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. 

721 to 727 Shell Creek

Lots of good morning flying.  I’ve broken discipline and am not posting after every trip to the field.

The last several flights have all been at Shell Creek.  Mostly alone but sometimes with Others.  Larry came out one morning to watch when Paul C drove up from Pine Island.  Paul had bad morning when his motor died shortly after take off.  He came down 1000 yards past the southern end of the runway into a boggy mess.  He later said it looked good and I agree … I would have landed there …
And probably it would have been a rude awakening like I got at Winter Park that time I landed in a bog.
Bob Harrison came out with Mike last Sunday… Very enthusiastic guy with lots of airtime in DC-3s HE HAS lesS than 20 hours in PPG but he knows avaition and has a good feel for the wing.  
Today Mike Lange was kind enough to weld up my cage where it attaches at the bottom.  Thanks Man…
The sky divers are going to be watching us for awhile.  I hope we surprise them with our “respectfulness……

715 to 720 Shell Creek

Good times, at the strip. My only complaint is that the grass is always wet in the morning.  This morning I was going to fly with Bill and Paul but Paul bailed when the weather looked dicey and Bill had an appointment with the VA.  I could see storms building over by my rental house but it was calm at the field so I went up for a short flight.  After 20 minutes I could feel the air losing stability, rather than wait for the rodeo I landed and returned to Punta Gorda where I looked at a hunter 35.

Nice boat. clean and in good shape.  Too bad it’s the first one I’ve seen.

Shell Creek. 713 &714

Monday and Wednesday I went for an early flight.  The field is wonderful, close cut grass without a bump.  The area is mixed agriculture, forest, wetland and a little industry.  No elevation changes.

I’m working on slowing down a little bit rather than mashing the throttle.  Today the wing went through all kinda gyrations before I was able to get it stabilized.  The flights were good and my shoulder is starting to get better.

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.
 

707 North Port Charlotte

The last three flight have all been at the NPC LZ that Mike showed me.  It’s confined and if the wind changes direction or picks up over 8 or 10 MPH the mechanical rotor will be a problem.  But… it’s 20 minutes from home and very close for Mike.

 On flight 703 I discovered that I had stepped on a fire ant colony while I was gearing-up.  Everything was wonderful, the take-off was clean and I was climbing to altitude before heading off to explore. At 550 feet I felt the first bite, it was sharp like a shot but it was also hot.  I jerked and pulled at my pants thinking that something might be pinching me but almost immediately came bites 2 through 10 and I let go of the brakes and was smacking at my leg like it was made of wood.  Eventually I managed to smash the invaders inside my blue jeans.  Later when I got home I could see the bites starting at my sock line and thinning as they marched north.  NOTE TO SELF… When your outdoors …. look before you stop, you might be standing in a fire ant colony.

My new wing man Mike Lange

After Flight Hot tub action