Flying Tiger

Well, I finally made it out to the airport for the maiden voyage of my Pegasus. It was breezy, but I was tired of waiting! I checked everything over one more time, warmed it up, layed it out, warmed it up a little more, and I was off.

It seemed a lot quicker to respond to power than my Sky Rascal. I must have used a little too much power because when the chute inflated, I popped a wheelie! After a quick rolling preflight I added power and really flew off of the ground.

All in all, it was a nice first flight. The only issue I had was with the chute. I know it shouldn't turn like my Sky Rascal, but to get a decent turn, I had to push the foot bar all of the way out and then pull about 6 inches of line with my hand. When looking at the trailing edge without any input, it seemed straight. It also seemed to curl with just a little input. I was about convinced it was just me, but when I was on final, just to be safe, I prepared to land with some throttle. Even with that, I felt like I had no flare and bounced in pretty good. I will need to adjust it before flying it again.

Other than that, all of the readings looked good, the engine was very smooth, and everything seemed perfect. I didn't fly long, and I was watching the PPC closely, but I still got a few photos.

The Shadows were long.

I really thought this was a big dog chasing a cow around! It turned out to be a very energetic calf bothering it's mother.

All of the fields were wet. Not a comforting feeling.

After the flight.

Here's my chute. It's really much brighter than the photo make it look.

'till next time - Jack

I Almost Flew It!

We'll I finally got the Tiger out and thought I would get my first flight in it! We decided to go to Hubert's place since it's wide open and I could do all of the touch-n-goes I wanted too.

When I started it up, it idled perfectly. Then, as I would get to mid-throttle, it would bog down, then back to perfect at full throttle. I was tempted to fly it anyway, but not that tempted. About that time, the forecasted 2mph winds for the entire afternoon jumped to 12mph, dashing any fleeting thoughts I had about making my maiden flight!

Chris decided it wasn't that bad and he took off. He wasn't making much progress, but he said it was smooth. We were talking on the radio and he offered to come take me up so we could get some photos. So soon enough, I was in the back seat and we were off.

Hubert wanted some photos of his Kitfox in the air. It was fun trying formation flying with him as he made us look like we were sitting still. He would come up behind us, on the right side so I could get the sun on him. Chris and I would see him coming and then I would snap a few as he tore by us!!

On my PPC, I also had a leaking primer line that I had just replaced. It turned out the I.D. of the hose was too big, so I replaced it all today. I also found the plane had the wrong Needle Jets and replaced them. I just came in from running it up, and it's perfectly smooth all the way through.

Now, I just have to wait for another nice day!

The Tiger

Hubert buzzing by us!

They put up these new higher power lines and he really has to slip after coming over them. I got this shot just as he was coming out of the slip.

I'll be back soon, hopefully with a flight report!!

Jack

Still Grounded

Well, it's now been several weeks and I haven't been able to fly my new PPC! I need to get off of the ground!

The winds that I'm not comfortable with don't affect my PPG flying buddies nearly as much. So as is typical when I decide not to fly, I go to OSP and they are there!

I went out on Sunday and found Alt setting up. He was flying his Fresh Breeze and after waiting for awhile to let the winds die down, he was quickly in the air. I noticed he wasn't getting into his seat, but I thought maybe he was just making one circuit and then coming in to land. It turned out that he couldn't get in it! He landed and I helped him get the seat out from behind his back and he was off again.

When he was launching I noticed two other PPGs flying on the other side of the park. It turned out to be Terry and Tim. Terry never got close enough for a photo, but Tim made some close passes. When I say close, one made me scramble a little bit! It was nice to see Tim in the air after a long hiatus waiting for his new Green Eagle, which he calls the Snow Eagle due to it's custom white paint job.

I really like the way some PPG and PPC manufacturers are going with 4-stroke engines. I believe Tim's has a Generac generator engine and it sounds very nice. I couldn't get over how it sounded like a real plane instead of a weedeater!

All in all, it was nice to visit with Alt and see Tim flying again. It was second best to being in the air myself!

Alt flying by!

Tim coming in for a pass with Alt behind him.

Tim making some low passes.

Tim flying off into the sunset!

Alt said he was running hot! Shouldn't fly so close to the sun.

Hopefully my next post is about my first flight in my new PPC!

Jack

What's New?

Sorry that it's been awhile since I posted. Not much flying going on around here. It's been windy or rainy, or both!

A lot has changed for me in the PPC world. I sold my Sky Rascal. I liked it, but I really wanted something with two seats.

Now, I'm the owner of a very bright orange Powrachute Pegasus, which has two seats. It also has tiger stripes... I didn't know what to expect when the seller told me this, but as soon as I saw it, I hated it. Now, a few weeks later, they're growing on me. I attribute this to the fact that they can be removed, but it was harder than I expected. If you can't beat 'em, well you know.

I haven't had a chance to fly it yet, but Saturday is looking pretty good. Hopefully I can get out there.

As far as updates on the Blog, they're coming. Travis and I made a long trip from Austin to Edinburg, Texas to pick up this PPC. It coincided with the Turkey Trot Fly-in at Jim Howard's place. Jim is a great host and he lives on an exotic game ranch! I got some cool photos of us flying over buffalo and other animals I don't see every day!

For now, here's a bad photo of my new toy. I will post more soon, I just don't want to pull it out in the rain!

Terry Has a New Toy!

By the time I arrived at OSP this afternoon, Terry and Brian were already in the air. I got some really nice shots of Terry when he returned.

Don't forget to click on the photos to see them in a larger size.

Terry making a low pass.


No more Fresh Breeze for Terry.

Terry is coming in for a landing. Notice the flag in the background is at half-staff. This is in honor of the soldiers killed at Ft. Hood this week.

Terry carrying his motor back to his truck after his landing.

Brian coming in for his landing.

Brian making the hike back to his truck.

Hopefully this weather holds out. Seems like we're finally getting some flying time in!

Jack

100th Post

I have way too much time on my hands! I made 100 posts!

Travis and I were emailing each other at work discussing how good the weather looked last Tuesday. We decided it was too good to pass up. We headed out to Taylor, only to find they hadn't mowed our field! We found a good area to takeoff from though and we were soon in the air. Even after leaving work at 3:00, it's still hard to get in a good flight as the sun is now setting at 5:45. We did get in almost an hour though in nice smooth conditions. We only landed because we were running out of light.

Here's to 100 more!

The Book

Over the years, I've printed out many photos. I have a good collection in my office at work, I also have given them out as gifts. I like to frame a photo of someone flying with me and give it to them. It's not an expensive gift, it costs me about $3.00 to print an 8X10 photo, then $10.00 for the frame. Still, this adds up.

I checked into making a book of photos. I found it to be reasonable, not cheap, but not too bad. In this book, my first one, there are 80 pages of nothing but photos. To print these would have cost me up to $240, so I'm happy to say the book is only $26.95 for a soft cover, and up to $39.95 for the hard cover. I have the option of adding a profit, but I chose not to. This is the price the vendor charges me, you order it directly from them. I only want to share my photos.

Check it out. Even if you're not interested in buying one, take a look and give me a review. Also, I'm working on the next one now! The next one will take a little longer. It's not going to be just photos, it will explain PPCs as I see them. I will have chapters such as: Takeoffs, Air-to-Air Photography, Air-to-Ground Photography, Fly-Ins, & Landings. Preview the book here: http://www.blurb.com/user/store/flynlow

Here are some screenshots to give you an idea:

Jack

Beeville Chute Out

Travis and I headed down to Beeville, TX to join the BARF (Bay Area Recreational Flyers) group for their 6th annual Halloween Chute Out. We had a good time and I got in a few flights. Everyone there was very welcoming. I'm looking forward to next year!

We got in a short afternoon flight Friday afternoon.

Saturday morning, we got up early and headed to the lake where a group of Rick & Fletch's friends had breakfast waiting for us.

On short final for breakfast!

I took this on the way back to Beeville. It was nice of this farmer to make such a cool picture!

Back at Beeville!

See you guys next year! Thanks for throwing a great event!

Jack