Blog
Blog
- This is my personal flight blob...uh...no blog
to help me keep track of my flights and what happened before,
during and after the flights or anything I find interesting. They will
appear from the newest at the top to the oldest at the bottom. All
entries are of my own experiences, opinions, ideas or weird humor so
take my ramblings with a grain of salt. Last years
blog
Mar 13th 2010
Snowflake - I took a short trip to a Titan complex 1-A and then a couple of flights at snowflake. Flights # 127-129
I arrived about 8:30ish to sunny skies, temp about 45 degrees and slight wind out of the west. As I unpacked I watched the wind for a while since I always setup my wind sock first. Anyway for about 15 minutes it was looking good so I went up and the air was ok. A little bump here and there but not bad. Since it was kinda nice (other than the little bumps I decided to fly over to the Titan 1-A complex since I had never been there before. It is kinda off the end of the runway for Buckley ANG base by about 1.5 miles but the F-16's and other planes if they happen to be doing maneuvers for the day fly low and fast and I would be just off to the east of them if they took off. So I really kept an eye out and there was already a C-130 transport plane flying around so I was pretty sure I would be ok. I trip over was a little uncomfortable and the air was active flying the whole way which is why I did not get any pictures so all I have is video. I did see along the way several prong horn sheep, several deer, a couple of good size hawks, some rabbits and over by the dump a couple a hundred prairie dogs. It is fun to watch them dart in and out of their holes as you fly over them.
Anyways I made it to the complex and took a couple of passes. This site is mostly in tact but the front guard shack is gone, the front gate looks like it was ripped off by the incredible hulk and thrown down the entry road several hundred yards. This is also the only site with a Quonset hut on the property but it was not in good shape. There are several holes throughout the unit and looks like it might fall over with a stiff breeze. Other than a few tires here and there and some wood piles the rest of the site was pretty clean.
Well the air was not really being cooperative so I headed back towards snowflake. I would have liked to stay longer and get some pictures but I will have to do that another day. This make four out of six Titan sites have flown over so two more to go, but they are a little further away and I may have to find some place close to them to take off from.
The next two flights were just my playing around at snowflake. The wind was still doing some weird things but for the most part it was a steady breeze out of the South and made for some fun flying. It was weird on the last landing however that eh wind kept changing directions. I had to fly in a circle around the field three times before the wind settled back into a Southern direction so I could land into the wind. Now back home to work on my FB frame. Videos coming soon.
Mar 7th, 2010
Stapleton airport - Flying with the flock guys Dan, and "Pagosa" Paul D. Flights #122-126
The Stapleton LZ is another great place to fly that is close to the soccer fields which we got kicked out of. It was nice to fly in that area again. WE all agreed via the flock group email list that we would meet there at 10:30am. When I left my house the sun was out and the only clouds where to the North which is were I had to drive. In other words it was socked in and foggy that way. I called Dan and asked if he wanted to fly at snowflake since it was already sunny over here but he said a few others were coming and we would not be able to warn them in time. He also said it was starting to thin out and we should be ok and I said ok too and headed off for the Stapleton LZ.
I arrived first and waited for Dan to show a few minutes later. we drove to were the LZ was and setup. The skies were overcast and it was 10-12 degrees colder under the clouds at about 35 degrees. The wind was about 10-12 and at time down to 6-8 and then back up to 10-12. It was not as shifty as it was the day before where I flew for less than a minute. As we got our units ready Paul pulled up and said hi. Dan and Paul were talking so I took off first. The air was not bad but there were a couple of bumps here and there but manageable. The big thing is was it was cold. There was some moisture in the air and that made it feel even colder. I had the electric gloves on but I had forgot to turn them on and it was too late and they were getting numb. I had to land to warm them up. Dan had also taken off and landed to warm up his hands as well.
I turned on the gloves after rubbing my hands long enough to get some warm blood back into them. Dan was still in his truck so I turned on my gloves and got back in the air. The clouds were now starting to break up and the sun was almost poking through. Paul got in the air and his wife and friend pulled in. I think Dan then got back air and we had some fun for a while. We landed and said hi to everyone. There were also a few more people had come out to watch, take a couple of pictures and check out PPG. I love this sport, there are so few people that have really seen it so it always fun to take to people about PPG, especially since we like it so much. We even had a couple of Chinook CH-47's fly almost directly over head.
Anyway more flying and pictures and video. I will get it all done some day. We also did some kiting and playing around. The last couple of flights were a lot of fun, the sun was shinning the air was much warmer and the winds calmed down some
Mar 6th, 2010
Snowflake LZ - flying by myself. Flight #121
I arrived onsite about 1:30pm to a sunny day with very few high clouds. The winds were out of the East and NE and about 12-15 with occasional drops to almost nothing and then gusting to 20. I waited for about 30 minutes and the wind seemed to stabilize so I got everything ready and hooked in. The take off was fine but I got up about 50 and that when I knew it was time to get down. The wing tips just started to move front to back and the next thing I knew I was up to 250 feet in the blink of an eye. I went to idle and very actively flew the wing. I got turned back into the wind and landed right away not even trying to get close back to my vehicle. I said I need to get down now and I could walk back to my sub even though I almost came straight back down I only ended up about 500 yards away. So I did some kiting since the wind had calmed down a bit but it was still shifting now from East to full North and back to the East in less than 30 seconds. I still waited for about another hour but it just kept doing the same thing so I packed up and went home. In hind sight I was not worried that I was going to have a wing collapse or that I was in super real trouble, but I did know this was not the weather to fly in and just another reminder to pay attention to the weather. I was close to edge of my comfort zone and with all the kiting I do it came in handy. Total flight time just under a minute and most of that time was coming back down.
Feb 26, 2010
Plainview LZ - Flying with Flock guys Dan, Paul Greg and myself. Flights #119 -120
The Plainview LZ is a great place to fly, I can't wait to try it out in the summer. It is just up against the Flat Irons hogback mountains between Golden and Boulder just NW of Denver. The temperature was about 40 and the skies where overcast with a slight wind out of the SE. I arrived first with Greg, Paul and Dan arriving a few minutes later. Dan and Greg were the first two up while I was still putting together my paramotor. I was next and Paul was going to be right after me. The wind had started to die down and it took me a couple of tries with a reverse. The third one is always a charm. I pulled the wind up while walking backwards and turned while gassing the motor and running and I was up. Paul had a harder time since he is on a way under powered motor. He did make several attempts but without a good 6-8 mph wind to help with his take-off he was not able to get up.
I followed Greg and Dan around for a bit getting some video and
pictures, then Greg took off towards Boulder and Dan landed to try and
help Paul. I did a little jaunt through some trees and played around
before landing myself. After a while Greg came back around and landed
as well. By then the wind had shifted so it was coming out of the West,
and with potential of rotor off the mountains we decided not to take
off again. Dan said he knew of another place in town that he had been
looking at that would be perfect for a West wind take-off so we packed
up and drove into town.
We arrived at a little hill top LZ right in the middle or Arvada. The wind had now shifted so it was out of the North but as about 10-12. The street we where on ran East/West and the fields on both sides of the street are muddy. We all set our wings on the South side of the street sidewalks. There was enough wind to do a reverse and get off the ground before getting to the other side of the street so no problem there. Again Dan and Greg where first off and I waited to make sure Paul got up this time and he did on his first try. Greg headed off towards Golden to the west while we had generated a small crowd I was answering questions while everyone else was flying. I finally got setup and was flying shortly after. Dan and I gave the people on the ground a little show and then we both took off towards the West up this little park like beltway. The air started to pick up a bit and get a little active so after about 15 minutes we landed and of course answered more questions from others who had come to check out what we where doing. Several people had their cell phone cameras out and taking pictures or video. Again a few minutes later Greg came flying back and landed. Everyone else had left so I talked with Greg for a bit before taking off home myself. It was a fun day. I just can't wait to get my frame built so I don't have to keep taking apart my cage to fit it in the back of my car. Pictures from Plainview LZ. Videos from the day.
Jan 30th, 2010
Springs East Airport - Flying with PPPPC guys and Greg. Flight #116-118
Saturday the 30th looked like to be a good day to fly so Greg and I headed down to Colorado Springs East airport. The temperature was about 43 degrees but when we arrived the wind was blowing about 10- 15 mph but is was a little gusty so waited for a bit. John took a quick test flight and said it wasn't bad but we all decided to wait for a while. Several people showed up while we where waiting. Robert his wife and Jerry where the first to arrive, then I showed up followed by John, Greg, Kevin, Mathew and one of Mathew's co-workers to check out PPG. Some of the guys kitted while the rest of us just talked and caught up. It was after 4:00 before the wind got to the point it was flyable and one by one people slowly took to the air.
Jerry went up first, using his A-assists and John and I holding him down he prepped to take off. The wing was still blowing pretty good and as soon as hi wing started to come up, it popped the whole trike up in the air a couple of inches while John and I where still holding him. It kinda scared up because it happened real quick but Jerry had control of the wing just a quick and off he went with a very short roll out. He did a couple of touch-N-goes so I knew the air was flyable or he would have landed. John went up next while I got prepared. Jerry landed and said it was active but not the typical sharp bumps so it was very flyable. Greg got out his camera to get people launching including me and I had my camera rolling too.
The wind made for a super easy reverse launch and it was active but the active part was kinda weird. It was like the bumps where in slow motion so they where not sharp at all. It was more like slow slide this way or slide down. It was actually kind of fun and the speed was incredible down wind, it felt like it was 50 mph. Even with the slow sliding air it was active enough to not take out the camera and get pictures so I didn't get any in the air. After a few minutes I had to land, with the wind the wind chill was much greater than I thought and I needed the electric gloves. So after landing and putting on the e-gloves and took off again with Greg filming. Then as I was unhooking my kick-in strap, the cord wrapped around a finger tip of the glove and when I sat up the glove came right off and fell to the ground. Jerry saw this and picked it up so I flew in low and slow which with the wind really helped. You could almost hover in place. Well I missed the first time but got it the second time which was great because that hand started to get cold but now the hands are warm and cozy.
Kevin and Greg finally got up, Jerry took off as well while Matt was still kitting with his friend. We all flew around having fun and getting some good video. Matt friend had left so he also was able to get in the air. John and I were both doing foot drags and it seems we both got pushed the the same wind. One second I was flying straight down the taxi way next thing I going sideways into the field which made me loose my balance a bit so I just walked out of it into a two step landing. I took off again to get more video and fly-bys and following people. With the sun going down behind the mountains I landed but Jerry, John and Greg where still flying. The wind had come down some so I continued to get video of them flying by close. To finish off the day John had climbed up about 1200 feet AGL to do a SAT with about 10 turns before he came out of it. I had already put the video camera away since it was getting dark. I did try to get several pictures but he was just moving too fast and they al came out blurry. We all packed up and said out good-byes and headed home. What a kick in the butt day. Certainly a day to remember.
Link to Videos coming soon..
Jan 17th, 2010
Huntmaster - Flight with Greg around Chatfield Lake. #115
Greg invited me over to his side of town for a flight around Chatfield resevoir. The weather was overcast with very slight winds out of the SSW with a temp of about 45 degrees. Huntmaster is a undeveloped could-d-sack street that won't last long when the houses start going up. But for me this was a treat as it is just behind Chatfield lake and I never flown this side of town before. Chatfield is currently frozen over so there will be several ice fishing persons to wave at but today's focus is to get some good footage of Greg flying close to the trees again. So I did a little better prep to keep him in the frame. Pictured below is our LZ with Greg setting up to take off.
The wind was very light and the ground was a very silty mud that was very slippery so we setup on the street to launch. I blew the first launch trying to take off down the street with a slight cross wind and the wing came up crooked and I could not recover. Greg helped me to reset into the wind and after running across the street and through the mud several yards I was able to get up. It took Greg a few times since the slight wind we did have kept shifting a bit sometimes as much as 90 degrees. So Greg had to reset several times while I was loitering around in the air waiting for Greg. Joe O came out to help out and talk but did not have his new trike yet so he was not able to fly. He helped Greg get setup before the wind had a chance to change and Greg finally got off the ground.
He headed off for Chatfield that was North of us and had to climb over a set of big tall transmission lines and we where there. Greg loves to fly low and close to the trees, Again I don't see how he does it but he misses the tree limbs buy mere inches. Along the way I was surprised to see as many people as we did. There where several people out walking their dogs, running, biking, riding horses, fishing, taking pictures, walking etc. We also saw all kinds of wildlife like a coyote, hawks, Canadian geese and even a bald eagle.
So I just followed Greg trying to stay back and above him while taking in the scenery myself and waving at the several people we saw along the way. I did not get very many pictures especially along the trip as I was too focused on capturing Greg and some scenery with the video camera. On the way back Greg did what seemed like a mile long footdrag in the snow just covering the ice on the lake. The total flight took about 40 minutes and it started to get cold, but about a 1/3 of the way around the sun came out from behind the clouds and warmed up. The air once up was very smooth and it was just a great day to fly again. We finally got back to the LZ and Joe was still there. I landed and then Greg landed a few minutes later. We all talked for about another 30 to 40 minutes and played with Greg's little dog Silo before heading home. I had a blast and look forward to flying on that side of town again. The said thing is the SW LZ sites have dwindled down to just Huntmaster and that site will be gone soon too. Too bad as it is just beautiful there. Another great flying experience, so thanks to Greg for inviting me over. Pictures and videos from the day.
Jan 16th, 2010
Snowflake - Flight with the flock to Titan complex 2-A site. # 113 -114
Greg, Pagosa Paul and I met at Snowflake for a cross country trip to the TItan 2-A complex about 11 miles SE of Snowflake. The ultralight field was muddy and we did not even take a chance getting stuck in the back field. So we flew off the field next to the entrance to the park. No mud and the cars where close and clean.
This was a nice cross country trip with a slight detour to buzz a friends house along the way. The air was about 52 degrees but it was overcast and with 8 mph winds and a little more chilly but the air was smooth. We had to crab the whole way there and back but it was a nice flight both ways with just a couple of bumps here and there. Pictured below is a couple of silo doors.
The titan site was one of the cleanest I have seen. Most of the fence is gone as well as any buildings. All that is left are the antenna doors, the silo doors along with the air inlets and exhaust vents. Most of the silo doors seem to have some kind of crane connection to them so the doors could be pulled open. I think they are leftover from the silo clean-up since there are several farms very close by. So not really much to see here but I can say I visited the site, 3 more to go.
The trip back was uneventful so I took a few pictures of the mountains with full zoom on the camera. Once we got back we saw another person had come out. Paul and I landed thinking as first is was Greg (who went exploring). We thought how did Greg beat us back when he was behind us but it turned out to be Dan. Greg showed up a few minutes later and caught up on some visiting. The sun had come out from behind the clouds and it was starting to warm up. The wind was still about 8 and looked good and smooth so we all decided to go up again and just stay close to the field. Wow what a blast. We where all carving up the sky doing wing-overs, foot drags spiral dives and just having a great time. After about 40 minutes to an hour we landed and talked for about another 30 minutes before people started to leave. Another great day of flying with some great guys. Pictured below are the Colorado mountains. Pictures from the day Youtube video HD YouTube video
Jan 1st, 2010
Springs East Airport - First flight of the new year. #109-112.
Kevin and Robert wanted to go fly out at Springs East airport today. The weather outlook was good so after franticly working to get my frame fixed (it cracked again) and get it back together I was about an hour late to arrive (about 2:15pm) on site with Alex, Jerry and Robert already there and up and flying. Kevin showed up a bit later. The wind was between 5-10 and out of the SE and with plenty of room for take-off, no problem. Good thing about ten miles from the airport I was seeing very strong winds with flag straight out at attention and I was really wondering if we where going to be able to fly. I get on-site and bam! people are flying around.
The first flight was uneventful although it took a few times to get the wing up. My brake line kept wrapping around my throttle or I would start to let go of the A's and the wind would die down. Part of it was getting used to the gloves as well. Anyway I got up and I had forgot my face mask so of course with the standing temp at 33 degrees my face got cold real quick. I flew around for a while but I had to land to put it on...awwwh much better. It is nice to feel your cheeks again after they have been frozen.
The second flight I focused on getting some good video and with the initial look though, it looks real good. After a while and getting some footage of Kevin flying low and I was up about 300 feet, I put the motor at idle and turned to the right to follow Kevin and my motor quit. I tried to start it a couple of times but then decided to fly to a clean spot to the side of the hangers where I was coming down. I did not want to have any rotor so I had the room and landed beside them without blocking any of the wind. Sure enough it started on the first pull on the ground and ran fine after that. Kevin flew by to make sure I was ok and I gave him the thumbs up and proceeded to reset my wing. Then I took off again and flew just fine getting more video but a soon landed to talk with the guys since most of them where back at the LZ. Alex tried on my heated gloves after being hot and I think he is sold on them. Jerry had poker night so he had to leave. The rest of us got ready for one last flight.
The take off was quick and short, I picked up a little gust the took me right off the ground. I swung around to get an LZ picture before Jerry left and then I was off to get more video with Alex, Kevin and Robert. Alex and I did some cross wind foot drags down the dirt taxi-ways and wings overs etc. Just having some fun. Pictured below is the sky looking back toward Pike's Peak just before sunset.
Videos coming soon and pictures from the day.
Mar 13th 2010
Snowflake - I took a short trip to a Titan complex 1-A and then a couple of flights at snowflake. Flights # 127-129
I arrived about 8:30ish to sunny skies, temp about 45 degrees and slight wind out of the west. As I unpacked I watched the wind for a while since I always setup my wind sock first. Anyway for about 15 minutes it was looking good so I went up and the air was ok. A little bump here and there but not bad. Since it was kinda nice (other than the little bumps I decided to fly over to the Titan 1-A complex since I had never been there before. It is kinda off the end of the runway for Buckley ANG base by about 1.5 miles but the F-16's and other planes if they happen to be doing maneuvers for the day fly low and fast and I would be just off to the east of them if they took off. So I really kept an eye out and there was already a C-130 transport plane flying around so I was pretty sure I would be ok. I trip over was a little uncomfortable and the air was active flying the whole way which is why I did not get any pictures so all I have is video. I did see along the way several prong horn sheep, several deer, a couple of good size hawks, some rabbits and over by the dump a couple a hundred prairie dogs. It is fun to watch them dart in and out of their holes as you fly over them.
Anyways I made it to the complex and took a couple of passes. This site is mostly in tact but the front guard shack is gone, the front gate looks like it was ripped off by the incredible hulk and thrown down the entry road several hundred yards. This is also the only site with a Quonset hut on the property but it was not in good shape. There are several holes throughout the unit and looks like it might fall over with a stiff breeze. Other than a few tires here and there and some wood piles the rest of the site was pretty clean.
Well the air was not really being cooperative so I headed back towards snowflake. I would have liked to stay longer and get some pictures but I will have to do that another day. This make four out of six Titan sites have flown over so two more to go, but they are a little further away and I may have to find some place close to them to take off from.
The next two flights were just my playing around at snowflake. The wind was still doing some weird things but for the most part it was a steady breeze out of the South and made for some fun flying. It was weird on the last landing however that eh wind kept changing directions. I had to fly in a circle around the field three times before the wind settled back into a Southern direction so I could land into the wind. Now back home to work on my FB frame. Videos coming soon.
Mar 7th, 2010
Stapleton airport - Flying with the flock guys Dan, and "Pagosa" Paul D. Flights #122-126
The Stapleton LZ is another great place to fly that is close to the soccer fields which we got kicked out of. It was nice to fly in that area again. WE all agreed via the flock group email list that we would meet there at 10:30am. When I left my house the sun was out and the only clouds where to the North which is were I had to drive. In other words it was socked in and foggy that way. I called Dan and asked if he wanted to fly at snowflake since it was already sunny over here but he said a few others were coming and we would not be able to warn them in time. He also said it was starting to thin out and we should be ok and I said ok too and headed off for the Stapleton LZ.
I arrived first and waited for Dan to show a few minutes later. we drove to were the LZ was and setup. The skies were overcast and it was 10-12 degrees colder under the clouds at about 35 degrees. The wind was about 10-12 and at time down to 6-8 and then back up to 10-12. It was not as shifty as it was the day before where I flew for less than a minute. As we got our units ready Paul pulled up and said hi. Dan and Paul were talking so I took off first. The air was not bad but there were a couple of bumps here and there but manageable. The big thing is was it was cold. There was some moisture in the air and that made it feel even colder. I had the electric gloves on but I had forgot to turn them on and it was too late and they were getting numb. I had to land to warm them up. Dan had also taken off and landed to warm up his hands as well.
I turned on the gloves after rubbing my hands long enough to get some warm blood back into them. Dan was still in his truck so I turned on my gloves and got back in the air. The clouds were now starting to break up and the sun was almost poking through. Paul got in the air and his wife and friend pulled in. I think Dan then got back air and we had some fun for a while. We landed and said hi to everyone. There were also a few more people had come out to watch, take a couple of pictures and check out PPG. I love this sport, there are so few people that have really seen it so it always fun to take to people about PPG, especially since we like it so much. We even had a couple of Chinook CH-47's fly almost directly over head.
Anyway more flying and pictures and video. I will get it all done some day. We also did some kiting and playing around. The last couple of flights were a lot of fun, the sun was shinning the air was much warmer and the winds calmed down some
Mar 6th, 2010
Snowflake LZ - flying by myself. Flight #121
I arrived onsite about 1:30pm to a sunny day with very few high clouds. The winds were out of the East and NE and about 12-15 with occasional drops to almost nothing and then gusting to 20. I waited for about 30 minutes and the wind seemed to stabilize so I got everything ready and hooked in. The take off was fine but I got up about 50 and that when I knew it was time to get down. The wing tips just started to move front to back and the next thing I knew I was up to 250 feet in the blink of an eye. I went to idle and very actively flew the wing. I got turned back into the wind and landed right away not even trying to get close back to my vehicle. I said I need to get down now and I could walk back to my sub even though I almost came straight back down I only ended up about 500 yards away. So I did some kiting since the wind had calmed down a bit but it was still shifting now from East to full North and back to the East in less than 30 seconds. I still waited for about another hour but it just kept doing the same thing so I packed up and went home. In hind sight I was not worried that I was going to have a wing collapse or that I was in super real trouble, but I did know this was not the weather to fly in and just another reminder to pay attention to the weather. I was close to edge of my comfort zone and with all the kiting I do it came in handy. Total flight time just under a minute and most of that time was coming back down.
Feb 26, 2010
Plainview LZ - Flying with Flock guys Dan, Paul Greg and myself. Flights #119 -120
The Plainview LZ is a great place to fly, I can't wait to try it out in the summer. It is just up against the Flat Irons hogback mountains between Golden and Boulder just NW of Denver. The temperature was about 40 and the skies where overcast with a slight wind out of the SE. I arrived first with Greg, Paul and Dan arriving a few minutes later. Dan and Greg were the first two up while I was still putting together my paramotor. I was next and Paul was going to be right after me. The wind had started to die down and it took me a couple of tries with a reverse. The third one is always a charm. I pulled the wind up while walking backwards and turned while gassing the motor and running and I was up. Paul had a harder time since he is on a way under powered motor. He did make several attempts but without a good 6-8 mph wind to help with his take-off he was not able to get up.
We arrived at a little hill top LZ right in the middle or Arvada. The wind had now shifted so it was out of the North but as about 10-12. The street we where on ran East/West and the fields on both sides of the street are muddy. We all set our wings on the South side of the street sidewalks. There was enough wind to do a reverse and get off the ground before getting to the other side of the street so no problem there. Again Dan and Greg where first off and I waited to make sure Paul got up this time and he did on his first try. Greg headed off towards Golden to the west while we had generated a small crowd I was answering questions while everyone else was flying. I finally got setup and was flying shortly after. Dan and I gave the people on the ground a little show and then we both took off towards the West up this little park like beltway. The air started to pick up a bit and get a little active so after about 15 minutes we landed and of course answered more questions from others who had come to check out what we where doing. Several people had their cell phone cameras out and taking pictures or video. Again a few minutes later Greg came flying back and landed. Everyone else had left so I talked with Greg for a bit before taking off home myself. It was a fun day. I just can't wait to get my frame built so I don't have to keep taking apart my cage to fit it in the back of my car. Pictures from Plainview LZ. Videos from the day.
Jan 30th, 2010
Springs East Airport - Flying with PPPPC guys and Greg. Flight #116-118
Saturday the 30th looked like to be a good day to fly so Greg and I headed down to Colorado Springs East airport. The temperature was about 43 degrees but when we arrived the wind was blowing about 10- 15 mph but is was a little gusty so waited for a bit. John took a quick test flight and said it wasn't bad but we all decided to wait for a while. Several people showed up while we where waiting. Robert his wife and Jerry where the first to arrive, then I showed up followed by John, Greg, Kevin, Mathew and one of Mathew's co-workers to check out PPG. Some of the guys kitted while the rest of us just talked and caught up. It was after 4:00 before the wind got to the point it was flyable and one by one people slowly took to the air.
Jerry went up first, using his A-assists and John and I holding him down he prepped to take off. The wing was still blowing pretty good and as soon as hi wing started to come up, it popped the whole trike up in the air a couple of inches while John and I where still holding him. It kinda scared up because it happened real quick but Jerry had control of the wing just a quick and off he went with a very short roll out. He did a couple of touch-N-goes so I knew the air was flyable or he would have landed. John went up next while I got prepared. Jerry landed and said it was active but not the typical sharp bumps so it was very flyable. Greg got out his camera to get people launching including me and I had my camera rolling too.
The wind made for a super easy reverse launch and it was active but the active part was kinda weird. It was like the bumps where in slow motion so they where not sharp at all. It was more like slow slide this way or slide down. It was actually kind of fun and the speed was incredible down wind, it felt like it was 50 mph. Even with the slow sliding air it was active enough to not take out the camera and get pictures so I didn't get any in the air. After a few minutes I had to land, with the wind the wind chill was much greater than I thought and I needed the electric gloves. So after landing and putting on the e-gloves and took off again with Greg filming. Then as I was unhooking my kick-in strap, the cord wrapped around a finger tip of the glove and when I sat up the glove came right off and fell to the ground. Jerry saw this and picked it up so I flew in low and slow which with the wind really helped. You could almost hover in place. Well I missed the first time but got it the second time which was great because that hand started to get cold but now the hands are warm and cozy.
Kevin and Greg finally got up, Jerry took off as well while Matt was still kitting with his friend. We all flew around having fun and getting some good video. Matt friend had left so he also was able to get in the air. John and I were both doing foot drags and it seems we both got pushed the the same wind. One second I was flying straight down the taxi way next thing I going sideways into the field which made me loose my balance a bit so I just walked out of it into a two step landing. I took off again to get more video and fly-bys and following people. With the sun going down behind the mountains I landed but Jerry, John and Greg where still flying. The wind had come down some so I continued to get video of them flying by close. To finish off the day John had climbed up about 1200 feet AGL to do a SAT with about 10 turns before he came out of it. I had already put the video camera away since it was getting dark. I did try to get several pictures but he was just moving too fast and they al came out blurry. We all packed up and said out good-byes and headed home. What a kick in the butt day. Certainly a day to remember.
Link to Videos coming soon..
Jan 17th, 2010
Huntmaster - Flight with Greg around Chatfield Lake. #115
Greg invited me over to his side of town for a flight around Chatfield resevoir. The weather was overcast with very slight winds out of the SSW with a temp of about 45 degrees. Huntmaster is a undeveloped could-d-sack street that won't last long when the houses start going up. But for me this was a treat as it is just behind Chatfield lake and I never flown this side of town before. Chatfield is currently frozen over so there will be several ice fishing persons to wave at but today's focus is to get some good footage of Greg flying close to the trees again. So I did a little better prep to keep him in the frame. Pictured below is our LZ with Greg setting up to take off.
The wind was very light and the ground was a very silty mud that was very slippery so we setup on the street to launch. I blew the first launch trying to take off down the street with a slight cross wind and the wing came up crooked and I could not recover. Greg helped me to reset into the wind and after running across the street and through the mud several yards I was able to get up. It took Greg a few times since the slight wind we did have kept shifting a bit sometimes as much as 90 degrees. So Greg had to reset several times while I was loitering around in the air waiting for Greg. Joe O came out to help out and talk but did not have his new trike yet so he was not able to fly. He helped Greg get setup before the wind had a chance to change and Greg finally got off the ground.
He headed off for Chatfield that was North of us and had to climb over a set of big tall transmission lines and we where there. Greg loves to fly low and close to the trees, Again I don't see how he does it but he misses the tree limbs buy mere inches. Along the way I was surprised to see as many people as we did. There where several people out walking their dogs, running, biking, riding horses, fishing, taking pictures, walking etc. We also saw all kinds of wildlife like a coyote, hawks, Canadian geese and even a bald eagle.
So I just followed Greg trying to stay back and above him while taking in the scenery myself and waving at the several people we saw along the way. I did not get very many pictures especially along the trip as I was too focused on capturing Greg and some scenery with the video camera. On the way back Greg did what seemed like a mile long footdrag in the snow just covering the ice on the lake. The total flight took about 40 minutes and it started to get cold, but about a 1/3 of the way around the sun came out from behind the clouds and warmed up. The air once up was very smooth and it was just a great day to fly again. We finally got back to the LZ and Joe was still there. I landed and then Greg landed a few minutes later. We all talked for about another 30 to 40 minutes and played with Greg's little dog Silo before heading home. I had a blast and look forward to flying on that side of town again. The said thing is the SW LZ sites have dwindled down to just Huntmaster and that site will be gone soon too. Too bad as it is just beautiful there. Another great flying experience, so thanks to Greg for inviting me over. Pictures and videos from the day.
Jan 16th, 2010
Snowflake - Flight with the flock to Titan complex 2-A site. # 113 -114
Greg, Pagosa Paul and I met at Snowflake for a cross country trip to the TItan 2-A complex about 11 miles SE of Snowflake. The ultralight field was muddy and we did not even take a chance getting stuck in the back field. So we flew off the field next to the entrance to the park. No mud and the cars where close and clean.
This was a nice cross country trip with a slight detour to buzz a friends house along the way. The air was about 52 degrees but it was overcast and with 8 mph winds and a little more chilly but the air was smooth. We had to crab the whole way there and back but it was a nice flight both ways with just a couple of bumps here and there. Pictured below is a couple of silo doors.
The titan site was one of the cleanest I have seen. Most of the fence is gone as well as any buildings. All that is left are the antenna doors, the silo doors along with the air inlets and exhaust vents. Most of the silo doors seem to have some kind of crane connection to them so the doors could be pulled open. I think they are leftover from the silo clean-up since there are several farms very close by. So not really much to see here but I can say I visited the site, 3 more to go.
The trip back was uneventful so I took a few pictures of the mountains with full zoom on the camera. Once we got back we saw another person had come out. Paul and I landed thinking as first is was Greg (who went exploring). We thought how did Greg beat us back when he was behind us but it turned out to be Dan. Greg showed up a few minutes later and caught up on some visiting. The sun had come out from behind the clouds and it was starting to warm up. The wind was still about 8 and looked good and smooth so we all decided to go up again and just stay close to the field. Wow what a blast. We where all carving up the sky doing wing-overs, foot drags spiral dives and just having a great time. After about 40 minutes to an hour we landed and talked for about another 30 minutes before people started to leave. Another great day of flying with some great guys. Pictured below are the Colorado mountains. Pictures from the day Youtube video HD YouTube video
Jan 1st, 2010
Springs East Airport - First flight of the new year. #109-112.
Kevin and Robert wanted to go fly out at Springs East airport today. The weather outlook was good so after franticly working to get my frame fixed (it cracked again) and get it back together I was about an hour late to arrive (about 2:15pm) on site with Alex, Jerry and Robert already there and up and flying. Kevin showed up a bit later. The wind was between 5-10 and out of the SE and with plenty of room for take-off, no problem. Good thing about ten miles from the airport I was seeing very strong winds with flag straight out at attention and I was really wondering if we where going to be able to fly. I get on-site and bam! people are flying around.
The first flight was uneventful although it took a few times to get the wing up. My brake line kept wrapping around my throttle or I would start to let go of the A's and the wind would die down. Part of it was getting used to the gloves as well. Anyway I got up and I had forgot my face mask so of course with the standing temp at 33 degrees my face got cold real quick. I flew around for a while but I had to land to put it on...awwwh much better. It is nice to feel your cheeks again after they have been frozen.
The second flight I focused on getting some good video and with the initial look though, it looks real good. After a while and getting some footage of Kevin flying low and I was up about 300 feet, I put the motor at idle and turned to the right to follow Kevin and my motor quit. I tried to start it a couple of times but then decided to fly to a clean spot to the side of the hangers where I was coming down. I did not want to have any rotor so I had the room and landed beside them without blocking any of the wind. Sure enough it started on the first pull on the ground and ran fine after that. Kevin flew by to make sure I was ok and I gave him the thumbs up and proceeded to reset my wing. Then I took off again and flew just fine getting more video but a soon landed to talk with the guys since most of them where back at the LZ. Alex tried on my heated gloves after being hot and I think he is sold on them. Jerry had poker night so he had to leave. The rest of us got ready for one last flight.
The take off was quick and short, I picked up a little gust the took me right off the ground. I swung around to get an LZ picture before Jerry left and then I was off to get more video with Alex, Kevin and Robert. Alex and I did some cross wind foot drags down the dirt taxi-ways and wings overs etc. Just having some fun. Pictured below is the sky looking back toward Pike's Peak just before sunset.
Videos coming soon and pictures from the day.