for probably 5 minutes while everyone pulled off to make room. An easterly breeze made everything quite smooth for launch and landing, perfect for trying stuff out. I tried out Chad’s Miniplane with Mo’s Spice. That’s my all-time favorite combination. I also tried his 19 meter “ultralight” wing which was incredible. Mo tried it too. Six foot something Mo Sheldon weighs about 185 pounds and he was tasking a Top 80 with hefting around on a 19 meter wing at 6000 foot density altitude. Hmmm, I thought, that won’t be a stellar climb. But at least he was launching uphill. Mind you, the climb was pretty marginal, there was a steady 5 to 8 mph breeze and Mo knows his way around a wing. But still it was impressive. I had a pretty decent climb rate on my flight of the wing but I’m 35 pounds lighter, too. That wing weighs a grand total of 5 pounds. Five. The risers look like clothes lines. Talk about easy inflating, though! The evening was a bust. Once I found out the winds were again coming over the back I begged off flying altogether and, in fact, didn’t even get my wing out. Surprisingly, several pilots flew in spite of all that. One pilot took a 40 percent collapse just over the airport and I happened to be videotaping. “Happened” isn’t exactly right since I figured there was a pretty high likelihood of badness which was why I was taping. A 40% collapse, without any cravats, is very benign as long as the pilot doesn’t overreact. Thankfully, he didn’t and came around, rather suddenly, for an uneventful landing. One other piece of excitement was a pilot who landed at the other end of the runway and got whacked just as he was running it out. He fell and his throttle hand mashed into the dirt such that the motor stuck on half power or so. We saw the landing but not the fall. John Black sped down there in his truck, saw what was happening, couldn’t get the kill switch, so he reached in and yanked off the spark plug. Nice going.When this airport is in wind shadow, not surprisingly, it’s no fun to be flying. That’s why I, and most others, didn’t go up. Plus, I’d had a great morning flight, why go bounce around in this. Saturday night we all gathered at Goulding’s restaurant and told lies. It was a great time. Sunday morning, as I write this, promises to be nice early but, with winds forecast to be strong over the back by noon, I’m going to stay pretty close if I fly at all. It’s been a great trip, I’ve had 5 flights, and could easily end it on this most happy of notes. There is the matter of my now fully fueled motor…

Sunday Summary: A gorgeous sunrise belied the unsavory swirls aloft. Southwesterly winds put us, again, in rotor. I had no interest in it—been there, got the T-shirt, didn’t like its fit. Joe Onofrio sent up a helium balloon and, surprisingly, it didn’t look as bad as we feared and, even I agreed that it probably wasn’t dangerous but wouldn’t be smooth and, with a forecast strong wind at noon, feared that conditions could suddenly grow teeth. When one intrepid pilot did elect to launch I got the camera. The good one, with the big lens and good stabilization. Sure enough, I was treated to show. He did a nice launch, barely cleared the fence then landed (well, kinda whacked) into the hill just south of us. Neither he nor his equipment suffered any damage beyond a flight suit tear but it wasn’t a good start to the morning. That put a damper on launches for a while but then we noticed that there wasn’t anything sharp to the wind although it occasionally did gradual changes to the opposite direction. Yup, better time that one right! Then John Black starting playing around with his quad, inflating and taxi/kiting up to the ramp, turning around, taxiing down the runway and finally launching into a short flight. It was an exquisite display of what’s possible with good throttle and wing control. You’ve got to keep enough airspeed over the wing and lead your turns. When he offered it up to me I jumped at the chance. What a hoot. I did one run up to the ramp with a 180, came around between the guys and launched down the runway. God that’s cool. No potholes, either.A digression on Quads I saw some extreme examples of the incredible stability offered by low CG quads. John’s Paracruiser was the most graphic, though. When another pilot was taxiing it, he got into some turbulence which started him swinging left/right. He lifted off and wound up hitting the pavement sideways, skidding to a stop. Had that been a trike or a anything with a higher CG, it would rolled immediately. In fact, there were two trikes that rolled and were damaged. But John’s and another similar unit, which endured highly tipful encounters, just skidded around.Both incidents that I saw would have tipped most trikes. Mind you, I like trikes and, for experienced pilots, they’re fine. Quads have drawbacks, too, of course, namely in rough terrain because the wheels hit bumps unevenly. But overall, the evidence is overwhelming that you’re less likely to flip a low CG quad than a trike. And of course it makes sense given their broader overall base. Trikes can be improved, of course, by having a low CG and wide rear wheel base, but, all things being otherwise equal, quads are the best tool for beginners learning wheels.Eventually other pilots launched into increasing turbulence and all landed after collecting too many bumps in too little time. One pilot got into enough turbulence that he decided to land a quarter-mile down the runway. His last 40 feet was rapid, pounding in hard enough to wreck the cage and prop. That was hard to watch. He didn’t add power and didn’t flare until way too late. Fortunately he was fine and hopefully will be able to get his gear repaired since he’s part of a French group visiting here. Wish I could speak French! I’d love to welcome them in the same way I felt welcomed in France. Language barriers suck. Rusty was among the last to fly, putting on a great show of foot dragging and generally playing around. He’s the one who built this incredible green motor home that mated a 1950’s truck to a GMC motor home and has a matching trailer. Overall, it was an incredible experience. Just being here is worth it. Thanks so much to Joe Onofrio, the “non-organizer” as he calls himself, for getting us all together. It has etched out a fine memory that will, no doubt, enjoy frequent visits.

Sky King Talks about Monument Valley

Sky King
Photo by Beery Miller
…I, Sky King of Austin, Texas, arrived home Monday evening after a great road trip to Monument Valley, which was “non-organized” by fellow pilot Joe Onofrio,the Italian piano dealer and former horse wrangler from Colorado. Thanks, Joe,for putting it together and getting permission for the rest of us to fly over such a stunning landscape.—Beery stated it in a previous post, but the view from the ground alone is worth the drive. Then to be able to fly over the famous rock formations, most of them standing 1000 feet or more from the desert floor, was truly a privilege.—Launching and landing from a corner between two rotor-causing rock formations400 feet tall or more was challenging, even for the more skilled pilots attending. I felt lucky to have been able to launch three times (I lost count ofmy attempts). But as Jeff Goin says, it’s all about risk & reward, and at Monument Valley the reward definitely justifies the risk. That’s just my opinion.—A few pilots suffered bruises and scrapes, but no one was injured seriously that I know of. I fell down fairly hard in a sticker patch Saturday afternoon after landing hot and off-balance at the end of the runway in trashy air — I should not have launched in the first place — and became pinned to the dirt under a spinning prop until John Black arrived and carefully reached in to disable my motor by jerking the spark plug wire out. Thanks again, John. Right behind him were Beery, who helped pack up and return my gear, and Nurse Sue from Albuquerque, whose hug made the crash-landing worth it — remember, risk &reward. Later that evening I tried to get another hug by telling her my leg still hurt. It didn’t work.—My starter rope failed to retract Friday morning, and pilot Mark of St. George,Utah, an actual mechanic, fixed it by rebuilding one of the paw springs that had malfunctioned. Then Saturday after my tumble in the desert, Olaf of Indiana and John Fetz, the old man in the sky, working together, fixed a broken kill-switchconnector and repaired the spark plug wire with a part from Beery. Much obliged to you guys.—Besides the activities at the flight line I learned some great poker lessons from Colorado lawman Jerry Kerr and Chabba the Hungarian. Also Sean, Beery and John Black. Captain Black — (by the way, during this fly-in I learned that Black actually was a captain on an offshore fishing boat) — won the six-manno-limit hold-em tournament Saturday night. Don’t get too excited. The winner-take-all jackpot, which at the end was a heads-up contest between Black and Chabba, totaled a net of $50.—I drove back to Austin Sunday and Monday smiling about the great memories created at Monument Valley. Next up: Galveston, Texas on Oct. 23. Beery, I’ll give you a chance to win your money back. Assuming Kim will give you permission to play. — SKY KING..

#361 & #362 Chatfield

I met Luc Trepanier and his father for lunch. They have been driving for two days from Quebec and are excited to finally start flying. We talked about the differences in PPG rules in the US and Canada. I was surprised to hear that there are over 500 active pilots in the province of Quebec. After lunch we parted to get ready for the trip. I picked up the caps and patches hit the library and dropped of some comp tickets at Mom’s. There was just enough time to load up the rig and head out to Chatfield to meet up with Luc.
The wind was gusting but came down nicely. Luc went up and came right back down with a lack of power. We fooled with his carb for awhile and I went up to check it out. Mildly bumpy. When I landed Luc tried again and still was underpowered. We tried leaning the mixture and slowly cranking it up but never got it to hold full thrust for an extended period. He flew three times and I flew twice with the Eden III..
I’ve changed the route…instead of going down to Pueblo and flying with Kevin and Jerry, I’m going west to Bluff Utah where I’ll meet up with Stan Honey and the Trepanier’s. If I can get out of here by 8:00am I should be able to make Bluff in time for the evening flight