#479 Snowflake



Blast off….No Kidding  !

Finally a March Flight… It was 43 degrees when I arrived at the field at 7:30.  The winds were out of the west blowing 12 gusting to 15.  Mike called and said that he was running late, I told him to take his time.  8:15… Mike and I were, “outstanding in our field”, watching the winds blow.
8:25… Wind shifts to the north and drops to 2-4
8:30… Mike launches
8:35….I launch   Gawd I love it when the weather Gods agree with the Internet!

My pronghorns were waiting for me and even though I throttled way down they were running hard.  We made a few turns together before I headed over to the gun range to see what was up.
//www.youtube.com/get_player
Its a race to the fence!



Mike Bennett carves a turn

The air was mostly good with some twitching.  It got worse above 500ft. so we both stayed low.  Just a nice day, no drama, no issues. 
Nuff Said



Taxi Practice for a new pilot

Salton Sea 2011

The Adventure Continues

Walking the Big Wheel

Monday
The weather was terrible. 

A huge storm , sweeping north and east from San Diego to the Great Lakes was shutting down the middle of the country.   Denver was snow packed and frigid with snow showers and high winds.  Driving to California without new rubber on the Ford was not an option.  This was the first time in 6 years that the weather was an issue.  The storm came in 24 hours early and I missed the window that would have insured dry roads.  Mike Miller was a huge help when he cancelled his service calls to free me up to buy snows and get out of town a few hours quicker.  The plan was to head south to Albuquerque and try to get under the storm instead of punching through the backside somewhere West of the Rockies.

Loading the truck was slapstick, all exposed surfaces were covered in ice and the blizzard was blowing into every nook and cranny.  Every time I tried to pull the trike up into the pick-up the ramps would slip under the back wheels  Finally after 5 failed attempts I figured a way to secure the ramp and loaded the Falcon.  Wasting no time I just threw the tent, wings, gas, big wheel and everything else on top. The only silver lining was that 15 mph winds helped me kite the big tarp over the pile.  Using my best frozen dock lines I lashed the tarp and said a prayer…

It wasn’t pretty but at 1:00pm I was southbound on I-25. The roads were packed with snow and visibility was horrible but I was feeling good driving a  loaded truck with new tires.   It was a tough drive, the average speed was 40mph with long spells of 10 mph when the visibility fell to 50 feet.  I was happy to hit 50 miles per hour after passing Glorieta.  Finally I arrived at the Route 66 Casino outside Paramotor City at 12:30pm.  In Albuquerque the roads were wet with intermittent small storm showers.

Tuesday
The storm had caught up but the highways were plowed headed west.    I had not noticed it yesterday because I never got up to speed but now the truck was bogging down and unable to get over 70 mph. I stopped in Gallop and wasted $300 bucks at the Goodyear store where they diagnosed the problem as a clogged fuel filter.
But… I thought it was fixed and headed out into the storm. It wasn’t until was 30 miles out of town and hit clear roads that I realized that the truck was still having problems. In Holbrook I bit the bullet and went to the Ford dealership. Even though it was 4pm they took the truck and thanks to a veteran Ford Tech the problem was diagnosed as a bad igniter coil. At 6:30 they cut me loose. I was at the very southern edge of the storm going in and out of blizzard conditions about every 30 minutes. It was amazing how the roads would be clear one minute and almost instantly turn to packed snow and ice.  I’m guessing that the fast moving edge of the storm was being focused by the terrain with fingers of blizzard crossing the highway. The winds were gusting 50+ with only the big rigs and I braving the weather.  I finally made Blythe and stopped for the night. So much for power driving all the way to the Sea.

Wednesday
Finally, I was out of the storm, the winds were still strong but the skies were clear. I had hoped to hook up with Jeff Goin and the Australian contingent at Glamis. The idea was to fly the dunes Wednesday night, camp there and head to the Salton Sea Thursday morning but after talking with Jeff and hearing that it was a blow out; I stayed on Hwy 10 and headed to the North Shore to visit Salvation Mountain.


Pligramage to Salvation Mountain


Salvation Mountain  (  http://www.salvationmountain.us/  ) is located in the lower desert of Southern California in Imperial County just east of the Salton Sea and about a hour and a half from Palm Springs. Salvation Mountain is Leonard Knights’ tribute to God and his gift to the world with its simple yet powerful message: “God Is Love.” Leonard’s passion has lovingly created this brilliant “outsider art ” masterpiece resplendent with not only biblical and religious scripture such as the Lord’s Prayer, John 3:16, and the Sinner’s Prayer, but also including flowers, trees, waterfalls, suns, bluebirds, and many other fascinating and colorful objects. Salvation Mountain must be seen to be fully appreciated as those who have made the journey will attest. Its 50 foot height and 150 foot breadth is made totally of local adobe clay and donated paint and is truly unique in the United States and probably the world. From its Sea of Galilee at the bottom, to the big red heart in the middle, to the cross at the very top, the reoccurring theme of “Love” is everywhere at Salvation Mountain.

Leonard’s house

My daughter Olivia had seen Salvation Mountain in the movie INTO THE WILD and very much wanted to go there so I thought it might be fun to visit and send her a few pictures.

Dinner at the Mexican Resturant

Chad Bastian, Bob Peloquin John Fetz and I went to the local Mexican place which was packed with tables of pilots from around the country. It was great to catch up with the guys. Bob was enjoying his retirement; Chad was officially healthy and gaining weight. Greg and I were just plain glad to be out of town. After dinner Bob graciously offered me a berth in his RV.  It was plenty cold out and I grateful to have a warm place to sleep.

Thursday
Was a blowout. I spent the day catching up with friends. A few of the Professionals were flying and Jeff put on a display of reverse launching with a Paratoys quad.



Jeff Going doing Quad Reverse

Sometime when I was wandering around Leon Wacker put the complete set of charts for the Tom Bigbee and TVA and Mississippi River into the truck.  He remembered talking to me at Bubbas about maybe taking the inland waterway down to New Oleans.  What a Guy!
The big event of the day was Perry Molter’s amazing double riser twist. There were plenty of witnesses when he launched into 10 mph wind with a powerful and unfamiliar motor. Almost immediately he torque into a riser twist and started to spin into the ground. At 20 feet, he reapplied power and avoided impact but twisted again, at the last possible moment he regained control and flew off to enjoy a 15 minute flight. I wasn’t sure if it was a display of extraordinary skill or a very lucky newbie … Perry has amassed an amazing number of flights in just a few years and is a good pilot on his way to becoming a great one. He was awarded the Bonehead Award at the banquet for the double riser twist and accepted it with good humor.

Mike Robinson presenting the Bonehead Award to Perry Molter

That night we had dinner again at the Mex Place which was still struggling to handle the unexpected rush in business.    Later at Bob’s RV after a shower and hot tub I watched the movie  Danny Deckchair, about halfway through I fell asleep. 
Friday
Was a good day, I got in two long flights. The first was an hour and a half spent mostly skimming the beach to the north. I visited the old dome site and practiced the low and slow. After lunch and a visit to the vendor booths I went up again and did the same thing to the south. The sea has receded a bit from last year and there were several areas where you could see a recent fish kill. The beach was loaded with dead fish and there were patches of carcasses visible just off shore. I would have liked to spent some time inland but the thermals were popping all over and it was really only nice on the beach.  On thing caught my eye was a good size boat abandoned on the beach, it looked like it had been there a long time.  But the best eye candy of the show was Jeff Hamman flying his Manta Ray complete with a remora fish hitching a ride.
  




by Elisabeth Dufour

  As I was packing up the Nirvana team launched and did a night show.  LEDs embedded into their props projected graphics linked to a computer.  I don’t understand it but they were able to program lettering and graphic onto the spinning props. 



Team Nirvana



Night time synchronised aerobatics with a light show….
WOW!   Watch the video

View it here…   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJWs-p0xefk 

That night the Mex place was ready for us, we were greeted by Jose like long lost cousins. The food came quick and the portions were large.   Lots of pilots having a good time,  Later,  back at the ranch I hit the hot tub with Marek and Robert we were entertained by a precocious little boy who so wanted to fly like his daddy.
Saturday
Was the best!
I got in 6 flights including the X-country race to the Knob. The air was good all day. There was an inversion at 1800 feet that had to be powered through but the air at altitude was as nice as it could be. I climbed to 7000 feet and took in the sights. It wasn’t crystal clear but I was able to see from one end of the Sea to the other. Unfortunately my camera’s battery failed and there are no pictures.

ParaToys new field Photo bt Para-Flyers of Florida

The Falcon performed like a champ. It’s climbing at better than 500 feet/min from the beach and was still over 400ft/min at 7000ft ASL.  Below the Japanese Slalom was taking place it was safer than the cloverleaf but not as interesting to watch.  I caught three or four runs with Robert Jerry Alex and Marek and decided I’m better at participating than spectating.  It’s just much better to be in the air!




Michelle and CC Our …”First Ladies of PPG”

 

Elisabeth Dufour …  Eric’s  “First Lady of PPG”

After the morning flights Jim Doyle gave me a set of Pulstar iridium pulse plugs that he installed on the falcon.  It made a nice change, the idle came down slightly and top speed increased 250 RPM. It seemed to run smoother at idle and run up a little faster. Jim is representing the company for love of the sport and they are well worth the money! 

After lunch was the X-country Competition. Early in the event Dean Elderedge broke the world speed record with an early morning flight and a so it is not surprising that a common topic among the pilots was speed. There were 4 classes … Footlaunch reflex and non and wheeled reflex and non. I launched in the 3rd heat wheeled non-reflex. Initially I followed the beach until I climbed above the inversion then I turned inland and followed the highway out to the knob. Once at the knob I had a heck of a time spotting Brian who was monitoring the goal box. The idea was to overfly the box low enough to read the “secret number” painted inside. When we got back to the LZ we reported to Brian and gave him the secret number to prove that we had completed the objective.

On the way back to the LZ Bob Peloquin caught and trotted passed me . He was flying a  Viper2 26 with the Simonini Trike Buggy. There may be a controversy as to the stability of the reflex wing but there is no doubt as to it’s speed. He should have won the class except for a misunderstanding as to how to finish. ….Seems he needed to overfly Brian before landing and did not. I was not aware of the rule either but by pure dumb luck did the right thing. Pierre and Greg were also flying in my class and got off a little later than I. The Eden III was loaded heaver than their wings and unless I made a real mistake I should have been plenty faster.

Later I spoke with Brian and offered to help with next years race.  I’m sure using some of the techniques from yacht racing we can make it more competitive and fun to watch.  I shudder to think of the variables involved in PHRF ing different wings and weights but …At the very least a NOR ( Notice of Race can make it more competitive and fun to watch.  I’m sure it’s done in the European Comps. 

The Flock

After the race I had some Empanadas and wandered the vendor booths.  Alex Varv came with his modified Kangook paramotor.  He has helped me out over the years with parts and advice and I was looking forward to finaly meeting him.  It was too bad that his motor was getting so much attention because the booth was full and we didn’t really have an opportunity to chat.  Next Time.  The paramotor looked great and if his claim of low torque is correct it will be a great boon to the sport.  The harness was by far the nicest I have ever seen.  

That evening was the Banquet Hosted by Paul Anthem and Michelle Danielle.  They get better every year.  This year Paul showed his skill as a vocalist NOT! …  but it was better than last years outhouse skit.    Michael Purdy and Eric Dufour announced the winners of the first comp of the season and Jeff announced Dean Elderedge’s  World Speed Record. 

I received the trophy for Classic Wing Quad  X-country Race and  Michell gave away lots and lots of swag.  Mike Robinson said a few emotional words and a new Memorial Airfield was dedicated by the owner who pledged the land to us.  Later The Pilot Project Band entertained us with classic rock.  It was a great party followed up by the hot tub and bed.

My first PPG trophy !

Sunday

Up early and into the sky.   Beautiful morning to go high and say goodbye.  Everyone was packing up when I walked the flight line one last time to say my farewells.  I hooked up with Pierre and Greg and we made plans to convoy to Glamis together.  When we got there the wind was blowing 8 mph gusting to 12 or 13.  I set up but aborted after seeing Greg parked at 50 feet.  Watching him fly the trike buggy made me remember just how great the combination of Simonini and a Trike Buggy is.  Very nimble machine.   We made a wolf camp and sat around the fire until well after dark telling stories and enjoying the moment.  I used Roberts Pop-out tent since my was broken and slept like a baby.

Monday
Glamis

The next morning we all flew.  There was a good breeze but the surface winds were low enough for an easy launch.  I stayed up for a little over an hour the winds were against me on the way back but I was in no rush.  The non event of the flight was when I lifted off I realized that I’d forgotten ear protection.  No problem I looked around and saw the answer in the closed cell Styrofoam I was using to mount the tiny tack.  I pulled off a couple of pieces and stuffed them in my ears… Worked like a champ.

The trip home was a bitch.  The snow was back with a vengeance.  I drove straight through except for two 20 minute naps in the cab of the truck.  Lots of vehicles had run off the road including one little jerk who had honked at me earlier for going too slowly.  Good trip… Lots of good memories … Thanks Guys

Funny …. Avation Dictionary

■ALTERNATE AIRPORT: The area directly beyond the active runway when the engine quits on take off

■ALTIMETER SETTING: The place where the altimeter sets. Usually hidden by the control column during a near-minimums instrument approach.

■BANK: The folks who hold the mortgage on your aircraft.

■BI-PLANE: What you’ll say to your bird if flying costs keep going up

■CARBURETOR ICE: Phrase used by pilots when explaining accident caused by fuel exhaustion.

■”CLEAR”: Warning shouted two seconds after hitting the starter button.

■CONTROL TOWER: A small shack on stilts inhabited by government pensioners who can’t hear. When they become blind, they are sent to centres

■CRITICAL ALTITUDE: Minus six feet.

■CRITICAL ENGINE: That part of your airplane which used to be under the cowl, but is now in intensive care at the maintenance shop.

■DEAD RECKONING: You reckon correctly, or you are.

■DE-ICER: A device designed to operate under all weather conditions, except icing.

■ENGINE FAILURE: A condition which occurs when all fuel tanks become filled with air.

■FIREWALL: Section of aircraft especially designed to allow all engine heat and smoke to fill the cockpit.

■GLIDING DISTANCE: Half the distance from your present position to the nearest decent landing area at the time of complete power failure.

■GROSS WEIGHT: Maximum permissible take off weight, plus an extra suitcase, a case of bourbon, rifle, ammo, golf bag, bowling ball, and diving weights.

■HOLDING PATTERN: The term applied to the dogfight in progress over any radio facility serving a terminal airport.

■RANGE: Five miles beyond the point where all fuel tanks have become filled with air.

■WALKAROUND: What you do when waiting for weather to clear.

■LANDING FLAP: A 4000′ roll out on a 3000′ runway.

#467 & #468

Yesterday I psyched myself out and this afternoon I almost did it again. It was probably the right thing not flying yesterday… my head wasn’t in it … but today there was no excuse. It was a real effort go get myself moving but once started everything went smoothly.

It was 48 degrees at the field with a light North Easterly breeze. The first launch was quick but I noticed a pull to the right.   My first thought was the cam buckle was under the Hang point loop but instead it was a serious root tangle just right of center.  The brake lines had been twisted together near the wing and there was a obvious pucker where those three lines attached near the trailing edge.   The air was a bit switchy and the wing was dancing overhead so I turned back and landed on spot. 
The second launch was good.  The wing came up high to the right but it centered and I taxied another 40 feet before adding power for liftoff.  The weeds here are nasty, it is easy for a line to get under the base of the plant and it takes a hell of a tug to break it loose.  Usually a snag makes the wing come up crooked but on the first flight it pulled out a 6 inch root and really twisted up the brakes. 
The air was still twitchy so I pretty much stayed near the patch and below 1000 feet.  I practiced a wingovers for awhile and finished with a good hard spiral.
It wasn’t Epic … not even special but I’m glad I went.

#466 Titan

52 degrees at 3:30  light breeze from the North East. 

John Sieb took off first …My launch was clean partly because I layed out on the dirt with fewer weed stubs.

John and I returning to the field after sunset… but the sun was still shining at altitude

 Just a few Pelicans are left at Chatfield

A side benefit of experimenting with the throttle strap is that it is forcing me to do a slow roll out.  The strap is a little too wide and right now it inhibits my ability to “mash the throttle” until after I released the “A’s” and rearranged my fingers   I was rolling and accelerating slow which gave me so much more time to pay attention to the details. The wing comes up…release the “A’s” …stabilize the wing … reposition the hands to get more throttle … accelerate … and take-off.
I’m going to trim the Velcro before my next flight and should have better throttle control but I ‘ll remember how it felt to get the wing stable over head at a third to one half power ….

6th Annual Birthday Flight

#464  &  #465 
Double Nickles

Titan with a fresh breeze … 54 degrees and John Sieb to round things out.  The goose hunters were hoping to bring in a flock and did !  Dispite us flying around. A large group came in as I was making final approach they got 4.
The first was short because the air was ratty but the second was nice.  I was having trouble with the weeds snagging the wing during inflation and had to abort when a tip was nailed firmly to the ground.   BUT I made it a point to keep the taxi slow for a good long time before committing to launch.and was pleased with the landings.
John and I flew around the patch a bit but it was getting chilly and we landed about 4:30

No Fly Day

     At 3:00 John was already up and climbing to the North.  

I unloaded and watched the wind shift through 290 degree arc.  It was a cold wind with lots of moisture (well …lots for this country) and for some reason I didn’t feel like flying.  I watched and waited for 45 minutes and it was cycling South East to North and North West about every 20 minutes.  I almost pulled the trike back down but once I decided not to fly my head wasn’t in it.

As the sun dropped to the foothills it calmed down for about 5 minutes and John Sieb came into sight, high following Roxbourough Rd.  He said, “it wasn’t too bad”, but then he told about getting tossed and  a partial collapse with serious altitude penalty.  John always has had a better bump tolerance than I so I felt good about sitting this afternoon out.  He had a good flight and I was glad for him…

We chatted a bit about wings and the Salton Sea Fly In When the cold started to get to me I headed home.

#463 Titan

Spontaneous Aviator
My appraisal was done by 2:30 the sky had a thin skin of high clouds and it looked like it might glass off.  So.. at the last minute I decided to fly.  I hurried home, pulled on my boots and was at the field setting up 3:30.The wind was light from the south so I triked to the south end of the field and set up.  While I was going through the final checks the wind picked up freshly from the west.  I didn’t expect success but waited for a lull and gave it a try.  No Joy the wing did just as expected and came up way too crooked to attempt correcting it.  Moving to the center I reset and launched without brakes to the South West.
The air was smooth for the first 500 feet but at 600ft. I was starting to get buffeted by small puffs which could have been some rotor off the foothills.   Flying East over the big open fields I went downwind at a pretty good clip.  A couple of times I was swung fairly hard with the wing banking 30 degrees so I turned back and slowly made my way back to the field.  The throttle was not fastened as tightly as usual and it did not like going to idle so when I got to the power lines I was still at cruise and just barely penetrating.  I was actively flying the wing and didn’t want to let off brake to change the trim so I just tufted it out and took my time.  I was glad to be high when I caught some sink and dropped 50 feet before leveling off.
Below 200 ft.it was down right rowdy.  Twice I came in on final and bolted, once when I was popped up and then some serious sink had me dropping to fast for comfort.  The third try was nice. The breeze was strong and I came in at less than 10 mph and touched down as light as a feather. 

Steve Abbey flew by just after I landed, my wing came down behind ready to inflate and for about 2 seconds I considered relighting the motor and joining him.  He overflew me going East and when he turned back was parked right over my head.  I watched him slowly make his way back toward home and collected my wing.

By the time I was ready to go the winds were way beyond flyable.  I smiled at my good timing and threaded my way between the goose decoys back toward the highway.

#461 & #462 Snowflake

Calm …Clear … and Cold
38 degrees but the air was as sweet as it gets. 

Mike and  I both got in two flights and I had a chance to try the radio.  It needs a little tweaking to be reliable but Mike did a great job getting it operational.  Both take offs and landings were good, I really liked the last landing I touched down way up the runway and did a long taxi to the truck

The weather looks to be bad for the next several days so I was glad to get this one in.