POWERED PARAGLIDING STORIES.

I have been following the forecast quite closely since I was itching again to get in the air. Last time I flew was Saturday and I am showing signs of withdrawal. I can not pass a flag without starring at it, if some one starts a lawnmower my ears perk up, woooohhh was that paramotor? I also sometimes flap my arms involuntarily. To make long story short, there was a half decent forecast for Wednesday morning and I have decided to take advantage of it since it looked like we will not have another good day until Saturday. 

THIS AFTERNOON TONIGHT THURSDAY THURSDAY NIGHT FRIDAY FRIDAY NIGHT SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY Chance Showers Patchy Fog Chance Showers Showers Likely Showers Likely Chance Showers Partly Cloudy Partly Sunny Sunny Hi 58°F Lo 45°F Hi 65°F Lo 48°F Hi 60°F Lo 45°F Hi 65°F Hi 68°F Lo 45°F Hi 70°F Lo 48°F

I did not call anyone as I only had a couple of hours and it seems to be that I am the only guy who can get ready in 10 min and pack in 5 min. The aviation forecast was calling for unstable layering which would mean that there should be good thermals since the cold front just pushed through. Sure enough. When I arrived to the field. The sky was showing 1/8 cumulus with cloud base at approximately 2800 ft. 

It was a little windy but that did not matter. During thermal flights there is often fair amount of wind on the ground and less wind higher up. Do not ask me why but that is what I have observed over the last 3 years in this area. Simon out, GPS and variometer on, gloves, helmet, tank half full - oh well it does not matter I am going to thermal anyway. Perfect reverse and off I go.

I am heading towards large forested area where the thermals usually develop first. Hmmm... not much here. Lets go to the other side of field. May be I will have more luck there. It is still quite early - 10:30 am. The thermals usually do not kick in until 11 am.

I am getting some action here but the thermals are very narrow and very hard to center. I often loose it and it takes me another couple of turns to find it again. Most I was able to gain is 2400 ft ASL. Still about 400 ft from cloud base...

Come on , come on, come on...lift me up Scotty

15 % brakes applied waiting for the vario to squeak. No luck.

This is the field owner's house and the red barn is where he keeps his full size helicopter - model Colibri by Eurocopter - state of the art machine.

It is windy. Down wind with speed system on - my GPS was reading ground speed anywhere from 60 to 68 km/h. You can not quite see the reading on GPS but it is 62.8 km/h at this moment.

A beautiful thermal here. The forest always does it. Way to go forest!

I spent about 10 min in the core motor off and went up to 2 800 ft. I have actually entered the cloud which is illegal during VFR flights so I did not bother to take pic (which would have been cool) and spiraled down to about 500 ft below the base of the cloud. From there I had awesome 20 min quiet glide back down.

Oh yeaaahhhh....feels good. 

Perfectly aligned for landing - just like on my Microsoft flight simulator. 

Too bad I had to go (group at Peaks for climbing at 1 pm) . The cloud base lifted up to 3300 ft and there was 5/8 cumulus. This would have been awesome.

As I was packing I was keeping one eye on Sam as some of thermals coming through were so strong that they could easily take my doggie up with them. Then I would have to jump my aircraft and rescue my dog from skies....like a some kind of superhero...anyway. As I am starting to pack, I wanted to take some pictures of my home made paraglider stuff sack that makes my packing much easier and faster but there is no memory left on my camera. I often take several pics of one thing to later select the best one so I though why do not I erase some not as good pictures and that will make room for the pics of the stuff sack. Since the display is hard to see on bright sun I crawled inside of my trailer and shut the door. I have erased all the bad pics and tried to push the door open. NO LUCK. You have got to be kidding me! I have stuck my self inside of the trailer? NO WAY! I try to hit the side where the latch is but it is not budging. Meanwhile Sam outside is barking sensing that something is wrong... Great! It will take half a day before Anne comes home and another 3 - 4 hours before she will start worry. I am looking at 10 hours inside of this thing... I can not believe this. My cell is in the car! I may just have to kick the wall out. But I do not want to wreck my trailer. Damn. Lets wiggle it. No luck. Ok try again! No luck! Try again!!! No luck!!!! I have tried pretty much everything and there is no way out!!!! This is serious....Well after another 5 min of rocking, banging and advanced fiddling the door opens. Aaaahhhhhhh so nice to be outside. Well that was close call. By far one of the scariest PPG experiences... ;-)

Anyway beautiful  flight. Again too bad I had to quit it short. 

Take care and watch your trailer door.    Andre

More stories here.