927 to 930 .... Rio Puerco..... Paramotor City

The first morning in Albuquerque  was a real trial.  The Generac was idling too slow causing it to die unless I added throttle.

With the help of Justin, from the Michigan Contingent, we were able to correct it but I didn't like the way the idle screw felt.  We sprayed a little WD-40 on it and later, it acted like its old self but it sure wasn't right at dawn.

                                                      Photo credit to the Michigan Migration

I layed out the APCO LIFT EZ and noticed that the lines felt short.  I was worried that Elisabeth had somehow made a mistake and replaced the many damaged lines with those for a smaller wing.   The climb out was really slow and the brake pressure seemed far harder than usual.  After clearing the fence at the end of the field I looked up and noticed that 2 D  lines were hanging far back.  I made a slow flat turn and landed immediately.  Two lines were definitely too long.

Michelle came to the rescue... as usual.  She measured the lines and shortened them. She also tightened some mallions we discovered were open. I guess Elisabeth had a bad day.  

The next morning I flew the Lift again and cut one of the tip control lines.  !$#}{!!!!!  Something has changed.  After hundreds of flights without a problem there is no reason to be breaking lines.  I reset with the Eden and got off a nice launch.  It might be the lighter weight of the lines or that the wing was laid out with the outside lines slack.  Possibly the keeper needs to be changed because it is not holding the lines near the riser snugly.

it was nice to catch up with the Danielle's.  They had been so supportive during the divorce.  I'll always have a warm spot for them.

The first night we went to the casino buffet where we ate too much and doted over Jordan's new baby.  Jorden has moved out of Albuquerque proper and is living with Michelle and Jerry.  She and the baby are doing well and it's obvious there is much love.  It was colder than usual so rather than pitching a tent, Mike Cotter and I slept in the clubhouse.  

The next day the Michigan Contingent loaded up and were off to Monument Valley.  I bopped around town and got my IPad repaired.  The Balloon Fest has taken over the town.  All the hotel rooms are booked and people are shuttling to the festival from as far away as the airport because of parking problems.  The winds were high all day and so I didn't fly that evening.  

Instead.....We shared a simple meal in Michelle's kitchen and caught up.  Michelle and Jerry told the story of when they were first learning to fly and their experiences with (owner of Paramotor) and Alan Chocolate.  I imagined those two almost twenty years ago with the same burning desire to fly as any other newbie.  I saw one of their early Paramotors in one of the shipping containers.  It was huge.  The cage looked more like a ducted fan then a modern Paramotor.  I can't imagine Michelle putting one on and launching.  We also talked about pilots come and gone.  I asked for some John Fetz stories to use during his celebration of life.  We laughed about the time he almost killed himself during the Alan Chocolate style competition.  Jerry summed it up with a few words. KIND, COURAGEOUS, GENUINE  

After dinner Jerry and I moved to the living room and talked for a couple of hours about the state of the universe.  He has written a screenplay that sounds a little like an Ayn Rands novel.  I was too tired to try to read it that night but look forward to reading it in the future.  

I went to bed feeling blessed to know these people and call them friends.

The next morning I  got up early and flew the lift.  The climb out was extraordinarily slow and I never thought I would leave the scrubb below but eventually I was lifted and enjoyed a nice long desert flight.  Total flights in Albuquerque was 5.  

              The Michigan Migration at Gouldings

Heros and Villians Route 66 Flyers Bi-Annual Fly-In

Tue.



Dawn and I got out of Denver around 1700 hours,  the skies were clear with no sign of precipitation.  We stopped in Trinidad to gas up and get a bite to eat. Main street was beautiful.... it was paved in brick with historic buildings on both sides ... I was reminded of Leadville and even remembered a story about one of my ancestors who killed a man here in a firefight at the turn of the last century. The restaurants were mostly bars that served food as an afterthought or a high end steakhouse that would tie up a couple of hours and serve a meal that would make me want to take a nap. Just as I was beginning to settle for a MacBurger we found the Trinidad Dinner.  Perfect.... Classic Greek Family Restaurant with all the trimmings.  I had the Giro dinner and Dawn's shrimp looked good. 

We arrived at the Santa Fe Hilton at midnight ... it was lovely. 

Wed.   #492

The next morning we took advantage of the buffet and I made a pig of myself eating large quantities of bacon, eggs, lox, fruit ....

So, with a full belly I took Dawn in arm and we proceeded to take in Old Town Santa Fe.  There were the usual tourist shops and more than a few art galleries.  We did spend time in one that featured a sculpture by a fellow who caught my fancy.  The docent told us that if we were going to the basilica there was a life size "signs of the cross" he had on display in the adjacent garden.  Wow!  Pre Homo Sapien figures depicting the last hours.  Powerful stuff.

The drive to Paramotor City was an easy 90 minutes.  Mike had set-up near the pavilion and left a space for our tent that was protected from the wind on three sides and provided some nice cover from the western sun.  Dawn and I made short work setting up the tent.   Mike cooked up some hamburgers and we  went out for the evening flight. 




Paramotor City



My first attempt went bad when the wing came up hard to the left but the second was picture perfect.  I spent the first ten minutes buzzing around the patch enjoying some smooth air and reacquainted myself with the area.  I was also trying out the FRS Radio  that Mike had put together and was able to hear other pilots for the first time since my first training days.  Unfortunately the VOX was limiting my power lever so I was not able to transmit to Dawn who was back at the tent.  But I could hear Kurt and Sue who were heading toward the Radio Facility.  I followed them for awhile but turned back when the air started getting ratty.  They were keeping up a regular banter about the conditions and who was where.  At one point they got into a little tiff and Kurt suggested they take it to another  channel.  Later they came back to the common frequency and everybody knew they had resolved their disagreement when Sue called out to Kurt from way up high.... "Kurt, come up here and watch the sunset with me" .... 
The honeymoon continues.

  Everybody was in bed early looking forward to the morning.
Thursday #493 #494 #495

It was 57 degrees with light breeze from the North, perfect conditions.  I followed the Rio South and took pictures of Mike, Robert and CC while they did the low and slow in the river bottom including one of Mike chasing an elk. 

Good looking Bull Elk

Came back to the field and popped of two quick flights to bump the numbers for the big 500th.  We spent the rest of the day sharing hanger stories and watching dust devils popping in the desert. 

Paramotor City was pretty quiet, usually half the group shows before the official first day but not this time.  Dawn and I played some cards and read but there wasn't much to do and way too hot to sleep.  It was, "Parawaiting", at it's best.
Friday #496
X-country Flight to the Ruins .... twitchy air.  Once again I stayed high and took pictures of the 5 other pilots.  The best ruin was a stone buildings built in a circle with a trash mound close by.  I was going to fly to the famous mushroom rocks but it was getting pretty bouncy so rather than heading even farther out and risking a long uncomfortable ride home, I turned back at 5 miles. 
That afternoon while we were sitting in the shade of Mike's RV a Dust Devil blew through our campsite and headed straight for Michelle's Pavilion. The heavy party tent she had rented for the banquet was hit.  We watched the walls get sucked in and when they puffed out... it was launched into the maelstrom and on to the roof of the pavilion.  The tent was destroyed and two of the heavy metal poles punctured the roof of Michelle's paraglider loft.  Mike and I hung on to the supports for our shade and saved the RV from some expensive damage. 

Dust Devil launches our party tent

 

Dawn cleans up after the dust devil

That evening we shared the pavilion with a local motorcycle club made up of of mostly retired Albuquerque cops. Pizzas and beer was hauled in and we contributed large tray of mock Sushi.  After dinner we sat on the new observation deck and watched the "brave ones flying in 10 -12 MPH winds.  The Hero of the night was one of the Mexican contingent who showed some real skill flying well past dark.  The retired cops partied all night long and pitched loud and sincere woo to some woman named Tiffiny,  I don't know if she was one of the cops or just the only single woman but she was well attended..  I slept through most of the celebration but Dawn said they were still at it at 3:00am.

Saturday #497

Was scheduled for a X-country flight to the Mesa and it was a hoot. Jim Doyle's wife was scheduled to fly with Cliff in his 6 shooter PPC but for some altruistic reason was not able to go and her seat went to Dawn.  She had a great first flight!





 I was hoping to accompany them in the Falcon because we have the same airspeed but he headed straight for the mesa and I never saw them again.  So I hooked up with Mike and Jerry and we followed the Highway to the first waypoint.  It was mildly bumpy most of the way but well worth the trip.  Kevin described it best, we looked like an ant trail  with a bunch of wings heading out and another line of guys returning.  Closing on the mesa I encountered a good headwind and had to satisfy myself with getting close enough to get a good look.  At one point I wasn't penetrating at all so when I finally decided to turn back ... it was 50 plus MPH.  Cliff and Dawn landed shortly before me but she was on the field grinning ear to ear.  That afternoon, waiting in the heat she even made some noises like she might like to become a pilot. 



More waiting in the heat ...  Michell provided something called carotid coolers, it's some kind of gel sewn into a Lycra tube that you tie around your neck.  I'm not sure what the fashion statement was but I was a great way to beat the heat.



Saturday night was the Hero and Villains Banquet.  I picked "The Moron" as my hero and wore a leather aviators helmet with a Hawaiian shirt and just so that everyone knew who I was I had some TP hanging out the back of my pants.  Denzel was a great Superman but the best was Johnny Fetz who wore a head to toe one piece Lycra suit done up as Tony the Tiger. 





The after dinner entertainment was flying by Mike Bennett, Jim Doyle and a few others.  One pilot got so far down wind that we thought we might have to mount a recovery,  he did made it back but, it was getting dark.  Cliff gave us all a thrill when he rolled his PPC launching in big air but nobody was hurt and the damage was minor.  The music was provided by The Pilot Project (short a few guys) and a great time was had by all.

Sunday #498



Best flight of the trip. Smooth air with two inversion layers... one at 300 feet and another at 1500 feet.  Everywhere else was glass.  I climbed to 8200 feet and took in the sights and later dropped down and tried to get Dawn's attention so I could drop her a parachute.  That didn't work so I dropped it to CC instead.  She had been grounded with a bum knee and was sitting under the observation deck.  Of course she couldn't go running out in the field to catch it with her crutches but my intentions were good.  After an hour and 30minutes of bliss I landed and we packed up.

The ride home was effortless, we stopped in Las Vegas NM for lunch.  The restaurant was right out of the 60's and I enjoyed Liver and Onions ... never see that on a menu anymore.  Another great adventure !

More Pictures Later











#290 & 291 Last day of Paramotor City Fly-In

Lots of flights

The first flight was with the Eden III and it was absolutely the longest take off I've ever had. I rolled almost the whole length of the field at what should have been a sufficient take off speed, eventually pulling some brake when it looked like I might run out of field. The climb was slow but "It's All Good".

Second flight I used the Power Play and the take off was faster. I concentrated on keeping a little more brake pressure and sure enough the turns were much better and I felt much more in command of the wing. I remember Eric Dufore telling me once. The wing does not fly you...YOU FLY THE WING. I've decided to keep it because the problem wasn't with the Power Play...just the way I was flying it.

Keven Kelsey and I flew side by side for awhile but I was considerably faster so it didn't last long. This flight I made it a point to fly the Rio and stay low enough to take in the detail. It's dry right now but you could see that when its running, it goes fast and is chewing away at the sides. There were huge land falls where thousands of tons of earth had fallen this spring.

The air was so still that the only place you would notice a bump was near the LZ and that was from other pilots stirring up the air.

X-Country & Luau

Wild Horse Canyon Cross Country

#289

Virga on three sides

Up early to a beautiful but scary sky. There was virga popping out on three sides. The local guys were advising to launch but be ready to turn back or set down if it started to get rowdy. I launched and went high quickly. There were two groups of three below and I would overshoot them circled around and stay on their 6. I can hardly wait till I've a little more time on the Thumper because I missed the boat as far as scenery goes. From 200 feet it was spectacular but from 2000 feet It's not that impressive. I could tell Bubba's group was in the weeds from the way they were turning around every feature. I was a little concerned that I would not have enough gas and flew the plan which was get high and if I ran out I would be able to glide to a place where I could be easily picked up. As it turned out I didn't burn as much as I thought but when I looked at the tank it was damn low. My mistake was not realizing that since the buggy was at an angle the gas tank was tilted to the back making it look lower than it was.

When I got back to the field I was still way up there

Lava Canyon

John Black surprised me by taking his girl friend for a mid afternoon tandem ride. After his speech at the Salton Sea I thought he would mellow out. Oh Well He is the pilot in command and a very talented one at that. Good Luck to you John.

The afternoon was Debbie's famous Amazing Competitions. We had a water balloon fight and the highlight was the Spam toss. I got pegged by a balloon right in the camera pouch which ended the great life of my little Cannon...oh well?

That evening was the big Luau dinner, Michelle and CC went all out. There was a traditional pork dish, potatoes, shrimp, and a chocolate & fruit fountain. The band played and Michelle gave a short but emotional speech that had an underlying message that I'm not sure that I caught. I hope there are no major changes in the air for Paramotor City! It was a great evening These people are family and I'm proud to be "one of the cousins".

#287 & #288

Good long Flight. I climbed 2000 feet and had a great time carving with the Eden. The 4 stroke is doing well and as long as I'm patient it will get me as high as I care to go. The climb rate with the Eden is just a tad better than the Power Play and I can feel a difference being 1000 feet lower than when I fly at Springs East.

The second flight was sweet, I stayed up until it started to get active and really noticed it on landing.

The afternoon was spent getting a shower at the Casino Truck Stop and hanging around the Pavilion catching up with Jim King...Jim Doyle...Ike and the gang. Jim D. helped me out with my two meter and ended up lending me a FRS and headset for the X-Country tomorrow. It was blowing hard all afternoon so I chilled in the tent reading and watching the windsock.

We had a great Pizza Dinner and listened to the Route 66 band ...I would have stayed longer because they were playing all my favorites from the "bad ol days" ...songs like Mustang Sally but I need to get some sleep if I was going to be able to wake up for the X-Country.

Paramotor City Fly-In #286

Kevin on the edge of the Rio Puerco


I was out of the house by 4:30am and heading south with gloomy skies and a similar mindset. Massive losses and fraud have certainly proved that you cannot count on the future being as expected. BUT...As I cleared Raton Pass the clouds lifted and so did my spirits. I made great and was at Paramotor City by early afternoon. Keven Kelsey has staked me out a great tent site between two box trailers right on the flight line. Thanks Man ! First thing I did was give a big hug to Michelle who took my Eden and replaced the frayed "C" line. She told me to kite it and check that everything was alright. Good advice because the "C" was crossed under one of the "D's" and had to be restrung.

After walking the field and checking out the "Rio" Kevin and I hooked up with ?Doug? and went to the casino for an early dinner at Johnny Rockets. Doug is a aircraft accident investigator with many decades of experience and Keven has been around aviation most of his life so they had lots in common and plenty of good stories. I was more than happy to sit and soak it up.

The winds were strong but came down nicely about 30 minutes before sunset. I launched without trouble and did a nice 45 minute exploratory flight. Amazing that I had flown here two years ago with the Simonini Buggy and didn't get the lay of the land. The Rio Puerco twists North to South through the basin on either side of Paramotor City. There is a great RC airport North West which is off limits and a housing development to stay clear of but other than that it's pretty much free air. The light was great so I took a few pictures and landed.



After packing up I discovered that the Route 66 guys had put together a pot luck with Pizza and various goodies. I regretted the earlier burger because they were certainly eating better than we did.

Albuquerque Fly In The Trike Buggy

#46 & #47
June 9th 2007 Albuquerque New Mexico

After waiting 3 days for the weather to cooperate I’ve evolved to the trike. It is so much better on so many levels that it’s going to take a book to list them all. Of course the best thing is that you do not have to run with the damn motor on your back! But…That’s just the beginning. Instead of struggling to get into the harness with three buckles and lots of adjustments followed by the hassle of getting to your feet with the the motor threatening to quit if you bend over too much all you do is sit down and buckle the seat belt. On inflation it’s easy to look up at the wing and when it’s overhead you can look at the mirror between your legs. AND Landing…It’s a dream…all you do is idle the motor and when you’re a couple of feet up, flare and you glide in as smooth as a feather. It’s too easy!
The Albuquerque Fly-in was a good opportunity to meet a great bunch of pilots but it wasn’t the best weather for flying. I spent some time talking with Chad and a lot of time looking over the FreshBreeze Simonini Trike Buggy.
This machine is no stranger to flying, there are lots of chips and scratches, it’s not too clean and there are some distortions in the cage from being rolled. My biggest concern was a sprocket that the electric starter turns. The teeth are half chewed and I’m not sure if that’s the way it is or if I’m going to have to replace it someday soon. However it does have an electric starter as well as a pull start, the prop is carbon fiber, the whole unit seems solid and sound and Chat will trade my 24 meter Eden III for a Eden III 28. I was intimidated by the bigger motor with lots more wires and connections but I figured I had learned to work on the snap and I could master this machine too. So I loaded it into the pick-up and drove home a “Trike Pilot”.