Category: log entry

Attached one A” assist to the second A. Oppps! I remember compensating with a little more reach but the wing popped up smartly and we were accelerating down the runway. The wing was steady overhead the first 200 feet of runway. The last half of the runout was twitchy with gusty air. At 150 ft the wind increased quickly and we were being pulled dramatically to the left. Some of it was torque related but the air was also very active.

Climbing through 400 ft. I noticed the A assist goof. I don’t think it was an issue but the new line was obviously tight and it seemed a good time to test my quick release knots. It worked beautifully. Tension released without any of the problems I’d experienced with previous A assists lines.

I cut this flight a little short. The air was alternating between 2 and 8 on the bump scale. Just about the time, you think your through the layer, bang it’s another pocket of spicy tamales. The clouds were multi layered with small dark puffers starting at 100 meters across.

This was a spur of the moment milk run. I woke early and decided to send it. Launch and landing were perfect. Air was bumpy. I stayed up until I was flying on the fuel reserve.

1088 was great! The plan was for Alvaro and I to fly to Gaspirilla Beach. He had a problem with his 1st launch an called me to to on ahead without him.

I got as far as crossing the causeway and decided to stay there and play with the clouds that were forming off the island. I caught one that went from a wisp to a city block of thick white puff in 3 minutes. It was small enough to fly around , over and under. Great fun! The highlight for me, was a beautiful Glory Rainbow on my pass in the clouds.

Tech note: I set the trim two notches out for landing and wasn’t able to push through a complete flare. The next flight I set at neutral and it was better. Next I’ll try a little more trim in.

The highlight of #1089 was the launch. It was 76degrees and 99 percent humidity. I set-up on a wide road into light to nil wind. The wing came up clean and I accelerated quite a bit before lifting off. No brake input. About one second after lifting…. Whoosh the climb was dramatic. FlySkiHi showed 400 fpm.

I didn’t stay up very long, the clear sky was filling with puffers and it was getting bumpy quickly. I got into a little “cloud suck” and was climbing at 300 rpm. I went to idle and worked my way to the edge of the cloud. When I crossed into the sink, it was as though the down button had been pressed on the express elevator. I grinned like a kid, altitude is my friend.

Today was a bit frustrating. I challenged myself to get out to the field before sunrise. And, I did, even though I stopped for gas. Then I prejudged the wind, it looked to be exactly like yesterday. But No!

I set up in the middle of the intersection, 30 degrees off the runway (30 degrees true). Then, to the truck to get suited up and take a picture of the view over Gaspirilla. In those few minutes, the wind shifted to straight down the East/West runway. I hemmed and hawed trying to talk myself into a launching into a 90 degree crosswind.

So…If I turned the wing just so and applied lots of left brake and the wing came up just right and all the other variables dropped in my favor. … Yeah! I could do it!). Eventually, I bagged up the APCO and taxied West to reset.

The launch was clean but I was 30 minutes late for a trophy shot. Instead of going for altitude I climbed to 1000 ft. and played with the wing. The chase cam was in position and a good time was had by all.

The landing was better than yesterday. I’d set the trimmers a notch faster than neutral. I had better flare authority and was able to control the pressure all the way to “brakes below thighs”.

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When I got home, the video was disappointing. Once again the cam rode upside down. It looks like one side of the bridal got hung up. It was set too close to the wing and got knocked down at the start of inflation.

SAFETY NOTE…. The sheath is broken on the First right D line. Probably from the day I wrapped the chase cam.

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Another high flight. First launch was aborted when I started the runout without my left brake toggle. Damn!

Second launch was right on. I climbed to 7028 ft. AGL, turned off the engine and glided down to a spot on landing.

New A assists worked fine.

The touchdown was a little hard, perhaps I need to let out a little trimmer on low wind landings unless I’m landing under power.

Called Dawn from altitude.

Smooth as butter all the way to 6000 ft.

This was my fifth flight in so many days. Like yesterday I went for altitude but this time I wore a flight jacket over the red suit. It was probably the laziest flight I’ve ever done. I let the torque steer do the work while I made lazy circles up to 6000. Initial climb rate was 260 but it decreased to a bit under 150 at 6000. It took almost exactly 30 minutes to get to 6000 making the average climb rate 200 ft per minute. Next time, I’ll try to note the time for each incremental 1000. Temp was 74 degrees at the surface with 99 percent humidity.

The view from the top was wonderful. I could see the whole harbor and the Myakka and Peace Rivers feeding it. The sun was rising behind Punta Gorda, as I climbed, it began to reflect off the canals sparkling like jewels. There was one lonely sailboat south of fish haven. Just a silhouette in the glare of the sun.

The takeoff was flawless and so was the landing, except that I had been so lazy and such a “passenger”, throughout the flight that I had to admonish myself to wake up and pay attention. The landing zone came up fast and I had to hustle to get my hands in the toggles to be ready on the first pass.

These summer mornings are the best!

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No Drama….

This machine has a right hand torque twist, at power. Add to that the drag of the chase cam and it requires either constant left brake or significant trim imbalance to fly a strait line. It’s possible the whole thing is caused by the motor but it doesn’t make sense to hang the cam off the right side of the wing if it’s already wanting to turn that way.

Go Pro…. The Hero 7 failed. The error code is no SD card but I think it’s related to the recent freeze up incidents. …. Yesterday was the first time the camera was flying correctly. I positioned it just behind the paramotor so the wing would be up when tension came on the towing bridle. Today I did about the same thing and it ended up flying upside down. Go Figure. I have not reviewed the footage but I doubt the rig will be in view. No biggie…. The light was lousy. I didn’t miss anything.

The abrasion on the risers is getting worse and will have to be addressed. Some kind of shield that’s thin and abrasion resistant. Aluminum Tape?

All in all it was a very comfortable flight.

Everything went smooth. The chase cam is getting dialed in and for the second day the weather was beautiful. I set-up 45 degrees off the runway attempting a quick crosswind adjustment. Almost made it too. I couldn’t start the turn before leaving the circle so I widened the turn, rolled into the grass and was able to get back on the runway. I kept it on the ground as long as possible for a, “no brake“, launch.

I made some lazy torque circles and climbed to 3000 ft. Then flew over to the Gaspirilla Marina. There was one small prop plane at the jet port, first time I seen anything other than midsized business jets.

Two launches and an abort.

The first launch was clean. Well…. Pretty clean. The left side was fouled by the chase cam. It came up crooked and had a hard time getting inflated. When it did harden up, I applied power and lifted off without using brake. As soon as I saw the cam was wrapped in the lines, I decided to land and made a short circle back to the LZ. Clean landing with cam in grass.

No Flyskyhy track. Flight time 3 minutes 6 seconds.

The next flight contained an abort. The breeze had stabilized, it was light but 40 degrees off the runway. I didn’t want to drag the wing and instead I got a half wet wing and 20 minutes wasted to reset. I marched the APCO a couple of hundred feet back and watched the wind build and stabilize 30 degrees of the runway.

The third attempt was golden.