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January 5th: Elisabeth and I went to the airport,
to pick up David, my assistant from Quebec, who
came here to continue his paramotor instructor training with
me. From the airport, we all gathered at the Daniele's where a nice
chocolate cake was waiting for us. After this nice evening, a
tired but contented David
retired to a cabin that the Daniele's prepared for him, that
will be his new home for a few months.
January 6th:
Here in Albuquerque, the average wind
is 8 MPH, so we fly almost every single day. During this time
of year it gets a little chilly but most of the time, the afternoons
are mild. It being David's first day here, was all the excuse
we needed to go flying! David first as he easily launched with
the SD and Silex, and was treated to his first view of the wide
open spaces of the dessert scenery to the West and the red tinted
Sandia Mountains to the East. Jerry went next and finally me
on the trike again. Right before sunset, David had his first
flight on the trike. With assistance from me on the radio,
he had a flawless launch and 2 well executed touch and goes. The day ended with a spaghetti dinner and an Austin Powers video.
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January 13th:
Today, Bill, my 250 pound student,
had his third flight.
David is enjoying himself very much,
flying almost every day, either foot launching or flying on the
trike.
For a few days, we have been flying
a banner with the American Flyer ppg's phone number on it and
every time we do, the phone begins to ring. |
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January 14th: The more I fly it and the more I enjoy
flying the paramotor on wheels (trike).
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Jeff Goin, a paramotor pilot from Chicago,
who was on a layover as a pilot for Southwest Airlines, flew
with us at our field. In the morning he flew over Albuquerque
at 3000 ft and in the afternoon flew over Albuquerque at 30 ft. That evening Jeff joined us at the Daniele's for a good ham dinner
a la Canadian, and some short videos, including the flight where
Jerry and I saw the wild horses.
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Michelle is progressing rapidly on the tow
winch.
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January 15th:
Michelle can't wait to be back in the
air. Meanwhile, she is progressing rapidly on the tow winch.
This morning, when we arrived at the field,
we were greeted by the hot air balloonists who told us there was a
nice article in their issue of UltraFlight Magazine about the
Balloon Fiesta fly-in. We all wanted to read it right then and
there, but were told we'd have to wait for our own copy. Can't wait
to receive mine!
After the air balloons take-offs, we
started with our two new students: Denzel, from Albuquerque, who is
training to foot launch and William, from Colorado, who wants to fly
on wheels. Both are progressing very well.
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| January 16th: Mid afternoon, both Denzel and William
soloed. At the end of the afternoon, David treated himself by
launching at the training field and flying the 7 or 8 miles home
to the Daniele's. He made it a leisurely 2 hour flight, flying
the banner up and down Coors Street, and landed in the field
next to the Daniele's, just as we pulled in the driveway. We
ended the day with a cold solo beer, presented the solo certificates
and watched the videos of the days flights.
Life is so hard sometimes!......;-)
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January 21st:
I finally received my own February issue of UltraFlight Magazine, where
there is this article about the PPG/PPC Fly-In at last years Balloon
Fiesta.
January 22nd:
As we waited for Al, my 230 pound student from
Minnesota to arrive, Michelle practiced more towing and Tony flew the
trike for the first time.
January 23rd:
We started early this morning with our student
Al. Michelle arrived just before lunch with our new student, Paul Capsey
from England, whom she just picked up from the airport.
The afternoon turned windy, which is unusual
since I've been in Albuquerque, so
we all went to lunch and did theory.
Elisabeth fixed a curry dish for everyone and
over dinner, Jerry who is an amateur archeologist, spoke to Paul about
interesting sites to visit and/or fly in the area. We also learned that
Paul is interested in doing tandem. First he will learn to fly well and
then I will help him to become successful in this area.
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January 25th: Both Al and Paul soloed today. During
the course of the day, Paul had another
flight and Al three more.
In the evening, they received their
solo certificates and we
were all treated to the "solo" traditional beer and
Elisabeth's first New Mexican dish: Tacos.
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January 26th:
It was threatening to rain this morning,
so it was the best time for Paul and Al to learn about paramotor
mechanics and maintenance. After lunch, the skies cleared
and we went to the field. Al had two more flights and as promised,
prepared dinner
for the whole gang. As it is his hobby -and he is VERY GOOD
at it- we had a fine cuisine dinner. It's a good thing paramotoring
is an active sport because we all eat too much!
Tampa, Florida, January 27th:
Today, I flew to Florida, where I went
to see Francesco in Tampa. We will break
in the two new Monsters that just arrived from Germany.
January 28th:
Diego Cecchetto, the inventor of the Miniplane paramotor, has
been here for a few days. Today was too windy and rainy to fly,
so we broke in Francesco's new Monster, and the three of us had
a great time talking together.
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January 29th: The rain left but some of the wind
remained.
Francesco, Diego, about a dozen other pilots and I
went to the field.
Francesco and I went for two flights together
with the Monster and I did an additional four tandems.
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Tandem flight with the Monster and a
large Reflex wing. |
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Today, with winds of 18 - 20 MPH, Francesco
and I flew tandem with his Monster and William Corbett's large
Reflex wing, taking off reverse. Despite the rough conditions,
we felt safe.
We flew fast, especially down wind, the crowd on
the ground estimated our speed down wind at somewhere between
55 and 60 MPH. Despite the speed, we had a good soft landing.
I also flew the Miniplane with
a small Silex a few times, as well as the Monster with Jeff Thompson
(a local paramotorist) as my passenger. We did some touch and
goes.
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