Well after 4 years away from fixed-wing aircraft flying both my powered-paraglider and my powered-parachute, I am now flying a Cessna 152 owned by a local flying club.  Why did I get away from parachute-type aircraft?  I was starting to miss flying longer distances and missed the speed and utility of fixed wing aircraft.  But ultimately I believe it was a God thing.  It goes like this…

About a month ago I got a letter from the United States Ultralight Association which is an advocacy organization for ultralight type aircraft of which both my parachutes were.  The letter was informing members that their insurance carrier had decided to stop insuring ultralight aircraft and that at that point there was no other insurance carrier willing to insure their members.  So starting at the end of May 2019 I would no longer be insured.

Two weeks later I got a call out of the blue from someone asking if my powered parachute was still for sale.  It wasn’t but really, everything is always for sale.  I told him that it was.  He asked for my “bottom line” price to sell it.  I quote him a reasonable price for both the powered parachute and the trailer.  After some back and forth on when and how he could see it he showed up the Saturday following that phone call, gave my my price in cash, and drove it back home to Arizona.

The events and their timing made it pretty obvious to me that God’s hand was moving in my life.  For whatever reason I was being steered back to fixed wing aviation.  So to that end I joined the Oakdale Aero Club and this morning got my biennial flight review and club checkout done at the same time.  So as of now I am once again a fixed wing pilot.  It will be nice to be able to fly to other airports again.  Especially with my buddy Jordan.  We’ll probably do some flying together in order to save costs.  Stay tuned for more flying adventures!