There has been hardly any wind since we arrived in the Black Rock on Monday night. Amazingly calm and dust-free.

Also - amazingly HOT!

The calm winds did allow for a brief paramotor flight last evening though. I am looking forward to a longer flight later today. It felt GREAT to get back in the air. I haven't flown my paramotor since last year at Burning Man. *grin*

I just got an email from the maintainer of the informational page for pilots flying at Hat Creek Rim - perhaps the best paragliding location in California.

He had stumbled across this picture of mine on Flickr, and wanted permission to add it to his site:



Of course I said yes!

I am now the featured photo on the page describing the Main Launch at Hat Creek Rim. Cool!

But his emails have me flashing back to my flying adventures last summer, and suddenly I am feeling a huge calling to get back up into the air.

I think there are a few places that offer tow-launches for paragliders in Florida - I think I need to find one ASAP... That, and/or find a place to go playing with my paramotor. Time for me to track down some local pilots!

I've joined up with a group of paramotor pilots from the Sacramento area for some free-flight training at the Point of the Mountain in Utah this past weekend.

The rest of the crew is about to head back towards Sacramento this afternoon, but I will be staying around for another week of playing in the air.

We posed for theses group shots this morning.


This shot taken on the edge of the south launch captures not only our group, but a paraglider and hang-glider zooming past.
Standing: Randy, Bill Heaner (uber-instructor), Brett, Jason, Joe, Todd and myself.
Kneeling: Phil and Bill's dog Chorrito.


A second group shot at Point of the Mountain. This time Bill hopped on a hang glider to zoom over us.
Flying: Bill Heaner
Standing: Todd, Paul Brett, Joe, Jason, me, and Randy.

I have had a great past four days of flying and training, both in the air and on the ground. And last night we learned how to re-pack our reserve parachutes - a very useful skill, and it was nice to demystify that scary red handle a bit.


The sky is always full of paragliders around the Point of the Mountain, south of Salt Lake City.

An army of Belgians have taken over Burning Man - and they have brought more wood to the playa than any other project in history. I think it works out to 2.75 Canadian old-growth forests worth of lumber...

There are 80 of them here, and only seven have been to Burning Man before.

Rumor has it that all of their good Belgian beer has been confiscated in customs, and the person they sent to Reno to restock has vanished (with the beer money - 80 Belgians can drink a lot of beer in two weeks!)

Poor Belgians - no beer...

But at least they have the most amazing Waffle on the playa!

For years I have been dreaming of flying over Black Rock City.

On the playa, dreams have a strange tendency to come true.

I managed a quick flight last night at twilight, and this morning I had an AMAZING flight in perfect conditions over the developing city.

Check out lots more photos at Flickr, assuming I can get them to upload...

Woohoo!

This amazing multiple-exposure shot from a pilot in France really captures what it is like to foot launch a paramotor.

Yesterday afternoon I ran off the edge of Hat Creek Rim, 1000 ft above the valley floor below.

It took me nearly an hour to hit the ground.

WOW!

The feeling of free-flying a paraglider is indescribable. No motor. No noise but the sound of the wind. Your heart is pounding 1000bpm, and there is a big silly permagrin on your face.

It feels so amazingly cool to run off the side off a cliff, and to end up HIGHER than your started. I can't wait to go do it again - I will be hanging out here at Hat Creek all week paramotoring and free-flying.


Just moments before, I ran off that ledge way down below. Now I am OVER it. Wow! Greg is about to launch to join me in the sky.


Greg's Brontes wing lifted him up like he was on an elevator. He launched 10 minutes after me, and was soon soaring way overhead. My big yellow ParaWing II on the other hand is a boat. Slow and stable.


Look - no motor!


The scenery around Hat Creek Rim is amazing. Mt. Lassen was off in the distance, snow covered. We had the whole place to ourselves, just me and my paramotor instructor Greg Petersen...


Looking back up at Hat Creek Rim after landing. The 1000ft drop took me 50 minutes to fall. Woohoo! Perfect takeoff and landing too!

Pictures of me flying from later in the week:


Paragliding at Hat Creek Rim - the best flying location in Northern California. I love the way the setting sun is peeking through the clouds here.


This is me, launching off into the sunset at Hat Creek Rim. (photo taken by my friend Jennifer, who had joined me for a few days camping...)

Ok, I know it is well into June already (damn, nearly July!) - I guess I better hurry up and finish my May travel updates! (Part #1)

Whole Earth Festival - Davis, CA (May 14th): I spent the a big chunk of the day on May 14th checking out the Whole Earth Festival in Davis. I had never been to this particular festival before, but it was indeed very worth checking out. Good music, good food, cool people, and lots of neat stuff on display and for sale.




David Deida, Love in the 21st Century - Sacramento, CA (May 14th - May 17th): I've been a fan of David Deida's writings and work for a while, and his book The Way of the Superior Man is pretty core to the Men's Circle that I am a part of. I knew a bunch of my friends were planning on driving up to Sacramento on Sunday afternoon to hear David give a talk at a local church, and as I pulled out of the Whole Earth Festival I realized I had just enough time to make it!

David Deida in person was pretty phenomenal - he is a great speaker and modern philosopher. I had a few issues with him coming across as a bit one-dimensional and dogmatic in his books, but within the first 15 minutes of him coming on stage he had managed to brush aside most of my concerns. I was so impressed by the intro evening that I signed up to attend the following three days of seminars and sessions. Each afternoon during the week the men and women would separate and do individual body-centric exercises with David's assistants, and then in the evening the whole group would reconvene to listen to David talk and answer questions.

It was a very worthwhile time. I got some great insights around some of the ways that I fail to cultivate a strong masculine / feminine polarity in a lot of my relationships with women, and I had a great time hanging out with some friends who had come up for the seminar: particularly Brian Burt, Yurik Riegel, Scott Longwell, and Jillian Love.

I even managed to host a small social gathering after the sessions one night in my trailer - complete with beer and good conversation. Fun!


Athens Field Flying - Lincoln, CA (May 18th & 19th): I first learned to fly a paramotor at "Athens Field" in Lincoln, CA - not far north of Sacramento. It had been a long time since I had gotten some flying in, so on May 18th I returned to the field for some AWESOME flying. I spent the afternoon kiting and practicing my forward launches, and all that practice paid off - when I headed for the air I managed a perfect takeoff on my first try. Nice.


It was a gorgeous evening for a flight. The air was clear - I could see the Sierra foothills, downtown Sacramento in the distance, and even all the way to Folsom Lake!


The urban sprawl is inching ever outward around Lincoln. Soon there will hardly be any place left to fly around here it seems...
(You can't fly a paramotor over "congested" areas such as housing developments)


The sun is setting on the Thunder Valley Casino. If you look closely, you can see a white dot where my trailer is parked in the field behind the casino in the picture on the left. The picture on the right gives you a closer view of my little Tab as I came in for a landing. I went to the Casino for dinner that night. It was big and loud and sad and very Vegas on the inside. I guess the Indians are exempt from CA law - I was shocked to find indoor smoking! *ick*


After dinner it was late, so I just camped the night in the flying field so that I could get up for a sunrise flight. The sunrise was glorious, but unfortunately a mild weather front was coming through and a few drops of drizzle convinced me to pack up without flying.


Chilling at Harbin - Harbin Hot Springs, Middletown, CA (May 19th - May 21st): My friend Brian Burt had rented out the meadow building at Harbin for the weekend, and he had invited a diverse collection of cool people to come up and just chill for the weekend - sharing in some tasty group communal meals but little else in the way of organized structure. While we were hanging out together at the Deida seminar - Brian didn't have to twist my arm very hard to convince me to come along - and indeed it was a great time and I met some cool new people. Two of the people I met were a couple that had just gotten back from 9 months living on the road, and I sucked up lots of good advice on how to maintain a connected and work-functional lifestyle while mobile. (Adam went three months before he even told any of his clients that he was no longer in the Bay Area, and that he was doing his web development work using a satellite internet hookup!)


Visiting Gloria - Petaluma, CA (May 21st): On my way headed south from Harbin, I stopped in to visit my friend Gloria and to see her new house. We hung out, made dinner, and watched The Village.


Matrix Movie Night - Oakland, CA (May 22nd): The next stop was Oakland, where I had to meet Brian to reclaim my computer power supply that had accidentally been taken home by one of the other Harbin weekend attendees. I spent the afternoon hanging out with Brian, and then in the evening we went together to Jillian's The Matrix: Revolutions movie night. That was a blast - lots of cool people to catch up with and meet, great food, and an awesome movie. At the movie night I met another nomadic couple who were about to return to New Orleans in a tricked-out former forest service bus. They have been doing relief work there ever since Katrina, and have made a documentary film out of their experience.


Camp Cupertino - Cupertino, CA (May 23rd - May 31st): Next it was back again to my seemingly favorite camping spot - Rebekah's driveway in Cupertino. During my week's stay, I visited some of my former-PalmSource colleagues now working at Apple, and once suitably inspired by them, I purchased my new MacBook Pro - and I then spent a lot of the week after in geek configuration and tweaking heaven. When not geeking out, I enjoyed hanging out with Rebekah and David, sharing some nice dinners and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and on Sunday May 29th I ventured out to the BayCon - my first SciFi con experience. And when I finally pulled away from Rebekah's on Wednesday morning May 31st - one final big chore was complete. The titles for Jeep and Bryd had both at last arrived from the oh-so-slow DMV, and we were able to finish the paperwork necessary to finalize our vehicle swap.


BayCon was full of interesting sights...


Ok - now that May is finally posted - it is time to finish June. But first I need to hit the road heading towards Oregon. June will have to wait for another day!

One of the major things keeping me in tight orbit of the Bay Area this past month (besides all the great people and events around here!) has been waiting for the bank and the DMV hassles to be sorted out so that we could make official and permanent the swap of my Prius (affectionately known as Bryd) for Rebekah's Jeep (named Jeep).

Yesterday - I got the Jeep smogged, handed in the papers to the DMV, and at last it is registered in my name. The Jeep has also been checked out by my favorite mechanic this week, and now all systems seem go for heading out into the wild.

I am sure going to miss my sweet Bryd though. The Prius is one of the best designed vehicles I have ever had the pleasure to drive. Not to mention, I sure loved getting 45 MPG.

But I am falling in love with Jeep too. And Jeep is the perfect partner for my Tab. They look and work great together.


"Four out of five Geeks agree..." When I first bought Bryd back in May 2004, I was the fourth Geek from GeekSpeak to get a Prius. We always meant to do a group photo with all four cars parked on the beach in Santa Cruz, but we never managed to make that happen. Here I am with one of the Geeks, Sean.


Bryd made the trip to Burning Man last year. She could haul a surprising amount of cargo - and I even installed a hitch receiver for a bike rack.


I could fit my entire paramotor set up in the back of the Prius, and still have room for a back-seat passenger. Yes, my Prius was an aircraft carrier!


And now here is Jeep - my new aircraft carrier, and home tower - shining in the rising sun a few weeks ago.

Thank you Rebekah for deciding to do this swap with me! I am sure you will take great care of Bryd too. *love you*

When I updated a week ago, I was camped out in a West Sacramento KOA hoping to soon get a little warranty work from the dealer on the back hatch of my camper.

Turns out I ended up needing some warranty work on myself too!

Lid Repair - Sacramento, CA (April 23rd - 30th):
I spent Monday and Tuesday at the West Sacramento KOA, working on various chores and getting my camp kitchen organized. I put it to the test tuesday night, and Lindsay came over to share my first "home cooked meal" - a delicious Japanese-style beef curry, complete with wine and a salad course. *yum*

All day Monday and Tuesday though my left eye was bothering me - particularly the left eyelid. At first I thought it was just a bad bought of eczema, but it just kept getting worse. So Wednesday AM after dropping my camper off for its lid repair, I called Kaiser and managed to schedule an urgent warranty lid repair appointment of my own that evening.

The doctor on call hadn't seen anything like it before, so he asked me to come back the next day to see an opthamologist. But he did guess that it was a reactivation of the chicken-pox virus (I had it when I was in 7th grade). The Herpes Zoster virus that causes Chicken Pox never leaves your body and lies dormant, and on occasion it comes back - often on the eyelid! *yikes*

That diagnosis stressed me out - particularly because there was a real risk of permanent eye damage. I spent Wednesday night at Lindsay and Sean's place researching Herpes Zoster Opthalmicus. The next day I was ready with good questions for the Opthamologist. He confirmed that it did indeed look like Herpes Zoster (the same as Chicken Pox), it was relatively common, and that it was hard to say what caused it to re-activate in me - but that we had caught it early enough so that it didn't look likely to cause any damage to my eye. He also said that it was unlikely to come back any time again for years to come. *whew*

That was a LOAD of stress off. I LOVE my eyes, and don't ever want to be without them. :-)

I then went off to pick up my Tab - and the techs had thankfully managed to get my back hatch closing properly again. They also put some set screws in place to keep the hinge locked in place, so hopefully it will stay fixed this time.

Next up - I drove into Folsom and got a camping spot at Beal's Point in the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area. Lindsay drove up from Sacramento after work, and we had a nice dinner out. It was HOT out. Monday night I had been using the heater, and Thursday night I was needing the fan on! Somehow we jumped straight from winter to summer - skipping spring!

I spent Friday relaxing and taking it easy - I did some bike riding, and walked along the lake. I also did some more vehicle shopping and research. (more on that in another post...)

By Saturday my eye was at last starting to feel back to normal. I drove down to Sacramento to do some laundry at Lindsay's place, and in the evening we walked around downtown and checked out the city rose garden that was fully and fragrantly in bloom.


This morning I checked out of Beal's Point, and set off for some paramotoring adventures at the Sod Farm. But as usual - I managed to scare away the wind, and there wasn't enough this evening for me to get off the ground. I did manage to put another nice dent in my cage trying though. I also got to experiment with ways to transport the motor in the trailer without needing to fully dismantle it and pack it up. Mixed results... It is almost less work to take it all the way apart as it is to bungy it into place half-disassembled.


My jeep makes for a great aircraft carrier, and the Sod Farm in Davis is an AMAZING place to fly - acres of smooth flat grass make for easy takeoffs and landings. But without any wind, it is just too hard to get into the air without wheels...

And now I am a late arrival in Cupertino, at Rebekah and David's place.

Not a particularly exciting week - but the health issues sort of derailed me. But - I got some important maintenance work handled, and I got my kitchen systems all worked out.

Next up.... Jeepy goodness. (stay tuned)

This past weekend was all about playing with gravity.

Saturday morning (with just a few hours of sleep after having gone to Seth's party!) I packed up my paramotor gear and drove out to the Sod Farm in Davis, where I met up with a bunch of the other relatively local pilots.

The Sod Farm is an amazingly beautiful place to fly, and this was to be my first time getting in the air there.

I almost messed up my takeoff when I lifted my legs and stopped running a bit too soon, and I ended up scrapping my skids on the ground before I recovered. Yikes!

But once I was in the air I had the most amazing flight.

I flew west following a creek, turned north to fly past the UC Davis campus and to check out the Davis airport from a distance. Then I buzzed over a freight train refueling at a depot - it looked like a toy train set!

I turned back east and found a regional park where a group was flying RC gliders. Why fly a glider when you can be one? Showing off nearby was a GORGEOUS red-tail hawk. He was flying just 30 feet or so in front of me, and watching him I could see him circling and rising in the weak thermals.

I followed his lead and found some lift, and I was even able to turn off my motor a while and maintain altitude.

I then went back north to find the Sod Farm field. From the air I watched two other pilots take off and another come back to land. I kept circling up high, turning off the motor, and practicing my gliding skills. It was such a glorious beautiful feeling to be soaring in near silence - and soon the hawk was back soaring with me again!

After around 100 minutes of total flying time, my engine at last ran out of fuel. This was intentional - I was high over a big grassy field, and I wanted to get a feel for what it looked like and felt like when the tank ran dry. (You have to use a mirror as a "fuel gauge", so fuel management can be tricky...)

I then circled and glided down to a perfect stand-up landing.

What an awesome day of flying!

And that wasn't the end of my adventures with gravity for the weekend.

Sunday morning Lindsay, Sean, and I got up ultra-early to drive up to Alpine Meadow for my first time skiing in at least 5 years.

Skiing was great - I loved how quickly my body remembered the basics, and soon I was comfortable doing the more advanced blue slopes. In the morning Lindsay stayed with Sean on the basic slopes - I think this was only his second time skiing. After lunch Sean was done for the day, and Lindsay and I went out to ski some blue together.

By now the wind was picking up, and it had started snowing. Lindsay decided after a few runs that she was done, but I decided I wanted to try the summit lift for one more long run down.

When I got to the top - the snow was coming down heavy, and I could hardly see. I was perched on the literal top of the mountain, when the wind picked up and my glasses completely frosted over with blown snow. I hunched over to protect my face from the wind - and I then noticed through the space under my glasses that the wind was blowing me sideways and backwards down the hill. Yikes!

I tried to turn around, but I was totally blind to even which way was down - and soon I was smashing face first into the hill. I lost my hat, glasses, both poles, and one ski in the wreck as I slid down the slope. The passerbys who helped me gather up my stuff told me it looked like I was having a yard sale.

It took me a while to get my wits and confidence back, and my gear back on. My hat was full of snow, and my head was freezing. My glasses were useless, and the wind was ferocious as the storm rolled in over the top of the mountain.

But it was exciting too - and I was pumped at the challenge of defeating the mountain.

I did, making it down without another incident. But my legs sure were jello by the time I got to the lodge!

I found Lindsay and Sean, and we piled into Bryd for the drive home. Bryd had never driven in snow, and I was pleased at how well my little Prius did going up and over the summit on the way home.

Needless to say - I was EXHAUSTED Sunday night. But what an awesome weekend...

I can't wait to go skiing again!

*grin*

Note: I wrote this entry below after my October 20th - 23rd Paragliding trip to Utah. I never got around to editing it and posting it until now...

============

I spent this past weekend on a road trip to the "Point of the Mountain" just outside Salt Lake City, Utah.

The trip was organized by some other paramotor pilots from the SacPPG group that I am a part of, including my paramotor instructor Greg Petersen. Eight of us piled into a large van before dawn last Thursday - along with all of our gliders and gear, making for a very tight fit for the 11hr drive...

We got to the north side launch around 5pm Thursday - just in time for the experienced pilots to get in some ridge soaring. I practiced my kiting (wind - at last!) with another free-flight novice on the trip (a ninth in our group - he drove himself), and then managed a "sled ride" down from the launch to the landing zone at the bottom of the hill - my longest free-flight to date.

(A "sled ride" is basically just that - a glide down to the bottom without catching any lift to soar on...)

We had rented a house nearby, so after the flying we packed off for dinner and sleep.

The next morning at dawn we met up on the south side launch with the two free-flight instructors we had made arrangements with to coach us. Chris Santacroce is a free-flight legend, and he was amazing to work with but he had so many students up on the mountain vying for his attention that it was exceedingly frustrating waiting to get some time with him. Fortunately Bill Heaner also showed up to help, as a favor to Greg. Bill is co-owner of WalkerJet, the type of paramotor that Greg sells (and which I have). Bill is just as much of a legend as Santacroce, and our group had his full attention while he was with us.

Bill and Chris both opened up my eyes to how much there is to learn - and watching them was inspiring. They both could kite effortlessly - and their tips helped me improve my own skills dramatically. Bill even took my wing for a spin, and demonstrated his fine control by actually WALKING up the side of a small building using my wing to pull him up. We also watched him get interviewed by a local TV station, and he was able to literally hover in one place a few feet off the ground while holding the microphone - his wing control was that precise.

The rest of the weekend consisted of early morning sled rides on the south side of the Point of the Mountain, lunches with Bill and/or Chris talking about the joys of flying and soaking up their wisdom, afternoons soaring on the north side, and evening dinners and exhausted sleep.

I learned a ton, and exhausted my body.

Here is my flight log for the trip:
Thursday (10/20) - North Side. One sled ride to the bottom after much kiting and reverse launch practice.
Friday (10/21) - Morning. South Side. Work with Chris Santacroce and Bill Hearner. Three sled rides and extensive kiting practice.
Friday (10/21) - Evening. North Side. SOARING! Forty minutes of ridge soaring in heavy traffic. Sunk out early and landed a bit short of the LZ.
Saturday (10/22) - Morning. South Side. More kiting work. Two sled rides, one with some ridge lift soaring. Spot landing practice.
Saturday (10/22) - Evening. North Side. Two soaring flights. My first completely uncoached launch. Not much lift - sunk out after 15 minutes each time. The first time I was way out in the weeds and had to hike back to the LZ. Second one was a great spot landing.
Sunday (10/23) - Morning. South Side. Lots of one-on-one kiting work with Bill Hearner. Two flights, including one mostly-unplanned backwards launch that I recovered beautifully from. Some ridge lift.

Total Flights: 11
Total Air Time: ~110 minutes.

At the end of the flights on Sunday, we met again with Bill Hearner - and he told me that I was improved enough over the weekend that he was comfortable signing me off for a P2 rating once I had a chance to take the written test. Woohoo!

I think I would like to spend a lot of time pursuing the sport of paragliding free flight. I am particularly turned on by the idea of doing cross-country trips. Jumping off a mountain at dawn and landing 6 hours later 50 miles away using nothing but the wind to get you there is SO COOL. Ridge soaring back and forth for 40 minutes without hitting the ground was totally awesome.

I can't wait to go again. *grin*

This morning I got all my gear lined up to take off for an early morning flight before we had to pack up and head home - but there was no wind.

Gene, my ride home back to the Bay Area took off without a problem on his trike - but I tried a few times to footlaunch and I couldn't manage a run that I was satisfied with - and I didn't want to push it too hard and risk falling and breaking something.

I went back to the shade structure to rest and wait for wind. None came.

An hour later, Gene landed - and told me it was time to pack it up if I wanted a ride home. I couldn't keep him waiting, and well, there still was nothing but the faintest breeze from the north.

I grabbed my equipment bag and started walking across the field to where my wing and motor were set up. As I walked - the breeze swung from the north to the south, and it picked up with every step. By the time I reached my gear - it was perfect launch conditions.

DOH!

The wind gods taunt me. But I am patient. I scored two perfect flights this weekend - I can wait for more.

And I think I do need to buy a trike for my motor... If only I could think of an easy way to transport it with my Prius...

I spent two hours today floating around over the western shores of the Salton Sea - flying low and slow like only a paramotor can do it!

Wooohoooo!

One highlight - chasing giant jackrabbits down the streets of an abandoned un-built subdivision just 10 feet off the ground, so low I could read the street signs as I zoomed past.

I really should go to bed now - I hope to get in one more flight in the morning before heading home to SF.

Many more updates about my recent adventures will be posted soon.

Weeee!!!!


Some of the group of Sacramento area pilots that I was with, showing off formation flight...


Twilight cruising - framed by palm trees and a full moon. Gorgeous!

I realized recently that I haven’t been keeping a good log of my paramotoring activities. For my own memories sake, here is my complete para-history to date:

December 2003 – While researching buying a new PC, I run across Totally Awesome Computers – a boutique maker of tweaked PC’s. The same owner (Dell Schanze) also operates Totally Awesome Flying Sports – the US distributor for WalkerJet paramotors. My imagination gets hooked on the idea of a flying machine that fits in the trunk of my car, and I write Dell for more information. He puts me in contact with Greg Peterson (NorCal PPG) – the California dealer.

Spring 2004 – First meeting with Greg. Lots of theory discussion, and a few hours of kiting practice at Athens Field in Lincoln, CA. Bought a nearly new wing (a 33.5 square meter Trekking Parawing 2) and a practice harness from Greg.

Summer 2004 – Solo kiting practice, but the day I tried was too windy and I had forgotten too much… I ended up blown on my ass across a baseball field, ending up tangled in the backstop. *ugh* Not gonna try that again without more training…

April 23, 2005 – Back at it after a chaotic year off. I met Greg and one other student at a practice hill in Eldorado Hills east of Sacramento. We hiked to the base of the hill, and just as we got there it started to drizzle. Argh! We waited the rain out sitting under some trees, and did a few more hours of “ground school” discussion and paraglider theory.

April 29th – Flew to Mahther field in East Sacramento and met Greg to try again on the same hill. Better weather this time. Two freeflights down the hill – perfect landings. Details in this LJ entry: http://www.livejournal.com/users/radven/12950.html

June 3rd – Flew to Lincoln airport, and was met by Greg. Spent the evening at the Athens field practicing forward launches (with no wind) with the full weight of the motor on my back. Conditions were too still to actually try getting in the air. Paid Greg for my WalkerJet RR motor – his slightly used demonstrator model.

June 4th – First flight! Back at the Athens field in the early AM – with just enough wind. I got in the air right away, and flew for about 30 minutes. Perfect landing. Refueled, and Greg taught me about using the trim system and how to do “big ears” and a few other maneuvers. Second flight was well over an hour, and I practiced a lot and got very comfortable flying. Second landing was good, but a little short of the mowed field and in the weeds. Details in this LJ entry: http://www.livejournal.com/users/radven/14352.html

June 24th – Friday evening flight at the Athens field. Late start after a long drive in heavy traffic. Gorgeous conditions – flew up over a water plant and some very cool creeks. Probably about 40m total time before I had to land when the sun was setting. It took a LONG run to takeoff, but the landing was ok. One tidbit – Greg’s only helmet was being used by another pilot and I hadn't brought a bike helmet, so I had to make due with some improvised hearing protection. Greg had a nice helmet at home that another pilot was selling – I told him I’d buy it.

June 25th - Planned flying Saturday morning was scrubbed due to bad wind conditions, unfortunately. But I did get my new helmet... (And I ordered a cable so that it could hook up to my Garmin Rhino GPS / Radio!) Talking with other pilots hanging around the Athens field waiting for better conditions, I found out about a PPG Fly-In coming up in Fall River Mills. Cool!

July 12th – First essentially solo flight. Athens field again. Greg had to work this Tuesday evening, but he drove out to the field to make sure I had set up my equipment right, and was able to get in the air. Despite essentially no wind, I managed to take off – and had a great evening flight (1hr) by myself. With no headwind though, the landing was fast and hard. *ouch*

July 13th – Early morning meeting with Greg at the Athens field. No wind, and this time I flubbed the launch. Worse – I busted my prop and trashed my cage. Wah! Details: http://www.livejournal.com/users/radven/17105.html

July 15th - 17th – Fall River Mills Fly-In. Was a great weekend, even though I only got in the air once (on Friday evening). I did learn a ton, and got tons of practice on the ground – and way more practice than I ever wanted in assembling and disassembling and carrying around my gear... Details: http://www.livejournal.com/users/radven/17178.html

July 18th – Hours of solo kiting practice at Athens field. Finally enough wind to do some reverse launches, and to really spend some time getting a feel for how the wing handles on the ground and kites. Hot, sweaty, and rewarding. But – for future reference, it sure would have helped to have a fluffer handy.

August 6th – First trip to the Sod Farm in Davis. But not enough wind to take off. Grrr. Details: http://www.livejournal.com/users/radven/19956.html


To Date:
Free Flights: 2 (airtime: ~6 minutes)
Motor Flights: 5 (airtime: ~5 hours)

Saturday morning I joined about 10 other paramotor pilots gathered at the Sod Farm in Davis. I had heard about the Sod Farm while at the Fall River Mills Fly-In, and indeed - it is an AMAZING location. No rocky field to run through. No cow pies to dodge. No nettles or weeds. Just grass. Acres and acres and acres of grass.

I couldn't imagine a better place to launch or land a paramotor. And it is 40 miles closer to home than the Athens Field in Lincoln I had been flying at.

The only downside of the Sod Farm in Davis is that it is reportedly often too windy to fly.

Yeah, right.

I have determined that the wind fears me, and runs and hides whenever I show up with my motor and my wing... I really do seem to have an uncanny ability to calm the winds. Grrr.

The air Saturday morning was scorching hot, and totally dead calm. Once again the trike pilots got in the air with ease, and I was left sunning myself relaxing on the lawn watching them all zoom off for a guided tour of the area.

Still, it was a nice outing, I love the location and can't wait to come back, and I am enjoying getting to know some of the other local pilots - one of whom has promised to let me try his trike wheels with my motor to see if I like it.

I also gave Greg back my practice harness to apply as credit towards buying a full freeflight harness. After watching the freeflight pilots at Hat Creek Rim, I can't wait to get some freeflight time under my belt.

This past weekend was a powered parachute / paraglider fly-in held up in Fall River Mills, a small town in the big valley way up north between Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen.

I've been looking forward to attending for weeks.

Friday morning I packed Bryd full of my flying and camping gear and headed north, picking up Lindsay in Sacramento to serve as my camping buddy and ground crew.

We had a great ride up, taking the back road through Mt. Lassen park, and checking out various scenic vistas along the way. We got to Fall River Mills around 4:30pm, and I got to meet a dozen other para-pilots (some rather interesting characters!), including my instructor Greg who handed me a new prop and a repaired cage (from my fall on Wednesday).

Most of the other pilots had tricycle gear mounted, so that they could take off and land on wheels and without using their feet for landing gear. I soon learned why... The field elevation was 3300+ ft, and the air was hot. High elevation and warm air provides a LOT less lift than cool air at sea level. Which means a much longer take-off RUN, and faster landings. Combine that with hardly any wind, and us foot-launch guys had a nearly impossible time getting in the air. Particularly the novices like me.

Ah, wheels - give me wheels!


My gear, set up and ready for takeoff...

With a little headwind, I did manage to make it up in the air Friday evening, though I had a fun and slightly scary slalom through trees before I gained enough altitude. But from then on, the flying was AWESOME. Flying low and slow over ridges, forests, farm fields, swamps, and lakes... With a dozen other pilots all in the air at the same time... And the snow capped peaks of Mt Shasta and Mt Lassen towering on the horizon... Wow!

The sun was setting over Mt Shasta as I landed back at the flying field. And the thin air (and no more headwind) proved to be my nemesis - and I came in fast and hard, and ended up sliding to a stop with the motor frame taking a rather hard whack into the dirt. Grrr. Not pretty.

That night Lindsay and I ran into Fall River Mills to try and find any place still serving dinner at 10pm since we hadn't packed much camp food. And to our surprise we found a small-town street party underway - with a live blues band and people dancing in the street. Lindsay and I joined in, had much fun dancing, and almost missed being able to get dinner in the process. :-)

The next morning I was up at dawn, only to find still air and no headwind. Ugh. The tricycle pilots and more experienced foot-launch pilots took off and were soon lost on the horizon, while I struggled and wore myself out running back and forth across the field trying to get airborne. And of course, every time I would get set up at one end of the field, the slight wind would reverse - forcing me to lug the whole rig a few hundred yards to the other end of the field. Ugh!!!

Meanwhile - the early AM pilots were returning, and Lindsay got offered a ride in a tandem trike by the owner of the flying field. They took off, and since the wind had picked up slightly, I gave it another try and started running down the field - and almost made it into the air before I ran out of mowed field and face-planted into the weeds. Tasty. Fiber. Plthpt.

Unfortunately, as some other pilots helped me up, we discovered that my nice new prop was now an inch SHORTER all around. NO!!!!

Trying to figure out what had happened, we discovered that the overall frame had a subtle twist in it, probably from my hard landing the night before. While running at full speed, the pull back from the glider put enough pressure on the cage to cause the prop tips to hit slightly, because the engine was now off center.

I was now in a funk - I didn't think any of it was easily fixable, and I was afraid I was now grounded and potentially facing some expensive repairs. But then Greg showed up, and he had confidence that he could bend the frame, and he told me to head into town to buy some fiberglass jelly to fix the prop. Hope returns!

We had a big group breakfast next, and swapped tips and flying stories. Then we stripped down my engine, and discovered that the frame twist was a lot worse than everyone had feared. Some of the pilots predicted it was unfixable even with a machine shop, and I was starting to feel bummed again. Even though hope seemed lost, I grabbed Lindsay and we headed in to town to get the fiberglass jelly and some ice cream.

When we returned, Greg had worked a miracle. The frame was FIXED! Greg could put MacGyver to shame. I wish I had been there to see it - apparently it involved several strong and heavy men, and the creative application of strategic leverage. Who needs a machine shop?!??

Greg then shaped some rough new tips onto my prop, and Lindsay and I set off to enjoy the afternoon by checking out Burney Falls (beautiful!), and swimming in the nearby lake. When we returned, I discovered Greg had sanded down the props so nicely that you could hardly even tell they had been damaged. Amazing.

Next up was a great potluck dinner - and more great fun conversation with all the other pilots.

The agenda for the evening was a flight at Hat Creek Rim, an amazing location favored by freeflight pilots for the natural lift and great soaring conditions. We loaded up trucks and drove to the freeflight launch at the top of the valley, and Greg and one other of our group decided to do some free flight and launched into a sky already filled with a dozen hang-gliders. It was gorgeous, and so cool. I can't wait to try some free flight!

The rest of us drove down to the landing zone, and set up our motors in the field to launch.

But again - NO WIND! And it was a real rocky field to run across. Most of the trike pilots made it up, and were able to join in the ridge soaring, able to fly with motors off.

It was so cool to watch the action from the landing zone... Dozens of pilots in the air, free-flight hangliders and a paragliders, and some paramotor pilots as well. Nice!

I was SO longing to be up there, but in the end I just practiced on the ground, and learned by watching.

As we drove back to camp that night, Greg promised to take me back to Hat Creek Rim for some free-flight practice Sunday AM, and I was excited by that idea.

Sunday came, and since there was no wind and my legs and body were damn tired, I didn't bother to try a motor flight - anticipating some free-flight practice later. But when I checked in with Greg at 9AM, he checked with a local, and they decided that conditions weren't great for a free-flight novice that morning. *bummer*

But, waiting for good conditions is the nature of the sport....

Lindsay and I then packed up camp, and said our goodbyes. I was a little disappointed that I had only gotten in the air once, but then again - some other novice pilots hadn't gotten up at all... And, as I reflected back on it - I learned a TON, met a lot of great people and future flying partners from all over Northern California, and I did have an amazing time regardless.

We had a gorgeous and HOT drive back to Sacramento, stopping to cool off with a hike through Subway Cave (a way cool lave tube cave in Lassen Park), and lunch in Red Bluff. Leaving lunch, the outside temperature readout on Bryd was 118 degrees! Woah!!!

Back at Lindsay's place in Sacramento, we cleaned up, grabbed Sean, and then the three of us went out to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, followed by a late dinner. What a full day!

Monday morning, I headed out to the flying practice field in Lincoln, and spent the morning alone working on my kiting and ground skills, and putting some of the tips I had learned over the weekend into practice. I really had a whole new feel for controlling the wing on the ground. It was hot and sweaty work, but good skill building.

Napped the rest of the afternoon away, and then Lindsay, Sean and I went to see the Aquabats in concert that night. Fun show, fun night! :-)

Finally, Tuesday morning... I had hoped to meet Greg at the Lincoln field for some more flying practice, but he wasn't back from Fall River Mills yet. So I packed up and drove home.

All in all a great weekend. Fun, adventure, new experiences, and lots of chances to practice patience and dealing with frustration... ;-)

And I think I've convinced myself that I need to invest in a tricycle attachment for my motor. Wheels are a GOOD thing. :-)

My adventures in paramotoring had their first major mishap this morning. I flubbed a launch, and managed to fall/get yanked to my side before the motor had fully stopped. As I fell to my side, the cage must have bent in just enough to catch the tip of the prop. One of the three blades broke in half, and another one cracked badly. Both are damaged beyond repair.

Oh, and the top cage segment also split - shearing the metal.

Gargh!

As for me? No damage other than a tiny scrape on my elbow and a big bruise on my ego.

Not only did I miss out on a beautiful morning flying, I was immediately worried that I would be grounded waiting for repairs and would thus miss out on this upcoming weekend's big Powered Paragliding fly-in and camp-out up in Fall River Mills (towards Mt. Shasta). I have been looking forward to this trip for weeks, and it would majorly suck to be stuck on the ground watching 30 other pilots zooming around "some of the most beautiful terrain you will ever fly over."

Fortunately, my instructor has a spare prop ($650!), and he took my cage top with him for some temporary repairs so that it will be servicable for the weekend. So all is not lost after all. I should be back in the air in time for a Friday evening flight.

I just need to dust off my ego a bit. After a perfect takeoff in difficult zero-wind conditions yesterday evening, I was feeling confident that this morning should have been easy. I was really feeling comfortable with my gear, having the night before done everything from assembly, takeoff, flight, landing, and packing everything up essentially on my own with only the slightest bit of coaching from my instructor Greg.

*sigh* It was not to be.

Greg tells me that there are two kinds of paramotor pilots - those who have busted a prop, and those who will. I guess it is good to get this experience behind me, and to learn from it. On the other hand, he also tells me that he has never see a composite prop blade damaged so badly as to be beyone repair. And yet I managed to take out two. Ergh.

Fingers crossed that this weekend goes well. I am really looking forward to some seriously cool flying time, and being able to learn from so many experienced pilots.

I have had the most amazing weekend.

On Friday, I left work early, and flew a rented plane up to Lincoln, CA (north of Sacramento), where my paramotor instructor picked me up at the airport.

He took me and my wing to the nearby practice field, and I got to practice running around trying to inflate a paraglider with 70lbs of newly purchased motor strapped to my back.

Unfortunately, there was NO breeze, and even my instructor had trouble getting off the ground. Grrr.

As dusk approached, I got picked up from the flying field by a dear friend Lindsay whom I haven't seen in ages, and we had the most amazing time reconnecting over dinner. Wow. Every time I see her I fall in love again.

Then - 7AM, back to the practice field. And -- soon after, ZOOM, I am in the SKY!

WOOO HOOOOOO!!!

The paramotor rig is amazing to fly. The first flight I was still too worried about controlling it to let go of the brake lines and truly relax, but I still had a blast flying over the fields. It is SO different from flying a small plane. You actually are low enough and flying slow enough to really appreciate the ground. I could see the twists and turns of the smallest creek. Cows would look up as I flew by. Wow!

My first landing was great, and then I refueled and got some deeper instruction on how to use the trim system and cruise control so that I could relax a bit and enjoy the view.

Next flight took a few attempts to get off the ground, but soon I was flying around with my instructor, watching him do spiral dives and other maneuvers. Then I decided to spend some time getting high, until I was around 3k feet up and then I shut off the motor. It was AWESOME to have just the wooosh of the wind in my ears as I slowly drifted lower, enjoying the scenery. When I was low - I just pressed a button and the motor was back.

Wow.

Next I practiced flying low - buzzing over a new subdivision under construction, admiring the chalk line floor planes of new homes yet to be built, and waving to the work crews. It was a perspective on the world normally reserved for birds.

My second landing wasn't as perfect, but neither me or my motor was damaged as I landed in the weeds. Ah well.... I knew I should have waited a bit longer until I cut the motor, but I was listening to my instructor over the radio... Next landing will be perfect.

But the whole experience was SO AWESOME!!!!

I spent the rest of the day recovering from the morning flying with lunch and a nap, and then it was time to fly back to SQL. I decided to head down the delta to the Golden Gate bridge, then down the coast to Half Moon Bay, then back across to San Carlos airport. Slightly longer, and much more scenic.

It was an amazing flight, until I got to Devil's Slide...

Suddenly I was being blasted around by gusts of wind, and I couldn't take my hands of the controls for even an instant to work the radios as I blasted past Half Moon Bay airport.

As I shot over skyline drive back towards San Carlos, it felt like I was on a roller coaster. My head was banging against the roof of the plane with every gust, and the incoming front was shaking me around like crazy. Yikes!

I managed to contact the tower and got clearance to land, and I am proud to say that despite the crazy gusts and the crosswind, I managed to nail the landing. It is really reassuring to know that even when things turn bad, I have the skills to get the plane on the ground in one piece. Though - for future reference, I would like to avoid conditions that require me bruising my head on the roof! Ick!

It was an AMAZING weekend. Adventures on so many fronts, new experiences, great connections, wow.

I can't wait for a repeat...

Ahhhh.... :-)


- chris

Wow.

I've been reading the trip log in my free moments all day, and I am blown away and inspired.  What an amazing adventure.

These guys glided / paramotored across the ENTIRE country three years ago.  I so want to do this someday...

More details at: http://www.paraglideamerica.com/index.html