Monday, March 21, 2011

Bounced Around Phoenixville

Went flying at Kolb (Phoenixville) earlier this afternoon and got a bit more than I was expecting.  The wind at Pottstown Limerick airport was only indicating 5 knots on the ground, but lawdy lawdy was it howling about 20 feet up.  I launch out of Kolb and immediately was ready to land but I figured I'd give it a little bit to see if the ride got smoother.  It did a little bit but still lots of rotor off the woods line and a bit of lifty-sinkiness throughout the flight.  I decided after only 14 minutes that it was time to put Bertha back on the ground.  When my GPS speed read 39 mph, I knew that I was playing in conditions that I wasn't expecting.  Jeff came out with his 900 pound dawg, Apollo, to watch the flight and make sure I didn't get stuck in a tree.  Thanks Jeff :-)

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Morgantown Fly-In

We had a good get together today out in Morgantown.  I bunch of the gang came out that we hadn't seen in a while so it was nice to get back together and do some flying.  I got up to about 2000 feet today (my GPS in the picture shows me climbing through 1525').  We're starting to talk about a couple of events for the 2011 season to include a short cross country flight between Morgantown PPG Field and Kolb Field in Phoenixville - which will be a 20.03 mile flight.  Another event we're just starting to discuss is a Poker Run which will be a series of short (3-8 miles) flights with a landing at each spot to pick a card. At the end of all flights, the pilot with the best poker hand wins! I'll post the details as they progress.  Be Particular!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

March Madness in Morgantown

Got a chance to get a short flight in today after the wind finally settled down a bit.  Prior to the flight, I did some much needed kiting proficiency training to get the "feel" back of knowing what the wing is telling me through soft (ideally) pressure changes in the brake toggles. This is how I'll stay safely inside the envelope whilst flying. During more active wind, the pressure changes are more direct and if its a violent change, forget about it - I'm shittin'.  I enjoyed the ground refresher training and actually "kited" (kept the wing over my head) for over 8 minutes without letting it down.  USPPA standards require 2 minutes for the next rating so I guess I may be doing ok.  Soon the wind was down below 10 and it was time for me to be the "wind dummy".  The rest of the fella's would know that if I got beat about by the wind and slammed into stationary objects (ie. ground, houses, cars, trees, etc) that she should maybe think about delaying their flight for a little longer. 


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