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

7th Annual Birthday Flight #528

Good Day ....

I was a day late but this was my 7th birthday flight

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

#374 & #375 5th Annual Birthday Flight Snowflake

Today was one of those beautiful clear fall days.

I got to the field at 2:00 and Paul Dillon showed up shortly after. We stood around and chatted for a bit but both of us were itching to get into the air and even though it was early we agreed that it was flyable.

The wind was light from the North and almost in line for me to use the runway. However it wasn't perfect so I set up to inflate into the wind and then turn 30 degrees to taxi down the runway for a moderate crosswind takeoff. It is always a pleasure to roll out on a smooth surface so I had plenty of motivation to attempt a bit of cross wind. Instead of using the exaggerated chevron I set-up a normal wall to get the wing overhead a little quicker. It worked and I was off on a nice long birthday flight.

I stayed in the area going as far east as the gun club. The air was smooth even this early in the day.

Paul and I tooled around each other for awhile . Then I spent a good 40 minutes just boating around. There was a small group of antelope but I stayed high and let them be. There had been 4 or 5 jets passing directly over head as they climbed out of DIA so we both stayed below 1000 feet. When we landed the wind had come down which made it a little more difficult for Paul who prefers to reverse launch into some wind. He decided to call it good with the first flight. I gave him a MV 2009 patch and cap which he insisted on paying for.

It was still early with a good hour till sunset so I took a second flight that took in most of the sights...the gun club...old radio tower ... and I climbed to get a good look at DIA and Buckley.

What a beautiful way to enjoy Thanksgiving and my 5th Birthday Flight ...

warm... clear...quiet.

#226 4th Annual Birthday Flight at Chatfield!

It's been a week since my Knee was repaired with Arthroscopic surgery but I've healed enough to get in another birthday flight. Not the prettiest take off. The wing came up as cockeyed as the last time and I'm beginning to wonder what I'm doing or if it's the equipment. It would probably be a good idea to send them down to Michelle for inspection. I think it might help if I got on the brakes a little sooner. Any way nice flight... trimmers out ...59 degrees...almost no breeze. One spectator...same guy that was out the last flight. He sent me an e-mail interested in finding a used trike. I told him about Mo and Robert and promised to reply to his e-mail with some links.
The motor sounded different again and I noticed the rpms were 150 higher than normal. I kept it down to 5500. I'll feel allot better when Mo has done a ring job and "Pimped out the ride" with EGT and CHT gauges.

105th Flight 52nd Birthday

Three Birthday Flights in a Row!

It was clear and cool all day with very little wind. I was getting antsy at the store and at 1:30 both Marcia and I were outta there. I hustled home to change and was at Titan by 3:30.

I knew it was going to be smooth by the haze hanging over the city. There was a very faint breeze from the SSW that was not moving anything. The tails of the wind indicator were hanging at a strange angle about two feet away from the poll and frozen into place like they had been starched. It w2as just enough to point the way less than 1/2 a knot.

The take off was one of the messiest yet. I popped up a bit early and set right back down. I was a little spooked because the wing surged and the front wheel dropped. I think if I had used a little brake I could have gotten off on the first bounce, instead I backed off the gas a bit ...set it down and taxied until I could re-launch clean. Either way it was a non event...just another testament to the wonderful qualities of the Trike Buggy.

The temp was 43 degrees and I thought I could get along with golf gloves...and I did, but just barely. Much of the flight I kept my hands in my lap and when i got down they were damn cold!

The winds were about 10 mph at 1500 ft AGL. I went over by the Marina and cruised back to the field against the wind. I landed just after sunset and went home to enjoy a great birthday dinner with the whole family...including Mom

#33 Second Annual Birthday Flight

And...Boy was it a tough one !

I tried three reverses a forward and another reverse before I finally got off. During the reverses I wasn't releasing the A's soon enough and then I would turn before the wing was stabilized. AND the forward wasn't any better...it seemed like no matter what I did the wing would come up to the side or I wasn't able to get moving fast enough etc.

After half a dozen failed attempts Monte and John landed and Monte said, "Come On you've got to get up on your birthday. So with Monte's encouragement I tried one more time and and made a successful reverse launch.

I'd let my leg straps be as loose as ever and had a heck of a time getting into the seat. The wire on the north end of the field was coming up so I turned to the west and as soon as I cold let go of the brakes and used both hands. The landing was not pretty...I flared too soon and did a partial face plant.... no injury to body or machine.

Happy Birthday to Me !

3rd Flight Happy 50th Birthday !

3rd Flight
November 26th, 2005
Loveland (Private Estate)
50th Birthday

Happy Birthday flight! What a great way to celebrate a half a century of life. This was the first time I have flown in the A.M. and it was noticeably smoother air even if it was a bit chilly. The only thing worth mentioning was that I started my flare a too early and dropped a couple of feet on landing. It seems to be a common beginner’s mistake. On the plus side, I only I went to one knee even though I probably came down a bit harder than the last two flights. Brian said that I had been looking down at the ground instead of out toward the horizon. I promised myself that the next time I would keep my eyes off the ground. Doug suggested that I find a place where there are steps outside and practice running down them looking at the horizon so that I would know how high I was without looking at my boots.