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Flight 875 Shell Creek

MFlew to 7075 feet and coasted down at 500 ft/min.  It took about 15 minutes to get down.  Low clouds and ground fog were moving from the North East but there were layers where the breeze was pretty strong from the south.  The one wrap worked better after shortening the strap.  I’m going to look for a better type of cruise control … One that I can release more quickly.

Adjusting the A Assists in flight, using plastic Nite Ize cord cam.

Flight 872. 6250 AGL

Nice! 

 

I haven’t committed aviation for 2 weeks and it was past time.  
The goal for this flight was altitude.  I’d like to get up to 10,000 ft in the next view months so this could be considered an exploratory flight.  I wore skins , fleece and the flight suit, except for my hands getting cold, it was all good.  
What seemed like extremely calm air on the ground (as predicted), turned very quickly into 20 mph at 150 ft.  I blew the first launch probably because of the twitchy wind 20 feet above the surface.  The second attempt went better but it was still a fast downwind launch.  I’m beginning to think that all the trouble I was having, (when I first purchased the wing), with slow climb outs was really me launching from the wind shadow into a downwind air.  The terrian is so thick with twenty foot palms and other trees that the surface, even over the runway, appears calm.  It’s not like I’m launching into a bunch of rotor but one minute it’s calm and then at 20-30 feet, I’m in a wind.  If I ever see the Party size helium tanks again, I’m going to buy it to test my theory.  
The strong Northerly breeze was limited to a layer 400 feet thick starting just above the surface.  At 500 feet it began to decrease and when I was at 6200 msl it was only ten  or twelve  mph.
There were three distinct layers where my climb rate would decrease from 250 to 100 ft/ min.  I didn’t notice dramatic changes in the air temp between the layers but I’m sure there was.
When I reached 6250 I was cold enough that I knew it made no sense to go higher so I took a few photos and pointed for home.  On decent I turned off the motor and enjoyed listening to nothing but the sound of the wind.  I was dropping at 400 to 500 ft/min with very little forward forward speed.  When it looked like I wasn’t going to be able to get back to the field in a glide, I turned the Generac back on and finished the last mile under power at 100 AGL   I would have liked to have done a power off landing but the last 300 feet were turbulent and so came in under power and landed without drama.
Since the breeze was a healthy 12+ straight down the runway I kited for 45 minutes.  The APCO LIFT is not the greatest kiting wing but in these conditions it’s pretty good.  I’m beginning to use the tip steering when kiting and it does very nicely.

Ahead of the winds. 867 Shell Creek

                              Not this morning, but it was a good one anyway.

Awoke at 6:00.  Dawn was up and had been for awhile.  It was predicted to be windy but right now it was calm.  What the hell….I pulled on some pants and headed out.  At the field it was barely blowing from the east.  I motored out to the runway across from Richards house and set up for a 30 degree crosswind launch.  The wing wasn’t directly into the wind but I didn’t want to inflate it pointing directly at Richards.  It came up extremely high on the right side but I was able to give it some brake and turn the wing down the runway.  Liftoff was quick and relatively clean.  Heading east I climbed through some class 5 bumps and then passed through the surface layer into warmer and smoother air.  I layed on the throttle and continued to climb to 400 feet.  The GPS was showing 10 mph so I continued to climb.

It was a beautiful morning.  There was a thick marine layer but no fog.  Visibility was good enough to see Punta Gorda but not Burnt Store.  At 600 feet I’d slowed to 4 mph and at 650 I was going 16 mph BACKWARDS!  The winds were probable 50 mph.  I had not changed the trim or switched to tip stearing yet and could have gone to reflex and might have penetrated.  
Decending to 400 feet I regained forward  motion but it was bumpy.  I turned west and was over the field in a blink.  The GPS showed top speed of 58mph. 
The landing was fine.  I decended almost vertically and pulled one S turn at 100 feet, touching down at the corner of Frank’s and Skydive SWF.
By the time I had dismounted and gathered the wing, the winds were coming down to the surface so I kited for awhile and packed up.
It wasn’t a long flight but I got my fix.  🙂

Home from Jamaica ….. Ya Mon

The RUI Negril on the West coast of Jamaica. 

All of us competed serious sessions of sport tanning.  Myself, a proponent of active tanning could not help but to appreciate the facilities, this was certainly the most well appointed “Static Tanning Veneu” in the Caribbean.  There was an in-pool bar to keep everybody hydrated and talented performers working the crowd.  We were entertained by “paddle board jousting”, trivia, beer chugging, water aerobics and the occasional good book.  
One word of warning.  The only way to get a drink was to swim to the bar.  Be careful to empty your pockets before strolling over to the bar to get your partner a drink.   Sport Tanning wasn’t the only activity, between our competition to achieve a beautiful bronze, we enjoyed scuba diving , sea yakking, snorkeling and lots of catamaran sailing.  
This end of the island is primarily private homes and resorts with little in way of commerce.  There were a few restaurants but not so much in the way of traditional brick and mortar.  Negril retail has evolved into bamboo shacks lined up at water line between the resorts.  A walk along the beach was an adventure in the art of hustling   Any transaction you might desire, the Jamaicans were honor bound to provide, if you were looking for clothing or trinkets, cheap beaded jewelry or wood carving … No Problem Man.  Maybe a little ganja?  Hash? Women? Men?  Speedboat ride?  Ya Mon…. No Problem… I have a friend who has a boat.

Excursions of note:
Taxi ride around the West End.  We visited a bar called Xtaba who featured  a stairway leading down from the bar to a cave that is open to the sea. We only stayed for a minute but I swear that it’s on my bucket list for another visit.

A booze cruise out to Famous Rick’s Cafe to buy T-shirts and watch the Cliff Divers.

The pictures are going to be from GoPro and possibly sea Life digital.

At the RIU Resort in Negril Jamaica. It’s a lot like being 

864 & 865

IMorning flights at Placida and Shell Creek respectively.

No Drama, 
This morning at Shell Creek it was spitting rain, I cut it short when I noticed the winds starting to pick up.  It was 25 mph at 350 feet while stil very light at the surface.  Winds were from the east.  Since “Big Anne”, has an issue with me touching her landing zone I was forced to make a short landing across the runway.  
Here is the whole 7 minute video

The Chair Video 863

I YPlacida is one of the nicest places I’ve ever flown. Forty years ago it was one mans dream of riches and paradise and another mans real estate nightmare.  

Ever hear? …….I’ve got swamp land in Florida that’s going to make us both rich”.  

These days, it’s just miles of open land with nothing but narrow ribbons of asphalt that that were to be the streets of a community that was never built.  Truly a PPG Trike paradise, nice little runways in all directions.  No curbs trying to catch wheel and no wires waiting to pluck you from the sky.  No matter which way the wind is blowing, it’s a simple matter to set up in a cul de sac so that you have a the first hundred feet into the wind.  
Today was special because in was blowing right down the road.  I was able to inflate the wing and stay on the asphalt until I’d built enough speed that the wing literally  jumped into the air.
Today’s mission was to fly the arrow cam through some moderately steep turns both under power and without.  The idea was to figure out how the Paramotor would be framed during different manuvers and depending on whether the cam was on the inside or the outside of the turn.
As far as videos go, it’s a real stinker,  I spiced it up with a great Lannie Garrett song to make it tolerable.  so…. This movie is all about the soundtrack.
Technical note …. The cage had a weld break loose which Mike Lange graciously repaired in short order.  When it happened I felt it !  I didn’t know what it was but I sensed something and the first thing I did after landing was grab the frame to give it a shake and there was the break, right there in my hand.

I spoke with Terry about the belt which I’m thinking should be replaced.  He told me to measure the center to center of the hubs if I could not find the numbers.  Well dispite not seeing them the last time I looked, there they were, big as hell.