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Don't blink—summer is rolling by in fast forward. Fly-ins
and flyable days have been plentiful but will be dwindling fast. I've probably done a hundred launches in the last
two months, both for the video and for fun. Doing stuff for
the video is especially fun, especially when I learn new techniques in
the process. Repetition is a given since multiple “takes” insures that I
get proficient. There are many ways to skin the many cats of
paramotor technique.
USPPA.org's calendar shows that almost every weekend had a fly-in
somewhere. How cool. There's just nothing like a warm, calm,
morning to ooze into flight. Everything about it stretches the senses,
even for experienced flyers, as neurons refresh anew the sights, feels
and smells. Lightly floating debris on the wind makes the experience
more powerfully 3-D. What a wonderful world when motion grants us
control over dimensions like our craft does. Precise control, too,
darting to tiny targets that can be tapped with a foot. Rarely do I come
back, it seems, with no new vegetation on my cage. Florida flyers flock to their beaches for cool refreshment in the
relentless tropic heat. It's still muggy but so much cooler by the
water. True, few beaches remain for flying but, for now, it's a great
treat to fly them. Our desert southwest is a tough place to be in summer. But even there
you'll find mornings to be tolerable. Yes, being 90°F (22°C) at sunrise
hurts but it beats the cold. Only the hottest evenings keep pilots
grounded. Lets face it, there's just no way to be comfortable when the
temp pushes past 100°F. Of course “it's a dry dry heat,” but look, it's a dry heat in my oven and
the turkey still roasts. I mean really, if the temperature is a setting
on some ovens, you probably don't want to be out in it. Here in the Midwest we're winning win the weather wars with many sunny,
calm mornings and perfect warm evenings. And the corn is getting just
high enough to make tunnel flying possible through the tractor paths.
Yeah, it's kind of a ridiculous endeavor, but then, so are many things
we do with paramotors. This is a good argument for genetically
engineered corn—it gets to that perfect tunnel-flying height earlier in
the year. Speaking of bizarre—at the recent Kankakee fly-in, near Chicago, IL, we
were working on a scene for the Master PPG video. It required the pilot
to run in a 360 degree running circle while keeping the wing overhead,
using thrust as necessary. Friday evening offered up calm enough wind to
pulled it off—what a treat. I gotta tell you, though, we look really
silly running with a paramotor on our back and the wing not fully
lifting. Really silly. Another Midwestern treat is towing aloft—using our paragliders as most
of them were designed—for soaring. Alan Abair, who lives in Southern
Michigan, instructs in paragliders and has a hydraulic payout winch with
3000+ feet of line. Staging from a mile-long road, we were getting
nicely above 2000 feet and staying up for over 30 minutes. Thermals were
big, wide and weak but then it wasn't terribly bumpy, either, with nice
soft lift to work. For anyone who hasn't tried soaring, it's well worth
the diversion, especially if you've got hills around. Towing is a great
option but it can be quite risky if the pilot and tow operator don't
know what they're doing. I still cringe at stories of those who had
buddies tow them with cars. That's a good route to the Darwin Awards. Be
careful. This was “Bubba” Peters year for his biennial high altitude extravaganza
in the Colorado highlands. Launch is from his slightly sloping front
yard amidst scenery that's as spectacular as the launch is challenging.
He's at 9000 feet. With the typical 80°F July temperature your density
altitude pushes 12,000 feet—you'll definitely be the road runner. One
mph worth of wind is worth probably 2000 feet of density altitude so a 4
mph wind makes it feel almost normal. Of course your climb rate will be
abysmal regardless of wind. Remarkably, I've flown a Top 80 at that
altitude but would have been far happier with more push. Anyone who gets
themselves airborne earns Bubba's high altitude patch—a rather
significant accomplishment. Nothing going in the competition arena yet. Hopefully Eric Dufour and
company will run an event in the fall, especially since we got waylaid
in May. There's a hang glider competition that I may enter with some
pretty cool events. One is the 3-landings race—the fastest person to do
3 landings with a 360° turn in between each. Then there's a spot landing
and bomb drop. Ought to be different. I've enjoyed this task where I
held, as much as possible, one wheel on the ground as I circled on a sod
farm. Hang gliders trikes seem easier in some regards and harder in
others, as you would expect, so this competition will be interesting if
my schedule allows. All in all, summer is passing by at breakneck speed. I'm trying not
blink but, with my eyes beginning to water, I'd better get airborne to
dry them out. |
Eric Dufour. You'll see more of this picture
probably. |
