Category: Uncategorized

#356 Simms with Marek

I love three flight days!


I set-up on the far North end in a patch of shallow weeds. There was a nice down hill grade and even if I had to Taxi into some tall stuff, I figured that I would be moving fast enough to plow right through. Marek got off first and I was right behind him. We both went north past the dam and I chased him west into the sun.

When I was at the West end of the lake I cut the corner and approached Marek from behind getting several good shots and i caught and passed him. Then we headed over to the High Schoola and Marek played low while I played high. I did a tight spiral dive and flew through my wake. WOW! The Thumper has a much bigger footprint than the Simonini had. Marek flew through it as well and he claims that the WACK bounced him 3 inches above his seat.

#354 & #355 Chatfield

Good morning flight. I practiced with the foot steering which seems harder to hook up than is has to be. I’m hesitant to let go of the throttle and brake which is a rookie fear. I really don’t know what that is all about but I’m gong to force the issue and try to get more comfortable with the rig. On return to the field I practiced a few touch and goes and landed. After the last of the coffee I went up for a very short flight. Just because I could 🙂

#346 & #347 Titan

Calm at Dawn….
Sunrise brought a South East wind. I launched with the Eden III. It was mildly bumpy but not to bad so I decided to go for it. I stayed up for 40 minutes and took a few shots of the marina. There was a steady wind across most of the surface, and possibly more there than at 1000 feet AGL. The RC Airport had one car in the lot and no sign of anybody getting ready to fly. Someday I would love to do a touch and go on their runway. Maybe I can bribe the gatekeeper! 🙂 When I got back to the field the wind had shifted to South West and bumpy. At 100 feet the wing started to oscillate but it corrected in time for a safe 3 point landing.

Steve pulled in right after I landed and he convinced me to go up again. The launch was just the way I liked it. I was able to get allot of speed on the smooth surface and when the wings was fully loaded and begging to fly I popped some brake and zoomed into the sky. It remind me of launching at Monument Valley last summer. Gawd I love a good runway!

It was swinging me all over the place so I landed after about 10 minutes. Even then, I aborted the first landing when the wind shifted 180 degrees. Steve went up and flew another 30 minutes. He said if you go directly west it’s calm over there. I’ll have to remember that.

#344 & #345 Titan

The summer of 09 finished with a flourish…

I’m sitting at my desk… in the shop with the garage door open listening to a huge “Big Drop” rainstorm. The air is cooling and I think our string of perfect days is about to be broken. Wow… 14 flights at 5 different sites in 12 days and except for a couple they were 40 minutes or more. In the last week, I’ve reunited with guys I haven’t seen in years and flown with some new guys just getting started. We have lost LZ’s and gained new ones and even reclaimed an old favorite that everybody thought was lost forever.

This morning I was at Titan before civil twilight, like yesterday it was very calm and built slowly as the sun came up. When it was light enough to launch the wind was blowing 8mph from the SW. This is the first time I have flown the Eden since I busted some lines ant Vance Brand. I took off with John Sieb spotting to make sure the buggy would roll out properly. It did but the wing swung to the left with a nasty cravat in the tip. I got it overhead and taxied for a good 100 feet until I was able to pumped it out. I remember the same thing happining at the Salton Sea, I think it had something to do with the chevron set up and the lightness of the fabric. Next time I’ll pay mor attention to the tips during the set-up.
The winds aloft were very different from the surface, not so much bouncy as switchy. I was being swung and pulled by errant currents. I tried changing altitude but found it was the same everywhere I went. So…after 20 minutes of being played like a puppet I decided to land and wait a bit.

Twenty minutes later it seemed to mellow so I went up again and this time it was bad in the first 100 feet. I stayed maybe 10 minutes and called it good for the day. Meanwhile John had taken off to the East and was going counter clockwise around the lake. Greg showed up, took off and didn’t return for an hour and three quarters. I have to relearn this site. When the wind is SW or W it is best to go east over the open fields then turn in to the park. The west end of the park is going to be calm normally and expect it to get ratty returning west of the LZ. If I’d paid attention I think I could have found smoother air.

While I was waiting for him to return I wandered around the field and thought about my early days here. The first really great launch after the first Salton Sea. I’d run harder than ever before and when I launched it was like a rocket. Two Hundred feet a minute right off the ground! The time I let off the throttle getting into my seat and dived to the earth only to power up and swoop back up from 10 feet. The time I took off with the wing oscillating and how I swung back under and almost clipped the earth at high speed sideways. While I was walking around I stumbled into the site of my last footlaunch and found a big piece of prop from the crash. I brought it home as a keepsake and am looking at it now.

At 9:30 Greg came in, landing vertically in 15 mph winds. While we packed up a pick-up came into the field and Greg & I thought for sure we were busted. Until I saw that there was a paramotor on the back. It was Steve the firefighter who lives across from Titan. We stood around for a long time and caught up. The best news was that Rush Soccer had sold the field and it was now part of the Shay Home development that is 7 years off. We might be flying here for a long long time!!

#341 #342 #343 Snowflake

Perfect conditions… Early bird gets the glass
Wrangler Dan goes after the Antelope


After I decided to quit for the morning Dan Paul and John continued. I should have as well because the thermals that would be expected didn’t start until almost ten. Ramon was out of the action so he stood around and kited. I used the opportunity to take out the Eden III and replaced the lines that were cut over a month ago. Maybe I’ll use it tomorrow when I fly at chatfield.

About 9:30 John arrived in a red Myata instead of flying. He had gone down with a slipping belt about 5 miles out and had to hitch a ride back to the LZ.


The two stroke demon was out in force this weekend
1. John lands right after take off with power loss
2.Greg lands out by the corn maze with motor out
3.Ramon brakes cord on pull start
4.John lands 7 miles out with slipped belt.

#334 Simms

Foggy day with Low Cloud Base


This was a weird one, I woke before the alarm which I fully intended to switch off and ignore. When I went downstairs and opened the garage door I was surprised to see that we were completely socked in. The cloud base was very low. It hadn’t rained and the grass was barely damp. I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go but I loaded up and drove down to the gas station for coffee and a sip of gas for the buggy. 30 minutes later I was at Simms driving in circles tying to find the place where the weeds were low enough to launch.

There were banks of fog in the area south of Red Rocks. I was wishing there was another pilot with me but the air seemed so still I had to go up and see what it was like. The launch was normal and for the first 30 minutes it was glass off. I went to 700 feet and started to lose site of the surface so I stayed there and kept a good eye on the ground. A couple of times the base lifted and them came back down…or maybe it was me but I was seeing the Denver skyline come in and out of the fog. The last 10 minutes the air started getting bumpy so I landed. As soon as I was down, I regretted it, There was a slight West breeze and with the thick overcast, I’m betting I could have flown past 10. But…It didn’t feel right flying in soup without back-up so i packed up and headed over to Chatfield. I spotted a couple of balloons through the fog and drove over to the port to see if I knew anyone. A couple of them had landed out so I drove over and assisted them in getting deflated.
Later I stopped at the old Titan LZ and was surprised to see that it had not been visited and seem to be dormant. I think the Rush Soccer Club has postponed the development which means that we will probably be able to fly out of the old field without anyone complaining. I’m going to go for it, even if it’s only once.

#331 Simms

Pilot Down ! ?

I launched into light Westerly breeze just as the sun was coming up. The lift was amazing, 150 to 250 ft/min climb everywhere I went. I was thinking I shouldn’t have ordered the Power Fins, but no…if they can give me a 25% increase in thrust, it’s going to be well worth it. Conditions like this morning are few and far between.
About 20 minutes into the flight I noticed a pick-up truck pulling up next to mine and since I didn’t see a motor I assumed that it was an observer. I stayed around to keep an eye on the guy and eventually he started laying out a wing so I came in to say hi. It turned out to be Greg who had flown with the gang a few times before moving to Arizona. I remember that we had hooked-up at the Flying Circus and stood under a tent in the rain and chatted for quiet awhile. Anyway Greg has moved back to Colorado and saw my post about flying this morning, so he came out to join me. We talked for a bit and watch the wind go nil and then switch from the West to East by North East. I had already set up the wing and buggy, heading into the west, I figured that it was less than a knot and I would be able to do a down wind launch… but it didn’t work this time. The wing came up crooked and I never was able to get it pressurized enough to get control. Since it was pretty close to my time limit I started to pack-up and before leaving I helped Greg get into the air. He did a couple of laps and took of to the North West. Twenty minutes later, no Greg…thirty minutes later, no Greg. I waited a while longer and drove Morrison Road trying to spot him. When that didn’t work I stopped at the Bear Creek Park entrance and asked it they had a paraglider down in the park. No Joy… By now I was certain that Greg had gone down and was walking out through hip deep weeds. After leaving the park I continued around in a big circle and returned to the field, I saw his truck, but no Greg.
Tracy had come out and was getting ready to fly his RC Copter and while we chatted I caught a glimpse of Greg flying low in the depression to the South West. Now that I knew he had not been forced down I felt free to leave and did so.
…But that is not the end of the story. I spoke with Greg later in the day and after we saw him he circumnavigated Bear Creek and worked his was East of the Prison. Somewhere by the prison Greg’s motor died ( maybe he ran out of gas because he had been up for well over two hours by then ) and he was forced down in Federal Property. He was greeted by some agents and escorted off the property. In situations where the field is bumpy or overgrown with weeds, I lay out my
loading ramps to give me a few feet of smooth surface to build some inertia.

#327 Simms

T-Shirt weather!

The low pressure has passed and we are in for 2 or 3 days of dry high pressure weather. Olivia and I headed out at 6:30pm. Perfect conditions …warm, light breeze, not a cloud in the sky.

Marek arrived just after us and was ready to fly in 2 minutes. Unfortunately he hooked a line on a camera mount and it went into his prop, breaking the line. I launched a few minutes later and had a great flight. The air was butter smooth, I went to 500 feet and did gentle wing overs until the sun went behind the mountain and then I climbed another 500 feet to meet the sun. At 1500 feet AGL I said goodbye to the sun for the last time I turned on the strobes and spent the rest of the flight in a very slow decent watching football practice at the high school and Olivia goofing around the truck.

Funny..It’s almost the end of August and this was my first evening flight of the season. The days are changing and I think afternoons are going to take over the dawn during the next couple of weeks.
Today I put Slime in all three tires. Wednsday morning’s flight was good but the hogs head thorns are all over Dick’s. If it doesn’t work I’ll have Spadels do me a set of Poly tubes.