Vance Brand 563 & 564

A hazy morning at Vance Brand. 



Moon Set 



 I arrived at 6:00am and it was still too dark to launch.  The air was still and moist and there wasn't a soul moving at the airport.  I took my time setting up and took a minute to get familiar with the Go Pro.  There were a bunch of geese at the swoop pond and when the took off flapping and honking I took it as clearance to launch. 

Sun Rise

This was my 5th morning at Vance brand this week and I was feeling good.  Not a blown launch in the last several dozen flights and the Generac was running good.

Yesterday there weren't any balloons but I was hoping they would be flying so I could take some video and I wasn't disappointed.  I could see one flying low over the Gunbarrel neighborhood and 3 others inflating at the balloon port.  I made a beeline for the flyer who was beginning to ascend.  When I was 1000 yards out he was 300 feet above me I powered up and started to circle around him.   He must of seen me because he slowed his accent and allowed me to come level with him.  We waved and circled for awhile and I turned back to the LZ.



Heading back to the field there were several aircraft up.  A Bonanza heading South flew over and a ultralight circled about 100 yards off my wing.  The NEK Airborne were dropping 60 skydivers at a time with 3 planes.  I loitered to the South of the field until the sky divers were down and landed by the truck. 

I hadn't planned to launch again but the ultra lite was doing touch and goes on the dirt strip along the South fence and the air was still good.  So I set up and launched.  This time I was getting allot of lift and was climbing at 350 ft./min.  Climbing to 2000ft AGL I shut down the motor and enjoyed the quiet for 10 minutes. At 500 feet I restarted and landed clean.

While I was packing up a fellow came over and introduced himself.  Craig Frank is a PPC and Light sport pilot.  He was waiting for the ultralight to land so that he could try it out. There were several PPC guys who were planning to fly later and he invited me to go along with him on his Six Shooter.  When the little single seat Quicksliver landed Craig introduced me to Barney.  Barney has just just rebuilt the Quicksilver and was planning to fly it to the Fly In in Fort Lupton the next day.  He briefed Craig who then climbed in and headed over to the main runway.  I chatted with Barney for a bit and watched the skydivers who were finishing their 3 jump of the morning.

After an hour and no sign of Craig I decided to go over to the other side of the airport to see if I could find my ride.  It didn't take long to spot them.  They had the quicksliver on dollys and were wheeling it into Barney's hanger.  I took a minute to figure out what was wrong with the picture but eventually I got it.  The wheels were missing and the landing struts were bent.  Craig had stalled 5 feet above the runway and pancaked.  He felt terrible and had decided to find a way ... somehow.. to repair the plane so that Barney could fly it to the Fly In.  Barney is a fixture at Vance Brand and has been the Ultralight guru there for 20 years. 

The hanger is filled with Ultralight parts. and more than a couple broken planes.  We located some landing struts and determined the nose wheel was repairable.  The only thing missing was a set of axles.  Barney made a cal and 5 minutes later "Bob showed up.  Bob is a retired Mechanical Engineer and collector of small aircraft.  He offered to make a set of axles if we would follow him back to his home and work shop.

So off we went,  Bob has a wonderful shop complete with all the tools to machine just about whatever was needed.  While he worked on the axles I poked around and tried to absorb as much as I could.  His son stopped by and the four of us chatted about Bob's aircraft.  I was taken by the Hovey Delta Hawk, a tiny little biplane that in another time I would have bought in a heartbeat.  Bob offered to sell it to me for $4,000 which shocked me but he was serious.  Wow a real airplane for $4,000!  Later I thought about it and figured that $4,000 was just the down payment.  By the time I got flight instruction and all that would be needed to keep the wonderful little plane it would be closer to $25,000.  Well I guy can dream.

Dawn and I planned to drive out to the fly in but the weather didn't cooperate so we stayed home.  Sunday was no good because Obama was going to be speaking in Boulder and all but the big commercial flights were grounded.

#545 & #546 Vance Brand

I awoke early and decided to go for it.  The air was warm and still when I arrived at Vance Brand about 6 am.  The first launch was picture perfect.  I lined up on the dirt track and launched right down the runway.  There was a good strong breeze from the South West above 50 feet.   As I was setting up to land I noticed a couple of balloons to the south.  So I landed .... gassed ... and set up to reach launch.
This one was a little different.  I didn't damp the wing quick enough during the inflation and it folded up in a frontal.   I watched it in the mirror as it collapsed and fell behind.  I contemplated aborting the take off but I had plenty of room ahead and decided to see if I could save it.  I throttled down and rolled along for quite a long distance with half the wing but eventually  it inflated and I powered back up.  I was rolling over the grass and waiting for my speed to back up until I came adjacent to the swoop pond. Eventually I got off and went to chase the balloons.  There were 5 in the air with one playing very close to the ground.  Since he was the closest I headed that way and we danced together for a few minutes before I turned back toward the LZ.  I aborted the first landing attempt because the wing was oscillating.  I think it was the result of a hard turn as I descended through the temperature inversion.  Anyway it wasn't settling down and rather than come in swinging I went around again and landed without trouble.
The balloon was landing east of the field so after packing my gear I drove over and said hello.  There was an FAA inspector who showed up shortly after I to do a "ramp inspection".  The captain was an elderly gent who seemed a bit forgetful and I didn't like the idea of the FAA guy quizzing him.  Or me!  I said a quick good by and was on my way back to the house.

#543 Vance Brand

The take off was a little dicey.  Once again I was heading down the western "runway" right toward the picnic bench that I bounced off of a couple of months ago.  The air was still but I expect that I was in a bit of a downwind take off because of the speed of the trike. Just as I was about to abort the trike lifted off and I turned to the right and flew over the swoop pond. 
Once up, I turned to the south to chase the balloons Dawn and I saw on the way out.  There was only one left but I caught up with him and we flew together until he descended into an affluent neighborhood.  I was amazed to see him glide through the neighborhood at rooftop level even descending lower at times when he passed between houses.  On the east end of the community there was a large green space where he landed.
All I can think was that the guy either lived in the neighborhood or had good friends there!
It was a good flight with good air and beautiful skies.

#541 & #542 Vance Brand

I awoke at 4 am and couldn't for the life of me get back to sleep so I packed up the rig and was at Vance Brand by 5:30.  It was perfectly calm and 60 degrees.  The first take off was perfect. The wing came up fast, I pulled some brake, slowed down and got everything stable then added power and launched.  The climb was about 250 ft/min and the air was smooth as butter.  After a couple of laps I noticed that I had neglected to put on the Fortrex and since there was somebody pulling into the field I cut power and set up for a landing.   It was a horrible landing.  I don't know if my skills have degraded from not flying or I was not paying attention but I didn't use enough brake and landed hard bouncing back up and moving way to fast. 
Robert Kitilla was there with a wanna be, we chatted about the virtue of buying a new wing and or motor vs. used.  I of course was on the side of buying new since a two stroke is going to fail sooner than later and Robert was pitching a new wing .... because ... well because he sells new wings. :)
A few minutes later Marek arrived.    We embraced and spent a few minutes catching up.  His wife is leaving the work force to study radiology so he is going to be on a short financial leash for the next couple of years.  We both joked about flying wings that wouldn't pass an inspection.

The second flight was a long cross country out toward Boulder Res.  I wasn't proud of the launch because I touched down twice having let the wing oscillate.  If I had been patient and slowed down allowing the wing to steady up ... it would have been a much prettier and safer launch.  
Once up Marek and I flew south to where there were 5 balloons flying.  We both picked the closest one and did a fly by.  They waved back in a friendly manner so I do not think they were concerned to have us in their airspace.

Marek is going to send some video ...
All in all ... it was good to be back in the air after such a long dry spell.

Powered Paragliding at Vance Brand #538

It was 42 degrees at home when I left for Vance Brand Airport.  At Vance Brand it was 32 degrees.  Damn ,I hadn't prepared for flying in weather this cold.  The weather prediction was for high winds but right now the wind was very light and running perfectly to use the road as a runway.  The take off was smooth, the wing came up so clean and straight and I had to check to make sure that it was really stable and overhead ....I did pop up and touch down but there was no torque, so I guess moving the right hang point forward was the right thing to do.  Once up... it was smooth but blowing much harder than at the surface.  I stayed below 1000 feet and practiced carving turns with the trimmers in.  It was amazing how much higher the wind was just above the surface. I was looking at the wind sock just barely lifting the tell tails while at 200 ft AGL it was topping 40 mph on the gps.  During the 40 minute flight it shifted 180 degrees and I felt several "bangs" where the convergence was happening.   The landing was picture perfect I could hardly feel when I touched down.  Nice flight... WhenI got back to Boulder the winds had picked up close to 20 mph.

Titan. #508

Q and I slept on the boat last night so we were close to the field at dawn.  What a beautiful sunrise!  I slipped out of bed and as quietly as possible, raised the anchor and motored back to the marina all the while shooting pictures of the eastern horizon.  It was one of those maroon and orange sunrises with just enough cloud to paint a masterpiece.

John was at the field when I arrived and we both took off quickly.  The air was mostly good with a few areas of down slope turbulence.  I stayed up 45 minutes flying in the park and over the marina.

Powered paragliding #505 Beautiful night

It was calm and perfect in every way.  Nuff Said.....

John Sieb

0

The tri sets out for a floater



Warm all the way to 8000 feet



502 Titan

Another Good One. 

There was a 3 mph wind from the SSW and the clouds were thick to the East.

 The humidity was  high,  it had rained most of the evening, making the surface slippery and the hay wet. Since the air was saturated the runout was long, but the field had been freshly mowed and was smooth as a babys butt, so I stayed off the brakes and let the wing decide when it was time to fly.  The air was mixing over the field but as soon as I turned toward Chatfield Res. it smoothed out like butter.  I leveled off at 500 feet and cruised over to the marina.  There was absolutely no one around, none of the staff not even a fisherman so I dropped down to 100 feet and enjoyed the " low and slow". 

An hour later people started stirring at the campground,  I did a flyby and was surprised that about half of the people I saw didn't didn't even notice me.  It speaks well of the Falcon and the quiet Generac 4 stroke.   There was one person at the RC Park, he wasn't flying so I took the opportunity to make a close pass at the runway.  I have always wanted to land or do a touch-n-go, and today would have been perfect but rather than ruffle feathers, I waved and decided to stop in on my way home to see what the reception would be.  Over by the south inlet I saw that there were several pools in full algae bloom, vivid, almost neon green.  It was nice to go over there without a down slope breeze from the canyon bouncing me around.  I wasn't weaving through the trees but it was one of the lowest continuous flights in this machine and  for sure at this location. 

After landing, while I was unhooking the wing I was startled to notice that my lines has dozens of cuts in the sheath.  I couldn't imagine what would have damaged them so badly and was thinking it was the end of the Powerplay until I got close and was engulfed by thousands of tiny "no-see-ums".  They had come together near the motor and were landing on everything.  What looked like cuts were really just little pilots taking a break.  It reminded me of a time in Utah when my sailboat had been encrusted by the tiny things and I couldn't see light through the portholes.

Thousands of tiny fliers



At the RC Park I met John Lipe who invited me to fly on Sept 17th for a BBQ and to possibly do a demo flight.  He is going to see if he can clear it with the Rangers.

It was one of the best flights of the season. I listened to a mix of movie classics and tooled around for a good 90 minutes. The rain must have scared everybody off, there were no balloons and only one or two boats on the lake. I felt like I had the whole park to myself. A very peaceful and mellow flight.

#501 Perfect morning for the Balloon

It was dead calm and the air was smooth except by the campground and marina. 

No Surprises ... Events... or Issues

499 Titan

Great flight Perfect conditions

Pikes Peak Powered Paragliding Club visits The Flock

#487  #488

I got to the field at hour early and was just setting up for the second launch when Jerry and Robert pulled in.  Nice light breezes, blue sky and good friends.  Jerry brought his chase cam which he let Mike fly.

Ned's perseverance paid off.  I have never seen a guy wear the paramotor as long as Ned, he never took it off after three failed attempts.  It's hard to run with authority after  carrying 100 lbs for 12 minutes.  Finally he took a break and with Jerry Kerr's coaching made a nice take off and 30 minutes later a nice landing.

I flew off to the Aurora Res. with the PP Sting.  When I came back I played around the patch for a bit and did a couple of touch and goes. 



Jerry enjoys the good air




PPPPG & the Flock




Snowflake




Chase cam




Ned finally sits down




Mike's feeling good
















Guest of Paratour

Dawn and I got up at 4:45 and amazingly were on the road by 5:10. It is a 50 minute drive from the Orlando World Center to Christmas Florida where Eric Dufour and Elisabeth Guerin have established Paramotor City East and Paratour. I was concerned that there would be no flying due to the ground fog, but when we arrived everybody was confident that it would burn off before they arrived at the field. Eric was training two new pilots and retraining an instructor who had started his career with Dell but seen the light.

Flight #482 &; #483 was at the training field with Eric Dufour and his students. Elisabeth was very generous and allowed me to fly her new Kangook trike with polini motor. Eric gave me a quick briefing on the machine. ... How it started and to be aware of the left hand torque which, by the way was very mild and not really an issue. The wind was almost non existent but I would have to launch from a position that faced some tall pines. Not something I would be able to do with the Falcon but Eric didn't make a big deal out of it so I took it on faith.
Then... Eric was gone to get his class together and I was alone on the foggy field. I taxied the Kangook at speed to get a feel for how it accelerated and around the corner to see what my options were for turning to gain altitude, just in case I couldn't clear the pine trees at the get go. Ten minutes after Eric had pulled out,  I was set-up and ready to launch.  I waited another five, soaking in the quiet and thanking the gods.  Life is good.

local mascot

The Eden III came up clean and I was in the air very quickly. Climbing at 350ft/min I was able to clear the trees with ease and found the highway without problems. The terrain was thick pines all the way to the wetlands where Eric was training so I climbed to 1300 feet to give me lots of room in case of a motor out and then I headed East looking for the gang.

Where is the Training Field?

The sky was a beautiful pale orange softened by ground mist. Small lakes were scattered in the pines, off to the east I could see where the trees abruptly stopped and the wetlands began. Ten minutes into the flight I saw a mowed field 300 yards off the highway and a wing laid out ready for launch. In the top corner of the field I could just barely make out the word PARATOUR cut into the grass.

From high, I watched Eric coach one of the new guys into the air. It was a picture perfect launch and when he got to altitude I headed in his direction to " go play". Passing at 200 yards I swung behind and started to descend to the field. At the field Eric was gesturing strongly for me to move out of the area. The pilot was doing his first flight and he didn't want me anywhere near his rookie. After 20 minutes I came in for a nice soft landing. Dawn and I chatted a bit and Eric explained where he was going to be working the new guys so that I wouldn't be a concern. Then I reset and launched again.

training field

Dawn McLane looking good on the Kangook

After my second flight, Dawn and I watched Eric train his students and later he put on a motor and treated  us to a few minutes of the Dufour Magic...Foot Drags... wing overs ... etc ...  the master of fine wing control.  It was....a

Great day ...

Thanks to Eric and Elisabeth of Paratour for making it happen.

#466 Titan

52 degrees at 3:30  light breeze from the North East. 

John Sieb took off first ...My launch was clean partly because I layed out on the dirt with fewer weed stubs.

John and I returning to the field after sunset... but the sun was still shining at altitude

 Just a few Pelicans are left at Chatfield

A side benefit of experimenting with the throttle strap is that it is forcing me to do a slow roll out.  The strap is a little too wide and right now it inhibits my ability to "mash the throttle" until after I released the "A's" and rearranged my fingers   I was rolling and accelerating slow which gave me so much more time to pay attention to the details. The wing comes up...release the "A's" ...stabilize the wing ... reposition the hands to get more throttle ... accelerate ... and take-off.
I'm going to trim the Velcro before my next flight and should have better throttle control but I 'll remember how it felt to get the wing stable over head at a third to one half power ....

#463 Titan

Spontaneous Aviator

My appraisal was done by 2:30 the sky had a thin skin of high clouds and it looked like it might glass off.  So.. at the last minute I decided to fly.  I hurried home, pulled on my boots and was at the field setting up 3:30.The wind was light from the south so I triked to the south end of the field and set up.  While I was going through the final checks the wind picked up freshly from the west.  I didn't expect success but waited for a lull and gave it a try.  No Joy the wing did just as expected and came up way too crooked to attempt correcting it.  Moving to the center I reset and launched without brakes to the South West.

The air was smooth for the first 500 feet but at 600ft. I was starting to get buffeted by small puffs which could have been some rotor off the foothills.   Flying East over the big open fields I went downwind at a pretty good clip.  A couple of times I was swung fairly hard with the wing banking 30 degrees so I turned back and slowly made my way back to the field.  The throttle was not fastened as tightly as usual and it did not like going to idle so when I got to the power lines I was still at cruise and just barely penetrating.  I was actively flying the wing and didn't want to let off brake to change the trim so I just tufted it out and took my time.  I was glad to be high when I caught some sink and dropped 50 feet before leveling off.

Below 200 ft.it was down right rowdy.  Twice I came in on final and bolted, once when I was popped up and then some serious sink had me dropping to fast for comfort.  The third try was nice. The breeze was strong and I came in at less than 10 mph and touched down as light as a feather. 

Steve Abbey flew by just after I landed, my wing came down behind ready to inflate and for about 2 seconds I considered relighting the motor and joining him.  He overflew me going East and when he turned back was parked right over my head.  I watched him slowly make his way back toward home and collected my wing.

By the time I was ready to go the winds were way beyond flyable.  I smiled at my good timing and threaded my way between the goose decoys back toward the highway.

#457 & # 458.5 Titan... A repeat of last night

No Breeze ...

60 plus degrees

Clear skies

I launched at 4:30 and flew till 5:45 low on fuel...  getting chilled....  and could barely see to land.  I even did a touch and go to squeeze a few more minutes of airtime.  In other words.... another perfect evening.

PPS 250

This is the second day that I have flown the Power Play Sting 250.  What a great wing for the 4 stroke.  This wing has had several hundred flights.  First with Monte Flemming a flying his big powerful Monster and then a year with the Briggs & Stratton Trike Buggy.  Yeah...Its had a couple hundred flights and been repaired once...But.... for pure comfort... I can't beat it.  It  inflates slow but it always seems to lumber up and center over my head as it hardens for takeoff.  The brakes hang at a comfortable place so I don't have to mess with a second toggle and the climb rate was a respectable 275ft/min and decent was 400ft/min

This wing flies.... like a  big boat sails. 

Big smooth banking turns that say...

"I'm in no hurry". 

Not a puff on the water