Film of me flying (for a change)
Paul's first ever reverse launch
The day started a little later than originally planned since the wind speed
was higher than forecast. Andre and I arrived at the field around 3pm.
Conditions were still fairly strong, but nice and steady, ideal for reverse
launching. Paul and his wife were already at the field. Paul had been practicing
with his wing before we arrived.
Imad made an appearance shortly afterwards (the prop blade and cage netting
repairs from yesterdays launch attempt were already complete). This time he was
determined not to rush the take off and he spent a couple of hours getting his
skills back to where they were at the end of last season. He made some very good
reverse inflations, first without the paramotor and then with it. He was
demonstrating far better skills by the end of the afternoon. Now he was able to
calmly inflate the canopy and hold it steadily overhead without looking at it.
He was ready for a flight. Unfortunately the wind was still a bit too strong for
a launch so he made a wise decision to wait until his next visit. I think
yesterday he was just a bit too keen to fly without having refreshed his skills,
but he?ll get there very soon.
Lowell and Brett were back for some more kiting practice and everyone made a
lot of progress. Day two tends to be when people really start getting a feel for
the wing and how it reacts to different inputs. Lowell experienced take off
under tow. Andre managed to hand tow him a short distance, just enough to get
his feet off the ground. Brett made a big leap in progress after switching to a
newer wing and was happily making numerous reverse inflations with no
assistance. The wing he was using was just a little too sluggish on inflation.
The next step for Brett and Lowell will be the addition of the paramotor, to get
used to the extra weight.
Towards the early evening the wind conditions
calmed down a bit and Paul was able to make his first ever
reverse launch. Nice work Paul! (see Paul's first
flight)After that it was time for me to play. Andre let me jump in the RR
with the DHV2 wing connected?.a very nice combination to fly! Great camera work from Andre means I actually get to see
myself on film for a change, although I?m not too sure what he was waffling on
about at the beginning of the clip!
Today was a lot of fun. Everyone made great progress and nothing got
busted.
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