Flight 272 Simms

70 degrees and sunny

winds 10-12 at 6:00

decreasing to 4-5 at 6}45

Smooth air / some puffs

Marek pulled up just as I finished driving the truck out of a mud bog.

In trying to avoid a muddy and rutted gully I drove right into it's feeder and packed up the tires big time.

My first thought was to use the ramps to give the back wheels some traction but without a shovel to get them placed under the tire it was easier to work the transmission and power my way to the dry ground. The wind was northeast and strong enough to create a rotor from the water tank North of the high school.

Marek and I kited for 15 minutes while the strong winds that had been blowing all afternoon finally died down. We chatted with an ex skydiver during set up and Marek was the first off at 6:45...I followed by a couple of minutes climbing to 1000 AGL. Marek stayed low and did some touch and goes.

While he was playing in the dirt I finally took the time to let out the trimmers on Monte's PowerPlay 250. There is more travel in the trim tabs and while I was fussing with them I discovered that it's possible to get a twist to run through the buckle. Not a good thing...I could see the possibility of it jamming if I wasn't careful. Without the GPS I can't say how much faster the sting flew but the brakes felt better...less spongy but still not as firm as the Eden III.

I was able to modulate the throttle better than last time but I didn't feel like messing with the cruise control . It was enough to do gentle maneuvers and get to know the wing. Inconsistent is the best word I can come up with to describe the turns. Sometimes there is a noticeable delay before the wing starts to turn. It sure doesn't want to bank I wish that I had 62 inch blades because I could use some more power from the B&S 4stroke .

One thing to work on is the throttle. The way the risers are set my hands are even with the bullet bars and the kill switch is getting bumped. Tomorrow I'll fit a piece of plastic hose to act as a guard.

Marek gave me a great helmet....Thanks buddy!