Author: The Flying Dutchman

I am a man who loves Christ, loves my wife, loves my family, loves my church, and loves aviation. In that order.

For Sale: Six Chuter P3 Lite

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Six Chuter P3Leave a comment

It’s official!  My Six Chuter P3 Lite is for sale.  The machine is running great.  I’ve really enjoyed flying it.  However, I’ve really been wanting a travel trailer to take my wife camping.  Now if I were made of money, I would just buy a travel trailer, no problem.  Since I am not, I will have to sell something to buy something.  This absolutely will NOT be the end of my flying career.  I will probably go back to a powered paraglider at some point.  But for now, in this season of life, we’re really looking to travel and camp.  And we don’t want to wait for “someday”.   You can check out my last blog post for that.

So all that out of the way here are the details:

Six Chuter P3 Lite and Continental Cargo trailer offered as a package: $13,000

I’ll link to the For Sale flyer here

Just so you know, I’m going to keep flying this little beastie until it sells.  It ain’t going to be sitting around collecting dust!

Lastly I just want to say what a great team Six Chuter is.  They have bent over backwards to help me with any issue that has cropped up.  Even if that issue was only in my head.  They provide EXCELLENT factory support and you couldn’t find a better bunch of guys and gals to deal with.

 

On “Not Waiting Until Someday”

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Opinion, RV Life, Six Chuter P32 Comments

One of the discussions my wife and I have from time to time is that we don’t want to wait until “someday” to do things.  Mainly travel and seeing the country.  I remember my parents having the same discussions except someday never came for my mother.  Mom and Dad got to travel a bit but didn’t get to see the country like they wanted.  I’m making plans for an early retirement but again, that’s someday.

To help bring someday a little closer I have come to a decision.  It’s not an easy one for me to make.  If you know me or have read this blog much you KNOW how big a part of my life aviation is.  For over 25 years aviation has been a part of who I am.  But it’s not a part of who my wife is.  And she’s an even bigger part of who I am.  I have decided to sell my powered parachute and trailer and begin the process of buying a smaller travel trailer that I can tow with my truck.  As much as I enjoy flying, I think I would enjoy weekend trips and camping with her even more.

I used to feel sorry for the pilots I knew that seemingly one day decided to just sell their airplane and buy a motorhome.  I couldn’t understand their motivations.  I remember declaring “I’ll never do that!”  Well… I’m ready to do that.  Now, this doesn’t mean we’ve given up our dream of big truck, big 5th wheel trailer to travel in full-time.  That will still happen… someday.  But for the here and now, we’ll settle for a somewhat smaller dream.

I just have to figure out how to break it to the guys at Six Chuter.  They have been wonderful at helping me through every issue I’ve encountered and all issues appear to be ironed out now.  Someone is going be buying themselves a wonderful machine!  I’ll be coming up with a “For Sale” post on this blog soon.

Union Valley Reservoir

On By The Flying DutchmanIn TravelLeave a comment

Last weekend Cristy and I took a day trip up to Union Valley Reservoir in the Crystal Basin area of the El Dorado National Forest.  It’s located just southwest of Lake Tahoe at about 4000 foot elevation in the Sierra Nevada mountains.   We wanted to hike, stroll really, a bike path that runs along the shoreline of the reservoir.  More info on the path is located on Trailink.com.

We stopped for lunch first at a pho restaurant in Pollack Pines (this was nothing to write home about).  The atmosphere and wait staff was great but the food was just a little bland for our tastes.  Maybe they tone it down for their clientele, I don’t know.  There are better options in the area for food so I won’t say much more about this place.

After lunch we made our way down the winding road that leads to the trail head at Jones Fork Campground.  All the day use parking was taken up but I was able to squeeze my truck onto the side of the road.  We walked through the small campground and started down the bike path.  It was really a gorgeous walk.  The path is paved asphalt so walking was really easy.  There are interpretive signs along the way that explain what Union Valley Reservoir is for, why it was built, why it’s called that etc.  (If you really want to know, ask me!)

We walked down to the boat launch area at Fashoda Campground and then crossed over to the beach on the other side of the peninsula.  This was a large sandy beach set aside for swimming.  There are lots of rocks in the sand on the edges of the beach so watch your toes!  It was too tempting to just sit in the shade in the sand rather than hike on so we just kicked back, watched the boats on the lake and talked.  After an hour or so we decided we better head back.  After we still have to drive 2.5 hours to get home.

Union Valley Reservoir is a gem in the Sierras.  We were there on a Saturday and while all the camgrounds were full, there was not a lot of people there.  We never saw another soul on the bike path when we were walking it.  I’d really love to go back here and camp some time.

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An Awesome Week!

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Humor, OpinionLeave a comment

So I’ve been going through some of the blogs and YouTube channels I follow.  I’ve been enjoying all the amazing adventures these folks seem to have on a daily basis.  So I want to tell you about my adventures this week!  First of all, on Monday I got up and went to work!!  Isn’t that amazing!  It was so much fun I didn’t have any time to take any selfies.  After an AMAZING day at work I went home and… ate dinner with my family!!  I know, awesome right?!!  We Netflixed and watched re-runs of Person of Interest which was AMAZING!  But that’s not all, just before bed… I hope you’re sitting down… I took… A SHOWER!!

It was AMAZING!!

So yeah, my tongue is firmly in my cheek as I write this.  It’s okay to have regular days.  You don’t have to live up to the artificial expectations you see in social media.  They aren’t having as much fun as they appear to be.  You can have fun in the here and now and you don’t have to tell the world about it.  (Even though I just did)  ((Well, all 5 of the people who actually subscribe to my blog and have made it this far once they found out there’s no pictures)).

Get out of social media.  Read a book.  Take a walk.  Just live in the moment and enjoy it.  You don’t have to brag about it to your (so-called) friends.  And don’t believe the hype you see on social media.  It isn’t what it appears to be.

Just…            live.

Powered Parachute Setup and Teardown

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Six Chuter P3Leave a comment

A friend has expressed interest in flying powered parachutes.  To help him understand the setup and tear down process I’ve created a couple of videos that illustrate this process.

In the above video, I made reference to deferring the flight until later.  Here is that flight, which I flew the next morning.

 

And here is the pack up procedure for the Six Chuter P3 Lite.

 

Wednesday Morning Pattern Work

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Six Chuter P3Leave a comment

I don’t have to report to work until 11am today so I decided to use my time wisely by getting in some pattern work this morning out at New Jerusalem.  I just spent a bunch of time going around and around the airport it was still a very relaxing break from work.  Enjoy!

Friday Update

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Six Chuter P3Leave a comment

Nothing much to report.  I snuck in a quick flight before work on Friday.  The winds for the weekend were forecast to be pretty stiff so Friday was my last chance.  Here is an unedited video of the flight if you’re interested.

 

On Saturday I just spent some time working on the PPC cart itself.  The strobe had stopped working so I repaired that.  It seems the wires came loose from the strobe switch.  That was a quick repair.  I also replaced a faulty CHT probe.  Another quick repair.  Now I just have to wait for another flyable day.

Birthday Hike at Point Lobos

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Travel2 Comments

Technically my birthday isn’t until next week.  My wife’s birthday was last week.  But I’m on call next week, and my wife was sick last week.  So…  I took this past Friday off and we drove out to Point Lobos State Natural Preserve.  It’s about a 2.5 hour drive to the coast but Pt Lobos is well worth it.

First we stopped off for lunch at Flaherty’s Seafood Grill in Carmel for some lunch.  It was very tempting to stroll the streets and look at the shops but I tried my best to keep us on task; a hike at Pt Lobos.

Traffic was already getting pretty bad at 1pm in Carmel.  The road construction did not help.  But once we got south of Carmel traffic dropped to practically nothing.  We pulled into Pt Lobos around 1:30pm and after paying our $10 fee drove to the south shore.  The north shore of Pt Lobos is defined by cliffs and stunning views of town.  The south shore is much lower and is dotted with tidepools and hidden pebble beaches.  We spent some time hiking the south shore trail and exporing the tidepools.  Then as it got later in the afternoon parking became more abundant so we parked at the west side of the park and hiked through the cypress groves enjoying the colorful wildflowers and poison oak. 🙂

Point Lobos is a stunning place and if you ever get the chance, take a visit midweek during the Spring.  I’ll leave you with some of the pictures we took there.

 

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Memorial Day Flight

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Six Chuter P3Leave a comment

It’s been windy in the valley for weeks.  After enjoying a weekend flying at Red Hills I drove out to New Jerusalem on Memorial Day.  Conditions were PERFECT!  It was warm, there were no winds, and the air was buttery smooth.  I took off and flew up the San Joaquin River over the confluence of the Stanislaus.  Just enjoyed the morning.  No tweaking the engine, no working on technical skills, just enjoying the view.  I hope your Memorial Day was just as memorable.

And never, ever forget those who gave their lives for our country.

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Red Hills Fly-In 2018

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Six Chuter P3, TravelLeave a comment

I can’t believe another year has come and gone and we’ve had another Red Hills Fly-In!  The Red Hills Fly-In is held at Jack and Myrna Moyle’s Ranch, nicknamed Back To The Future Two Ranch because numerous scenes from the movie were filmed there.  When I had my airplane I would load it up with my camping gear and fly in.  Now that I have my powered parachute I load all my camping gear into my trailer and basically camp in the trailer.  The Moyles’ ranch is located in prime territory; completely surrounded by the Red Hills BLM Area of Critical Environmental Concern.  As such, no hunting or motorized vehicles are allowed in the area.  Other than the sawmill on the other side of highway 120 it is completely serene and peaceful… except for the airplane noise!

Most people fly in.

But others like me have to take the winding dirt road through the BLM land to get to the Moyles’ ranch.  But that’s really not a problem as it’s such a scenic drive.

Once there we pretty much just chill, relax, and catch up with old friends.  Many of us only see each other once a year but when we get together it’s as if no time has passed.  We talk and eat late into the evening and when the chill hits we keep talking and eating around the campfire.

This year was notable for me as it was the first time I had the confidence in my skills and ENGINE to fly my powered parachute from the field.  Well, and the wind was cooperating this year too.  My flights weren’t long because I’m still tweaking on the engine and learning to trust it.  But they were beautiful.  I’ve flown my fixed wing through the area for years but there’s something about seeing it from an open cockpit 300 feet up.  You can smell the smells and really see what you’re flying over.

Jordan Langley caught my take-off and landing on video.  He also got a great shot of Joey Meyers and I flying by in (very) loose formation.

All in all a VERY enjoyable weekend and I can’t wait to go back next year!