Category: new site

APCO LIFT EZ flight 805 806

The first flight was at Placida in 5mph breeze.

EZ Launch and better climb.  Probably because the density of altitude was much better than the first few flights.  I did see a post on the Big List where Dan Dimov has been flying a lift for about a year and mostly at sea level.  He mentioned he was not pleased with the climb when flying at 5500+ ASL.   It’s climb will be less, of course, but thats true with any wing.  It’s possible that the thrust of his motor had as much to do with change in climb as the wing.  Anyway he has moved onto faster more sporty wings
It would really be interesting to have him fly the EZ and comment on any difference he noticed with the latest generation of the lift.
The manual recommends that you fly straight for a time to gain altitude and speed before beginning a turn.  That could be a problem when the LZ is small and you have to circle the field.  Perhaps, that would be the time to apply the tip steering?  After 5 launches, 4 required some brake to take off  and only one (where I had a paved runway) was I able to get enough speed to launch without any brake pressure.  At negative trim the wing will not launch but it is acceptable to go “all closed” after .  I have not yet flown the wing with the trimmers “all closed”, but it will be interesting to see how much it slows down the wing and how it handles.  APCO states the speed range is three times faster at full reflex with speed bar than with trims all in.

SRS
The LIFT EZ features an innovative riser design allowing to slow down the glider to minimum speed without risking getting caught in deep stall.


The manual states, “in powered flight the Lift EZ behaves more like an airplane than a Paraglider, and it is a good idea to regard it as such.  LIFT EZ in a steep climb does not stay behind as much as a conventional glider.  The SRS prevents or delays a possible stall”.  So… Perhaps a little brake pressure is needed to get max climb.
I flew for awhile in neutral and discovered that a little more brake pressure made a lot of difference in handling shifty air…. No surprise there!….. I was just being too timid  with a new wing.  In fact, the latest generation of magnetic toggle keeper is so strong that I was startled when  the brake came off the keeper.  I thought I was applying minimal pressure to the wing but was just pulling against the keeper.  When it let go I felt the brakes go slack it surprised me.  Next time I’m going to experiment with using the brakes with increasingly open trim.  The question is… At what point of trim is it necessary to switch from brakes to wing tip steering?  APCO states that at full reflex, the brake input will require much more force and increase the possibility of collapse.  I’m guessing somewhere around 1/3 to 1/2 reflex will be the shift to tip steer.  They also mention flying with both brakes and tip steer which should be interesting.
WSS – WIND SCOOP SYSTEM
APCO has designed the tip steer to form a wind scoop / drag parachute that produces drag without lift.  They claim it will make for agile and efficient turns with less input pressure and also cause more stable tips.  I might have to increase the length of the tip steer.  Next time I’m up, I’ll watch for the little pooch where the stabilo pulls the material together.
The second launch was that evening  at the intersection of Veterans Hwy and Peachtree.  The winds picked up as the sun was going down and we were forced into quick laps around the field.  I landed after about 20 minutes when I noticed the air starting to get gusty.  The landing was one for my memory book.  I was returning to the SW corner of the field downwind at 50 mph and decending  at 750 fpm.  As I approached the LZ I started turning into the wind and was on final for only a second or two before touching down.  Mike was saying to himself, “that’s going to hurt”, but it felt correct and in control to me.  I was in neutral and will try it next time with the trimmers fully closed.
After landing, Mike Otten showed up.  It was too windy to fly so we kited.  Mike tried out my wing and I had a good opportunity to see it in flight.
Nice looking wing.

799 Fun and Sun

 Mike Lange and I got up at O dark thirty and drove to

Lakeland for the Fun and Sun Aviation Expo.  
Fun and Sun is one of the largest Fly In and Expos in America, second only to the big one at OshKosh.  It fills the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport and hosts a tremendous number of vendors and a huge diversity of aircraft including a fine showing of vintage airframes, including warbirds.  

When it got too hot to wander around the field, Mike and I sought shade at the Aviator booth.  Eric  Fairwell was a great host.  Not only did he provide all the water we could drink, he also hooked us up with passes for the gate.  Eric is the Nirvana dealer and has done a great job promoting the product and the sport.  When my friend Rex Mangurian mentioned that he didn’t get a copy of the bible during his training, Eric promptly gave him a copy which Jeff Goin happily autographed.  Great Guys, I wish them the best.


Planet PPG had a booth and Paul was in his element, giving seminars and demo flights.  Paul has recently gained control of the Pine Island Airstrip and has been busy clearing trees and making it into a premier PPG school.  


Rob Catto was there with his excellent PPG simulator, the Virtual Foot Flyer. I was impressed with how real the experience was.  Unlike a video game where the control inputs are buttons and joysticks, the Virtual Foot Flyer has you in a harness, pulling brakes and using weight shift. It allows you to swivel your head and see where you are looking. There is a turbine blowing wind in your face and the sound effect include a sub woofer that feeds vibration thru the harness.  The whole experience was increadably realistic.  When it was over, I exclaimed, “When I’m ninety,  I want one of these things”.
  


I also met Nick Reed who is building the V Twin Flyer.  Nick is a past student of Terry Lutke and is building an airframe along the same lines as the Falcon.  He has made a few changes, primarily a large castered nose wheel which I’m sure improves ground handling.  The fit and finish is very good  and his pricing is competitive.  Terry is supplying some key parts of the redrive and in typical Lutke fashion, he has given Nick his blessing.  It’s good to see that another builder sees the value of this design.  

A real blast from the past was Randy Schlitter, the president and founder of RANS Aircraft.  Thirty years ago Randy owned a small bike shop in Hays Kansas and I was a manufacturers Rep selling bike parts.  Once a month I would make the trek to Kansas City and along the way I would visit every small town hardware store and try to sell a few bike parts.  I fancied myself as the Campagnolo expert and my sample bag was full of high dollar racing parts.  The reality was….I was lucky to sell a few boxes of Wald bearings and maybe a sissy bar or some inner tubes.
Randy’s shop was one of the few real bike shops between Denver and KC.  It was just a small space with limited inventory but Randy was the real deal. He read the trade magazines, followed the trends and dreamed big.   Even then, he was interested in manufacturing.  I proudly carried a RANS belt pack that he developed when he was looking into the bike pannier business.  It was ten cents of quilted fabric with a couple of belt loops sewn on.  I’ll never forget the logo. It was done in that weird ballooned font of 1970 computer culture.  Eventually he designed and produced the RANS Recumbent, which was the most affordable recumbent available. Quickly, the RANS Recumbents became a true player in the industry, with significant production and good distribution.  
I remember sitting in his kitchen one morning and asking about the drawings of  aircraft that were laying around.  Some were conventional looking aircraft and some were futuristic lifting bodies similar to the modern stealth fighter.  Randy calmly told me, that someday, he was going to build airplanes.  
NOW…. THIRTY YEARS LATER…. RANS is a leader in light sport Aviation.  

There we were, two old guys, sitting in the shade of his exhibit, chatting about the “good ol” days and all the changes we’ve seen.  He told me that he had recently sold the recumbent manufacturing business but still kept his hand in as a consultant.  We talked about the Aviation business and how it was starting to come back from the recession.  I was happy to learn that Randy is still sailing, he is looking for a new boat like the Hunter 26.5 I left in Colorado.  We made plans to hook up in Punta Gorda and sail together.

Paul C. Enlisted me to fly a demo tandem with him during the evening flights.  I was pretty nervous,  its been years since my last foot launch and I think the last tandem was with Moe Sheldon at the Salton Sea more than 5 years ago.  I was worried that my knee would fail and I’d end up embarrassing Paul by face planting but we launched and landed without incident.  Thanks Paul.
Here is a video of the launch….

Photo by Eric Fallwell

After dark there was an excellent aerobatic show with lots of LEDs smoke and magnesium flares.  Mike and I hiked back to the car with our heads on a swivel.

732 Placida STORM CLOUDS ARE A RISING

Notice the budding storm cloud lit by the sunrise

I woke before the alarm and was on my way by 5:00am. Arrived at the field an hour ahead of the other guys. The mosquitoes were thick and it was 78 degrees and humid.  I had been watching the lighting off to the North since leaving the house and encountered a small rain showers just past Jobean bridge.  The guys arrived at 6:15 and we were ready to fly by 6:30.
There was a storm cloud NorthWest and Bob suggested that we fly around it to the South.  I thought the beach was closer than that and when he said that the cloud was between us and the beach, I pretty much decided that I wasn’t going to the beach.  

Mike and Bob launched about 5 minutes ahead of me into very light breezes from the Southwest and headed off directly at 300 feet or so to the south.  I launched and stayed near the patch climbing to to 1200 feet.  Instead of chasing after the guys I took in the sunrise and the beautiful clouds over Punta Gorda.
Rain clouds forming  6:45
Thunder head building (looking southwest). 7:00 am
10 minutes later!
About 10 minutes into the flight I saw lighting in the north and rain coming down hard.  I wasn’t sure but the storm was possibly heading toward the LZ and I didn’t want any part of it.  So,  I went to idle and descended to land.  The air was smooth with lots of lift..  My best descent was well under 300 feet / minute and The whole time I was watching the rain moving toward me. At 200 feet there was a layer of bumps but the landing was very smooth.  Thinking I was about to get soaked, I bagged the wing and prepared to stash it in the cab.  As it turned out the storm passed to the North and the wind never picked up.  I stood around and listened for the sound of two strokes between the thunder claps that were 5 seconds away,  thinking about the old adage, ” It’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than, in the air wishing you were on the ground”.   Forty five minutes later Mike and Bob returned from a great beach flight.  DAMN!
I’m wondering how the  lack of elevation changes change the way I perceive distances?  Or is it just that these particulars storms were small and localized. Or both…. I should have been better able to predict the storm’s path.  It was flowing with the ocean breeze toward the Northeast.  
This is a great place with lots of open space and the streets are laid out beautifully for triking.  I’m going to return soon. 

Moved to Florida

708 to 712
Dawn was out of town last week so I took the opportunity to fly at every chance.  
I got in several flights, all 45 minutes or longer, all at the North Port Charlotte LZ.  The site is not my favorite, it’s narrow and bordered on all sides by tall trees.  So far, so good but I can see problems if the wind changes after I’m up.  The rotor from the trees would force me to land out at the least.  I have driven the area and located some alternate landing zones but all of them are marginal and a good hike from the launch.  More disturbing is that some of the LZs that I’d spotted from the air were absolutely not acceptable.  Hopefully, I would have seen the hazards and aborted the landing … but… if it had been a motor out or some other emergency I would have been in a world of hurt.  
Note to self…. Just because it looks good from 500 feet doesn’t mean it’s  landable  terrain.
One morning, I launched in what I thought was nil winds, only to find, there was a strong tail wind at the treetops.  There wasn’t any rotor because the wind was inline with the road but I was moving fast and the climb rate didn’t leave much margin to clear the trees.  Fortunately the landing was a non event, I lined up with the road and landed into the wind, between the trees. There was some turbulence at 20 feet but it didn’t do anything but bounce me around a bit.
Two days ago I was finally able to speak with Frank Moss, the owner of Shell Creek Airport.  He started the conversation with , “I don’t want anybody running commercial operations at Shell Creek”.  Apparently Kurt Fister had done some training there and left them with a bad taste for Powered Paragliders, I assured him that I was a respectful pilot and had shared the field with the largest skydiving company in Colorado.  Apparently he was willing to reconsider because he is letting me fly his field.
Shell Creek is a great LZ.  There is a long grass strip with 20 acres of grass for the skydivers.  The whole area is wide open and there aren’t any wires to catch.
The grass is trimmed like a golf course and the LZ is trimmed like a putting green.  There are a handful of abandoned DC-10s and an old cargo copter rusting along the edges of the property.  Some day I’ll be there when somebody is around and I’m going to ask to poke around the wrecks.
The last two weeks have been the beginning of a new chapter.  Yes, we started this move back in February and there are still some major challenges ahead but for the first time in almost 5 years I go to bed looking forward to the morning.  There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.
 

New Home Field North Port Charlotte, Florida 702 to 704

702, 703, 704 Vance Brand a few days after 701

We arrived in Punta Gorda three weeks ago.  I’ve been frustrated by the fact that Pine Island Airport is unavailable due to some ambiguous legal dispute. Paul Czarnecki  has assured me that the issue will be resolved in his favor shortly and I hope he is right.  After 2 disappointing trips out there I finally posted to Facebook looking for local pilots.  Within 20 minutes Mike Lange contacted me and invited me to his home field  in Port Charlotte only 25 minutes from our temporary quarters in Seminole Lake Country Club.

Take off was sloppy but the air was smooth and warm.  I climbed to 700 feet and followed Mike North out of the forest and into wet pasture country.


North Port Charlotte

27°02’14.1″N 82°04’22.5″W  


Lots of wildlife  Deer, Hogs, gaters, Birds

No Pictures this time but they will be coming soon.

Thanks Mike

Steamboat Springs Balloon Rodeo #665

The 2013 Steamboat Balloon Festival 


right place right time 

 

Dawn and I had planned to visit some friends in Steamboat and it was only a lucky break that it was the same weekend as the Festival.  We had a concert the evening before, so I wasn’t able to attend the pilot briefing on Friday night. I spoke with Debby Standefer the Balloon Meister earlier in the week and knew I was welcome but little else.


So, with little information and a gut full of butterfly s I arrived at the field on Saturday morning.  I had expected a large park and was hoping for plenty of room to launch but was disappointed to find a small rectangle surrounded by vendor booths.  There was no chance that I would be able to launch early and even after the mass ascension it would not be an easy launch.  There were too many obstructions and not enough room.  Debby suggested that I look around for an alternate site and I found a spot on the other side of the jump pond where a couple of the local balloonists were beginning to set-up.  

Steamboat 2013 LZ


It wasn’t great, there was a narrow runway of hard pack that ended abruptly into a field of tall weeds.  There were some trees to avoid and of course the pond that separated us from the rest of the festival. It looked possible but I was going to have to get the inflation right immediately and make the go- no go decision within 30 feet of the start. 


I spoke with Ian, the senior balloonist, who explained that the visiting pilots were concerned about a large cell several miles off and the possible winds that it might send our way.  The plan was for him and another one of his balloons to launch at this site and act as “Pie Plates” for the others to gauge the air.  He wasn’t too encouraging and told me that it might be a very short flight.  While we were talking a slight breeze came up from down valley which was in exactly the right direction.  I took it to be a good omen and set up.  



Ian launched quickly and his second balloon set up and inflated in record time.  It was now or never.  When I powered up, the wing only need a quick tug on the right side to bring it in-line with the runway.  It felt good from the start and once I was rolling I had no doubts.  Just before I got to the end of the hard pack I lifted off and started a very slow climb-out.  When I got to the trees I did a couple of turns between the largest groves and it was all good.  Dawn said that it looked close on take off and because of the trees they were not able to see where I was until I had climbed up and around the trees.  



Once up, it was a great flight.  I cruised over the Balloon field a couple of times and saw only one balloon that looked like it was going to launch.  The rest of the field was loaded with people milling around.  There was no way I was going to do a fly-by on the field, so I circled at 75 feet and waved before heading up valley to play with the two locals.  



Steamboat is a beautiful place to fly and I look forward to coming back.   The valley air was calm and the ski mountain looked like a great climb 3000 feet to the top.  There was a freight train rolling down the valley and lots to see.  I could have stayed up all morning and would have, except that it was starting to sprinkle and I was worried that it was only going to get worse.  After flying around the smaller balloon I turned back to check out my landing options.  I used the radio to ask Dawn  to clear the field and by the time I had circled once it was free of spectators.  


The landing was much like the take off,. narrow with obstructions to avoid.  There was no clearing turn before final,  I just set up over the Yampa and followed it in.  As soon as I cleared the trees I went to idle and touched down exactly right.  It felt good,

Time for showers and breakfast

  




This is a place I want to come back to, the area is flyer friendly and the view is wonderful.  At 6800 feet it’s not to high for a reasonable launch but with the ski area there I could do some serious climbing and never be 50 feet agl.  

Till the next time Steamboat.




Walsenburg Spanish Peak Airport … 648

Not a soul except one unhappy old man.  Light breeze out of the SSW.  Launch was slightly rugged due to the portside brake toggle locking up. The forest fire had been knocked down from the high plumes of the day before.  Instead of the dramatic footage I was hoping for there was a faint smokey haze covering the horizon.  I changed plans and checked out the north end of Walsenburg.  Nice flight …. Calm air
Great airstrip

Endless Foot Drag 623 to 626

Britton Shaw has hosted the “Endless Foot Drag”  for many years.  One look at the field and it is easy to see why people come back over and over again.  Miles of Bermuda Sod bordering the  Mike Bennett and I had driven through heavy weather to Fort Smith Arkansas for an Instructors Clinic that Chad Bastian was giving.  I arrived Tuesday night and rather than pitch a tent on the saturated field I took advantage of Dawn’s gernerousity and asked her to book a room for us at the Hilton affiliate.  I had been looking forward to camping but a first class room is wonderful too!  We spent the day with Chad and 6 other pilots in the Hampden Inn board room.  What a group…. I think I was the only one there who wasn’t a licensed GA pilot.  Bruce and Terry had been flying for decades, Shawn was a CFI and Apache driver.  Garrett had thousands of sky dives and was a GA pilot.  It was humbling.

We were given the luxurious “Board Room” to have our clinic and spent all day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning doing class work.  Chad was great keeping us on track and covering the entire syllabus.

Wednesday and Thursday we broke up at 6:00 and went out to the field.  Wednesday was great!  I got in two flights and way over 2 hours of flight time.  I even turned on the strobes and stayed up well into nautical twilight.  Thursday was at the event site and equally good. Friday afternoon I picked up Dawn and we returned to the field where the event was starting to ramp up.  Vendor booths were being assembled and pilots were arriving.  I was tickled to see so many old friends from Fly Ins past.

Just as Dawn and I were getting ready to walk the field and show off Beau, Britton came over and informed us that dogs were not allowed on the field.  The landowner was concerned because of a dog bite to a child the previous year. What a drag.  We set up the spare tent to keep Beau in but he would have none of it, jumping at the door and biting the fabric.  Dawn eventually sat in the tent and stayed with Beau while Chad walked us through some radio training.  It was too windy for any but the most skilled pilots so we watched until dark.

The next morning I got up early and was able to get in a short flight in strong and ratty air.  Kurt later told me the wind was 9 mph gusting to 17 when I landed.  It wouldn’t have been fair to leave Dawn to sit in the hotel with the dog for the rest of the weekend so I packed up the rig and said my goodbyes.
So I didn’t really get to enjoy the Famous Endless footdrag but I did get my Instructor Certification.  Perhaps we could have put Beau in Doggie Day Care but thats water under the bridge now. 

Dawn and I pulled out of Fort Smith at 1:00 pm and power drove back to Colorado.  We were in bed by 1:15 am

Thanks Britton …. You have a great Fly In … I look forward to flying with you in the future.

Bob Peloquin

Chad Bastian

Flying the single surface glider

Falcon

Andy McAvin

Mike Bennett

#540 Saint Marys LZ



I was up at 5 but the wind was blowing.  After a cup of coffee it came down enough that I couldn’t excuse myself for not flying.  20 minutes later I was loaded and on the way.  The Breeze was light from the SSE and I was able to set up parallel to the rows and between the two sets of power lines.  If it weren’t for the thousands of huge prairie dog holes and the bumpy surface ….and the confusion of power lines … this would be a damn good field.
The air was a bit twitchy and at 800 feet it was blowing and mixing.  I did a few laps and landed early.  Good Flight