Had a fantastic afternoon today. The winds were calm and there was a high overcast layer meaning there would be no thermal activity today. Temperature was about 60 degrees. It was perfect flying weather.
My wife wanted to get out of the house so she tagged along. She packed some water and some snacks and her book and she just chilled in the truck while I flew around. At one point she came out and took some pictures of me while I was flying around. I flew in circles around her a few times and then flew out to look for coyotes and jackrabbits.
“Cristy, you look like an ant from up here!”
Finally here is some video I shot during the flight. Enjoy!
This past Saturday I towed my powered parachute out to Oakdale Municipal Airport for our EAA Chapter 90 meeting. The plan was merely to give the trailer an extensive road test. However, once I arrived at Oakdale the conditions were perfect for a PPC flight. As I had not flown for over 3 months I jumped at the chance to give it a go.
After warming up I taxied down to the blastway on the runway 10 end of the field. This would be the extreme west end. I laid out my chute and strapped in. Moments later as I advanced the throttle and lurched forward I noticed that a small crowd had gathered to watch me fly. I’ve flown out of that field probably more times in 26 years than most of the other club members. Now that I fly out of New Jerusalem so much it’s kind of a rare event to see me flying there. There were plenty of cameras to gather documentary evidence. My friend Les Homan was kind enough to supply the following pictures and video.
First the takeoff…
And the landing…
It felt very good to fly the pattern at Oakdale again. As well as catch up with old friends.
So recently I sold the cargo trailer that I used to haul my powered parachute around. It was nice in that it had lots of storage and was convenient to sleep in when I went to fly-ins but it was a bear to tow. Because of its high profile it was very susceptible to wind and the faster I drove, the worse my gas mileage got due to the wind resistence of the trailer.
To remedy this I purchased and built up a Harbor Freight trailer. I built it pretty much standard as it comes out of the box. I put a 3/4 inch plywood deck on the top of it and then got it registered and licensed. As a side note there was a problem registering Harbor Freight trailers for a short while but that issue has been straightened out. Registration was pretty easy though a little time consuming. The process is basically:
Complete an Application for Title of Registration (Form REG 343). This is available for download from the California DMV website.
Bring the form along with the trailer’s title California DMV office. Harbor Freight will give you a title when they sell the trailer kit to you.
Bring documentation of sale price of the trailer (the receipt from Harbor Freight)
I suggest making a reservation at the DMV office rather than just showing up. You’ll still have to wait but it won’t be as long a wait. Once it was my turn, they checked out the trailer (mostly just making sure the VIN number matched what was on the paperwork) and then handed me the license plates before I even left the office. The official registration was mailed to me later.
Since the trailer is too narrow for the wheelbase of the PPC, I added some outriggers on the rear of the trailer and cut a section from a loading ramp and bolted it across the outriggers. This became the platform for the rear wheels. I mounted it upside down to keep the wheels from sliding off the edges. I also placed a heavy duty floor mat on this platform to keep the metal from cutting into the PPC’s tires. The remainder of the cut up loading ramps were used as… you guessed it… loading ramps. They will be finished off with ATV straps (not shown in these photos) that will hold the tires down on the platforms.
My PPC isn’t all that heavy but pulling it up the ramps has to be done slowly and carefully so that the wheels don’t fall off the sides of the ramps. To make that a more precise operation I mounted a winch in the front of the trailer. It is remotely operated so I can stand in front of the PPC and guide it carefully onto the trailer while the winch does the pulling. I also added a battery to operate the winch rather than run it off my truck power. I’ll just put the battery on a charger every month or so and it should be fine.
Now I just have to wait for the weather to clear up so I can give the trailer a test and drive it out to New Jerusalem and do some flying!
Here’s a bonus video of me describing the trailer.
Nothing big or earth shattering has happened since I last updated this blog. Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went rapidly. We spent both here at home with our kids. Our extended family is becoming dispersed and it’s no longer possible for us all to spend time together at the holidays. I go to work. I come home. I plan for the future. I watch the nervous-nellies in the stock market wreak havoc with my 401K.
The one bit of interesting news we have is that we have just ordered our Lance travel trailer. It’s scheduled to be built and arrive in 4 to 6 weeks. It’s going to be a bit of a financial strain until we get both cars paid off but we’ll swing it. We bought a Lance model 1995.
The hunt for the right travel trailer has now turn into the hunt for insurance, storage, accessories, etc. It should keep me off the streets and out of trouble for the foreseeable future. It’s a new chapter of life that Cristy and I can’t wait to start enjoying. We’re going to take some small camping trips locally to learn the ropes or RV’ing. But later this year we’re going to take a road trip to Missouri to visit my mother’s grave. That will be the true test.
So recently I sold the cargo trailer that I used to haul my powered parachute around. It was nice in that it had lots of storage and was convenient to sleep in when I went to fly-ins but it was a bear to tow. Because of its high profile it was very susceptible to wind and the faster I drove, the worse my gas mileage got due to the wind resistence of the trailer.
Air Prayer 