Dear Eric and Elisabeth,

Below please find my study notes that I wrote after Sunday's training.  I wrote them for myself, but thought you might enjoy a copy.

Day 0 :

Arrive, somewhat tired from a restless night.  As I exit the plane, Jerry Daniele is there at the gate to greet me !  As we walk to the bags and the car, he tells how happy he is with Eric's teaching, and how I made a good choice to do this.

On the ride to the house, I hear of Jerry's experience as a distance runner and hear some stories from a novel he's written but never published.  I really like this guy !

When I arrive, Eric and Elisabeth greet me, and Jerry shows me my new home.   Since it's only about 1:30 and the afternoon training session isn't until about 4:00, we all head to our respective abodes for naps...

---------- Late that evening (10:43): -----------------

Your reporter is a very tired, but very happy, camper.

Jerry gave me a ride out to the training field, and when we arrived Eric had already set up a staging area, and a couple of students were already receiving instruction.  I got set up with a harness and helmet to go with my new glider.

I met Ray, a fellow student, who has already soloed four times in his first three days.

Before adjusting my glider's brakes, Eric showed Ray and I how the arms should be held in a 'No Brake' position (arms straight out to the sides from the shoulders, with the forearms bent 90 degrees, pointing straight up).  He explained that this position, although not as comfortable as that favored by some paragliders, offered greater control.  He illustrated the kinds of control possible by proceeding to demonstrate the 'Green', 'Yellow', and 'Red' arm positions for the brake lines, positions that were successively lower.

He showed me how to clip in, how to turn for a reverse inflation, how to get my brakes properly :
1. Turn the riser 'out' at the top of the buckle at the harness, so that the 'C' or 'D' (brake) risers are on top of the stack, temporarily.
2. Follow the top of this riser, called 'following the road' (the black ribbon of the riser is sort of like a road), to the brake handle. Pop off this handle, take it in the hand that corresponds to the harness attachment point, and you have it correctly...
3. Allow the harness to flip over to it's normal 'A' on top position.

He then showed me how to hold my 'A' risers in JUST MY RIGHT HAND, because, flying with a motor, my throttle was going to be in my left hand.

He emphasized using the body to control the 'building a wall' with the glider, without resorting to handling the risers at all, and with minimal, if any, use of the brake lines.  Since we had a nice breeze at the start of the lesson, this was easy to do.

When lifting the glider into the air, he had me bend my knees, take the 'A' risers in my right hand, and step back into it using my body to inflate the glider and my right hand to give it that extra lift to get it flying.  The wing came up beautifully!  He then had me fly the glider, keeping control with the brake lines and body movement, as he had me stepping back into the wind.

He taught me that I could FEEL how the glider was flying above me and that I didn't need to look up.  I soon found that this was true.  We made several practice runs down the field in this way, keeping the glider in the air by feel with Eric shouting and signing corrections if I did not feel the need in time.

At the end of each of these runs, Eric would have me turn around, with the glider still in the air, to face it and drop it using the brake lines, for a reverse deflation.  This was really giving me confidence in my ability to control the glider, to feel like it was becoming an extension of myself.

Eric then offered me the option of being towed.  I was a little nervous about it, but felt ready for it so I said I would like to try it.  He clipped me in using a special tow bar, set me up with a very clear-sounding radio, verified that I could hear him, and gave me the easy option of replying to him by nodding my head rather than asking me to try and use the 'push to talk' feature of the radio.  This was very good communication compared to trying to use a 'push to talk' radio feature while trying to learn to fly...

Eric asked me to wait until I started to feel the tow line tugging, and then to raise the glider, and, when I had it in control, to turn forward and run toward the pulley at the upwind end of the tow line.  This I did, and though it was a little strange to have this line pulling in front of me, Eric controlled the amount of pull on the line so well that I had no problem, rather, I felt as if some kind of magic hand was helping me to run more effortlessly.  Meanwhile, his voice was loud and clear, coming through the radio attached to my harness, directing me which brake to pull, how much, and correcting me when I frequently pulled too much or too long.  Before I knew it, I was flying above the ground !  Still running, like a cartoon character, maybe 6 to 10 feet above the ground !  He told me when to flare, and I touched back down, still running this way, ran a bit more, until, at Eric's command, turned and dropped the wing. I felt exhilarated!

Ray came out to help me return with my glider and the line.  From him I learned that I needn't keep running once I was in the air.  I think I learned that crazy-looking behavior from my first tandem ride over at Udul-deniz in Turkey, where the tandem pilot made this my main job as the passenger.  Similarly, my paragliding instructor had emphasized this in my three training hill flights.  But with Eric's towing skill it is not necessary, apparently.

I returned to the launch point and received another great tow.  I flew again, but used my brakes too strongly while flying.  This time Jerry came to help me, and re-iterated Eric's request that I take it easier on the controls when I was in the air.  I think that flying had me a bit excited, and that excitement was reflected in exaggerated control actions.  On one of these flights I flared a bit too high, and was saved from a rough landing by Eric's use of the tow line to re-inflate my glider at the last second, I think.  It was getting easier to go easy on the controls, however, and I'd only had three tows !  I was feeling very good about how it was going.

Now, it was time to drink some water and reflect on my flights while another student got her turn on the tow line on Eric returned to coach me in the correct technique for forward launch, with no looking back.

[I am getting very tired as I try to write this now, but I will try to conclude this important segment before going to sleep].

Eric has me center myself in front of the glider, facing into the wind. He has me take my two 'A' risers, one in each hand, and very slowly go forward until I can feel the tension on the lines.

He asks me to feel very carefully, and to reposition myself until the pull on each side is as equal as possible.  He says that I am centered !   He has me take a couple of steps back, and, LEADING WITH MY CHEST AND BODY, step/run forward, keeping a forward lean, pulling the glider up first with my body and then giving that final lift with my hands, then letting go of the risers and continuing to run, under his exact spoken and signaled commands, toward my agreed-upon point on the horizon, keeping the glider centered as much as possible by feel, with verbal and signaled corrections by Eric as necessary. I repeat this process several times, gaining confidence in my ability to feel where the glider is without the need to look at it.  Eric's words seem to ring out at the perfect moment, even when I think he is occupied with another student.

All in all, a wonderful day.  One last tow in a beautiful sunset, and packing in the moonrise,   which even included a 'moonbow', only the second I've seen in my life!

I am glad I came here to learn, I am glad I am studying with Eric.

Good night !

Day 1 :

I am too tired to write a lot tonite, for it is 10:19 PM, and tomorrow I may solo, so I want to get a good night's rest.

But I should say a few words to immortalize the day's wonders...

The morning began with a fine training session in which Eric and Michelle treated me to many tows, during which I became very comfortable with towed forward launches and landings, including one flight where I released myself from the tow line and flew in for a very sweet landing.

I'm becoming very comfortable with landings now, though it is still a thrill to see the ground rushing up at me !  I usually land on my feet and have time to turn and land my glider.

The afternoon session included more short tows that emphasized the delicate use of brakes during touch-and-go type contacts with the ground.  I'm learning to become more subtle in my use of the controls.

The highlight of the afternoon was looking over from my ground handling work to see Lorie, a third or fourth day student, warming up an adventure F1 motor and preparing for her solo flight.  Minutes later, Eric had coached her successfully into the air, where she enjoyed a marvelous flight before landing in his arms !

Laurie and Eric, just after her first solo flight. She bought us cold beer and hot pizza that night to celebrate her first solo !  She said that words could not describe the wonder of flying freely...

Day 2 :

5:33 AM:  Having noticed that I am quite awake, despite it still being dark, I realize that the feeling of excitement about the possibility of flying today is not going to let me sleep any more.  I fire up my computer and begin reading the PPG list, the used ppgs for sale page, and anything else I can find on the sport on my machine, which is not connected to the net at the moment (my phone cord won't quite reach).

I should say a few words about how I like my new wing, an Ozone Electron XL that I received just before coming to Albuquerque to train.

This wing is absolutely a dream to handle !  It inflates very easily, and comes right up into flying position with very little effort.  Even in no-wind conditions, it needs very little forward speed to stay airborne.  It seems to be very easy to land, from my experience on the tow line.  I am completely comfortable with it.   Since I've been here, it has changed color, taking on a bit of the New Mexico 'earth tones' over the original blue-with-red-stripe factory colors.

Already, (5:38 AM) I believe that I've heard Jerry leave for his mission of continuing to groom our practice field.  He spent many hours yesterday with a tractor he rented, scraping up the little tangle-weeds that had established themselves on the less-used Southern end of the training field out on 19th avenue.  A dedicated man !

At our 'solo celebration' dinner last night, Eric again mentioned how this sport is just waiting to take off, with thousands and thousands of people out there who will want to fly when they see that this form of flying is possible and can be done safely.  New students seem to be appearing daily as training is underway here since the balloon festival.  It looks like the demand may soon exceed the supply.  As one of the new students, I can see why this may be so.  I'll be returning to a beautiful flying area where no one yet flies a PPG. When the locals see me flying, many of them will want fly as well, and the sport will take off in my area.  Multiply this by the (dozens?) of similar situations with happy new pilots bringing the themselves into their home skies, and I can see an explosion taking place.

One correction :  many people consider this to be a 'sport'.  I've even used the term.  But to me, it is not a sport - it's a way to experience life fully, to fly !  Not flying as 'sport', but flying as FLYING !

-------------- 3:36 PM ------------------

I'm ready to head back to training field soon, after a fruitful morning and a restful lunch, but have a little time, so...

This morning the wind was perfect, so, without doing much first, I FLEW MY FIRST SOLO FLIGHT ! Yeeeeeeehaaaaa! A wonderful time it was. I flew my Ozone Electron paraglider with Eric's SD-51 Tandem rig for power, and the combination was sufficient to lift me into the beautiful Albuquerque skies, for a tour from on high such as I have only dreamed about up until now... Eric helped me launch, holding me by my chest straps and dancing backward as he shouted commands such as "Left! Left! Left! Straight! Right! Straight! Full Power! Run!" before he disappeared, without me noticing where or how, as I accelerated down the training field, gaining speed until I lifted off just before the start of the desert bushes.

Right after my first solo flight!

I then heard him in my ear, over the radio headset, urging me "Full Power! Keep Climbing !  Keep Climbing! Swing your legs if you hear me!" as I flew out over the desert brush and washes, gaining altitude as I went.  Soon I heard "Right Turn!...  Not So Fast!  Turn gently!"  I tried to follow these instructions, and in this way was directed in a rising pattern around the field. 

By the time I had completed one loop and was headed back upwind, I had climbed to perhaps 200 feet elevation, and then I heard the commands "Cut power!  Release Brake Handles!  Sit in seat!"  I executed the first two of these, but struggled with the last one.  Here I was, flying with my hands off the controls (except for the throttle/kill switch in my left hand), trying to scoot myself back into the seat, listening to Eric say "Lift your Knees!  Push yourself back into the seat!  Lift your knees!  Push yourself back!", but it seemed that no matter how I tried, the seat would not slide under me.  It seemed as if it were stuck somehow and my efforts were not budging it at all.  Finally Eric said "Ok. We'll try again later" and I flew the pattern again. 

When I was once again upwind over the field, we tried again, again to no avail. Too bad! I was hanging from my harness, in a nearly standing-up position, knowing I was safe because I was properly strapped in, but uncomfortable because all my weight was being carried by the straps that came through my crotch and around my legs - not the way I normally carry my weight! Knowing that this was not very comfortable, Eric had me fly around the pattern again and directed me in for a landing, which was wonderfully smooth. Eric had me kill the motor (suddenly it was so wonderfully quiet, just the wind in the lines), and then, with a variety of "Right!" and "Left" and "Straight" commands he had me line up perfectly into the wind, then a straight descent with Brakes up until flaring perhaps 8 feet above the ground, touching down with my feet, taking a couple of steps, turning to face my glider, and dropping it to the ground.  Yeah !

What a feeling to have flown from the level field, to high above it, seeing all the once-familiar features from a new and different perspective, and then return to where I started from !  I was sure that I would solve the sitting down problem and enjoy my next flight even more...

But the winds had come up, so I spent the rest of the morning practicing my ground handling, with frequent helpful observations and suggestions from Eric, who had a lot of patience with the 'spaceyness' that seemed to have come over me after my solo flight. I seemed to have forgotten quite a bit of what I had learned, but he was willing to remind me !  I learned to place my glider more easily using just my body (brakes in hand, but not used), with Eric using a 'hands on' method to show me by pushing or pulling me appropriately from behind so that I could feel the kind of movement that he was explaining so patiently. His point was that when I have a 70 pound motor on my back, I will want to place my glider this way.  (What Eric calls 'placing my glider' I have heard other instructors call 'building a wall').

Once the glider was placed, I would practice a reverse inflation, holding the 'A' risers in my right hand, with a mock throttle in my left hand, and once the glider was overhead and flying straight, I would turn to face forward and run, fast!, keeping the glider overhead, for a short distance, before turning, handling it in reverse again for a while, catching my breath, and then turning and running forward again.  The idea was to run fast, really fast, but not too long, because I would not be able to fly by slowly running a long way, I would have to run fast to take off.

That brings up another point that was very much on my mind after my flight :  the fact the new glider that I had brought with me from California, the wonderful Ozone Electron XL that kited so well, was probably not large enough to fly me and my motor at much more than the 5200' elevation we were training at.  But my home-field requirement is to be able to take off and climb quickly from 6200 and 7300 foot field elevations...  Though I had flown, I was depressed that I had made an equipment selection error, and now I could see that I was going to need either a bigger glider, a bigger motor, or both to fly in the settings that I would find when I returned to my mountain home.  Poor Jerome !  Eric had recommended a 34 meter glider, but Jerome buys a 31 meter high performance glider on his own advice, and now Jerome's glider is too small !  Poor pitiful Jerome!

So I kept practicing my ground handling, a bit distracted by trying to figure out how I would solve this dilemma, pondering adopting heavy noisy motors and/or big floppy gliders, until it was time to break for our lunchtime siesta.  On the ride back home for lunch, Eric and I discussed the problem and he suggested that I did not need a big, noisy motor that would not, in fact, develop much more thrust than the 51" prop tandem unit that I had soloed on, but, rather, what I needed was a significantly bigger glider. In fact, he was thinking of a 38 meter small tandem, as possibly being better for me, especially at 7300 feet, than the 34 meter that he had recommended previously.  He mentioned that Jerrod, a pilot I had met at the balloon fiesta, weighed a little less than me but preferred to fly a 42 meter small tandem glider at this elevation, with his 105 pound motor unit.

I did the math in my head and figured that a 38 meter glider should provide about 22% more lift, and this seemed like a good idea to me as I replayed the movie, now etched in my brain, of running very fast toward the desert bushes, taking off just in time to clear them by what seemed like inches... 22% more lift, and I'd be clearing them much more easily.  Eric checked to see that the distributor had a unit in stock, found that he did, I chose my colors, and my new 38 meter glider should arrive via FedEx tomorrow.  Now I will have a smaller, high-performance glider for low elevation days, or windier days, and a bigger, lower-performance glider for high elevation and calm days.  If I had bought the 34 meter glider to begin with, it would probably have worked across the whole spectrum, but with these two gliders I will have a broader spectrum of choices, or so I tell myself to feel happy about what I have done...

After lunch, a nap, and a bunch more ground handling, including a very strenuous session of ground handling with a 70+ pound tandem-rated paramotor on my back, I got my reward :  A beautiful, 25 minute solo flight, flying high and free, sitting comfortably like a king on a throne in the sky, happy, steering with the winds, everything on the ground growing tiny and far away, growing comfortable with the controls, with letting go, with the sweet purring sound of that wonderful motor, with coming back to land again.

I bought the beer!

There is much more to write, but it is now five past eleven, and I promised myself that I'd be falling asleep by eleven PM - tomorrow is a flying day!

Day 3 :

10:27 AM on following day :  I haven't written about yesterday's activities yet, because last night we (the pilots, instructors, and everybody's children) all went to a dinner party at Barbara's house.  She's a student of Jerry, Michelle, and Eric, and had us over for a wonderful dinner that turned into a late evening, where we celebrated Michael and Pete's solo flights and cemented new friendships in Barbara's beautiful house overlooking Albuquerque.

The other students are either finished or unable to train this morning, which left only me, and I have plenty of time, so we decided to take at least the morning off from training, to attend to the other parts of our life besides flying...  Well, we still might do flying-related things, like see if the new equipment has arrived from Germany, work on the old equipment or perhaps write about the learning experience, you know, things like that...

So, do I remember about yesterday?

We arrived at the training field to find a slight breeze out of the North, which was an unusual direction. When we got set up for this Northern breeze, it went away, leaving us in dead calm.  Not wanting to wear ourselves out in these conditions, we ate cinnamon rolls waited to see which way the wind was going to blow.  Michael and Peter might have taken rides in the simulator, preparing for their solo flights should the wind become favorable.

Finally, it looked like the wind might be coming from the south, so I was sent across the field, warming up the big tandem unit while I carried it on my back to a position opposite our original one.  By the time I had walked that five to seven hundred feet, my shoulders were feeling the weight and I was getting tired.  I sat down in the shade of the motor, let Michael lay out my glider into the direction the wind seemed to be coming from, and rested.  I decided that it was much better to fly these things than it was to carry them long distances...

The winds were "light and variable", but mostly coming from the South.  Eric said that these conditions were difficult, but that I might be able to take off in them, and if not, the practice in an un-assisted (hands off by Eric) launch would be good for me.  After Michael helped me stand up with the unit, Eric did a final check of everything, had me gently move forward to take the slack out of my lines, and step back for launch.  He re-started my motor and had me warm it up again. Standing perhaps a dozen feet in front of me, he had me run forward, leading with my chest, pulling the glider up, lifting the 'A' risers with my arms until the glider was overhead, let go of the 'A' risers while continuing to run forward. Soon he shouted 'Power up!' 'Run!' 'Run!', followed by 'Stop' as the glider fell to the ground.  He explained that I had inflated the glider beautifully, but did not continue to run fast enough in the almost nonexistent wind to keep the glider flying.  He said that I would have to use the motor to help me run, faster.

Michael and Peter helped reposition my glider, Eric reminded me that I had done well, only needed to run faster by using the motor to help me, and very soon I was launching again.  This time, I believe, I brought the glider up well, but when Eric shouted 'Right' 'Right!' I over corrected and gave it a full right brake, causing my glider to fall to the ground.

We set up again. My shoulders were getting really sore from the way I was using them to hold the machine.  But I could do it one more time!  Maybe this time I would bring everything together!  The glider came up, I ran, with power assist, but the glider quickly fell again when no-wind gave way to a gust from the side. I was ready to give someone else a turn - I was spent for the moment.

Eric reassured me that I had done a good job, that the wind had done it to me on that last run, and that now I should be able to see why no-wind and light-and-variable wind launches were so difficult that often the experts had trouble with them.  Denyed at the moment, but unbroken, I planned to fly when the wind was on my side.

We went back to our SE base for water and more discussion.

Meanwhile, what was happening?  The wind was beginning to come up and stabilize out of the SE.  Soon it was blowing at a nice steady 7-8 MPH, estimated.  Perfect flying conditions!  Eric invited me to try again if I felt rested enough, and offered Peter and Michael the chance to solo.  I offered to let Peter and Michael solo first, while I rested a little more, and then I'd hope to fly.

We packed up the equipment and moved to the NW corner of the field. Peter was going to try his solo first, using the SD-48. Eric had me help him rig and preflight his equipment, as a way of better learning myself. Eric then came and verified that Peter and I had done it right.

Eric got Peter's radio adjusted and made sure that Peter could hear him clearly, and then he had me help Peter to his feet and start Peter's motor for him, let him warm up a bit and turn off the choke before stepping away while Peter completed his warm-up, keeping the prop blast pointed high enough behind him to avoid disturbing the glider.

Eric, meanwhile, had stepped up to face Peter and was giving Peter a quick preview of how he would assist him into the air.  Soon Eric helped Peter to surge forward, chest first, pulling the glider off the ground, Eric dancing backward, pulling Peter by the chest, as Peter lifted his 'A' risers and brought the glider overhead.  There was maybe a quick 'Right' or 'Left' to keep the glider centered but very quick, and then I heard Eric yell 'Power!' 'Power!' and finally 'Full Power' as he danced around to the side, as Peter applied full power. A couple of steps more and he was airborne!

[Sorry not to finish yet: I still need to describe Michael's 1st flight, my 4th flight, and Peter's 2nd flight here, when I have time]

Day 5 :

 3:51 PM, Friday.

It's WINDY!

I'm not training right now because the wind is gusting to 25 mph as a front blows through. This is my first afternoon at the home base since I arrived on Sunday.

This morning, we knew weather was headed our way, so we headed out to the field and set up for a quick flight before it was too late.  This plan worked very well, as we watched it change from nonexistent wind to a nice reverse-inflation wind to too much wind, all while I was setting up, learning how to adjust the harness on my unit for my long torso, pre-flighting my motor, and rigging the motor to the glider.

When it became too much wind, Eric announced that the flight was off, and I unhooked my glider and put it away.  The wind was still not too much for Eric, however :  he only needed a little encouragement from the crowd of admiring onlookers before he consented to take off for a short flight.  He set up for a reverse inflation, and explained each step of what he was doing as pro ceded to demonstrate how to launch in this situation all by yourself:

(this list assumes you have already pre-flighted your motor unit)

- Lay out the glider.
- Place the unit, facing as it would in forward flight, about half-way between the risers and the glider.
- Attach the risers to the unit's attachment points
- Attach the safety carabineers to the risers, in case the attachment point should ever fail ("This is your life!")
- Since you are preparing to launch reverse, lift one set of risers (Eric chose the right side) over the unit's cage
- Spin the unit 180 degrees, away from the side with both sets of risers, so that the prop is facing away from the glider and the risers are in the proper crossed position for reverse inflation.
(Eric had explained a rule to know which set to lift over the machine, depending on which way you liked to turn when you go from reverse to forward, but I don't recall it at the moment. It is predicable, however, and can be derived with a bit of reasoning or practice).
- Loosen your harnesses' leg straps, to make them easier to put on once you have the motor running
- Bring the throttle through under the left shoulder strap and fasten the throttle into your left hand as for flying
(this allows you to keep your throttle in your hand as you slip into the harness)
- Place your right foot against the right side of the base of the unit
- Use your left hand to hold the top right of the unit, around the J-bar attachment point, in such a way that you have a firm grip on the unit and can still operate the throttle handle and the kill switch.
- Make sure that the throttle is off (this was a preflight item, but maybe you are squeezing it?)
- Make sure the fuel is turned on
- Make sure the choke is on
- Take the recoil starter in your right hand
- Verify that no one is going to be hit by the prop wash, and that the whole prop area is clear
- Yell 'Clear Prop!'
- Pull gently on the prop to slowly advance the motor to where you feel the compression (typically 1-6 inches)
- Let the recoil starter return to it's home position
- Pull firmly and quickly on the recoil starter, out to the limit of it's travel
(the engine might start on the first pull, but usually this is just a 'priming' pull)
- Assuming the engine did not start, repeat the 'load and pull' process. It should start on the second pull.
(If the engine does not start on the second pull, there is either something wrong with the engine or the operator)
- With the engine now running, take your now-free right hand and use it to help hold the engine as you give it throttle to warm it up. Make sure you have the engine firmly under control before carefully adding throttle.
- Warm the engine for a while. It's no problem, you have the prop blast facing away from your glider.
- When the engine is warm enough,
- turn off the choke and continue to keep the engine running.
- To climb into your harness:
- slip your left arm, throttle in hand, under the left shoulder strap
- sit back in your seat, continuing to warm the engine
- slip your right arm under the shoulder strap
- fasten your leg belts, and tighten them properly
- fasten your chest belt
- if you have a radio or radio helmet: plug your radio helmet into your radio, turn the radio on, and verify that you can communicate
- If it is windy, take your brakes in hand now (see 'follow the highway' procedure described earlier)
- Stand up. (You can use the prop's push to help you, or carefully push up with the help of your right hand)
- Take the brakes if you haven't already
- Check the wind direction
- Place the glider ('build a wall')
- Brace yourself against the motor's push, and build up to full power to verify that you have full thrust
- Reduce engine speed to idle
- Take the 'A' risers in your right hand
- Check the wind again. is your glider placed properly?
- Then it's time to launch!
- Bring the glider up.
- Let go of the risers.
- Control & Step back
- Step back and control
- Flying straight?
- Turn forward
- Run into wind, correcting gently to keep glider flying level and to stay under glider
- All straight?
- Full Power!
- Climb to safe altitude
- Let go of toggle(s), sit in seat

-------------------------------------------

As often happens, the plan to do a reverse inflation was not supported by the wind.
At the moment that Eric was ready to launch, the wind dropped below that level needed for a reasonable reverse inflation, and stayed low until he relented and turned around for a forward, which went just fine, and he was airborne in a few steps.

In the air, he determined that the conditions were OK for me to fly, so he called from the sky to ask me whether I'd like to go for a flight.  I eagerly said YES!, and moments later Eric began demonstrating an s-turn approach to landing, powering off, and touched down perfectly on my new blue tarp, dropping his glider right into the center of it.

Now it was my turn, and, with Eric's help, I set up for a forward inflation, warmed up my motor, brought my glider up, ran forward toward Eric under moderate power, got myself flying fairly straight, heard Eric call 'Full Power! Run! Run! Full Power!'. Soon the field was falling behind and below me as I soared out straight over the desert. A few moments later I was high in the sky and heard Eric say "Turn Right, back over the field. You're climbing like a rocket! Please come back and land." This I did, swinging a bit under my canopy in the increasing and variable winds. Eric had me turn back downwind, declared that I was still too high, and had me turn right, then stop my motor, then turn left, and then straight onto the field for my best landing so far.  I stayed on my feet, turned around, and dropped my glider off to the side rather than in the center.  The blue tarp was about 75 feet away.  Eric asked me to try and kite my wing over to the blue tarp, by doing a reverse inflation and then 'walking' the glider onto the tarp.  I made some good progress at this, in the course of two tries, but didn't quite make it onto the tarp.  I was, nonetheless, very happy with my flight.

Because the wind was continuing to come up, we quit early (10:30?) and did other things that afternoon.  (Someday, ask me to tell you about what I learned trying to clean up gliders at the park on a 'blustery day'...
---------------------------------------------
That evening, we all, and many others, gather at Jerry and Michelle's home to honor Eric with a surprise BIRTHDAY PARTY !  Elisabeth, (with some help from her friends? - probably - I was trying to distract Eric with beer in old-town...) prepares a delicious multi-course feast for 15, with wine, soup, salad, spaghetti and rolls, with a coffee and cheesecake desert, being enjoyed by the instructors, students and their families until so late that I am once again typing past my bedtime.  Good night!

Day 6 (flights 8 through 12):

4:20 PM, Sunday. I'm writing about Saturday, however, having fallen a day behind in my writing.  So let's go back to Saturday, day six, with our mind's eye...

We arrive at the field around 8:30, to set up.  Wind is light, but appears to be coming from the East and SouthEast.  I set up my giant blue tarp, which Jerry has named 'the blue acre', while Eric sets up the simulator and tow unit. Soon Michelle arrives with the trailer, and I am able to take out my glider and motor unit.  Eric helps me with preflight and setup, as the wind is becoming perfect.

Here are Eric's notes on these flights, followed by my comments.

Flight 8 :  Reverse launch, in wind of 6-7 mph, very good takeoff, very good landing, but did not keep motor running - let it die on final approach. 5 minutes.
(I let the motor die accidentally, but was in a good position for my landing when this happened.  I don't believe I touched the kill switch, but, rather, that the idle may have been a bit low.  The morning air was also still quite cold - that may have been a factor.  In any case, it did not bother me, as I was already setting up to land. But it did teach me that one must be ready for the power to go out at any time, and know what to do if this happens...)

Flight 9 :  Forward launch, very good takeoff with good correction on input, good landing.  5 minutes.
(A beautiful little flight.  The wind had dropped down, so we went for the forward launch.  The glider came up perfectly, and with Eric in front of me, giving me direction over the radio and with hand signals, I was very quickly in the air.  I landed with power off, stayed on my feet, and turned to drop my glider.)

Flight 10 :  Reverse launch, very good takeoff, touch and go with drift on left side , lost heading, Eric said 'STOP!', but I applied full power, went right, fell, kicking dirt into the prop and damaging it. 5 minutes. 
(The wind had come up again, so I was able to do a nice reverse inflation and launch and quickly climbed into the sky.  Eric thought I was ready for a touch and go, but I didn't do a very good job of it.  It requires very smooth operation of the controls, and the understanding to never add enough power to fly again until you safely on your heading with the glider straight.  I came in drifting left and should have just stopped to land, but as I saw the ground coming up with the glider falling left, I applied (full?) power and some right brake, which swung me around quickly, way faster than I had expected or was ready for, right past the amazed and startled faces of some fellow students who were training, swinging my body and motor to the left as the canopy dropped to the right!  Realizing that I was out of control, continuing to hear Eric shouting something like 'Stop! Stop! Why don't you stop?' into my radio helmet, I reduced throttle and skidded to a stop on the right side of my cage, finally killing the motor before any lines went into the prop.  A good lesson in why to never power up when you are not control: power added before control will AMPLIFY the out-of-control situation.  Eric and the students I had 'buzzed' came over to check on me, and were glad to see that I was fine.  A close inspection of the unit revealed that the tip of one side of the composite prop had taken a hit from a piece of rock that had been scraped up off the ground by the cage as I dragged it before killing the engine.  Luckily, the damage was only minor, and could be repaired with epoxy.

Flight 11 :  Reverse launch, very good takeoff, very good control, overshot blue tarp but made good landing at end of field. 5 minutes.

Flight 12 :  Reverse launch, very good takeoff, but S-approach too low, lost heading, landed on left of cage. Included spin in thermal. 15 minutes.

Day 7 (flights 13 & 14) :

9:50 PM, Sunday.

Today I awoke very early, because Eric and family were invited on a balloon ride (It is Emmys birthday today!).  I wanted to catch one of the early rides to the training field to watch the balloons.

When Jerry and I arrived, we saw that nearly our whole training field was covered by balloons in various states of inflation.  Many balloons were already in the air, and more were preparing to lift off before our very eyes.  The sun was just starting to strike the field.

--- Eric and family enjoy balloon rides while Jerry and I enjoy a visit and a spectacle.  I learn that Jerry and company had been enjoying many flights with the balloons, or 'nylon pylons' as they named them, only to be precluded from flying simultaneously with them at the balloon fiesta by the FAA.  Ironic !  There is some hope that these restrictions will be relaxed in future years, however, and meanwhile there is plenty of opportunity to fly informally with the balloons at these impromptu weekend events that occur nearly year-round here in Albuquerque.

Eric and family return as the field being cleared by the balloon crews, so he has me work on the unit, which is still damaged from my bad jerk of the brake lines on the previous evening.  (If you haven't already heard, I found a new way to destroy a unit, using an technique that I had learned in paragliding school that is inappropriate for motor flying :  On the ground, my glider was in a rather crazy pile, near the forward edge of the blue tarp, and I attempted to straighten it out by jerking rather violently back on my brake lines instead of using only my body to place the glider.  Unfortunately, my arms are long, I threw them way back, and managed to knock the intake silencer into the spinning prop, breaking it and damaging the throttle cable at the same time...  Happily, all that was hurt could be rather easily repaired.)

When the repairs are complete, I start the machine for my thirteenth flight, only to damage the new prop !   How did I do that?  Well, I started the unit on a 'blue' tarp, to keep it out of the dirt, but this blue tarp was not the big, staked-down tarp that I had used before, it was a small, un-staked tarp, and the prop pulled up a portion of the tarp and 'WHAP WHAP WHAP WHAP...!" the new prop was damaged !  Yikes !  This thirteenth flight is not going well !

Eric hears the sound and rushes back from the balloon-related or birthday-related ceremony he had been attending, to see what 'the destroyer' has done.  I have a new nickname, 'the destroyer', yikes!, which I am trying to outgrow...  Eric inspects the damage and says that the prop can be fixed, and in the meantime the machine can still be flown.  He has me set up away from the tarp, we preflight the machine, I hook my glider up, I climb in, strap on my harness, put on my helmet, he hooks up and tests my radio, and, when I'm ready, he starts the engine for me, with it up on my back, well above the dusty field.

I'm embarrassed to say that I am no longer certain (writing on Tuesday about the previous Sunday morning) whether this was a forward or a reverse inflation, but I think that I set up for a reverse.  In any case, the takeoff went very well, with me doing a good, gentle mid-takeoff correction before applying full power and climbing rapidly above the field.

My landing was not as good :  I approached and saw what my glide path was going to take me very close to or onto another student's glider that was piled on the ground, and, rather than turning slightly, I 'fixated' on the glider and landed almost on it.  I did 'skid' into it.  Yikes!  So ended flight #13.  May it be forever behind me!

Day 8 (flight 15) :

10:28 PM, Monday.

Today we took the morning off, and this afternoon I had a nice little flight wherein I did my own forward inflation takeoff that was effective but a bit to the right, and did a landing that was my nicest recently - I flared a little early, but held the flare, touched down on my feet, stayed standing, turned, and dropped my glider nicely.

At the moment, it's blowing like crazy outside my little camper here. Tomorrow is another day off - my wife and child are coming to join me!  I can hardly wait to see them, and for them to see me fly...

We took yesterday off.   After my flight, with my son, Adam

2:00 PM, Wednesday. This morning it started out a bit too windy to fly, so we practiced ground handling for an hour or so, and also a few tows for Pete an Ray, before conditions were right for flying.  I should mention, for those of you who don't know, that these 'tows' are performed with a line connected to a stationary, motorized take-up reel.  One never uses a powered paraglider to tow anything, except, perhaps, a colorful flag or banner that can be displayed behind the wing... One thing that made today special among all my wonderful flying days here is that today my dear, sweet wife Susan was here, with our almost-two year old son Adam, to 'poppy' fly.  Before each flight, they'd wave goodbye to me, and while I was flying, I'd see them waving from the ground. When I'd land, they would come up to welcome me back to earth.  I learned from Susan that Adam was very excited to see me fly, saying: "Poppy! Up! Up!" and "Poppy Down!" whilst pointing excitedly in my direction.  I am really glad that they were able to fly out and join me in this experience.

Turning attention back to the details of my flights that day, we have :  Flight 16, with variable winds out of the East, Elle 38 glider and SD 48 motor.  I set up for a reverse inflation, but before I could launch it had slowed enough that we switched to forward.  I brought the wing up, added power, ran, making minor course corrections for a short while before taking off into the sky on course.  On landing, I overflew the field, but the motor was already off so I set myself down in the bushes.  An unusually long glide path, perhaps involving thermal activity, had carried me much further than I expected.  Also unusual was that I felt I had to keep running after landing to keep the glider from overflying me.  Then again, when I turned to drop the glider it dropped readily.  Eric later explained that I could have dropped my glider as soon as I wanted by applying enough brake...

I 'rosetted' up my glider and walked back to our base in the SW corner of the field.  To my happy surprise, Eric offered me another flight, so I went for it.

The wind was now coming from the NE, so I had a longer field. Eric asked me to take my time as I ran, practicing my directional control, 'kiting' the wing as I ran.  This I did, increasing my confidence in this process.

Flight 17 (second flight of morning).  I enjoyed a good takeoff, but another less-than-perfect landing, wherein I dropped my glider into some prickly bushes right near the cleared part of the field.  This situation was caused by my unwillingness to risk a turn near the ground, and my desire to land perfectly straight into the wind.  I managed to meet these goals, while missing the goal of landing in the cleared part of the field.  All in all, it was a worthwhile trade.

Flight 18 (only solo flight of afternoon) needs documentation here, but I waited too long, after six days, to recall the details.  I do think that it was thermally, so I did not fly very long, but made a good takeoff and landing.

There was a big distraction and attraction for the afternoon session :  The 'Monster Power-Motor' Tandem Unit Arrives !

Between our morning and afternoon flying sessions, Eric had gone to the airport and retrieved a huge box of equipment that customs had finally cleared, only a few days after it had arrived from Fresh Breeze in Germany.  I was on hand when the box was cut open, like a giant Christmas present, to reveal new Silex paraglider wings in both Medium and Small, and the bright orange-red parts of the long-awaited 'Monster Power-Motor Tandem Unit' .

There was only about 30 minutes left before we had to leave for the field, but Eric couldn't wait to see the machine put together, so he let me help him assemble it.  I got the especially satisfying job of bolting on the dual 48-inch black composite props, which cross over one another at rakish 60x120 degree angles rather than the usual 90x90 degree angles that I've come to expect when double props are used.  The unit is very cleanly engineered, with a custom-designed expansion chamber leading to an exhaust silencer that resembles the ones Eric uses on his SD tuned-pipe series, and an intake silencer as well.  Assembly and pre-flight completed in time, Eric addled 33:1 fuel mix, put on the choke, had me help hold the unit, and rrrrrrummmmmm! the monster sprang to life on the first pull!

Even as we let it run on break-in, we could tell that the unit has tremendous thrust.  We broke it in for a while there in Jerry and Michelle's yard, being careful not to let it knock us down, until it was past time to head over to the field...

Once at the field, there were training flights to set up for the other students, while I got out the big blue tarp ('blue acres', as Jerry calls it) and staked it securely into the New Mexico earth to give Eric a clean place to lay out his pristine, fuscia-colored tandem glider, which had never been out before at this elevation.  At last he had the power he needed to attempt tandem flights at our 5800' training field.

Everyone gathered around for the big event.  Eric offered Michelle Daniele the first ride, and she graciously accepted his invitation.  The unit was readied, and first Eric, then Michelle, climbed inside the shining rectangle of aluminum tubing that surrounds both pilot and passenger in this new prototype.  I'd never seen anything like it, but it worked wonderfully, providing attachment points for the glider and the passenger harness, all double-secured with heavy safety webbing, in such as way that the pilot and passenger enjoy comfortable positions.

I was pleased when Eric offered me the important job of helping him to inflate the huge glider, by pulling on the leading bar as they moved forward to lift the glider...  Once I was in position to do this, Eric had me start the motor (one pull!), and help him to resist the extreme thrust that the machine put out when he ran it up in a full-power test.  It would take a strong pilot to hold this machine back by himself!

With the now motor running and warm, a 5-7 mph breeze, glider laid out properly, Eric checked that we all were ready, and the he shouted 'Go!'.  The wing came right up, almost stopping us in our tracks, and Eric gave partial power.  Within three backward steps, I had to slip off to the side, as Eric and Michelle blasted into the air at a 30 degree angle of climb.  They only went up a short distance before coming back for a landing, as Eric had determined that some adjustment of the rigging was called for.

Soon they were ready to go again, and, once again, the machine lifted them into the air to the cheers of everybody present.  A minute later, we were treated to a great view of the big smiles on Michelle's and Eric's faces as they flew past us on their first circuit.  Even in it's first, break-in flight this machine could climb faster with two people aboard than many machines climb with just a pilot.  Despite it's tremendous power, the machine was extraordinarily quiet, just a little louder than the quietest machine I know of, which is the silenced SD-44 and SD-48.

We enjoyed the smiling flyers in the sunset sky for perhaps ten minutes before they finally returned for a perfect landing, with Eric dropping his glider onto the blue tarp.  Michelle was smiling from ear to ear as she joked: "Forget teaching! Let's just give tandem rides!".  She's a happy woman, but I've never seen her this happy before...

Eric was pretty darn happy himself. I think that he said the 'monster' was a 'rocket'.

Lorie got the next ride, and her smile too was wide...  In fact, we were all smiling - the enthusiasm was contagious!

This morning it started out a bit too windy to fly, so we practiced ground handling for an hour or so, and also a few tows for Pete an Ray, before conditions were right for flying.

Day 10 (flight 19, in TAOS!) :

8:27 AM, Friday, Taos, New Mexico.

What can I say?

Yesterday I flew in a breathtakingly beautiful setting, over a patchwork green fields, some enclosing swift, sleek horses, others inhabited by lumbering buffalo, still others enclosing long-legged woolly llamas. These fields are fringed by oak, aspen, and cottonwood trees, some of which still carry the orange and brown leaves of late fall.  This scenic patchwork carpet was flanked on the east by towering, snow-dusted peaks with the rocky bones of the mountains alternately exposed and blanketed with evergreen trees.

To the north the fields ended abruptly at the edge of the the gorge of the Rio Grande river, which dropped down out of sight of this still-timid pilot.  To the West and South, great ranges of blue mountains stand out of the brown and black high desert plains into what looks like infinite distance, but is probably less than a couple of hundred miles...

[As I type here this morning, a group of three llamas have come over graze on the fresh grass just a few paces away from my chair here under the oaks...]

My friends and I are flying, like birds, in this amazing place.  Incredible! I can see Eric with his blue wing, flying above me, and then playfully alongside me, happy as a man can be, as he breaks in his new Fresh Breeze tandem unit.  We fly over David's field below where our wives and children are smiling and waving to us as we smile and wave to them. Life is good!

David, our host, is flying low and slow, in his 'all terrain' mode, exploring the canyons out of our sight, enjoying the potential of this form of flight in the way that I dream of enjoying it when I have more experience.

But for now, I am only to happy to fly above the fields, always ready to land, ascending, descending, practicing my landing approaches, calling and waving to my little son as I fly by, climbing and getting a peek into the river gorge, generally enjoying myself to the max without getting past my still-small envelope of competence.

This is my nineteenth flight. In some ways, it is my first *true solo*, in that I am doing it completely without Eric's voice in my ear.  Before I took off, he asked me if I wanted a radio.  I downwind, across the green field toward the trees far in the distance, looked at the wind sock, felt very comfortable with the scene, and replied 'No'.  "You're on you own, then!"  Eric said with a smile, as he went to ready his own unit for take-off.

It was a very light wind, and we were at about 7800 feet elevation, 2000 feet higher that I'd ever launched from before.  I was confident that my big 38 meter 'Stromboli' tandem would lift me, however.  And it did!  I remembered most of what I had been trough, and forgot only one important thing :  to glance up and check my lines, while maintaining forward speed, but before applying full power for take-off.  If I had remembered to look up, I would have noticed that the lines on the left side of my glider had snared some vegetation from the field and were not properly stretching out because this vegetation was keeping them from snapping into their desired position...  But since I didn't look up, I just took off once I was going straight toward my heading and felt that the wing was pulling evenly above me.  Once I was flying, I came to realize that I was needing to use a lot of right brake just to fly straight.  Then I thought to look up!  I saw that things were not right on the left side, and decided to return and land, or even land where I was, if I could not clear the problem.  After verifying the my heading and altitude were OK, I steered with my right hand and gave some quick, sharp pulls with my left brake to try to clear the vine from the lines.  It worked !  My lines all looked good, the glider shape looked good, and the steering had returned to normal.  Now I could climb a bit more, sit back, get comfortable, and enjoy the flight...

Flying without Eric, day 1 (flight 20, in Taos) :

Flight 20, above Taos, New Mexico (Arroyo Seco, actually). 7800 feet elevation. 12:45 PM, winds light and variable out of the West, NorthWest, and SouthWest.  Eric present but quietly working on his new machine, letting me (because of my own choice) make my own decisions and mistakes.

We arrive rather late at the field, after a fun morning for the children feeding the animals, and a great breakfast for everybody.  Winds are light out of the West, sort of.  Eric has a cold but will watch.  David sets up to take off toward the NW, and I follow suit.  The wind sock keeps shifting around, in both speed and direction.  [Eric later explains that this, combined with the time of day, is a good indication that it will not be pleasant flying conditions...]

But I think I want to fly, so I continue to rig, and move my glider around at least four different times before deciding go for a West launch by waiting for the proper moment when the wind is coming from the West.  I attempt to do this, and after bringing my glider up and glancing at it, I have trouble getting it flying straight and level.  I end up deciding that I don't have room to get it right before running out of field, and abort the launch, killing the engine and falling on my knees with the glider landing in front of me.  [Eric later asks me whether I noticed that the leading edge of my glider collapsed just before I aborted the launch.  I had not noticed this, but had noticed that the glider did not 'feel' like it was flying properly.  Eric explained that this kind of collapse, combined with the fact that I was running out of field, and was having to wait for the perfect little temporary gust before launching, were all good reasons to fly some other time.]

But I thought I wanted to fly, so I picked myself up off the ground and let David and Susan assist me bringing my gilder back to the downwind side (East) side of the field, where I slowly set up again, this time deciding to bet on a NW breezelet (my new name for the temporary little breezes were getting, breezes that are probably created by thermal activity).

Meanwhile, David had set up for a SW breezelet, and he made a good takeoff into such an ephemeral little breeze as I was warming up my motor for the second time.  David looped back and climbed back overhead as I saw my moment of opportunity displayed by the windsock, and began my inflation toward the NW.  The glider came up nicely, and with a correction to the West, I decided that I was straight enough into the wind, with enough field in front of me, to take off.  I applied full throttle and ran, lifting off just in time to clear the bushes on the West side of the field.  The climb was alternately fast and slow as I crossed the thermally landscape, but soon I had climbed out enough to get into my seat and attempt to enjoy my flight.

Enjoy the flight I did, though not nearly as much as the previous day, due to updrafts and downdrafts that made it kind of scary . Adding to my 'pucker factor' was the fact that the engine did not seem to be running as well as I was used to in the mid to upper range.  I tried to just fly around and enjoy myself amidst the beautiful scenery, but found myself being tossed around by thermals in some areas, sinks in others, and what felt like gusts when I'd climb very high.  So I flew kind of low, and began making low passes over the field looking for a nice way to land.  The wind sock kept moving, and each time I found that I wasn't that happy with my approach, so I stayed in my seat and climbed out to circle around again.  I had at least a couple of opportunities to make a decent landing, but aborted for one reason or another, usually that I was gliding too far or sinking too fast.

One pattern I noticed was that it was getting a bit scarier each time, as the thermals seemed to be hitting stronger, lower to the ground, as the flight progressed.  I had been in the air perhaps 15 to 25 minutes.  I noticed that David had returned and landed below me, and took this as my queue to make a landing sooner rather than later.

Just how I blew my landing is not quite clear to me, but I had been gliding too long on my upwind approach, I think, so I turned rather low, downwind, and, instead of climbing as I expected with the power I was applying, I found myself flying fast, low (20-30 feet?), downwind, and losing elevation relative to the ground !  I quickly passed over the road and fence at the East side of our field, flying East.  Entering the next field to the East, I thought I was too low to make a right turn, since I still wasn't climbing as far as I could tell, and in fact appeared to be sinking.  I was quickly running out of field, too! Beyond the field was a yard with perhaps 80 feet of clear area before the yard ended in 15 foot high hedge of what turned out to be plumb trees. I barely cleared the six or seven foot high barb wire fence between the field and the yard, killed the motor, flared a bit high, held it, and dropped, first to my feet, then to the ground, at the end of grass, with my glider falling into the plumb bush hedge across the dirt driveway in front of me.  The man who was building his new house, just about 40 feet from my landing site, came over to see how I was and to accept my apologies for my uninvited arrival.  Next, I heard Susan calling me, with our special call, which I returned until I could tell that she could hear that I was OK.

I was OK, but I had just had a very, very sobering experience.  I felt very lucky to be walking away from this.  Soon Eric and Susan arrived, covered with burs from crossing the fields and fences, while David arrived running down the road that was this man's driveway.

Eric wanted to know why I hadn't turned upwind. I didn't know why, except that I thought I didn't have enough elevation to do it.  He wanted to know why I had been so low to begin with, and why I had flown downwind while so low.  Again I did not have good answers, as these were things that I had never learned from him...  I had gone flying around, trying to have fun, instead of staying close to the field and practicing my landing and takeoff skills.  I learned from Susan that, as he watched me flying low over the field, trees, and other hazards, he said: "I never taught him to fly like this!" I should have known, first from the windsock, second from the way my first takeoff attempt had gone, and third from how bumpy it was once I did take off, that it was not a good time to fly, so I should come around the field and land while I still could.  I should never count on my engine to keep running.  I should always know where I am going to land if the engine quits.  I should never fly downwind too low to turn and land into the wind. I don't need more training, I need more practice and better judgment. I should stay close to the field, a BIG field, and practice my takeoffs, landings and touch-and-go's in mild, steady wind conditions such as I will find in the early morning, say before 10:30, and in the sweet hour or two before sunset.  I should practice a LOT of takeoffs, landing, and touch-and-go's before venturing very far, and when I do venture out, I should always have a plan for how I was going to land if power fails or a change in conditions indicates a landing.  If it starts to get turbulent, that means that it could get MUCH MORE TURBULENT, so come down and land rather than wait for it to get SCARY up there.

Meanwhile, I shouldn't be too hard on myself, because everyone does this and is saved by beginner's luck.  Just remember what I've learned, and practice, practice, practice when the conditions are right.  Don't fly when the conditions aren't right!  When there are just a few tiny bubbles forming at the bottom of the egg-boiling pan, they don't move the eggs, but when the bubbles are forming large and fast, the water turns into a rolling boil, and the eggs are sent flying about in all directions.  We can turn down the flame on a boiling pan of water and eggs, but we can't turn down the sun at midday.  We have to wait, to avoid flying when midday sun is pouring too much heat down upon the earth.

Another thing to know is that if one can fly downwind over fields and fences, one should be able to GENTLY turn upwind.  Once one has begun to turn into the wind, one should begin to climb.  These are not exactly Eric's words, but they are more or less what I thought he meant...

David said that he thought that as soon made it even slightly into an upwind flight path, my glider would have started to climb rapidly, getting me out of the scary situation that I found myself in.  If I ever find myself in this kind of situation again (I might want to even practice it, legs down, on a big, big grass field with no fences or obstacles anywhere nearby), I'll try and turn, gently, to the right and see I can maintain altitude while in that awkward state before making it upwind.

I'm dreaming of a big, big, safe grass field to practice in. No more small fields... 

Fling without Eric, day 2 (flights 21-24) :

Flight 21, 19th Avenue, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 5800 feet elevation. 3:45 PM, winds 5-10 mph out of the South. First flight with my new motor, a beautiful blue SD-48.  Reverse inflation, easy takeoff (no hurry), cautious climb out as I am breaking in my new motor, which has only about 30-50 minutes of ground break in time on it.  Flight is good, long one and I get to watch the other students working on their reverse inflations.  It seems a bit windy, and I worry about how much fuel I might have left, so I come in for a landing after perhaps 15 minutes. It's an easy landing - I don't scratch my new machine!

I decide to take the glider off and bring everything back to base, however, to check in with Eric and company.

Perhaps half an hour later, it looks like the wind is easing up, and the sun is going down, so I go up for flight 22. Especially satisfying is that when I see that there are other students in my intended takeoff path, I don't have to pick up my glider and carry it to the side - no, I use a technique that Eric taught me:  I kite it up reverse, drop it slightly to my right, and then walk/run to the right, keeping the center of the glider a foot or two to my right until I've moved the 100 or so feet I wanted to go.  I then stop the glider from falling right by using a little left brake, get it flying nice and straight above me, turn to face forward, add a bit of power, and, when all is aligned straight into the wind, add full power for takeoff. Very, very satisfying.  I flew the pattern twice but then couldn't resist coming in for a landing, just for practice.  Another fun aspect of this flight, and the next one, was pull-starting my new motor by myself while it was on my back!  No need to set the machine down, and no need to carry an electric starter when you've got an easy-starting motor like this!

Flight 23 :  I do a reverse inflation, even though everyone else is going forward. There's still enough wind, when I wait for the proper moment.  Another easy takeoff, just enjoying the feel of the big glider above me as I run along, below takeoff speed, working with my left and right corrections until I can feel that I'm pretty straight, then full power and up I go in a few more steps...  I don't have much fuel, and it's getting dark, but I am enjoying practicing my landings anyway, so I have another nice landing, getting better feel for the flare, keeping power on until very close to landing, getting closer to doing a touch-and-go...

Flight 24, the last of the day, fourth for my new motor, and last for this Albuquerque training :  Find that there's not enough wind to even position my glider properly, so I abandon the reverse and go for a forward inflation, after noticing Eric giving me a sign to do so.  I'm happy to see that my instructor still wants to give me a little help and entertainment as he dances backwards in front of me, one last time, signaling 'left' and 'right' with his arms (no radio any more) before sending me skyward with the 'full power' signal.  I didn't really need it, but I sure enjoyed this last sendoff from my beloved teacher.  It's been a never-to-be-forgotten time, learning to fly here in Albuquerque with the master of masters, Eric Dufour.  When it came time to touch down, I felt myself stepping down out of the sky with the kind of delicate grace that Eric displays when he flys.  It was my sweetest landing so far; a perfect finish to a perfect training.  Thank you, Eric Dufour. Thank you, Jerry Daniele and thank you, Michelle Daniele.

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