Author: JoeO

Powered Paraglider pilot since 2005

Fight 200 at Simms

The Stock market is bouncing like a super ball…Nobody is buying pianos…. but Today…I celebrate the big 200.

Unfortunately it was not a real noteworthy flight. Launched from Simms at 6 pm. The skies were sporting some bug cumulous and there was the threat of virga to the Northwest. I climbed to 6400 6500 and tested the footsteering. It works but there is too much friction. It’s slow and sluggish. I am getting more travel and the wing turns quicker but it just doesnt feel right yet. I should have tried it with the trimmers out but I’ll leave that untill the next time.

Time to replace the Tach.

Motor is hard to start the first time ,then it’s ok.
The Monument Valley Gathering is next week….4 days till I leave.

Improved foot steering

The skies were ugly this afternoon so I used the time to try an idea I got from Johnny Fetz.
What I did was add a pulley to the foot steering line. It increases the travel by 50% it also increases the friction but I don’t think it will be a show stopper, I can hardly wait to see how it flies.

I had an e-mail conversation with Alex Varv yesterday he is sending me a set of filters for the airbox. NO CHARGE! Nice Guy.

Added some length to the tubing on the bungee holding the bottom of the air box to keep it away from the offending nut.

Flight 198 & 199 Props strikes netting again

It was raining last night and cool today but the skies cleared by mid morning and at 5:30pm I was loading the rig. At Simms it was 60 degrees warm and sunny with little or no wind. I set up quickly and started a normal inflation. I believe the wing was up and stable when I heard that Tic Tic Tic sound which I’ve come to recognise as the prop cutting my netting. I probably should have aborted but the ticking stopped almost as soon as it started and I couldn’t discern any problems with the motor. As soon as I had started my turn to clear the wires, I looked up at the wing and back at the cage to check for problems. Sure enough the Port top quad was cut. I could see a little loose line but the grid was intact so I figured that I wasn’t in immediate danger of the line wrapping into the hub and stopping the motor. Never the less I didn’t stay up long I turned back to the truck and killed the motor just prior to touching. Nice glide and even nicer touch down. I checked the play in the motor and it seemed a little sloppy but the mounts were tight. However when they were “pulled it seemed like it was a little too stretchy. Good for a rubber band but certainly not as stiff as the new mounts I’d ordered with the frame last week. At least I can dismiss the idea that my frame was already damaged when I cut the net at Snow Mountain Ranch. Tomorrow or the next day I’ll replace the motor mounts and restring the cage.

I cut the lines away and launched again. Nice flight…I did some more low passes and flew most of the time with the trimmers out to keep it sporty. Landing was dead stick from about 100 feet Damn it feels good to fly without the the motor!

Big number 200 here I come !

Flight #197

Simms LZ…..Light winds from the NE

30 minutes of smooth air…2 spectators. Because this was kind of a test flight I didn’t stray too far from the field. I did do a couple of low passes and it felt so good to be back in the sky!
I noticed that the left brake line is a tad shorter than the right one and will shorten the right.

Last night I took the critical tools and parts (spark plug and socket..wrenches…screw driver…safety wire…etc.) and mounted them to the Port side of the buggy with a bag desinged to be mounted under a bicycle seat. It seems to have helped balance the weight of the reserve.

The only problem was that the motor was a little hard to start at the first. After that it started on the first pull.

getting it all back together

New frame looks and fits great.
Prop was near horizontal with three washers on bottom 2 mounts
cleaned up choke,throttle lines with twist split plastic
4 hours to mount engine.
Found and repaired tears in the screen on the air box filters.
Fitted piece of fuel hose over nut which was abrading the filter caps.
Removed battery and had to zip tie switch panel because there are no holes in tubing for battery.
Andy McCavin might not make it due to storm

Grounded Again!

When I landed in the bog the stress from stopping so abruptly, tweaked the rig. It’s possible that the tubing was compromised before I took off and thats why my prop got into the netting. I’m going to show it to Vince the welder but I’m 99% certain that it’s time to replace the frame. There is a noticeable bend in the horizontal and three welds are needed to just repair the obvious tubing damage.
I was able to take the motor off in 2 hours and even if it takes 4 to put it back together I could possibly be back in the air by Friday.
Needed stuff:
1) FB simonini frame
are the velcro straps at the bottom already on?
Pulley for the pull start?
2)Convex nylon washers
3)All new rubber motor mounts

Camp Chief Ouray

Second Generation Campers
Blue Rag Sunrise
Blue Rag Sundogs

Boating Pond

CCO LZ

Down Valley View

Snow Mountain Ranch

Camper’s Cabins



Way Down Valley


Flight 195

Friday Aug 29,2008
The first thing after checking in I approached the camp director Marty Ferguson to get clearance to fly. He kicked it up the ladder until I was introduced to the President/CEO Kent Meyer who gave me permission without hesitation. I was prepared to argue my case with statistics and video but it wasn’t necessary, seems like “The Chief” was till supporting my adventures after all these years. I had a USPPA waiver ready to go and gladly gave it to Juanita Muntz ( a friend of 40 years ) to file with the rest of the paperwork.
Sat. Aug 30 2008 #195 6am Light breeze from the SW
I decided to launch in front of the pavilion and dinning hall. It’s a natural drainage with cool air flowing down valley. While I was setting up I chatted with Bob B. from 1976. Bob and I had talked about PPG the night before and I have to admit I was in full missionary mode when I pulled out the Ipod and showed him some of the better Acro videos. I guess it was no surprise that he got up early to see a flight. There were also a couple of CCO counselors who had slept by the council ring.
I made a mess out of the first launch. The buggy had a hard time breaking loose and when I did get rolling I heard a tick tick sound that I’ve never heard before. Turns out the prop had got into the starboard top part of the cage and taken out the netting. At first I thought I was going to be grounded for the trip but after looking and cussing I decided to cut away the lines and launch anyway. I couldn’t see how I would be able to get my hand back far enough to hit the prop and I figured that if I was careful on landing it would not be a problem getting the lines into the rig.
The second attempt was better. The wing came up slightly to the left, instead of using brake to bring the wing around I decided to follow it with the buggy and follow the slope of the field. It was the right move because the buggy rolled better and the wind loaded up quickly. One thing I missed was that my convex mirror was fogged by condensation and I couldn’t see the wing to get it centered. Not a big deal I slowed down. looked up and stabilized the wing when it felt good I hammered the throttle and resumed. The run-out took as long as I expected but once I had rotated the climb was quickly 150 ft / min. I climbed to 9600 asl and explored Snowmountain Ranch. After a few pictures and some easy wingovers I started a 30 degree spiral and descended to 9000 feet. After a couple of laps around the LZ I flew down valley and set up for final.
The landing was sweet but there was a wire I had not seen when I first scoped out the field. I was on final at 100 feet when I saw it 200 feet ahead and a bit below my glide path as long as there wasn’t any sinking air I’d probably clear it by 20 -30 feet but just to be sure I powered up to give myself a little more space. As soon as it was past I cut power, let the wing surge and dived to get back on the glide path. Brian …You would have been proud! The landing was right on spot
NOTE TO SELF…When flying a new place…
look hard for obstructions!

Aug 31 08 #196

This was a better flight! The air was as smooth as glass, no wind. Take off was perfect…It’s always easier without spectators! I flew to the highway …down valley and up to the pond. The air was sinking over the valley and rising over the ranch. I was suprised to find so much lift this early in the day, the buildings were probably giving off some heat but I think it was probably caused by the exposed earth where they had cut down dead trees. At one point I was still climbing 90 ft/minute at 4500RPM.

The only technical glitch was that the motor was lugging down at full thrust. I descended from 9700 to 9200 ASL and finished the flight keeping the motor below 5400RPM.

Get a 145 and a 148 jet for the carb!

Landing was a surprise…When I got back there was a group of people having church service right where I was planning to land. I was already feeling a little self conscious and didn’t want to draw more attention, so I climbed out and set up an approach that would set me down closer to the horse barn. I was still going to buzz the service but at least I’d be at a higher altitude and not as noisy. The alternate LZ looked good …the grass was a bit higher but it looked good and flat and it was still an easy walk to the truck. What I didn’t realize was, that the grass was high because it was boggy. When the wheels touched down, instead of rolling, they stuck. No roll out at all! I went from 17mph to zero in about 2 feet! It was a rude surprise but I didn’t think it was anything more than a hard landing.

Turns out the frame was damaged, and that was the end of CCO flying… just as well since I got my fix and was free to do other things.

194 Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival

The last day of the Festival


was a blast! It seemed to take forever for the balloons to get off and I waited an additional ten minutes for the Eveready Bunny who should have been named the “never ready bunny”, but eventually it lifted off and Marv. (the safety officer) gave me the thumbs up. The wind was south west so I set up into the wind, pointing to the tree line. The plan worked…I inflated the wing and turned south to line up with the runway. As soon as I was in line, the wing looked good, I hammered the throttle and made a nice clean take off. When I got to the park entrance road I was about 100ft AGL…not great but enough to initiate a hard turn to the right. I did a climbing spiral for several hundred feet and took off to chase the balloons. I crossed Wadsworth and caught up with the pack by the two holding ponds at the south of Chatfield. Everyone except for one lone wolf was skimming the earth, probably trying to collect tags to win the competition. The lone wolf was hanging at about 2000 ft AGL. It was the event organizer and I saw him 45 minutes later heading back toward the port. I was amazed how he was able to come back when everyone else was miles downwind.

I took a few pictures and flew by the CSYC gang who had rafted up to watch the ascension. After 35 or so minutes I returned to the port and tried to land. I was told not to overfly the road so I had to come in from the north east and make a hard turn to final. The way that it slopes down was causing me to come in too high and so rather than land beyond the barrier I choose to set down north of the festival.

I rolled the buggy back to the festival and chatted with Matt and Jerry about meeting some morning to fly at Red Rocks. We said our goodbyes and then Kevin and his family met me at the Marina for a light wind sail.

Balloon Festival 08 Media Day

Slept out on the boat last night. Got up at 5 and was at the Port in plenty of time to find a set up and get to the pilots briefing at 6. I was warmly greeted by Jim Hill the safety officer who introduced me to the FAA guy.
The launch was kinda downwind in very light breeze. I had to dodge a truck and climb out between a bunch of trees but it was all good. John Sieb flew all the way from South Park.
I Didn’t get very close to the Balloons but stayed clear and watched John fly low all the way up into the foothills. The FAA guy and RMBF safety officer let me get off during the mass launch. Later I saw the FAA guy and he had no complaints.
The dinner is tonight at 6pm which is great because I will be able to attend. I thought I was going to miss it due to my sister’s 50 b-day party. Three pilots will be comming up from the Springs and I look foreward to spending some time with them.

#192

192 was a morning flight Aug 20th. Chip was going to meet me but had some issue with his reserve and didn’t make it. I put more air in the tires and the buggy accelerated much better, it was rough and the landing was really rough but it helps to reduce the rolling resistance when the field is bumpy. I let the trimmers out and enjoyed the performance of the 28m Eden III. This time I practiced flying lower and after twice getting into bumps to the west at 6300ft went back to the field and areas east. The surprise if the day was broken line on the starboard top cage. I do not think it was a prop strike. The string just broke, maybe I weakened it when I was trying to thread another line to mount the strobe. This afternoon after work before the race I restrung it with 1000lb deep sea line. Much better than factory.