Powered Paragliding. A most Personal form of Flight

No Fly Day

This was a disappointing morning. Bad weather and having my bride home has made it difficult to get in any flights. Last night she worked late allowing me to hit the sack early. This morning I woke 15 minutes before the alarm, jumped out of bed and arrived at the field at first light. I was concerned that I might have left the key in the ignition but …. No, it’s all good. Cranked up the theme to True Detective, loaded the wing in my lap, taxied out to the launch zone and just as I arrived I heard/felt a crack. Damned if the nose wheel hadn’t collapsed! The last flight was normal with a normal landing. I’m not sure if it had been damaged for awhile or if it rotted from the inside or I banged it into the earth on landing and just didn’t notice.

Oh well…

I’m off to San Fran tomorrow and will just have to deal with it when I get home.

Note to self….. Take pump and full tool kit to field when you go to replace the wheel. It did seem to be coming up to full power and maybe the cable needs tightening.

821… 823

Two flights last Thursday and another this morning. No drama, other than Mike braking the netting tensioner on his cage. It did go into his prop taking out a chunk, but he was able to nurse it back to the LZ. I’ve been working on getting as much ground speed as possible before lifting off. This morning the roll out was good. I didn’t touch the brakes until after the front wheel left the ground and then only very lightly. The climb was dramatic. The last two flights I landed with the trimmers completely closed. It works ok and I’m coming in darn slow but the brakes feel mushy. I’m going to try it alternating between neutral and closed and see what the sweet spot is.

I’m keeping the rig at Shell Creek in the Airport Managers hanger while Marc is using the truck.

It’s nice to drive out to the field in the MR-2. It saves loading and unloading the truck. I pull up to the hanger, pull on my flight suit and go. On the other hand I’m limited to Shell Creek Airport.

SCA 819 & 820

Two short flights. The first flight was cut short when I discovered that the brake line was wrapped around the risers. It was not something that could be sorted out, without landing. I made a slow 180* turn and set down. The second flight was about 25 minutes and shortened by virga and rain approaching. After landing I watched it build … dissipate and build again. I could have probably stayed up without incident and never felt anything on the surface but ….

The brake line is another matter. I checked the brakes and all lines before and after clip in but the wrap was well beyond the risers. I should have caught it when laying out the wing and will have to be more careful in the future. If I ever have an opportunity to replace lines I will certainly change the color of the black ones. They are hard to see and it’s easy to miss a fouled line.

During the run out I discovered that I was using too much brake pressure. It didn’t seem like that much but after centering the wing I consciously put my hands all the way up and felt the wing accelerate and move forward. I let the trike roll and pick up speed for another 30 feet and then when I touched the brakes, it rotated immediately. Perhaps that explains the long take off runs I’ve been experiencing.

Last week I spotted a lonely little lenticular cloud below a bunch of circulnumbus. I don’t know what caused it but it was worth taking a shot.

Flight #818 Placida

Dawn had an early flight so I got up with her and was at the LZ a few minutes after 0600. It was almost a no wind take off right down the undeveloped cul de sac I was using for a runway. Although the winds were right I didn’t want to cross the Gaspirilla Causway alone so I contented myself with a good tour on the mainland side of Gaspirilla.

The air was good with the occasional bump. Lots of activity this morning. While returning to the LZ I felt a strange vibration. The motor seemed fine but it was something new and therefore … Not good.

The landing was fine with a nice float, it was all good except that I had to jump a swell and ended up banging the front caster down when the rear wheels touched against the rise at the far end. That jolt was probably just enough to open up the broken weld on the top vertical spar of the cage. Mike Lange was planning to be gone over the weekend so I took it into Gregs automotive who took it in for the quick fix.

Update…. Greg’s welder John, was trained by my good friend John Fetz

Flight #817 SCA

After a particularly difficult night where sleep was elusive and disturbed I awoke at 0600 to clear and calm conditions. I pulled on my shorts and left the house immediately. Perhaps the clerk at Circle K could tell I needed it, because she didn’t charge me for the coffee.

Arriving at the field, I discovered the same old mistake rearing its ugly head. After my last flight, I had bagged the wing out in the field and motored back to the truck killing the engine with the throttle kill switch and… as has happened so many times before, I left the key in the ignition, draining the battery. If there is one thing I would change about the Falcon, its the keyed ignition. I would much prefer a start button that toggles on or off … Anything to keep me from repeating this bone headed blunder.

For two seconds I considered returning to the house and going to back to bed…. Sometimes your just not meant to fly. But the sun was starting to rise and conditions were perfect so I unloaded the rig, laid out the wing and jump started the Paramotor.

Take off was a little sloppy because I got on the breaks a bit to soon and had to milk it in order to climb out and away from the airstrip… but once up … It was magic.

I climbed to 1000 feet and flew over by the radio tower. A couple of days ago I had a start, when I couldn’t locate it even though I knew it was close by. My head was on a swivel until I finally spotted it an knew I wasn’t going to skewer myself 800 feet above the surface. This morning the anti collision lights were on and it was easy to spot. I’m not sure what the problem was but I’m not going to venture into the area until I’ve got it pegged.

I did experience an unusual kink and it’s one that the manual mentions. When you get a particular trim and trust, the wing will start to oscillate. It’s not dramatic just a gentle persistent rocking. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about because it doesn’t keep building to greater and greater swings. If I change the thrust, it settles down and the same, if I change the trim. I’m going to watch and see if I can induce it with different trim setting. It’s torque related I’m sure.

For the first time in months, the air close to the surface was relatively smooth. There was a light breeze from the South so I descended toward the North end of the field, closed the trimmers and enjoyed a long slow run back toward the tower. I didn’t have my GPS with me and so I don’t have exact speed measurements but it was classic low and slow. I was starting to feel better about things.

After and hour and fifteen I returned to the field a new man.

815 & 816 SCA

These were two morning flights at SCA. That’s four mornings in a row! Have not done that for awhile.

No drama.

Yesterday evening I went out to Placida to meet up with some new guys. The wind was gusty and since I’d had some good flying in the morning …. I passed. But I did get some nice shots.

Letter to Terry

I wrote this up for Terry

Hi Terry,

It’s a nice wing it might be a bit too EZ for some guys but I have no complaints. It is absolutely the easiest launching wing I’ve ever flown. I’ve heard lots of wings discribed as coming up straight and “locking in ” overhead but this one really does. I’ve tried to get it to overshoot and it just doesn’t. I did away with the A assists after the first couple of flights and am amazed at how little pressure is required on the A’s to get a clean inflation.

I’d recommend it for a beginner …but there are some rules. Like, set the trimmers for launch, which is not full closed. I’d tell em to fly in that setting for the first several flights and don’t touch the trimmers. They could close them for landing but it flares and slows down just fine in the launch mode. The tip stearing is nice and light and you can bring it around pretty damn fast. Some guys may brand it as a beginner wing and then assume that it will be boring to fly but I’ve enjoyed it. Without using a speed bar I’ve noticed about 8 mph difference from full closed to full open and I can slow it down another 5 mph with some brake. I don’t think I’ve come close to stall speed yet and I’m not likely to but APCO claims that full speed with speed bar is 3 times stall speed. Climb rate is 300 fpm at 3600rpm. I was expecting a little better glide and I will check it again but it does decend faster than the Eden 3. I’m guessing 400fpm.

APCO also says that you can fly with both the tip steer and brake toggles but I think I would have to have longer tip steering lines to do it because the tip steering engages well before the brakes. This morning I tried landing with both and ended up releasing the tips before touch down because the tips were too sensitive and not in perfect balance with the brakes. So, I’m working the tips to stay straight but not able to flare deep and even. Tomorrow I’ll see what it’s like to “carve it up” at altitude with both toggles.

I’ve got probably 10 hours and about the same number of launches so there is still plenty to learn and I’ll let you know it’s “kinks” when I find them.

I’d love to get with somebody like Chris Santacroce and have him talk me through some maneuvers to see how far you can push it but it’s not likely I’ll get that opportunity so for now I’ll just say I’m happy flying the wing, well inside it’s design parameters.

Later

JoeO

(Not proof read, for your reading pleasure)

814 SCA

,It rained heavily last night and the LZ was soaking wet. There was a light breeze from the least but it was just a couple of miles an hour so I chose to launch downwind. The wing inflated fine, perhaps a bit slower, but cleanly. I lifted off with 3/4 throttle and suspect that there have been other launches that I would have done better if I’d used more power on the take-off run. I’d used a couple of inches of brake to launch and the trike flew about 3 feet above the surface until I mashed the throttle and feathered the brakes. The climb out was dramatic.

There was a distinct thermal layer at 400 ft and the wind shifted from East to North.

This morning I experimented using brake and tip steering together and decided that it didn’t add anything to control so it’s best to use one or the other. I also intentionally flew through my own wake in Reflex and without. The difference was obvious.

I dropped down to do some low and slow and spotted what I think we’re Great Sand Hill Cranes, they were huge! I was able to scare them up for a short flight but lost them in the neighboring jungle.

There was no activity at Punta Gorda Airport so I took advantage of the clear air to fly out to the Walmart distribution facility and back following the peace river.

813 SCA (shell creek Airpark)

No flying tonight

But…this morning was just fine. I set the alarm for 5:50 and was launching well before 7:00. The winds were light from the East. The last time it was like this I had planned to launch into the wind and turn up the runway, launching crosswind. Today, after taking the buggy to the west side I changed up and decided,to launch between the Sky Divers building and Mr. Moss’s. I had to clear a 4 foot fence and stay between a few obstacles but it was reasonable. The wing came up beautifully and there was plenty of room. The EZ climbed 300fpm After I closed the trimmers

APCO also says that you can fly with both the tip steer and brake toggles but I think I would have to have longer tip steering lines to do it because the tip steering engages before the brakes. (5″)

This morning I tried landing with both and ended up releasing the tips before touch down because the tips were too sensitive and not in perfect balance with the brakes. So, I’m working the tips to stay straight but not able to flare deep and even. Tomorrow I’ll see what it’s like to “carve it up” at altitude with both toggles. I might be over cautious, it may be that I can warp the wingtip far enough to still have enough throw to use the brakes.

Shell Creek Airpark 812

My first blown launch with the APCO LIFT EZ. Probably due to some lines snagging the wing came up crooked. I could have probably saved it but chose to abort rather than take the chance of damaging a brand new wing. No problem, two minutes later I was climbing over the neighborhood and letting the trimmers out. The wind was quite light and I was able to get some decent speed readings. At full out without speed bar I was going 35 mph and at full in with no brakes I was going 28 mph. APCO claIms the wing can go three times faster than stall speed. Next flight I’ll work the brakes and see how slow I can go.

Today, in my quest to master the trimmers I tried different angles to see if I can find a way to see the scale when I’m changing trim. If I were foot launching I think would be easy to see the hatch marks on the trimmer but the trike’s hang point loops restrict the risers movement. I did have some success if I pulled the trim loop out and away but letting the trim out was still blind. Perhaps I could put a mark on the edges which are more visible from my position. If I sew colored thread onto the edge, I would have to be careful not to impede the cam action. Stay tuned….

So… I flew east, out to the Red Neck Yact Club and the new concert venue and mud park farther out.

I’m going to have to drive out there and see it in action. Looks like a crazy good time.