Valentines Day Dinner and President’s Day RV Show

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV Life1 Comment

At the last moment I decided to take my wife away for an overnighter for Valentine’s Day.  Our favorite hotel is The Westin along the Sacramento River in Sacramento.  Cristy loves the large bedroom and very large bathroom with big claw-foot bathtub.  We were lucky enough to get a river view this time!

The next day we headed over to the former McClellan Air Force Base.  Now just an economic zone of sorts.  One of the local RV companies had rented a large hangar and held an indoor RV show.  Since they are a Grand Design RV dealer I wanted to give Cristy a chance to look at her favorite RV’s again.

Second runner-up, Grand Design Reflection 337RLS:

337rls

We both really like the layout of this coach.  I also like that it is lighter and does not require as heavy duty a truck to pull it.  However, it is small, and the materials are lighter weight (cheaprer) than the other models we liked.  Here are a few pictures we took of the 337RLS:

First runner-up, Solitude 384GK:

384gk

Cristy really likes this one.  There is tons of storage in the kitchen and throughout the unit.  Really the only draw back is that it’s useful load is only around 2500 lbs.  That’s not a whole lot for a house on wheels.   This may still be an option though.  Here are a few pictures:

And the winner is, Solitude 369RL:

369rl1

This has the same general floor plan as the others but is more spacious and open.  It also has the greatest useful load at 3300 lbs.  It is their most popular model and so there should be a lot of used models on the market when we are ready to purchase.  Again, we took some pictures of this unit:

 

So there you have it.  We have now decided on our next home.

Cleaning Up Frees My Soul

On By The Flying DutchmanIn OpinionLeave a comment

The day started early for me.  I wanted to fly this morning.  I really wanted to fly from my home field, Oakdale Municipal Airport (O27).  I woke up early and trailered up my Nirvana Trike.  I got out to Oakdale and found nothing but thick fog.  Figures.   I decided to try my luck out at New Jerusalem but an hour later when I got there, it was too windy to fly.  Figures.  So I gave up and headed back home.

After putting the trike back in the hangar (my garage) I decided to amuse myself by cleaning up a bit more.  My son who recently moved out is a pack rat.  I’ve been slowing getting ride of all the junk (literally) that he’s be tucking away in the garage.  After a trip to Hope Chest to donate some items and multiple trips to the garbage can I’m happy to report that there is yet another corner of the garage that is clean and organized.  Seeing the garage slowly emptying out somehow makes me feel really good.  Not only can I walk around the garage without stepping on or tripping over things but It also moves us a little closer to our goal of selling everything and hitting the road.

Today’s flights

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Powered ParaglidingLeave a comment

Well after all the business of today I was able to sneak off to New Jerusalem just before sunset and get in a couple of flights in the PPG.  The wind was a little switchy so I had to wait a bit.  Then just as I was getting ready to go a Chinook helicopter comes barreling into the pattern.  I had to get away from there quick.  There is tons of downwash from the Chinook’s twin rotors.  He messed up the pattern for about 15 minutes than went on his way.  After he left I practiced some touch and goes with some kiting thrown in.  I’m just now starting to get a feel for flying the wing while driving along on the ground.  I need to practice that more.

I also used an app on my phone called PPGps.  It’s a great little app that shows your position on a map, your ground speed, vertical speed, fuel timer, etc.  It’s got a lot of grate little features like starting your fuel timer once you’ve reached a certain speed.  You pretty much set it up before you take off and then leave it alone.  It takes care of itself after that.  Really like this app!  PPGps is available from Google Play.

ppgps-936496-h900

So all in all today I flew two flights and did 4 touch-and-goes.  Only burned about 1.8 liters of fuel.  I’ll start venturing farther away but for now, I’m still learning to handle this thing.  I’m really enjoying the process!

Old silliness

On By The Flying DutchmanIn HumorLeave a comment

I’ve been going to old files and mementos and ran across the following.  It’s been floating around in other forms for years but this was our adaptation of it.  This is from my days as a test equipment technician at Lockheed Missiles and Space Co, now Lockheed-Martin Missiles and Space.  FYI, D5 refers to the Trident II Fleet Ballistic Missile System.

D5 Test Equipment Technician Technical Skills Aptitude Battery

Instructions:

Read each question carefully.  Answer all questions.  Time limit 4 hours.  Begin immediately.  Work in numerical order (equipment remaining from question 1 may prove useful with questions 3 and 6.)

  1. Medicine: You have been provided with a razor blade, a piece of gauze, and a bottle of Scotch.  Remove your appendix.  Do not suture until your work has been inspected.  You have 15 minutes.
  2. History: Describe the history of the papacy from its origins to the present day, concentrating especially but not exclusively on its social, political, economic, religious, and philosophical impact on Europe, Asia, America, and Africa.  Be brief, concise, and specific.
  3. Public Speaking: Two thousand drug-crazed aborigines are storming the classroom.  Calm them.  You may use any ancient language except Latin or Greek.
  4. Biology: Create life.  Estimate the difference in subsequent human culture if this form of life had been created 500 million years earlier, with special attention to its probable effect on the English Parliamentary System.
  5. Music: Write a piano concerto.  Orchestrate and perform it with flute and drum.  You will find a piano under your seat.
  6. Engineering: The disassembled parts of a high powered rifle have been placed in a box on your desk.  You will also find an instruction manual printed in Swahili.  In 10 minutes, a hungry Bengal tiger will be admitted to the room.  Take whatever action you feel is appropriate.  Be prepared to justify your decision.
  7. Sociology: What sociological problems might accompany the end of the world?  Construct an experiment to test your theory.
  8. Management Science: Define management.  Define science.  How do they relate.  Create a generalized algorithm to optimize all managerial decisions.  Assuming a 7600 CPU supporting 50 terminals, each terminal to activate your algorithm, design the communications interface and all necessary control functions.
  9. Psychology: Based on your knowledge of their works, evaluate the emotional stability, degree of adjustment, and repressed frustrations of each of the following: Alexander of Aphrodinias, Ramses II, Gregory of Nicea, and Hammurabi.  Support your evaluation with quotations from each man’s work.  It is not necessary to translate.
  10.  Economics: Develop a realistic plan for refinancing the national debt.  Trace the possible effects of your plan on these areas: Cubism, the Donatist Controversy, and the Wave Theory of Light.
  11. Epistemology: take a position for or against truth.  Prove the validity of your position.
  12. Classical Physics: Explain the nature of matter.  Include in your answer an evaluation of the impact on the development of mathematics on science.
  13. Modern Physics: Produce element 107.  Determine it’s half-life.
  14. (NOTE: At the time this was made up, there were only 106 known elements.  Bohrium is element 107, discovered in 1981.)
  15. Energy Resources: Construct a working fusion reactor.
  16. Philosophy: Sketch the development of human thought.  Estimate its significance.  Compare with the development of any other kind of thought.
  17. General Knowledge: Describe in detail, briefly.

Extra Credit: Define the universe.  Give three examples.

Super Bowl Win!

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Powered Paragliding1 Comment

I’m not talking about the Denver Broncos, I’m talking about flying during the Super Bowl. I was the winner! No traffic on the road and thanks to a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) that came to within 2 miles of my airport, no traffic in the air either.  Weather was perfect, the airport was quiet, and the sky was calling.

I blew my first launch (takeoff):

But the second launch went much better.

After I got up there, it was beautiful.  Just flying around getting the feel for the controls still.  I’m getting more comfortable with it though.  I also did three touch and goes and kited down the runway for a short way.  Need to practice this more.

The Prayer Journal

On By The Flying DutchmanIn FaithLeave a comment

Beginning in December I began to keep a prayer journal.  Not only to remind myself for what and for whom to pray.  An unexpected benefit of this journal has been reading about answered prayer.  I won’t go into details but three major prayer requests have been answered since the beginning of December.  Two of the three were answered with in a couple of weeks of starting to pray.  It’s been a great reminder how good our God is.

SkyFlar installation

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Powered ParaglidingLeave a comment

This weekend I added a piece of safety equipment to my Cruise Carbon trike.  A SkyFlar strobe purchased from Rodman Gomez of UFO Paramotors.   He also supplied a connector for the Nirvana accessory socket on my Rodeo Paramotor.   The kit went together pretty easily despite the spartan instruction pamphlet.  Rodman had already send me some info via Facebook so I was able to assemble it fairly easily.  I mounted the strobe at the top of my cage.  Other PPG pilots have pointed out that this may cause the lines to snag but really only on landing.  My reply is that the lines snag all over me on landing anyway so what’s one more snag spot?

I took a short video of the install and since a picture is worth a thousand words…

Flying at New Jerusalem

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Powered ParaglidingLeave a comment

I finally got to try out a new LZ recently.  New Jerusalem is a small strip in the middle of farmland.  There are no services there, no buildings, no tie downs, just a runway in the middle of farmland.  The City of Tracy owns and operates this airport and recently built a fence around it.  I emailed their airport manager and she happily provided me with the code to the lock to get in.  Access to the gate is via a rural dirt road that is unmarked and unnamed.  Google Maps was able to help me find the road.

When I got the the wind was blowing at about 5 MPH almost straight down the runway.  There was a large paved area between the taxi way and the runway that proved to be a perfect place to set up and launch from.  It also allows you to meander onto the runway should you need to.  I pulled in and set up my windsock to start watching the wind.  I used the wind to “build a wall” with my glider and this also showed me how I should orient the glider into the wind.  Once that was set up and rolled my trike up and hooked up.  The wind caught my wing a couple of times but I was able to set it back up quickly.

I waited for a student to stop doing touch and goes before launching.  I almost blew the launch because my wing started oscillating from one side to the other.  I was able to dampen them fairly quickly by steering the trike under the wing and applying a little brake pressure.  Once the wing was stable I went full throttle and was climbing out.

I don’t know how much break in time these engines need so I stayed pretty close to the airport.  The highlight of the flight for me was flying over a house where a small girl saw me and started jumping up and down and waving madly.  I started kicking my legs and waving madly back!  This got mom’s attention who also started waving.  Nice!  I never would have seen that if I had been flying my airplane.

I was short on time and the sun was going down anyway so I turned back toward the runway and made an approach to the same spot I had taken off from.  As I cleared the fence I cut my power and just let it glide in.  I have to admit that’s my favorite part;  that quiet glide.  I did, in fact roll to a stop almost precisely where I started from.  With brakes full down I had only to take a couple of steps to roll my trike forward and have the wing come down behind me.  Most of the lines were in the line guides too!  I could have almost just fired the engine back up again.  The wind had completely stopped by now and just like I used to do in my fixed wing, I just sat and listened to the ambient noise for a few moments before unbuckling and packing up.

Yeah, I think I’ll be back.