Jerome's Flight Reports

Jerome continues to e-mail us his flight reports and we continue to enjoy reading them. So, with his permission, we have decided to post them on our Web site, until he puts them on his own Web site. Flight 25 : November 13th, 1999 Friday, 5:43 PM. I'm just in from a beautiful pre-sunset flight above Nevada City, my first since returning to California. I took off and landed from an abandoned airfield a couple of miles from here, which I estimate was at about 3000 foot elevation. It was a no-wind situation at ground level, and perhaps a 1-3 mph drift up at 500 feet AGL. I had a successful forward inflation and launch on my first attempt. The field was muddy and rather torn up by kids playing, post-rain, with their 4WD trucks, but I managed to avoid the serious mud, and climb happily skyward. I say happily, but it was actually a bit nervously, as my climb rate was only moderate, and I was not used to seeing trees approaching at the end of the field. We didn't have a lot of trees in Albuquerque! But there were a lot of trees here in the Sierra foothills... I'm breaking in my engine, so I did not want to stay on full throttle any longer then necessary, but the climbout, in the no-wind conditions, seemed slow and I felt that I had to maintain full throttle for quite a bit longer than I did in the Albuquerque desert. Of course, the 'bushes' here were 50 to 100 feet taller than those in New Mexico, and that may have accounted for my having to keep the throttle squeezed a bit longer... The scenery was beautiful: I could see the surrounding valleys, with their cloud-like decorations of drifing smoke from people burning fallen leaves, the sun glowing through the alta cumulus(?) clouds to the west, and to the east I could see the mountains rising to the High Country, where the snow-capped peaks were standing out above the forested ridges that ran up to them. I flew my pattern over this beautiful scene for perhaps 15 minutes, with a mixture of enjoyment and a bit of worry, as I wanted to keep a clear glide path to my landing field at all times, but I'm not yet confident that I really know what my glide path will be if the motor should fail. So I did my best, and tried to err on the high side if I erred at all. I resolved to fly next time from an even bigger field, and to practice gliding at idle in such an easier situation, until I become more confident in my internalization of glide path prediction. So it went, flying so high that the trees looked a bit like the model trees used on model train sets, until I decided to come in for a landing. I chose to do a long approach, flying high past the west end of the field, and then turning to my right and reducing power to an idle. I was surprised by how fast I lost altitude, but was always prepared to land if the power should fail. I just would have landed further from my truck than I wanted to, but I was well within the field... Since the power did not fail, I flew, out of my harness, further down the field, past some of the ugly muddy tracks left by the four-wheelers, until I was approximately alongside my family and friends. I then cut power, killed the motor, flared lightly as the ground neared and landed at a full run in the no-wind situation. It was easy, and I turned to drop my glider, which fell in a heap behind me. I would have had to run like hell to keep that glider flying... 9:49 PM [When discussing the flight with my family over dinner, I learned from Susan that thought I did *not flare* at all. She had been explaining what I was doing to her parents, recalls telling them that I would flare, and was surprised when she didn't see me flare. But I recall flaring, a bit late because I was still trying to operate the new, recessed kill switch, and think that my flare was done with a slow movement like I should use into a moderate wind, but I was in no-wind and should have flared more sharply...] So, I need to practice my flares more, and more, and more. My plan for tomorrow, if the weather is cooperative, is to go to a big, big meadow I know of up at 5000 feet elevation and practice these things while being easy on my new motor. I may also reduce the size of the guard on the kill switch, as Eric has suggested. Life is good. Flying is good. I am learning with every flight.   Flight 26 & 27 : Saturday, 12:17 PM. This morning I got up early and went to fly at a place that I think is called Bear Meadow. It's on Highway 20 between I-80 and Nevada City, at about 4500 foot elevation. It's big and beautiful. Looks like pastureland, but no cow pies! Very wide-open spaces, occasional low fences, most of which appear to have had their wire taken down. Relatively smooth for running, slight slopes but none too steep. Transected by highway 20 at the East end, about 80% of the meadow is to the West - must be a half a mile of it that way, maybe more. A creek meanders through the south side, and beyond this creek, against the south up slope, run 60K volt power distribution lines. There's no need to fly anywhere near these lines, however, as the meadow is very wide. I took two flights, #26 and #27. On #27, I did two touch-and-go's, but I'm not counting these as separate flights, even though I ran a long way to take back off on each of these flights. The morning started out no-wind, and finished light&variable when I decided to quit at 10:30. I probably put about 1 hour on the motor, bringing my total to 2 hours. Of this one hour today, about 45 minutes was spent in the air and the other 15 minutes were spent warming up and breaking in the engine on the ground. My touch-and-go's could probably have used more brake, because I was running fast during my period on the ground. But there was very little wind, and what wind there was I did not know the direction of because I had no wind sock. I resolved to get a wind sock for my afternoon session. Flight 28 : November 14th, 1999 Saturday, 9:43 PM This afternoon I returned to Bear Meadow for a sunset flight. My arrival was delayed by waking up late from my 'power nap', realizing that I still didn't have a wind sock, and consequently spending over an hour and a half tracking down the parts necessary to create one. Finally, with the sunlight gone and the red clouds in the sky, I laid out my glider at about 4:50 PM. Since I now had a good wind indicator, I could be certain that I was into the wind, which was about 3 MPH out of the east. I did a forward inflation and took off with a rather long run. Though the takeoff run was long, the flight was smooth and sweet, with great views of the sunset clouds and the meadow in the evening light. But it was getting dark, so I came down after only ten minutes or so of flight. My landing was easy and uneventful, except that I came in fairly fast, perhaps due to the relative lack of head wind (when I went to land, the wind may have declined to only 1 MPH.). Flight 29 to 34 : Sunday, 4:43 PM This morning I went back to the beautiful high meadow near the headwaters of the bear river to fly again. My friends Michael and Julie came with me to watch. We arrived around 8:00 AM, and found a very slight breeze drifting down canyon from the East. I set up in the same spot as I've been using, west from the road nearly to the first fence line. In retrospect, I would have been happier going all the way to the back (Western) end of the meadow, because that was the part of the meadow that had the biggest practice area with out any fence posts, and the smoothest air, and the longest runways given the Easterly wind direction. But that is a lesson for next time I find an Easterly wind. I started with just over 5 liters of premix in my tank. When I finished a couple of hours later, the engine had burned almost all of it. I enjoyed 5 flights, all forward inflations (never was close to enough wind for a reverse), and did at least 5 (perhaps 7) touch-and-go's in the course of the morning's practice. I learned a lot of things on these flights. First, I learned that you can't have too much field in front of you when taking off. Although I climbed out in plenty of time from my launch spot, I found that I was much more comfortable when taking off from the far West end of the meadow, where it seems like a mile of grass is available in front of me, rather than from where I started, where there is only a third as much distance clear. Next, I found that conditions were quite a bit more turbulent up high (I flew to perhaps 400-700 feet AGL on my first and third flights). I believe that it had to do with the shape of the valley, and the way that winds might have been coming over the ridges, which might be 800-1000 feet above the valley floor. I realized that these valley walls could have rotors near them, and other strange turbulence effects caused by the shape of the land, as well as the usual thermal effects. As I started to imagine what might be happening up there, it climbing higher became less appealing for the time being, so I descended to practice the basics. I loved practicing takeoffs, landings, and touch-and-goes in the big meadow. The grass was very inviting, and I am becoming more comfortable with the feeling that comes when I can see the ground fast approaching me as I come in for a landing. Two of my landings came when touch-and-go's were unsuccessful, i.e. when I failed to take off again even though I had intended to take back off. I also missed two forward inflations out of seven attempts, both apparently due to poor alignment into the wind, which was light and variable, with the direction being especially variable at the time. Interestingly, this variable direction did not get worse after my troubles around 9:15-9:30, instead, it got better, with the wind dropping toward calm, and the direction stabilizing somewhat. All of these takeoffs, landings and touch-and-go's really gave me increased comfort with that delicate interface between flying and being on the ground. If I hadn't run out of gas (I deliberately brought no extra fuel), I might be there still! Tonite, my legs feel like they're made of stretched rubber! I'm not sure why, but several of my touch-and-go's involved long, long runs with more than one little takeoff without climb, followed by a slight touchdown with more running until taking off again, this time with a more pronounced climb. I think this might be a symptom of some kind of sinks in the air, whether produced by thermals, ridge effects, or other unknown causes. More to learn! On first thought, I guessed that I might have run 1000 yards today, but upon further reflection I doubted that I ever had to run 100 yards, on my 10 to 12 launches, and most runs were more like 100 feet. Everything is getting better: it's becoming completely natural for me to run, correcting to stay centered under my glider, finding time to look up and verify that the lines to my wing are all clear. On landings, it's becoming more natural to use the appropriate amount of brake, at the appropriate time, to bring myself smoothly to the ground, and to kill the engine if desired without struggling to locate and push the kill switch. Everything I'm practicing is getting easier... Flight 34 : How happy can one man be? It's 6:41 PM, Nov 15, 1999 and I'm back from the best 10 minute flight of my life so far. The sun had just set. I drove onto the Eastern edge of the meadow, marveling at the scene before me. A story-book sort of steam was appearing around the edges of the meadow, whilst red and pink clouds glowed out past the Western end of the river valley. I was rolling across the meadow track in my eleven year old convertible, with my paramotor in the seat beside me. I had come to see if it might just be flyable, even though we were supposedly in the initial stages of a five-day storm system. Where only an hour before there had been cumulus clouds blowing over the valley walls, now there was clear sky. Where before there had been 10-15 mph variable winds on the valley floor, now there was dead calm. I put up my wind indicator, and it was motionless. I looked out where the sun had set and wondered if there was going to be time for a flight. Hard to tell. Still, it would be fun to practice my setup, starting with a broken-down-for-transport machine. I set to work assembling the power unit, taking the motor/prop/harness assembly from the front seat and the cage components from the back seat. (Sometimes it's handy to have a removable roof on a car.) I snapped the cage to the frame while watching the deep golden colors shift toward red on the oaks that grew, perhaps a mile away, at the Eastern end of the valley. Meanwhile, the mists were forming before my very eyes around the lower perimeter of the meadow. It was like magic. Would there be time to fly? Pressing ahead, but carefully, I got the unit assembled and did the preflight check. Since there was still no wind, I decided to set up for a forward inflation into the direction of the still-glowing sunset colors. My glider set up easily, with no left-over tangles, and in just another few minutes I found myself shouting 'clear prop!' to no one at all. Not sure how long the light would last, I left my car running with the headlights on, as a sort of emergency landing lights, lest the rising foggy mist should suddenly cover the higher part of the meadow that I had chosen to fly from. At the very least, I'd be able to see the ground for landing... An easy forward inflation, a run to get the glider up to speed and straight above me, a glance up to see that all the lines were clear, then full power!, followed by the strange, loping, big-striding run that has become normal for me on this soft-bottomed meadow, and I was up! Darkening golden grasses receded into the distance as they came to be covered with a wispy, steamy fog that seemed to condense out of the air. To my left, a rocky, tree-masted, ship like outcropping slipped by me as I soared out over the ground-fog. The air was super-smooth; my climb was easier than I expected, and soon I had reduced power to continue my motor's break-in. So far, it has propelled me for about three and a half hours of glorious flight. Since I was high, I steered left and thus caught the long view down the Bear river valley toward the last of the sunlit clouds. Dozens of miles away, a single cumulus cloud glowed hot orange-pink against the dark blue sky. I had caught the sunset after all! I turned right and swung over the fog-painted meadow grasses, flying East, amazed at how smooth it was, and how much safer is somehow felt tonight. I think the smoothness contributed to this feeling of comfort and safety, but the muted sharpness of the landscape in the fading sunset light might have helped too. The wispy fog made ghostlike patterns in the nearly still air, while my planned landing above the fog and clearly lit by the headlights. It was so sweet! I flew on, enjoying delicious, butter-smooth s-turns, to the West end of the meadow, then circled and returned, soaking up the twilight views with the quarter-moon high in the sky. Everything looks different in the twilight - muted, softer, further away than it actually is. Like a dream world? There was still no wind, so I came in to land near my car's headlights, approaching from the opposite direction that I had taken off from. The landing was easy, but I had to run to stay ahead of the glider as I dropped it. I packed the glider in the misty beams of my car's lights. I had started my flight feeling that it was cold, but now I felt very warm... Soon the power unit was lovingly broken down and was sitting beside me in the passenger seat. As I drove out of the meadow, top down, moon high above me, heater on, and the beautiful unit beside me, with it's black propeller, it's curving expansion pipe and silver silencer within easy reach. The cylinder head was still a little warm... It was a slow, easy, relaxed and happy drive home. Thank you, Eric Dufour, Jerry and Michelle Daniele. I owe you another beer! Flight 35 : It's 5:58 PM here at the Rocklin 'Murder Burger'. Now I know why so many pilots like to fly at sea level! I'm just in from a wonderful little sunset flight. The sunset colors lasted for about 45 minutes tonite, and I flew the last 30 minutes of that time. Winds were from 0-2 mph in my estimation. This brings total time on the motor to 4 hours. The first 3.5 hours were running Amsoil 100:1 mixed at 33:1, and this flight starts my new mix of Amsoil 50:1 Racing oil mixed at 33:1. Setup tonight was a bit of a pain because I was fooling around with the exhaust heat blanket, which I damaged the last time out and made poor repair to earlier today. I covered over my earlier mistakes with some 'muffler bandage' and had to get the pipe hot to make this new bandage stick. Eventually, I want to replace the whole blanket with a new one, but I could not find the right parts today. What I've done does work - it's just ugly and unnecessarily heavy. The other delaying task was the removal of a bunch of unwanted sticker-weeds that were all over the launch area. This took a while, but recent rains had been favorable to the task and it went well. Nervous at the unfamiliar setting and after my layoff, I was not prepared for how easy takeoff was. I was airborne in about 1/10 the usual distance, and my rate of climb was also several times greater. I bet I could have taken off in a Silex medium from this site! This part of Rocklin is much prettier from the air than it is from the ground, and I really enjoyed mix of oak woodlands, open fields, pseudo-estates, and college athletic facilities. Especially enjoyable were the two giant swimming pools, lit underwater and filled with lap-swimming athletes. Once up there, I found it unusually difficult to come down. Not because of any thermals or lift, particularity, but because my motor/glider combination seemed to want to climb at almost any engine speed above idle. I still don't have the idle dialed in, so I need to keep a little throttle applied to keep the engine running reliably. So I took my time and descended while enjoying the sunset colors and the energetic swimmers, practicing some easy spirals to the left and right. The power was amazing! I'd estimate that I had at least 30% more thrust than I'm used to, and perhaps it was 50% more! It made me more determined to get a 'monster' engine for high-elevation use. It made me wonder if I'd also benefit from a bigger glider at elevation. I did one touch-and-go, and was absolutely flabbergasted at the climbout! Now this was/is the kind of performance that I need for my dream of back-country exploration via paramotor. It was getting dark, so I had to land. My landing was rather lame: I was trying to land on top of the little rounded hill, but came up short, landing up-slope, and my flare had a weaker effect than I anticipated. No harm done, though. I killed the motor just in time, flared as hard as I could, and took most of the energy with my legs, letting the cage bottom into the weeds&dirt just a bit, not enough to bend anything. I think I might have gotten into a bit of a rotor that was coming off the hilltop. This would explain the difference in rate of descent and effectiveness of flare between the touch-and-go and the landing. In any case, it was an enjoyable and educational flight. I look forward to a few more sea-level flights over the next few days. I estimate that the elevation here was around 500'. Good flights to you! - Jerome Flight 36 : November 27th, 1999 Location: San Francisco's Ocean Beach Time: 7:50 - 9:00 AM Wind at start: 3 mph E (estimate) Wind at finish: 6 mph E (estimate) Glider: 38 meter Stromboli Engine: SD-48, +1hr => 5 hr TT Reflections: Wind from inland was a bit of a surprise, but with my sea-level rate of climb there was no problem clearing the seawall and avoiding it's rotor. City workers slacking at the beach watched my takeoff with interest. Spectacular views of the ocean, with dozens of surfers bobbing on the waves. An occasional good ride was seen from this new perspective. A fog bank was drifting West from the Bay, being split by the hills of San Francisco. The towers of the golden gate bridge poked above the cloud/fog, while I was either above or outside of the bank as it flowed toward the ocean. A great feeling being above the clouds, seeing the long view over them North to Mount Tamalpais, Stinson Beach, Bolinas, and even out to Point Reyes. Flying High, I decided to take advantage of the lack of fog over the West end of Golden Gate Park. I flew into the city using this (mile wide?) park strip as my flyway. It was full of safe landing zones, and I also had quite a bit of altitude (1000-2000 feet? - I really need an altimeter). It's hard to explain how the city looks from this perspective. One thing I really noticed were all the large, flat areas where one could conceivably land. I tried not to fly over the populated areas anyway, sticking to the park, beaches, and such, but I was pleased to see that there were many more possible takeoff and landing sites than the beach that I had chosen this morning. I finished with long tour to the south, out past Fort Funston, where no hang gliders were flying in the backwards breeze, and enjoyed views of Lake Merritt and a big golf course. Golf courses are especially beautiful from the air... Finally, I started to worry about my fuel. I had left with 5 liters and now I thought I might have been aloft for close to an hour, maybe more. I should wear a watch or carry a mirror... Anyway, on the way back, I started to feel really cold, and was glad to land, a bit short of my target but at least I kept the glider out of the water! Time to go check a site here in Half Moon Bay...   Flight 37 : Location: Half Moon Bay's Roosevelt Avenue Beach Time: 12:00 - 12:30 PM Wind at start: 10 mph W (estimate) Wind at finish: 14 mph W (estimate) Glider: 31 meter Ozone Electron Engine: SD-48, +.5 hr => 5.5 hr TT Launch: Reverse, on first try Touch and Go's: 4, more or less. I came here to walk on the beach with family and friends. My friends, who hadn't seen my fly yet, but had heard of it, were eager to see me fly. I expected that there wasn't enough room at this beach, but when I walked past the dunes to the beach, where was a very nice breeze coming off the water, at an angle to the beach, is such a way that I said to Susan: "you know, I could fly from here in these conditions", to which she quickly replied 'then do it!'. Thus the plan was born. With the breeze, I brought out my Ozone, figuring that the Stromboli would carry me away before I even launched. The Ozone XL was enough of a handful when I got it out on the beach. Two helpers assisted by holding the glider down while I got it hooked in to the harass and got myself hooked in and started the motor. This was to be my first reverse inflation since leaving New Mexico two weeks earlier! The glider came up easily but I had some trouble keeping my footing underneath it, troubles that I overcame despite my lack of practice. When I turned to forward and applied power, I was airborne within two steps, and climbed more rapidly than I ever have heretofore. This rate of climb allowed me to quickly slip into my seat and turn right to avoid going very far out to sea. When I did turn, I was amazed at how fast the turn and downwind leg went. This might be the fastest breeze (at least with THICK air) that I'd ever flown. It was so easy to fly! Once again, I had to work to descend, at least on the upwind legs. I did about four touch-and-go's, each better controlled than the one before. Finally, I asked Susan and found that she wanted me to land. I landed to big audience of curious onlookers, some of whom had taken pictures of me that they promised to send. Many seemed to have enjoyed my flying. I should mention that my touch-and-go's were very slow from the perspective of ground speed, and my climbs were very rapid from the perspective of ground speed. It was SOOOO MUCH FUN! I can see why people love to fly the beach, with it's (relatively) laminar winds... Flight 38 : Location: Half Moon Bay's Roosevelt Avenue Beach Time: 12:50 - 1:30 PM Wind at start: 15 mph W (estimate) Wind at finish: 22 mph W (estimate) Glider: 31 meter Ozone Electron Engine: SD-48, +.6 hr => 6.1 hr TT Launch: Reverse, on sixth? lift try, second turn try Touch and Go's: 8, more or less. Screwups: Reverse inflation led to falling forward one time. Wanting to check my machine after this fall led me to unclip my straps, leading to: One launch aborted because LEG STRAPS were not attached! Finally, a TURTLE appeared after I had touched down for my landing! This flight started off hard, with the wind being a bit severe for a reverse inflation with my glider and skill level. I struggled, with my audience, to bring the glider up under control in the increasing wind. Once I was flying, the feeling was great, and I had lots of fun doing touch and go's where the 'GO' part was virtually STRAIGHT UP! I felt like my motor was a 'Monster'. It took me up like an elevator, and let me down like an elevator... I had a tremendous amount of fun with this, but I did notice that I had to run forward less and less, until I found that I was backing up, after touching down, but moving forward very slightly on takeoff. To make a long story short, I played too long, did too many touch-and-go's without turning to face and kite my wing. I never did turn to face my wing on any of these touch-and-go's, despite the perfect conditions for doing so. Why? Was I lazy? Was I afraid to make a mistake? Probably a little of both. In any case, when I finally did struggle back to a reasonable landing area from being 'lost' downwind (the winds were such that I could not make progress against them, when I finally came in to land), anyway, at that landing time, I landed perfectly still but did not turn and drop my wing. Instead, I let myself be carried backwards onto my back, I became a terrapin, a turtle, dragged across the aged asphalt of the parking lot, pulling frantically on my brakes until my wing finally came to rest in the bushes and a passerby (named Teddy) came to rescue me. I was more than happy to see that my prop was still intact (thanks to Eric's SD). The cage was scratched all on it's face, but the prop was still intact, and I will be able to fly it again! Flight 39 : Location: San Francisco's Ocean Beach Time: 8:10-8:22 AM, 11/27/1999 Wind at start: 3 mph NW (estimate) Wind at finish: 4 mph NW (estimate) Glider: 31 meter Ozone Electron Engine: SD-48, +.2 hr => 6.3 hr TT Launch: Forward, on first try. Touch and Go's: 1, more or less. Screwups: None Breakthroughs: Found 'perfect' attachment point for comfortable seating in-flight. This new point is two holes forward of the one I used in training, and allows me to feel my back comfortably resting against the harness in flight, instead of feeling like I'm sitting on the seat but about to fall forward out of the harness all the time... Remarks: A good flight, with a rather low ceiling (500'?). William Baumgartl showed up just before the flight to check out the SD-48, which he seemed to like. The scenery was not as inspiring as the last time I flew here, due to the overcast day, but it was a pleasure to fly anyway. An old long distance running friend ran in from across town, and I really enjoyed dropping in for a landing when I spotted him from the air. He said that I looked great, dropping out of the sky. All in all, it was a wonderful little flight. The increased comfort from finding the right attachment points was so nice. It seems that my heavy weight requires me to attach the glider further forward to achieve a balance between my weight and the engine's weight, such that the back of the harness is in an upright position rather than tilting slightly forward. Flight 40 : Location: San Francisco's Ocean Beach Time: 8:30-8:54 AM, 11/27/1999 Wind at start: 4 mph NW (estimate) Wind at finish: 4 mph NW (estimate) Glider: 31 meter Ozone Electron Engine: SD-48, +.4 hr => 6.7 hr TT Launch: Forward, on first try. Touch and Go's: 8, more or less. Screwups: Got a $100 ticket from the Park Police. I flew too close to my LZ, did too many touch and go's, and then hung around, visiting with onlookers and adjusting my brakes until the authorities had time to come by and harass me. Breakthroughs: Discovered that even perfect things can be ruined by authoritarian naybobs. Remarks: Had a great flight, albeit too centered on my LZ, where a group of people had gathered to watch me. So I tried to interact with them by doing frequent touch and go's. Then, I decided to land and visit while adjusting my brake lines. This went well, with a group of about 10 interested people asking me questions. My friend Bill, who had run to the beach, volunteered to take my truck back to his house so that I could fly there... I turned him down, but it would have been better if I had taken him up on his offer, as it wasn't more than 10 or 15 minutes later that the little federal jackboot showed up. Too bad! The fed couldn't find what regulation I had broken, but was sure that there must be one, so he called headquarters and they told him what to write on the ticket. He then explained that I didn't know about this regulation because it was local to their park and had been made up by their supervisor. He said I should always ask the police first before doing anything... All I wanted to do was get back to my mountain meadow where the flying was free... But then, the next day, what do I hear of but that the 'President', 'Clinton', has written and signed a new executive order seizing 31% of the National Forest lands, including much of the Sierra Nevada where I live, and handing it over to the police-oriented 'National Park Service'. Yikes! Will I have to deal with federal jackboots in my mountain forest too? Flight 41 : Location: Old Airport, Nevada City, California Time: 3:50-4:38 PM Wind at start: 1 mph NW (estimate) Wind at finish: 0 mph (estimate) Glider: 38 meter Ozone Electron Engine: SD-48, +.8 hr => 7.5 hr TT Launch: Forward, on first try. Touch and Go's: none. Screwups: Forgot to attach helmet strap until after I was flying. Breakthroughs: Reminded myself that 2800' ain't sea level! I realized that I want to buy a strong enough paramotor to give me the kind of performance that I was experiencing at sea level, up here at 2800' and even at 6800'. I think that will be a twin-prop 312cc Hirth-powered Fresh Breeze 'Monster'. Remarks: It was Sunday, and I got back to Nevada City before the storm, and before dark, so I decided to take a look at conditions up at the old airport, since a multi-day storm was expected to hit that night. This might be my last chance to fly for a while, and I wanted to get the bad taste of the park police out of my mouth. The field was still a muddy mess, but there were enough dry areas that I thought I could keep my glider fairly clean if I kept it out of the mud, flying. When I set up there was a tiny breeze out of the NW, so I set up at the East end of the strip, where the dry ground was. There were some motorcyclists playing with dirt bikes at the western end of the strip, so I figured that my PPG motor would not be a problem, compared to the noise that they were making. I put in 6 liters of gas, hoping to fly long enough to enjoy the sunset. Takeoff was smooth, but the climb out was scary. A few more hours of break-in, and the new 50:1 Amsoil mixed at 33:1, were not giving me anywhere near the power that I had down on the beach. Instead, I was climbing just about as slowly as I had first flown here on flight #25, my first California flight. This would not do. I did clear chain link fence and BMX course in the middle of my runway by more than 20 feet, and I did clear the trees at the very end of the runway, but not by enough to allow me to turn back to land if my motor had failed. It was amazingly slow climb compared to the beach, but just what I had been used to before, at high elevation. In a few minutes, I was high enough to be quite comfortable, and was able to ease up a bit, but here I was having to use 80% of my power to begin to climb, where at the beach I had needed only 20%, or so it seemed. If I use this field again, with this 210cc motor, and no wind, I will make it a point to launch toward the East, where there is a big canyon to fly over, and only a 20 foot house to clear instead of 70 foot trees. As I concentrated on climbing, I worried that I was running my motor too hard for too long, and this worry detracted from my peace of mind also. Time to order the 312! The views were wonderful. I saw the last light, the 'alpen glow' on the snow-capped peaks of the High Sierra, perhaps 20-50 miles distant. I could see the Sierra Buttes to the North, the half-dome peak near the headwaters of the Bear River, and the towering peaks of the Desolation Wilderness area. It was interesting to see the half-dome peak, because that is the first peak that I see from my Bear Meadow flying site, perhaps 20 to 25 miles away by air. Maybe someday I will be able to fly from one place to the other... but not today. Sunset colors were in the sky, but only a small part of the heavy clouds to the West were illuminated. It was pretty, though, and very interesting to see the valleys of the Nevada City - Grass Valley area from the air, with their wispy plumes of drifting smoke from people's fall leaf fires. Flight 42 : Location: Bear River Meadow Elevation: 4600' (estimate) Temp: 36 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 3:38-5:08 PM, Dec 4, 1999 Wind at start: 2 mph E (estimate) Wind at finish: 0 mph (estimate) Glider: 38 meter Elle Stromboi Engine: SD-48, +.5 hr => 8.0 hr TT Launch: Forward, on first try. Touch and Go's: none. Screwups: None. Breakthroughs: First time putting on gloves while in flight. Super-smooth air allowed me to comfortably climb above the valley walls for the first time. Climbed high (1000' AGL?), shut engine, and enjoyed a silent glide down to a soft landing. Remarks: The snow had mostly melted off the part of the meadow that I chose to fly. This might be my last flight from the meadow without snow before the next winter storm covers it, and I want to enjoy this setting again before heading to San Diego tomorrow or the next day. So, even though it is late (I arrive at the meadow at 4:02), after setting up my windsock I decide to go for it. I have to put the cage onto my motor unit. I enjoy this task as the sun sets and begins to light the clouds that hang out in the Eastern sky. The red-pink light is beautiful on the snow-covered 'radio peak' that rises above the western end of the valley. It's pretty cold, (36 degrees?) and my motor dosen't start until the third pull, but runs fine then. My launch goes fine, and I'm surprised how quickly I take off and climb. Seems easier than it did on the last flight, which was from 3000' base elevation. Maybe the cold is helping me, or maybe the 1-2 mph breeze is really making a difference, or maybe the much larger field just makes it seem like a shorter takeoff. In any case, I am climbing fine, but the wind chill is extreme. After getting in my seat, I decide to try and put on my gloves while flying. I do this VERY carefully, lest one of the gloves fly into the prop. The right glove I do first, and it goes well. Then, it's time for the left glove, and there is this problem - the throttle is in my left hand, and to put the glove on I have to take the throttle off, without dropping it or the waiting glove into the prop, all while I am flying without my brakes in my hand. I manage to do it, but have a few exiting moments in the process. Meanwhile, the air is really smooth, my hands are in gloves now and thus my fingers might not freeze and fall off as quickly as they would have, so I climb up for some long views. I get above the valley walls and see 20 to 50 miles down the western slope of the Sierra. I see far and wide! I climb so high that I see down into Lake Spaulding, which is behind a dam at the east end of the valley. I see icy lakes up on the Southern ridge of the valley, I see the headlights of the cars on interstate 80, I see Nyack and I even see where Blue Canyon Airport is! I see that this airport, which is up for sale, is a very good one for weather reports for my flying meadow. It can't be more than 5 miles away, and is less than 500' up slope from the meadow... Meanwhile, I was starting to have a problem comfortably operating the throttle with my gloved hand. It was just hard to get the fingers around the throttle lever, they kept slipping off or wanting to slip off. The light was fading too, though the snow-splattered meadow was still very clearly visible, since the snow is so reflective. Since holding pressure on the throttle was getting difficult, I decided to stop holding pressure, and idled along for a minute, losing altitude. At idle, the ride was a bit rough, so I went ahead and killed the motor, high in the sky. I enjoyed a delightful glide back to earth, taking perhaps 3 minutes of subjective time. My landing was smooth and soft, but about 150 yards short of my car. Flight 43 : Location: Unfinished Industrial Park near Carson River, Gardenerville, Nevada Elevation: 4740 (as remembered from pop/elev sign) Temp: 41 degrees Fahrenheit, from time/temp sign Time: 4:40-5:04 PM, Dec 5, 1999 Wind at start: 2 mph E (estimate) Wind at finish: 2 mph E (estimate) Glider: 38 meter Elle Stromboi Engine: SD-48, +.4 hr => 8.4 hr TT Launch: Forward, on first try. Touch and Go's: none. Screwups: None. Breakthroughs: First time launching from concrete and asphalt; First time using cruise control. I used it to help ease flying with a glove on my left hand. Remarks: Second flight 'On ParaTour with the ParaConvertable Car'. Susan, Adam and I had a rather late lunch, so I did not start my east-side-sierra leg until about 3:00 PM. Clouds were already starting to roll in from the West, but it was still a lovely ride around Lake Tahoe and out to Carson City, where I picked up 395 to head south. South I went, with the beautiful snow-dusted Sierra crest rising dramatically on my right side. My eye was peeled for flying sites as the sun disappeared behind the huge mountains. The fields around me had no snow, just brown grasses and weeds growing in the snow-shadow of the mountains. Heading south of Carson city, I passed miles of fields that would have been perfect for flying if I had had permission to enter them, and if the sheep and cows had stayed away. I declined to try and talk to a rancher at 3:50 PM, and continued on to Minden and then Gardnerville. There was a beautiful flying field on my right just as I left Gardenerville, but it, too, was fenced, so I headed on south, thinking that I had missed my chance to fly today. Then, on my left, I noticed a brand new road heading nowhere. It was an industrial-park-to-be, with roads and street lights in but no buildings as yet. I decided to check it out. The wide, clean streets looked like nice runways to me. The weed-covered earth was not so nice, but fine for takeoff and landing runs if necessary. It was 4:05, with Sunset officially due in about 20 minutes. Why not fly? I put up the windsock, and it confirmed my impression that there was a very light breeze drifting in from the south. I set up to use the N-S runway, and began assembling my rig. When I was ready to launch, the wind had come up considerably, to maybe 2-3 mph, but, most important and surprising, it had shifted direction 90 degrees to be coming from the East! Oh well. I turned my glider so that it was perpendicular to the direction of the unused street, laying it carefully on the new concrete sidewalk. I made a plan to run upwind directly across my new street, across the opposite curb and sidewalk, and out into the field beyond. This kind of improvisation is easy to do when you are foot-launched, but not so easy when you have a trike! The sunset had been spectacular as I was setting up, but now it appeared to be almost gone, just gray clouds in the sky and snow-dusted peaks looming to the East. Oh well, too late to worry about spilt sunsets! I launched into the easterly wind and was soon airborne and circling back over the nascent industrial park... Much to my surprise and joy, the clouds to the West, filling the sky above the looming, snow-covered mountains, was a brilliantly under lit with pink light! It was magical! I had caught a great sunset after all... I flew around the valley a bit, checking out the Carson river as it meandered through ranch lands transitioning into suburbania, enjoying the views as the sunlight faded and the manmade light came to predominate. Turning back to my industrial park, I was pleased to see that the street lights were on, even though no one was home. Using my cruise control for the first time, I found that I could set it so that the work my left hand has to do in the air can be a lot easier. I realized that the left hand in a glove and throttle problem is really only a problem when I want to use very little throttle. It is then that the reach (spread) of the throttle is too big for my gloved fingers to hold with ease. I found that the cruise control really helps in this situation, allowing me to remove the fingers from the throttle lever completely, while continuing to hold the throttle grip. It was all very nice, but it was getting dark fast, so I returned to the field, did a pass-by to verify that the winds were still from the East, and came in for a nice soft landing on the new asphalt, dropping my glider into the grasses to my left. A car that had been waiting for me came up as soon as I landed. It was a man who had seen me flying and was interested in how I had done it. We talked for a while, I answered his questions and he volunteered that the Carson Valley was a wonderful place to live if you were into collectable cars and/or experimental planes. I packed my equipment on a brand new sidewalk under a bright street lamp, put the top up on the car, and continued down the road, south, until I was at the California border. Then I got a room at the Topaz Lodge on the Nevada side of the border and, after checking in with Alan Chucalate, enjoyed a world-class slab of prime rib of beef. How prime rib that tasty and tender could still be legal, I don't know! Now, I plan to try and get to sleep early, to facilitate an early rising and early morning flight to start my day. Tomorrow has the possibility of two or more flights, soaking in natural hot springs, fantastic views of some of the highest peaks in the lower 48 states, and finally a meeting with my fellow pilots who are 8 or 9 hours away on the coast... Happy trails to you! This paratouring life is not so bad... - Jerome Flight 44 : Location: Little Antelope, a valley above Antelope Valley, near Coleville, California on 395 Elevation: 5500 (estimated from nearby pop/elev sign) Temp: 45 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 8:40-9:04 AM, Dec 6, 1999 Wind at start: 1 mph NE (estimate) Wind at finish: 1 mph NE (estimate) Glider: 38 meter Stromboi Engine: SD-48, +.4 hr => 8.8 hr TT Launch: Forward, on first try. Touch and Go's: none. Screwups: Launching uphill, with maybe some rotors, and very little headwind. Breakthroughs: First time flying with a video camera. Reminded that if the breeze is barely blowing, it is not worth it to launch uphill when a downhill launch is possible. Remarks: Third flight 'On ParaTour with the ParaConvertable Car'. Beautiful scene. Takeoff was kind of scary, though, with a slight up slope maybe rotors(?) contributing to a very low, 'will I go?' kind of takeoff. It took me about two to three times as much running and low-low flying as expected before finally climbing out to where I was able to comfortably get into my seat... As I turned back toward the field, I saw a couple of bucks (horned male deer) running in the brush, definitely surprised to see me. Operating the video camera, mounted on a strap around my neck, was a bit of a bother with just my left hand, but I managed to take care of it. The output video is not the best, but it does show some of what it looked like to fly over this high valley above a bigger lower valley, surrounded by high mountains in all directions... Flight 45 : Location: Little Antelope, a valley above Antelope Valley, near Coleville, California on 395 Elevation: 5500 (estimated from nearby pop/elev sign) Temp: 50 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 9:15-9:33 AM, Dec 6, 1999 Wind at start: 1 mph E (estimate) Wind at finish: 1 mph E (estimate) Glider: 38 meter Nervous Stromboi Engine: SD-48, +.3 hr => 9.1 hr TT Launch: Forward, on second try. Touch and Go's: 6 Screwups: First forward failed, maybe(?) due to upside-down risers? Breakthroughs: None. Remarks: Fourth flight 'On ParaTour with the ParaConvertable Car'. After getting cold on my first flight, I quickly warmed up on the ground and decided to fly some more from this beautiful field, practicing touch-and-go's, and also trying a downslope takeoff attempt to see how much difference that would make in my ease of takeoff. My first launch attempt led to failure, with the glider falling off to my left. Whether this was due to poor alignment into the winds, which were changing direction and speed but always low, or whether the risers were somehow attached upside-down. In any case, when I picked up my fallen glider and laid it out, I found that the risers were upside down, though they had been right side up for the previous flight. I undid the risers and turned them right side up, aligned carefully, waited for the wind to shift to perfect alignment, and launched with relative ease, out over the canyon that dropped away from the eastern edge of my meadow. The climb was again irregular, probably due to rotors coming off the canyon lip. Once up, the flying was smooth and I quickly looped around to practice approaches, and touch-and-go's. The landings were all smooth, but never that slow - I always had to run in the light wind and thin air. I did find that I continued to encounter turbulence every time I got near this windward edge of my meadow. Eventually, after six touch-and-go's, I had had enough fun, and came in for a smooth landing about 100 feet from my car. Attempt of flight 46 : Location: Lumpy field just South of Mount Whitney Golf Course, Lone Pine, California Elevation: 3700 Temp: 47 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 03:45 PM, Dec 6, 1999 Wind at start: 1 mph SE (estimate) Wind at finish: 1 mph SE (estimate) Glider: 38 meter Nervours Stromboi Engine: SD-48, +.1 hr => 9.2 hr TT Launch: Forward failed, breaking prop. Touch and Go's: none Screwups: Poor choice of field, failure to lift feet enough for the lumpy, tufty, weedy, pot-holey field. Possible misalignment of wing in tiny, light and variable breeze. Failure to kill motor in time. Stupid fall, when I should have kept my balance, or fallen in such a way as to keep my prop away from the ground if I *had* to fall. Breakthroughs: Falling this way (forward and to the right, striking my cage on the ground) always seems to break my prop. Remarks: I could go on for hours about all the mistakes I made in this failed attempt to fly. I was really interested in getting an early sunset flight somewhere with beautiful views, and in an attempt to get this flight I settled for a field that was treacherously uneven, saying 'I think I can do it'. Later, I saw that there were several much smoother places to fly from that would have worked within a few minutes drive of this field in either direction... Flight 46 : Location: Little Black Mountain, north of San Diego, California Elevation: 800 (as per Alan Chucalate) Temp: 70 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 11:30-11:36 AM, Dec 7, 1999 Wind at start: 13 mph W (estimate) Wind at finish: 15 mph W (estimate) Glider: 31 meter Ozone Electron Engine: SD-48, +.1 hr + .5 hr => 9.8 hr TT Launch: Reverse, on first try. Touch and Go's: none Screwups: Failed to stay on course after takeoff, went rather close to trees before turning. I was afraid to turn on launch, but it would have been appropriate in this case... Breakthroughs: Windy + mountains = Turbulence Remarks: Fifth flight 'On ParaTour with the ParaConvertable Car'. I arrived the previous night at Alan Chucalate's San Diego home, and was treated to wonderful hospitality as I enjoyed the reunion with Eric and Elisabeth Dufour. In the morning, Eric was kind enough to loan me half a prop and to repair the repairable half of my damaged prop. He then put the two, somewhat mismatched halves together, and used a special application of 'duct tape' to bring the two halves into balance for temporary use, while awaiting arrival of a new wooden prop. The result was not nearly as pretty as my new, undamaged composite prop had been, but was beautiful compared to the unusable, shattered prop that I had arrived with. Eric said that it would fly me as a 'temporary fix' Fly me it did. But first, Eric treated me to my first tandem flight, as his heaviest-ever passenger (220 lbs) on the 'Monster' Fresh Breeze power unit. As he warmed up the unit, he had me help hold the thrust, and I was pleased to see that it was so much that it almost blew me of my feet. When all was double-checked, Eric lifted the wing reverse, kited it with me attempting to follow his footwork, and when the moment was right, we turned, applied power, and were in the air almost immediately. Alan Chucalate caught the launch on my video camera. It was a spectacularly exciting flight, in the lively wind coming off the sea perhaps 10 miles away, stirred to a turbulent mix by the intervening hills, valleys, and notches. I was *very* glad to have Eric at the controls behind me as I enjoyed a front-row seat. He took us in for a low pass or two over Alan on the ground, and then had us rocket up the ridge lift along the face of the mountain to the area above the soaring take-off point 300 feet above our landing zone. This was a lot of fun, with lift pulling our wing this way and that, and winds slowing our forward ground speed and accelerating our rearward ground speed, making for the most exciting flight of my life to date, except maybe for the last minute of my last flight above Taos. Eric gave me a running commentary about what we were experiencing as he dealt with it, helping me to understand what was going on. His skilled 'active flying' helped me to feel as safe as I possibly could in these turbulent conditions, but I still experienced several exciting moments, when lift would pull up just one side of our wing suddenly, or we'd turn downwind and pick up ground speed at a seemingly impossible rate. Our landing was extremely gentle, the last ten feet above ground level taking a hundred yards of ground distance, as he brought us close to the carpeted ground and had us drop the wing right on the carpet. A perfect flight in an exciting set of circumstances. Next, I enjoyed a short flight myself, but kept it very short because it was just a little too fast and turbulent for my comfort level. In the rotor-ified headwind, I took off immediately drifted right, toward the trees, waiting longer to turn left than I should have. Alan later suggested that I think of myself as needing to take off and land from an aircraft carrier, always maintain my heading. Eric agreed. So, now, I won't be afraid to turn on takeoff as necessary to maintain the proper heading, but I will be careful not to give away my lift in so doing. On landing, afraid of the downdraft that Alan warned me would be coming down the back side of the saddle that held the landing zone, I may have gotten in the downdraft anyway, because I came in much lower than expected but turned to land anyway, resulting in a landing while still turning. It worked for me this time, and managed to land softly and bring my wing down despite my poor approach, and despite the fact that I failed to spin around and face my wing after touching down. I took the lessons of my instructors to heart, however, and resolve to avoid these errors in the future. After my flight, I enjoyed videotaping Eric and Alan as they alternately test flew my unit and glider. Eric was also kind enough to re-tune my engine for lower elevation, changing the needle in the carburetor and showing me once again how to tighten my re-drive belt. After these adjustments, he treated us to several displays of shutting the engine off in flight and then re-starting it in the air. Just as conditions seemed to be easing up a bit, to where I might try another flight, I found that I had run out of time and had to leave my friends in order to make a business meeting in time. Thank you for the wonderful hospitality, Alan! Thank you for everything, Eric! Flight 46.5 Location: Beach, near Harbor, Ventura California Elevation: 10 feet (estimate) Temp: 50 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 3:30-5:00 PM, Dec 8, 1999 Wind at start: 16 mph W (estimate) Wind at finish: 18 mph W (estimate) Glider: Medium Silex Engine: none Launch: Reverse ground handling practice, with some short flights involved. Touch and Go's: many, all while reverse Screwups: None. Breakthroughs: It's really fun to fly reverse in these kind of conditions when you have the right help! Remarks: After meeting up with Greg Anderson, he agreed to take us to one of his favorite local flying beaches. It's a nice spot near a harbor, with a very wide beach and a steady offshore breeze. The only problems with this day were that it was a rather strong breeze, and very cold due to a cold front moving in. Still, Eric thought he could fly it and took out his small Silex. With this wing, he gave us a masterful demonstration of how to fly in these conditions. It was beautiful to watch! I caught some of it on video, and Greg caught some more, so perhaps I can review that video and write more about it someday (as I write now, it is several days since this flight and the details have faded in my memory). Neither Greg nor I were comfortable with attempting to fly in these conditions, however, and we were delighted when Eric proposed an alternative: that we practice ground-handling with his medium Silex. I got out my training harness, put on a helmet, and went for it. Eric came around behind me and held my harness, so that he could both coach me and keep me from blowing away. He helped me get over my fear, which was causing me to abort bringing the wing up to full flight each time I tried, and got me flying the wing above me. Hey, it lifted me off the ground, but Eric remained on the ground as I hung from the kite and flew it under his expert advice. This was a lot of fun! The Silex wing is very quick to respond. Eric had to keep reminding me to keep my elbows out so that I would have more travel available on the brakes, something that I still don't quite understand but am happy to do. After perhaps five minutes of this kind of flying, Eric adjusted the trim on the glider for 'maximium speed', and now I found that I could fly it without any extra weight, just my own immense weight. I flew it until I was tired, and then turned the rig over to Greg, who received a similar lesson. As darkness fell, we said our goodbyes. I headed north while Eric, Elisabeth and family headed south with Greg. Attempt of flight 47 Location: end of Calle Real, Goleta, California Elevation: 100 feet, estimated. Temp: 65 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 2:00-3:30 PM, Dec 10, 1999 Wind at start: 10 mph NW (variable) Wind at finish: 5 mph NW (estimate) Glider: 31 meter Ozone Electron + 1.2 Hr = 20.0 hr TT Engine: SD-48, +.2 hr + = 10.0 hr TT Launch: 2 aborted Forwards + 1 aborted Reverse. No damage. Touch and Go's: none Screw ups: Not really worth trying to fly on such a windy day. I found a calmer place, but the big picture was very windy outside of my calm spot, and the calm spot was variable, turbulent, and tended to blow crosswind more than upwind on my runway... Breakthroughs: None Remarks: Never made it into the air. First the wind was perfect from the North, but by the time got set up it was from the South, then when I set up that way, it switched to NW, with occasional North orientation. I wanted to fly to show my brother and nephew how it was done, but my runway was N-S, and the recurring NW component of the breeze left me insufficient room to take off from the narrow strip. The time was mostly spent para-waiting and talking with interested passers-by. Flight 47 Location: Pismo Beach, California Elevation: 3 feet, estimated. Temp: 60 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 10:20-10:50 AM, Dec 11, 1999 Wind at start: 10 mph NW (steady) Wind at finish: 10 mph NW (steady) Glider: 31 meter Ozone Electron + 1 Hr = 21.0 hr TUVT Engine: SD-48, +.5 hr + = 10.5 hr TT Launch: Reverse, on first try. Touch and Go's: Eight. Screwups: Beautiful flight was cut short by government minions. They explained that it would be 'too hard' for them to allow flying from 'their (state) beach', so they have simply prohibited all aircraft. Hence, no more legal practice of touch-and-go's from this lightly used, very wide, 12+ mile long beach backed up by miles and miles of sand dunes. America, where have you gone? Breakthroughs: Did three touch-and-go's with a 'touch down, turn to face the wing, control, turn again, and go' procedure. Remarks: It was an exceptionally beautiful day at Pismo, a beach that I remember as being overcast and cold. Today, it was clear as a bell, with a nice breeze that made flying a lot of fun, with the only worry being that if the wind doubled in intensity I might not be able to make it back to my LZ. I entered the beach at the Grand Avenue fee station and drove south on the sand, planning to head down to the part of the beach were offroad vehicle use and camping were still allowed. But about 1/2 mile from this point, my continued driving progress was blocked by Oceano Creek, which was flowing just deep enough to flood the drivetrain of my low-clearance convertable. Oh well. It just so happened that the creek delta made for an exceptionally wide part of the beach, with a huge clear runway facing into the wind, so I decided to make my TZ/LZ right here on the North side of the creek. A friendly, curious family came by and offered to help me keep the wing under control while I set up, but I deferred and found that by placing the wing, then letting it fall backward, and then keeping the brakes on, I was able to control it myself whitest setting up and warming up my engine. The warmed engine started easily while I was wearing the machine, and my biggest trouble was in lifting the wing reverse without being carried downwind into the creek. After a couple of experiments, I learned how to move the wing upwind to buy room, and then was pleased to re-learn that I wouldn't be carried downwind if I quickly lifted the wing up to full flying position. I sure miss the chance to practice my reverse inflations! I sure welcomed this chance. With the wing flying well above me, under control, I turned, applied power, and was in the air in just a few steps. I really like the feel of my new wooden prop - it seems to give the same amount of thrust, in this sea level test, and I actually enjoy the inertia, the tendency to accelerate slowly and deaccelerate slowly. It made me much less concerned about stalling the engine, for example, because the big flywheel effect tends to keep the engine running... Anyway, once in the air, the views were unbelievably beautiful. To the North, miles of white-capped breakers curved away toward the cliffs of the distant point, while to the West the deep-blue ocean receded out to the sharp, gently-curving line of the horizon. To the South marched long lines of white capped breakers, ending in wide bands if white foam that surged up and down the face of the nearly flat beach. This beach continued back, nearly flat, for one to two hundred yards before the dunes began. A huge, rolling field of these dunes spread out miles to the South and East, filling the whole opening of this valley at the mouth of the Santa Maria River. Miles away, at the edge of the dune field, the old Union 76 refinery towered above the sand. After verifying that I could, indeed, make headway upwind, I flew downwind out over the dunes and away from the Oceano Airport, which I had discovered was almost immediately East of my chosen LZ. Yikes! I stayed low to avoid their pattern, and headed away from the airport, toward the South, to practice my touch and go's. Below me, little four-wheeled ATVs scooted around the baby dunes near the sea, while their riders and the adults at their camps watched me and waved. It was a blissful scene. Soon to end. A white pickup truck came speeding down the beach, headed toward me, with some kind of insignia on the doors and men inside wearing dark green uniforms. Figuring that they might want to talk to me, I made a low pass into the wind near them and tried to ask them what they wanted. I thought they said 'return to base', so I began flying back up the beach toward my base. My progress was slow, crabbing into the wind, and soon I noticed that they were following me back up the beach. My ground speed was probably under 10 mph, but they did not pass me. I decided to land at the end of the OHV area, far from my car, but within walking distance, to see what they had in mind. My landing was perfect. When I got the wing down, they were already approaching on foot, so I strode over, stretched out my hand, and greeted the taller officer as if I was eager to meet him. I explained that I thought he had told me 'return to base' and thus I had flown here before stopping. The greeting and handshake might have helped, for he offered me his name and explained that I can't fly anywhere in a State Park. The first thing he wanted to know was: 'Have you been here before?'. I answered that I had been here as a boy, but not since. He was a bit incredulous at this, saying that there was a guy who flew here that looked just like me(!?), a guy who had 'white hair'. I explained that I knew of another PPG pilot who flew here, that that's how I had heard of it, but I doubted that he looked like me. He and his partner did not seem very satisfied that I was not 'the guy' that must have been warned before, so I told my story, explaining that I was a new pilot who was from Truckee, who was here on the return leg of a training trip that I had taken down to San Diego. In the end, they seemed satisfied. I thanked them for warning me rather than citing me, and verified that the WHOLE BEACH, AS FAR AS THE EYE COULD SEE, was under their claim. Yikes! You beach flyers, enjoy it while you can. Once the State or Feds get hold of the beach, they might just find it 'easier' to prohibit flying than to allow it. As a sop to me, they suggested that I could fly out of the nearby Oceano Airport, but could not land, take off, or fly low over 'their' park without harassment. Oh well. As soon as they had left, a smiling gnome of a man approached from his nearby camp, offering me beer, a fire, and a ride back to my car, all for the pleasure of a little conversation with me. Chris was his name, he explained, and the twinkle in his eye told me that he was one of the few still truly alive. We hit it off well, enjoyed our beer while comparing notes about various subjects, and then we loaded up his aging Cadillac and took my equipment back to Oceano Creek, where I bid him farewell, took off my shoes, rolled up my pants, waded across the creek with my equipment. It's funny, he used the phrase 'not hurting anyone', similarly to the way the National Park Service employee had used it, expressing amazement that many of the small-minded minions who are in 'government service' are nowadays eager to pick on people who are 'not hurting anyone', while allowing those who are hurting people and property to run wild. It's sad... I loaded up my machine in a new way, using my bike rack for the first time, thus keeping the machine in one piece, almost ready to fly. This is in case there is an irresistable flying site alongside the road somewhere on the way home. The only problem that I have with this so far is that the prop does tend to slowly windmill at speeds above 60 mph, so I will have to tie it before continuing on from this diner, where I type happily after a huge grilled-onion cheese burger and chocolate shake. Happy trails to you! - Jerome Flight 49 Location: Meadow at headwaters of Bear River, Highway 20 near I-80 Elevation: 4600 feet, estimated. Temp: 40 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 4:02-4:20 PM, Dec 14, 1999 Wind at start: 2 mph E, variable direction and speed Wind at finish: 2 mph W, variable Glider: 38 meter Nervures Stromboli + .1 Hr = 25 hr TUVT Engine: SD-48, +.4 hr + = 11.1 hr TT Launch: Forward, on second try. Touch and Go's: none. Screwups: Went ahead and launched in light and variable conditions, with very changeable wind direction making for a difficult inflation and launch. But I did it. Breakthroughs: First high elevation flight with wooden prop. Thurst seems similar to carbon-fiber composite prop, despite sharper edges on wooden prop. Remarks: The snow had been melting, more and more, so much of the meadow's grass was now exposed. It was a fairly clear afternoon, so the sunset merely nice, not spectacular. By the time I got set up, the wind had changed direction 180 degrees. I moved everything, but still botched my first launch attempt, failing to get the canopy flying straight above me. Happily, I killed the motor, did not fall, and was able to try again. The second attempt worked, and I was airborne after a long run. I got cold very fast, flying without gloves and without my heavy coat. So, I made a quick pass around the meadow and came in for a safe, smooth landing. I packed the glider, still dry, in the sunset colors. It felt good to be back at my home field... Flight 50 Location: Meadow at headwaters of Bear River, Highway 20 near I-80 Elevation: 4600 feet, estimated. Temp: 49 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 12:00-12:18 PM, Dec 16, 1999 Wind at start: 1 mph W, light and variable Wind at finish: 1 mph E, variable Glider: 38 meter Nervures Stromboli + .5 Hr = 25.5 hr TUVT Engine: SD-48, +.4 hr + = 11.5 hr TT Launch: Forward, on first try. Videoed. Touch and Go's: one. Screwups: none. Breakthroughs: First meadow flight witnessed by my family. Susan took video. Remarks: It was so beautiful, so perfect, when Adam and I arrived at the meadow around 11;15 AM, that I called Susan and asked her to meet us so that I could fly. She was happy to join us. I enjoyed a nice little flight before returning to check in with my family and pick up the video camera for my second flight... As I type, I'm watching the video, the first I've ever seen, of any of my takeoff attempts... It looks pretty smooth, from what I can tell, with only a little of the inflation showing. The Stromboli sure does look nice against the sky! There were wispy clouds drifting by across the light blue, mid-day sky, and the black river was sparkling with reflected sunlight. Flight 51 Location: Meadow at headwaters of Bear River, Highway 20 near I-80 Elevation: 4600 feet, estimated. Temp: 49 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 12:30-13:12 PM, Dec 16, 1999 Wind at start: 1 mph E, light and variable Wind at finish: 1 mph E, variable Glider: 38 meter Nervures Stromboli + .9 Hr = 26.4 hr TUVT Engine: SD-48, +.7 hr + = 12.2 hr TT Launch: Forward, on first try. Touch and Go's: none. Screwups: Flew very high, let my hands get cold, couldn't work kill switch at landing time, let go of my left toggle trying to use my right hand to help kill the engine, landed with just my right toggle and some fancy footwork. Lucky to have no damage done. Yikes! Breakthroughs: First from-air video footage of the meadow scene. Can't wait to see it! Remarks: This time I flew with the camera, hanging from my neck on a strap. The video, approximately 40 minutes of it, gives some impression of what the views were like. One wonderful thing that I remember about it was that, when up high, I could clearly see the top of the coast range, which was over 100 miles away across the cloud-filled central valley. I have flown even higher here before, but today it got turbulent each time that I made it much above the higher wall on the South side of the valley. Being a turbulence chicken, I'd retreat each time I felt myself swing and sway beneath my wing... So I never got high enough to see the crest of the Sierras. I'll wait for a smoother day! Flight 52 : Location: Meadow at headwaters of Bear River, Highway 20 near I-80 Elevation: 4600 feet, estimated. Temp: 49 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 13:20-13:38 PM, Dec 16, 1999 Wind at start: 1 mph E, light and variable Wind at finish: 1 mph E, variable Glider: 38 meter Nervures Stromboli + .7 Hr = 27.1 hr TUVT Engine: SD-48, +.3 hr + = 12.5 hr TT Launch: Forward, on first try. Touch and Go's: Four. Screwups: Breakthroughs: First flight with the new 'windstopper' gloves. Got a lot more comfortable with my turns. Did my longest take-off run ever on one of my touch-and-go's - maybe there was a down draft or different wind direction in the far part of the meadow where this happened. Glad that I stuck with it and kept my footing... Remarks: After Susan and Adam went home, it was so nice that I decided to continue on and do some more practice before calling it a day. This turned out to be a lot of fun, and rewarding as well. Flight 53 : Location: Wide Spot/Gravel Lot just north of Nacasio road, about one mile West of Nacasio. Elevation: 200 feet, estimated. Temp: 44 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 9:45-10:52 AM, Dec 19, 1999 Wind at start: 1 mph N, variable Wind at finish: 6 mph N, variable Glider: 31 meter Ozone Electron starting at 21.1 hr + 1.3 Hr = 22.4 hr TUVT Engine: SD-48, + 1.1 hr + = 13.6 hr TT Launch: Forward, on second try. Touch and Go's: None. Screwups: Breakthroughs: Grew a bit more comfortable flying in mild turbulence, which was mostly ground effects coming off the rolling hills between me and the sea. Remarks: The previous day I had tried to fly out in West Marin, but had found that the winds were too strong for me by the time (11:00 AM) that I got out there, so today I tried to get out early, resulting in arriving at a nearly windless launch site around 9:00 AM, and being ready to take off around 9:45 AM. My first forward launch attempt failed, with the video showing that I lagged getting the wing completely up into the air, with the right side lagging still more, leading to the wing dropping back to earth. A tailwind might have come through to help do this, or I may have merely wimped out on my launch run. My second try went much better, and I climbed out over the rolling dairylands that decorate this part of West Marin. It was simply glorious! I flew these green pastures, hillsides, and rock outcroppings for about an hour, glad to be alive! So much for my plan to take just a short flight... When I tried to climb high, to see the ocean, I encountered turbulence, so I stayed within a few hundred feet of ground level, where the air was smoother and the views were breathtaking. I was careful not to disturb the grazing and sleeping cows, so I hope that I will be welcome back to fly over these picturesque farms. Flight 54 : Location: Wide Spot/Gravel Lot just north of Nicasio road, about one mile west of Nicasio, Marin County, California Elevation: 200 feet, estimated. Temp: 58 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 11:20-11:26 AM, Dec 19, 1999 Wind at start: 8 mph N, variable Wind at finish: 8 mph N, variable Glider: 31 meter Ozone Electron starting at 22.4 hr + .3 Hr = 22.7 hr TUVT Engine: SD-48, + .1 hr + = 13.7 hr TT Launch: Reverse, on first try. Touch and Go's: None. Screwups: Breakthroughs: Made a panic-free emergency landing when power cut unexpectedly about 5 minutes into the flight. It was no problem! This was also the first flight done with the camera running the whole time, from setup through landing and inspection of the engine. Remarks: The winds had come up a lot in the last hour and a half. It was now a nice reverse launch breeze, and doing a reverse in these conditions was a great pleasure. The climbout was also quick in the breeze, and made for a pleasant upwind flight amidst the beautifully rounded hills of rolling pasture, with their occasional granite outcroppings. The camera captured a bit of this. I was soon surprised, however, to have the engine quit without any intention on my part, while I was perhaps 120 feet above the grass. I elected to land rather than try and troubleshoot the problem in the air. As I came in for a landing, I debated with myself what could possibly be the cause of this failure. Had I forgotten to open the fuel valve? Had my plug wire come loose? Or was it some new reason? Soon I was safely down on the lush green grass and had the chance to examine the motor. I checked the fuel valve, and found it open as it should be. I checked the plug wire and found that it was still attached in what felt like a firm connection. So what could be the problem? I dropped the carburetor's fuel bowl, and it was full of fuel. I decided to test-start the engine, and it started perfectly on the first pull, and ran strong and happy. I examined the kill switch wiring casually and found that all appeared to be in order. Curiouser and curiouser. Since I was now several hundred yards from my intended landing zone, with more than a hundred yards of pasture, a barbed wire fence, and 25 yards of thistles between me and the road, I decided to try and fly out rather than hike out. (to be continued as flight 55) Flight 55 : Location: Incredible pasture, about 150 yards north of Nicasio road, one mile, about 1.2 miles west of Nicasio, Marin County, California Elevation: 200 feet, estimated. Temp: 60 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 11:30-11:48 AM, Dec 19, 1999 Wind at start: 7 mph N, variable, estimated Wind at finish: 18 mph N, variable, estimated Glider: 31 meter Ozone Electron starting at 23.0 hr + .5 Hr = 23.5 hr TUVT Engine: SD-48, + .3 hr + = 14.3 hr TT Launch: Reverse, on first try. Touch and Go's: One. Screwups: The wind came up while I was still flying, and blew me downwind of my intended landing zone. I couldn't get back, and ended up landing in the dry upper reaches of a lake bed, happy to be on the ground. Breakthroughs: Kept my cool despite being scared by the gusts and regretting that I had stayed out too long in the rising winds of late morning. I came down close to the ground to try and make forward progress, but accepted it when the wind commanded that I land in the dry upper reaches of the lake bed. Remarks: My reverse launch from my emergency landing site went perfectly, and I flew without any further engine problems. Still don't know what was that killed my engine on flight 54... The hills and sky were beautiful, the camera was running, but since I was unsure of why the engine had cut out, I did not take the scenic route out over the dairy farms that I had intended, but stayed closer to the road in case I'd have to hike out. But when I gained elevation and turned back toward the LZ, I was excited to see that my friend Glenn had arrived with his family to see me fly. As I came in for my pass to say hello, I was rather disturbed to find that I was not able to make progress toward the North, and was instead blown back southward, in which direction the high-voltage lines lay. The wind had REALLY come up! I decided not to fight it, and turned carefully downwind to return to my landing zone, by looping around to the left. Much to my chagrin, when I turned upwind, I found that I did not make any progress toward the LZ, and was instead blown backward, toward the high-tension wires. So I decided not to fight it. I climbed up, well above them, and looked for another way. It got even windier up there! The dry upper reaches of Lake Nicasio started to look pretty good to me, safe, big, no trees, far from the wires, and not upwind. So I headed there. It was a wild ride. I thought the wind would be lower at the ground due to ground effects, and it did seem to be so, on average, but there were some wild moments, probably turbulence that was caused by ground effects. I did make some headway right over the lakebed, however, before being suddenly dropped down for an unplanned touch-and-go. When I did the 'go' part of the touch and go, I was able to make it about another 100 yards upwind, mostly on the ground, before getting tossed around again and deciding that it was one of those times that it was much better to be on the ground than in the air. So I turned, dropped my wing, and kissed the mossy, cracked ground of the dry lakebed, glad to be alive. Flight 56 : Location: Upper reaches of Nicasio Reservoir, just south of Nicasio road, about one mile west of Nicasio, Marin County, California Elevation: 200 feet, estimated. Temp: 60 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 11:54 AM - 12:00 PM, Dec 19, 1999 Wind at start: 5 mph N, variable, estimated Wind at finish: 11 mph N, variable, estimated Glider: 31 meter Ozone Electron starting at 23.5 hr + .5 Hr = 24.0 hr TUVT Engine: SD-48, + .1 hr + = 14.4 hr TT Launch: Forward, on first try, after one reverse lift attempt Touch and Go's: None Screwups: None Breakthroughs: Patience is sometimes rewarded. Remarks: The wind, which had been stopping me just 10 minutes before, now seemed to have subsided, and would not support a reverse launch attempt. So I picked up my gear and carried it back 150 yards downwind, to have a better forward launch location for my attempt to fly up and over the power lines that were in front of me. It was either that or hike out, perhaps 3/4 mile, to the road. The flight went well, with only a moderate headwind, but I landed as soon as I could, without even taking the time to do one flyby of the landing zone. On the flight, I could see that Susan and my friend Glenn had taken a car down the road in an attempt to see where I had gone down. Luckily, they saw me flying toward the landing zone and came to greet me shortly after I landed. It was good to be back, and we all agreed that it had been a poor choice to go for one more flight into the rising noontime winds. Flight 57 : Location: Meadow at headwaters of Bear River, Highway 20 near I-80 Elevation: 4600 feet, estimated. Temp: 53 degrees Fahrenheit, estimated Time: 15:25-15:33 PM, Dec 24, 1999 Wind at start: 8 mph E, variable Wind at finish: 14 mph E, variable Glider: 38 meter Nervures Stromboli + .5 Hr = 27.6 hr TUVT Engine: SD-48, + .2 hr + = 14.6 hr TT Launch: Reverse, on second try Touch and Go's: Two Screwups: Failed to turn and drop my wing after high-wind landing. Wind was a bit big and a bit variable, 'too much fun'. Breakthroughs: Kept my cool despite scary conditions. Remarks: It's a beautiful Christmas Eve Sunset here at the meadow, where I sit on the thick grass, leaning against my car, enjoying a cold Sierra Nevada pale ale as I watch the last of the sun's colors fade from the trees. I enjoyed my little flight today, thrilling though it was, but regret not coming out two or three nights ago to enjoy a sunset into moonrise flight. Wait! Now I remember! It was way too windy to fly on those nights, so no need for regret. It's cooling down fast now, but it was an unseasonably warm day today, hitting 59 degrees at the nearby Blue Canyon airport. My flight was full of thrills, including a slow launch that suddenly turned into a rocket as the wind did something, followed by a roller coaster of unexpected ups and downs until I turned downwind, whereupon I nearly got slammed into the earth by the 'downwind deamon' (I suspect the downwind deamon is really caused by inertia, as my nearly-zero forward ground speed gets turned into negative airspeed as I turn downwind in a high wind situation). Regardless, I 'enjoyed' the fastest ground speed to date in my flying career, on that one downwind leg, and was very happy to avoid any high-speed encounters with the meadow grass! Turning upwind, I made slow progress in a roller-coaster fashion that makes me suspect that I was flying up a train of rotors that I suspect were rolling off the upwind lip of the minor depression I was flying from. Whatever the cause, the flight was a series of surprises as the ever-changing air pulled me this way and that. Susan, Adam, and Susan's parents were there to watch, and Susan was kind enough to shoot some video, so we have a record of the flight. The most remarkable thing I notice on a preliminary viewing is that I was being swing wildly forward and backward as the wind alternately pushed my wing backward and then I'd surge forward. I recall that I was trying to compensate for these wild forces by 'actively flying', consciously adding throttle or reducing throttle to try and smooth out these oscillations. Well, the sunset is fading here, and it's time to finish packing up my rig and head back for a Christmas Eve with my wonderful family. 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