log entry – Page 2 – Powered Paragliding. A most Personal form of Flight

Flight #1153

Arrived at the field 15 minutes before dawn. There was a low cloud cover and it was very dark. One patch of lightness was visible showing the only opening in the clouds. I had decided to bag it and drove almost back to Gasparilla Rd when I noticed that the clouds were starting to lift and break up.

Ten minutes later I was back at the launch where it was looking much better. There were a couple of blue holes I could use to get above the clouds and I could see that it would be possible to get glimpses to the surface good enough to keep my bearings.

The launch was normal and I enjoyed a nice cloud flight finishing with a beautiful glory that was captured very nicely by the wing cam. The landing was soft and witnessed by my cycling friend , 87 year old Otis.

Flight #1152

Placida at the meadows. The hurricane Videos are done. Good flight with a final climb to 2500 ft and spiral down to land.

Flight #1151

Good flight … with video

Flight #1150

Good flight … experimenting with the new GoPro 11.

Flew the length of Gasparilla and back. GoPro batteries failed. Going

to set the frame rate back to 30/sec and see if it helps

Flight #1149

Hurricane Ian 2022

Flight #1148

second cut

Nice but nervous flight. Without back up to help if I got in trouble, it was necessary to stay a little higher than I wanted. It affected the quality and without internet I couldn’t tell that or was fuzzy. So, it’s not my best piece but it was certainly a memorable flight.

I did get the satisfaction of helping a few of my friends find their boat and see if it was still on its feet. John Miller and Glenn Cattanach did the preview. Maybe I’ll add a few stills and trim it a little more before I put it to bed..

Flight #1147

No Drama … Nice 4 knot breeze 10% off runway #1. Had to keep it short because of office hours at the yacht brokerage. Bill Steve and Alvaro came out as I was leaving.

The Colorado really does better when the wing is properly laid out. Sloppy set-up makes for a slow inflation.

— Read on earth.app.goo.gl/EhLw8r

Flight #1146

Flight #1146

FlySkyhy shut down the flight prematurely. Don’t know why. Nice flight , level 3 bumps at 300 ft.

— Read on earth.app.goo.gl/BPpjWP

Had to reset from crosswind launch when breeze came up square down runway#1.

Steve F. came by after I landed and invited me to join him. Unfortunately I’d had my flight and was done for the morning. I packed up and met him at his LZ where I watched him launch and land. We chatted a bit and swapped phone #s.

Flight #1145

No Drama. Smooth air below 1500 ft. Rowdy above.

Flight #1144

Proud of myself. Instead of trying a tricky crosswind launch, I checked my map and discovered that 1/4 mile up the road it turned right into the wind. Looking back I could have moved the set-up 200 ft. farther up so that the trees could have funneled the airflow. Could have caused mechanical rotor at the wingtips. Not sure….

Anyway, the wing came up straight and stable, I powered up and was rewarded with a very fast takeoff. Just a tiny brake input popped me above the trees before I got there. The air was mixing and there were rain showers predicted . I did a lazy lap and set down after 15 minutes. The landing was very slow and soft. I regretted landing so quickly and dawdled around the LZ waiting for the weather to degrade. It didn’t. It stayed at level 3 bumps for 30 minutes before it got too spicy to fly.

Better to be on the ground

Wishing you were in the air.

Then n the air

Wishing you were on the ground