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.

Sunset Flight 873

                                                  Tonight was a gift.                                                         



I’d spent the day keeping Dawn company.  Her shoulder is recovering nicely and she is taking very little pain medication.  Today, she and I layed around, watched TV and basically did nothing.  At 3:00pm I was eyeballing the kayak thinking of maybe catching a sunset paddle.  The winds had been 10+ all day so I didn’t even consider a flight.  But at 5:00 the breeze started to mellow and at 6:30 it was flyable.  I kissed my bride, jumped in the truck and was at the field a good hour before sunset.

I was expecting to find the skydiving operation busy on such a beautiful Saterday evening but there wasn’t a soul at the field.  Maybe everybody was in Lakeland at the Airshow.  Whatever the reason, I had the place to myself and was happy to be there.  Before leaving The house, I noticed that I’d left the key in the ignition … Doh … Fortunently I had the mini jumper with me.  I wouldn’t have the juice to start it twice so I pushed the trike out to the runway instead of motoring out and set up to launch going north.  

Take off was lovely and I was  soon climbing slow circles above the field.  At 700ft the temp dropped 20 degrees and at 2000 it was damned cold, I took a few pics and watched the sun decend to Charlotte Harbor.  Looking back, I wished that I’d stayed low until the last minute and then climbed to altitude for a final shot.  Next time ….:)

Gearing up for the high altitude flight later this year, I brought a strip of all wrap to use for a cruise control.  It worked fine except that the piece I’d brought was a too long and difficult to manage.  Also, I layed the throttle across my lap and while I don’t think it could get away, I did worry about it flying off and getting into the prop.  Next time I’ll use a SCUBA keeper clip, like I had on the trike buggy and… 
I think I’m going to redo the throttle strap with all wrap and incorporate a piece to use for cruise control.
About 45 minutes into the flight I decided to go back up and hopefully ,shoot the sun just as it dropped below the horizon. I closed the trimmers all the way, mashed down the throttle and was surprised at the climb rate. I was acending at 260 ft/min whereas before it was a miserable 125.  If the wing climbs this well in sinking air, I wonder what it will be like when it’s stable?  I was amazed.  Since I bought the Lift, I’ve been experimenting with the Reflex aspect, how fast could I go and how much power did it take to stay level.  I was only closing the trim for landing… But, what would happen if I kept the trim in hand during launch and closed it at takeoff?  Would I jump into the sky?  The question is…Would I have to let go the brakes or could I close them with the brakes in hand?  I think if I try that I’ll risk stalling the wing but there might be a way to configure things so I still have the brakes in hand and be able to pull “full closed” or perhaps,  just pull the trim until I begin to feel the brakes. 
It’s gong to be HUGE!

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.

Palm Bay. 870 & 871

I drove to Palm Bay Friday afternoon.  Fortunately I’d dropped a pin on the compound when I was up last month but Rex had to drive around a bit before he found it. 
 Here is the address: 2273 Skywood Ct SW.  The Compound is partially developed land similar to 
Placida but not as large.  We were restricted to 2 blocks with a cul de sac separating them.  The field is ringed by smallish trees but there is plenty of room to climb out.  


There was a lot of guys getting ready to fly and the winds were light.  I set up at the farthest end and waited for the pilot ahead of me to launch.  When it was my turn I inflated the wing and started to roll.  James Farewell pulled the trigger at the same time from the left side, crosswise to my runway.  I was just taking off when I saw we were on a collision course, so I cut power, touched down and taxied until James was clear.  He saw me and also modified his launch.  Several people mentioned it and I guess it looked pretty dicey but neither one of us felt we were in danger.  Anyway, it was a good flight with no other surprises.
After the evening flight I wandered around and caught up with old friends.   Leon Wacker was there with Scotty and his engineer (?).  I also saw CC, her partner, Elisabeth and Eric, Eric Fairwell and the entire Avaitor gang including a grumpy demo team from Kuwait calling themselves ARMY.  I’m not sure what they are all about.  Apparently the Kuwait Military sponsors their equipment and pays for their expenses.  If they are supposed to be flying ambassadors from the Persian Gulf, somebody should talk to them about diplomacy.  Among themselves they are all smiles and chatter but when I sat down with them and James during dinner they were anything but cordial.   Maybe it was a language barrier, I hope so.  Later that evening I had dinner with Rex and his lovely wife Sherry.  
The next mornings flight was wonderful with the best sunrise of the season.

                            (photo credit, Mike Lange)

Once again I stayed high…. At least until the last 15 minutes when I played around the patch.  
The finisher was lunch with Jeff and Tim followed by a casual drive down the East coast.



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.  🙂