Author: JoeO

Powered Paraglider pilot since 2005

307 Simms

Another Downwind Launch!
It was a 890 ft downwind run out through the weeds.
30 mph take off speed 2833 ft AGL…42 minutes flight time.
When I got to the field it was dead calm, so I set-up SSE on a gentle grade with 200 feet of short weeds. Sure nuff…by the time I had hooked up the buggy and put on my helmet the wind was coming from directly behind me at 4 mph. If I were going to reset I would have had to move more than 150 yards and the odds were that the wind would have shifted again. So…I cussed and decided to wait. After 5 minutes it looked like the pattern was set against me…. so I watched the wind sock and when it looked like it was slacking …I punched it.
Off we went, like something out of a Disney Movie, a couple of times I hit a particularly big weed (more like a small bush) and felt the buggy slow down. It was very like the launch a week ago in Colorado Springs. I was moving fast and could feel it wanting to fly but the tall weeds were keeping me in the ground. I finally popped some brakes going 30 mph and the buggy came up. It’s lucky I didn’t damage my delicate IVO prop because I was plowing through some pretty thick stuff. It broke the ignition off the stem but it was only a spot weld on less than 1/4 inch rod and inherently weak. My fleece jacket was impregnated with hay seed, each one is going to have to be pulled out individually and I bet it’s going to take an hour.
Very nice flight. I saw a Delta trike flying between the hogback and the foothills moving like a bat out of hell North to South. At first I thought it was two in a tight formation until I realized that the trailing craft was really his shadow on the mountainside. Worked on level flight and steeper spirals. I really pulled some brake on the final flare ans was surprised by how much resistance there was. I’m thinking that this wing can take allot more input than I’ve been giving it. I picked up a big twig during take off it was in the brake lines close to the wing. There was enough drag on the right side that I had to let out the right trim to fly straight.

306 Simms

Nice ordinary flight, light breeze from the WSW.

I launched from the only place I could find where the grass was short enough to get the buggy rolling. The run out was going to be 30 degrees off the wind but I figured it was worth a try. So…I layed out 10 degrees off and prepared to damp the right side during inflation. The wing came up crooked as expected, I added power and with moderate brake input got it stabilized almost immediately. Cross wind launch went surprising well. It’s all good!

Down wind of the damn over the golf course there was allot of sink I was just barely able to hold altitude at full throttle. I didn’t want to fly over the golfers at 100 feet so I flew west until I was up wind of the dam and there was the lift! After doing a few turns I headed to Red Rocks but cut north before leaving Bear Creek Park figuring that the west wind would be throwing some rotor by the cut in the Hogback.

I explored the far north area returned to the field and did lazy circles until I was low enough to set up for final.

The landing was 10 yards off the target at idle. Not good enough for competition but sure as hell PPG 2

When I got home Marek called and said that I was on News 4, Tracy recorded it and will burn me a copy. Very cool.

305 Meadowlake Air Park

Great Day Flying above the Clouds!

54 degrees…. Very light breeze from SW…Glass Smooth Air

The take-off was quick despite the humidity and calm air. I flew to the south of the LZ and played with Mathew and Jerry. We were not in close formation but I was close enough to see a big smile on Jerrys face.

I noticed that the RPM’s are dropping to 3450 instead of 3650 which confuses me because the air density should be lower making for higher RPM’s. It might have to do with motor break-in. The climb was an improved 125 ft/min with the PPS 250. I experimented with adding brake pressure and watching the climb increase and practised harder turns.

After Jerry & I split-up I headed South East for about 5 miles climbing all the way to 9237 MSL or 2430 AGL which is a new high for this motor. I saw some low clouds forming in the south and flew to them catching some lift. When I got to the clouds I was 500 feet above them and it was clear that I wasn’t going to get a trophy shot without diving into unknown conditions, so I headed back to Meadow Lake with the clouds chasing me all the way. I landed with 50 minutes of airtime.

For the next 15 minutes we watched the clouds build and were glad to be on the ground. Jerry and Matthew did a little kiting and both commented on their wings hanging back and not wanting to fly….Humidity?

Flight 304 Simms

Nice long flight. Nil winds 55 degrees.

Max Altitude 2340 AGL.
This morning I used the ramps to get the buggy started rolling over the weeds and it worked great. There was lots of lift and in calm air I was getting 125 ft/min. Flew to Red Rocks and tried but failed in getting a good shot of the Rocks from west to east. Huge lift over the hogbacks but lots of sink beyond them. I made two passes over the “humps” to get high enough to get up and behind the Theater. I noticed that the development NE of the rocks looks like a possible temp LZ at least until they start building. The roads are in and a few houses but I doubt (hope) that they are occupied yet. If the wind is south or sw it looks like a nice down grade paved runway.
It was already getting bouncy down low by 7am but I did a touch and go just because I didn’t feel like quiting when I first touched down. With South Park and Lucent out, this is gonna have to be it for awhile.

302 & 303 Dumb Chute Story: The longest run out ever..1840 feet

Beautiful Morning at Meadowlake

Headed toward the junk !

1840 ft. Take off run !

Only 410 ft. to the trees…Hell….

It looked a lot less than 400 ft. to the trees, when I finally started to get some lift and was able began a slow turn along the north perimeter of the field. All I know is that I wasn’t about to abort until I had to. I’d plowed through 1500 feet of tall grass, crossed the ultralight runway and nearly clipped a big airport windsock. I was just barely touching the ground and the weeds were holding me back. The GPS clearly shows that I was going 27 mph which is plenty enough speed to take off. It was really ‘touch and go”, I was running out of field and the trees and junk were coming up fast. I knew that in another few seconds I would have had to abort or go into the trees.

I didn’t quit, even though I probably should have and I managed to clear the area without mishap…but the next time I go off into tall grass, ……I hope I know the area better.

There might have been a low level wind gradient because at 300 feet it was blowing from the SW but at the field the windsocks were all hanging limp. Whatever it was… I’m betting on a down wind take off .
Next time I’m at Meadow Lake in nil wind

I’m going to use the micro light dirt strip.

The first flight was 35 minutes and nice smooth air. I chased some antelope and followed Mathew to the east end of the field. Climb was 125 ft. /min even though the RPM’s were slightly down. Later, when I came back, the wind was building from the South and it made for a nice landing.

Second flight was short and sweet because it was starting to get ratty. I backed up on the entrance road and took off to the right of the vehicles. Much quicker launch with short grass.

When the thermals started and the wind came up we goofed around the field and kited. John Black was working with a 28.5 obsession and putting on quite the show, doing cobra launches and generally working the all of the risers instead of just the brakes. Jerry did some kiting and I even pulled out the Eden III for a bit. It’s a great place to kite and I’ll have to remember to bring the harness next time.

I got a chance to drive the S-trike.
It’s a well engineered cart using light weight aircraft tubing, joined with rivets and lugs. The IVO motor seems ok but I never really goosed it. The Flat Top frame is ok. I prefer the rigidity of my one piece cage. Twin brake and steering pedals were “Trick” BUT… lost motion in the cables made the steering feel sloppy and while it may be the same pedaling as GA aircraft, it’s counter intuitive. The reverse cambered front wheel wants to follow the wing but I can see how that could make for oscillations until you get the hang of it. It’s light but the CG is higher and I felt like I was in some kind of kids pedal car. I’m sure it flys great but it would take some getting used to. It just wasn’t as stable feeling as the heavy “ol buggy” with my ass inches above the dirt.

Later the six of us went to Frankie’s for breakfast. It’s all good.

#301 Lucent

Goodbye Lucent…I hardly knew ya


Last night I drove to the Lucent site and discovered that they plowed half of it. The north south “runway” is two thirds shorter. Damn it! I talked with Jerry Kerr and Marek and we decided to go for it anyway.
I got out there at 5:15 with almost nil winds. It built slowly and when Jerry showed up it was light breeze from the south east. I had set up and launched shortly after he arrived and loitered overhead until he got airborne. My launch was a bit unusual I recovered the wing going far right and far left before getting it stabilized. Then… when I did get up and over the grass there was some serious sink and I didn’t get above 30 feet up until I was well out over the next field and my first turn was a tad low for my taste.
I circled the field several times to get altitude and wait for Jerry. I did see him take off and noticed that his wing seemed to be “hanging back”. I didn’t think much of it and circled for a bit longer when it looked like he was planning to stay around the “patch ” , I headed off to Chatfield. Great ride, nice air …bump scale of 2…Flew out over the ol marina and it sure felt great to be back at my first home field. On the way out I did a circle and took a 360 degree panorama series. That’s gonna be fun to mess with.
The landing was cool, the wind had come up considerably and I did a quick turn to a short final and landed dead on. Throttle control is getting better. Later Jerry & hit a bad Waffle House, and on the way out I took him to see South Park ….only to find that it has been fenced out and the church doesn’t want any stinking paragliders….:(

No Fly Day at Lucent

Set up in nil wind but it came swiftly from the south west and kept on building. I waited an hour and packed it up when it reached 12 mph. One good thing was that I discovered that I will be able to launch against the grade. I made a few test runs and the 4 stroke had no trouble accelerating against the slope. So…until they develop this site I’m gonna have a nice close LZ.

#300

The Big Three Oh Oh
Lucent…Light winds S.E.
I awoke before the alarm…. again …so I decided to check out the new site south of C-470 and west of Lucent. Yesterdays rain had made the freshly graded soil a little slick but I decided to go for it anyway. I was able to lay out the wing without gettingit all muddy but my boots had aquired about 2 inches of clay and the wheels on the buggy were carring a bunch of extra weight. No problem…After I set -up. I just sat in the machine and scrapped the mud off my boots and the wheels. It wasn’t wet, more like clay than anything else.
The climb out was slow but once I was clear of the graded soil and over grass I got some lift and explored the area. This is a pretty good site, enough room to abort, lots of places to set down in an emerency and easy axcess to chatfield. It was mildly bumpy so I didn’t go over to Chatfield next time I’d like to try. I noticed a balloon over the lake and it would be great to play with one of those guys again. The sky looked good but later in the flight I noticed that the clouds were starting to get blown out and I think there was some serious mixing at high altitude.
I did use more brake pressure and that helped smooth things out. It would be great to know exactly how much travel I have in these brakes…I’ll just have to keep pulling more and find out where the stall is.
Landing was a drag….It got real bumpy at 50 feet, it might have been the elevation changes around the field but whatever it was caused me to overshoot and I rolled right into the drainage where the mud was like soup. The wing got a little mud and the buggy weighed a ton. It took an hour to get everything cleaned up back at the house. No damage.
Yesterday I talked with Terry and he is going to start the new cage on Monday. The 64 inch GSC Prop should boost my climb rate considerably.

#299 Simms

Another Beautiful morning! I had to launch with a cross wind to stay out of the tall weeds. The wing came up …I turned 20 degrees off the wind and punched it. Take-off was fast and I started crabbing as soon as I left the earth. Unusually smooth air so i went east over the high School and along the edge of the prison …(don’t want to give the guards any ideas)…then did a couple of laps around the golf courses. There are three golf courses within a mile of each other!

When it was time to land I did a touch and go first and landed right on top of my target!

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