596 …. 597 …. 598 …. Vance Brand

This was another good one.  Dawn and I got to the field by 2:30 and the gang was already there.  Robert’s new student Patrick was going for his first flight and Marek was going to try out the trike buggy for the first time.  The wind was moderate from the North East and cycling between 3 and 8 mph about every 5 minutes.  I kited for awhile and Dawn played with Beau.  Robert worked with Patrick and we all waited for the air to settle down.
Marek was the first off and reported good air.  I set up behind Patrick and after a couple of attempts he was off .  My first launch was clean.  I had not flown the Eden III since the accident at Titan last fall.  Michelle had done a nice job repairing it and today the conditions were perfect to transition from the Power Play.  There was just enough wind to keep the wing from doing a frontal if the trike was slow to get rolling.  I set up with a slight chevron and the launch was clean.
The second flight was the same and so was the third.
Marek almost didn’t get off with a 24 m reflex and his climb was slow but he got a taste of trike flying and I won’t be surprised to see him flying with a friend on board real soon.
Patrick’s second flight was cut short when his throttle went into the prop while he was getting into his seat.  He landed out without further  damage or injuries.  When I spotted him and Robert in the field to the North I did a slow circle for the video.
Returning from the south I had to loiter a bit while a large stick of sky divers descended on the field.  It was too far out to make good video but in real life it was great

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10200234313287748

Powered Paragliding #594 &. #595 Vance Brand

This was a great day.  We had a party last night and I woke up this morning feeling 70 years old.  Every joint hurt like I had spent the week bucking bales of hay.  I knew Robert was going to Vance Brand and wanted to go but had a hard time motivating.  BUT …. I managed to drag my butt of the couch and get out to the field by 2 pm.
The wind was 5 mph from the ESE and Robert was getting Zach (Mindy’s son) ready for his first flight.   Marek and Ty went up for a short flight and reported moderately bumpy air.  I set up by the swoop pond, to give myself a little more runway.  The wing came up clean and I carved it up for 20 minutes until my hands started to go numb from the cold.
The next  hour was spent trying to get Zach off the ground.  The wind had come down so the reverse that he had beem practicing was out.  I’ll give him credit for perserverence,  Zach wore the motor for 45 minutes and 8 or 10 attempts before he finally go up.  At first he was having a problem getting the motor up to full power, I’m not sure if it was a motor problem or his hand got between the lever and the grip.  Eventually that was straightened out and he had to deal with several attempts where the wing came up crooked.   I’m not going to second guess Robert but maybe it would have helped if he had him take off the motor after two aborts and reset the wing very carefully.  I’m not sure but I think if he did that and placed the motor where he wanted to be standing when he started it might have come up a little straighter.  It would also make each attempt ” THE ONE”.  It’s great to have a guy reset for you when you abort and it saves taking off the motor but it is hard to get positioned exactly right when the wing is pulled into position without the pilot seeing exactly where it is.   It just seemed a little rushed.  Never the less , he got off and landed well with the “first flight grin”.  I wasn’t able to get any stills but did video his first launch.  If I can get it on IMovie I’ll send it to him.

592 & 593

This is what will have to do for my 57th birthday flight.

57 Degrees … 7mph at the surface 20mph at 100 feet.  Easy quick launches.  Motor off landings.
Crabbed over to the High School and Elementary school.  Winds were switching and turned 120 degrees by the time I had landed for the next launch.  No set up required for the second launch because the wing came down perfectly to re inflate.

Nice but challenging flights

579 580 581 Thermal evening at Vance Brand

It was one of those nights that just wouldn’t settle down. 

I got to the field at 5:00 sharp, the wind was blowing 5 MPH from the East.  Like yesterday I went to the west end of the field and set up.  The launch was clean and I headed off to the South where I encountered some bumpy air.  The wing was being pulled to the right and I let it go.  I did use some left brake to slowly bring it around but not enough input force the issue.  Once on course, I flew to the High School where I could see the football team scrimmaging , it was still kind of bumpy so I turned west toward the reservoir.  More bumps and shifty winds.  Now mind you…. the sky was clear and it looked like it should be steady winds but it was mixing at all altitudes.  So… I turned back to Vance Brand and set up to land.  There was a Yellow War Bird coming in at the same time as I so I went around the swoop pond and let him have the right of way. 

The second launch was clean.  The wing came up and was well overhead before the cart began to move forward.   I ran about 10 yards before lift-off and instantly encountered some big lift.  The wing was pulled to the right and I allowed it to climb and go over the swoop pond.  Even though it looked calm at the surface there was serious thermic air.  I was climbing at 300 ft/min at 50 ft AGL.  So… I turned back toward the field and set up for landing.  It was great I was pulled from one side to the other but still landed right next to the truck.

The third launch was a repeat … I was bounced up right after lift off and turned back to land.  This time the air was really active.  I was climbing and then sinking every few seconds.  It was like the flight at Titan last year when Dawn thought I was going to crash into the Rush Building.  When I was on final at 300 feet my glide slope was perfect except that one minute I was going to overshoot and the next I was way short.  It would have been great to see a video because I’m sure I was doing a Yo Yo but it all evened out and I set down by the truck with almost no forward motion.  One of the slowest and maybe cleanest landings I can remember.
God, I love this sport!

#578 Evening Flight at Vance Brand

What a nice Surprise.  Dawn and I were planning to go to the CSYC board meeting but after speaking with Bill I decided that it was not a necessity, saving us 2 hours on the road.  When I text ed Dawn the news she suggested that we go flying instead.  How nice…
So she came home early and we were at the airstrip by 5:30. The wind was brisk from the East which was a good thing.  Instead of launching at the East end where the weeds had been snagging my lines, I could move to the west side of the field where there was real grass.  I’d launched there before but it was rare.  I parked the truck on the North end and walked the wing out to the middle of the field giving me plenty of room to launch and clear the buildings and rotor on the East end.  Dawn and I did a radio check and she settled into the truck to get some  work done while I played.   Nice Lady ….

Nice air except for a ratty layer at 200 feet.  I flew over to the High school and doodled around for 30 minutes.  The wind was 15 mph from the East.  When I dropped down to 100 feet I was able to penetrate much better and made my way back to Vance Brand. 

Through the whole thing I hadn’t been able to hear Dawn on the radio and was getting pretty frustrated.  We had done several radio checks which checked out fine.  Eventually I was getting her transmissions but weak.  I think the plug into the radio is the problem and will work on it.  Some kind of a guard that keeps the plug from being disturbed.

When the air started getting trashy I flew west of the field and practiced touch and gos adjacent to the runway.  On one of them I saw a GA lining up for final,  I stayed south of the runway and we came in together.  VERY COOL.

Powered Paragliding Vance Brand 577

This morning was calm at Vance Brand. 

I arrived later than normal and was in a hurry to get set-up and launched before it got thermal.  The field was wet with dew and there was a thick haze to the east.  I was frustrated by the tough low weeds that kept hooking my lines during set-up and spent several minutes working to get them ready to fly free during inflation.
It didn’t work…. The first launch was aborted when the wing came up high on the right .  Probably some lines on the left were snagged.  I tried to recover the launch but was wasn’t worth the risk.
The second attempt was flawless.  I climbed to 1000 feet with smooth air all through the accent.  Returning to the field 40 minutes later I encountered some bumps at 400 feet as it was beginning to get thermal.
When I landed I took a wrap on the brakes and had enough flair authority to fly along the surface for several hundred yards under power.  Flying such a heavy unit makes this kind of fine control much harder.  It will be interesting to try it with the Eden III.

Powered Paragliding #576 Vance Brand

Yesterday was a no fly day.  I got to the field at 5 and set up at the west end.  The winds were light and I wasn’t in a hurry.  By the time I had put on my gear the winds had shifted to the north west which would have me launching over the runway.  Not a good idea.  Rather than drive the trike to the other end of the field I decided to wait and see what was going to happen.  The winds continued to shift north and I could see virga forming.  So … I laid down on the wing bag and waited some more.  10 minutes later a wind front came through that would have been horrible, had I been flying.  The wind was bouncing between 20 and 30 mph and bouncing between North and West.  I quickly bagged the wing and got it in the cab just as a short rain squall came through.  Who would have figured?  It looked so mild when I arrived. 

This morning was beautiful.  I set up by the skydiver tent and launched on the apron.  I was surprised to see that the wing was slightly wet … guess I didn’t get it bagged as quickly as I thought.  It came up slow and wanted to hang back but I stayed on the “A’s” and managed to get into the air.  It took about twice the distance I had expected but with plenty of room to clear the swoop pond.  Nice flight.