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Login Join! Schools/Clubs Incidents Safety Regs Used-Gear Events News Resources PPG-Info |
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Powered Paragliding at the Feast -n-Fly
Jim Jackson was kind enough to open his home, flying area and kitchen for a large group of pilots from all around FL and elsewhere. This group represented many from the Parastars club along with other friends. All told, there was a bit The Enterprise
Brad (on the right in the picture) informed me that people buy these things and run 'em around until the wheels fall off. Voila...trailer parks! The intent is to leave it equipped with a flying machine and travel around the United States, completing a perimeter circuit by summer of 2004. It will also serve on a few local missions for day trips from IL for the IPPGA folks (IL area flyers).
I have seen many at fly-ins who are able to stay on site in their motor homes and suspect this is the best way to enjoy those gatherings. The FieldJim has a great arrangement...permission to use a 20+ acre flying site nearly adjacent to (and reachable from) his house. The field is not huge but under most conditions plenty large enough. Access is easy...we drive through his gate to get there.
Most down here are quite familiar with the local hazards...cow patties and fire ants. There are always plenty of both but a little attention keeps lines and legs out of both. The FlyingOn New Years eve Jeff Thompson and I flew from Jim's field to make sure there were enough cow patties of sufficient freshness. There were. This also gave me my first opportunity to try the RDM powered Sky Cruiser and Ozone Octane wing. Jeff Thompson tried my Silex. Winds were light enough that we mostly did forward launches.
The French-built RDM, which powers the SD 100 and one version of the Sky Cruiser was quite impressive. I am told that Eric Dufour, along with the motor's designer, worked at improving the carburetor and their efforts paid off. It has probably 20% more thrust than the Top 80 Sky Cruiser (which is about 100 lbs).
Lon, a local PPC instructor, had his rig out and flew several who had never been in a powered parachute. Brad Weiss brought out the Independence Dragon which I and several others finally got to try. It was fun comparing different gliders back-to-back in fairly rapid succession. The Dragon is a DHV 1-2 soaring wing that has also proven good for motoring by those do so.
After about 40 minutes and getting chilly I was happy to find an ultralight field on the way back. There was a PPC beside the runway with several guys standing. So I landed there. They had just finished flying themselves in the PPC and were curious about my contraption. Of course I was happy to bore them with the details and let them lift it. They always want to lift it. After getting a picture taken and warming up a bit, I re-launched and headed back (it's only a few miles from Jim's). There were several more flights under different wings and something was in the air until sunset.
The FoodJim was a cooking fool. He spent much of New Years Eve cooking and working on a paramotor in preparation for the event. His efforts (along with SIGNIFICANT help in the kitchen) yielded wonderful results with few leftovers. I personally have never seen that much shrimp in one place. Food gave the perfect opportunity for a group picture which I took advantage of. The PeopleA friendly and varied group of folks represented our sport well. Jim and the Parastars, as always, made everyone (including me) feel very welcome. Of course this is what really makes these things fun...doing the meeting and re-meeting drill. It's quite a collection of interesting backgrounds, ages and experience. For example Lynn Frey is a mime for Sea World. He does independent work as well. As with many there, he's also an excellent pilot, making the Adventure F2 look good. Maybe we can get him to come up with a PPG routine for the convention? What a great way to bring in a new year!
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