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The Dukes and the Cape

Click here for material (Dukes Visit) added June 2, 2002

May 17, 2002
The Dukes, MD - Providence, RI

Having finished an enjoyable dabble with the "Dukes" we headed Northeast towards Wild Bill Walsh's piece-o-paradise. It was an overnight drive so as to put New York City and it's traffic snarls behind us by morning. It worked...we make it through essentially unscathed.

Somewhere In Connecticut

While stopping for a break, Wally and I decided this morning air needed to be flown in and began the search. The place we wound up at was a smallish launch near a harbor with an open area for safe climb out.

These folks were warm and welcoming. They were mostly out for their morning walks but sure had interest in our affairs!

We had to take off on the pavement and climbed out over a marshy area (which we inspected to make sure it was walkable). 

Our flights were brief since the bumpiness came up but it was gorgeous scenery...water met land with some cool features in the mix. I considered doing some low flying by an island but thought better of it...retrieval would NOT have been fun!

After answering several of the curious (including a best-selling author) we packed up and headed East. 

Wild Bills

Cape Cod has some beautiful, if not sensitive locales over which to fill our sails. Bill Walsh has painstakingly garnered permission at some otherwise off-limits launches and so contacting him before flight is essential to their preservation. 

Unfortunately my camera broke and none of the many pictures came through.

Front Page

We arrived at Bill's in the afternoon and wasted no time heading for a meeting of the winds. The blow was slightly onshore and very strong...but still allowed us flight.

And it just happened that a photographer for the local paper (Cape Cod Times) was there for another reason when we took off. He knew Bill and took many pictures (Bill has been in that newspaper several times with his PPG) of both of us flying. 

As it turned out a large picture of Bill with his red Silex appeared the next day on the front cover but captioned the pilot as me! Oops. In the picture I was indeed flying just off Bill's left but he cut me out in favor of a kite surfer walking down the beach. Oh well.

Saving the best for Last

This last day would be the best. It started with a big blow and prospects of forced landlubbing.  While Bill was off tending to business in Boston he left us the keys to a nearby site and indeed the winds died off. 

The first flight was a quickie just to get airborne quickly and scope things out. We came back to refuel for the real flight.

It wasn't just flyable...it smoothed out to perfection.

Wally had to finagle a way to get fuel into his machine since he couldn't use my normal method (siphoning out of the Enterprise) so I headed out first. After an hour of cruising I was cold enough to want a break and headed back, leaving Wally flying the peninsula.

The Call

I was in the process of refueling again when my cell phone rang...it was Wally. That took a minute to digest!

He had landed and somehow managed to nick the prop (no other damage) but it wasn't usable...he was stuck. And he was on the end a peninsula, separated from me by a marsh and water. The phone belonged to a camper.

The Rescue

Amazingly I happened to have an extra prop (my machine doesn't use that prop) and offered to fly it over to him. He, of course, liked the idea and the preparations began.

Bill Showed up by then and set up to accompany me. I tied the prop onto the seat in such a way that I could retrieve it in flight and stuffed the appropriate tools in a white garbage bag. 

It was cool having a mission but also a bit stressful as the need to succeed pressed on me with the sinking sun. There was about an hour and a half of daylight left. Bill launched first and headed over.

To minimize the chance fouling my own propeller I climbed up high so that I could idle the motor leaving only a wind-milling prop. During the power-off descent I could fuss with getting the spare prop untied, the rope secured and readying for the drop without worry of something falling and ruining my own thruster. 

Wally was waiting and I dropped the prop and tools in the soft sand.

The Fun Begins

Bill Walsh and I then proceeded to kill time while Wally went about repairs (including a well-done field dressing of a problem muffler). 

The dunes and horse trails made for some truly spectacular flying. Bill has mastered the low flying and carves up the dunes handily. For a while I followed behind (and usually above to avoid the wake) and it was a gorgeous site. 

Jaws

We headed down the beach and saw the most enormous shark. I didn't realize it until a fellow driving down the beach got out with his binoculars but didn't look up...so I turned to see what was so interesting and couldn't believe it. Jaws! 

I have no idea what kind it was but had no interest in closer inspection. It was awesome to see something so fearsome (to me anyway) from that limited distance. Although I was well within gliding distance of shore it still caused a squeeze on the throttle.

This is one big fish story I'll never forget!

Coming Home

After more dune flying we went back to check on Wally and he was suiting up for the return. We circled until he made a nice forward and we all headed back. Great day.

Bill Walsh, his wife Kelly and their daughter Melissa are truly great hosts. They made us feel very welcome and even duped us into thinking they enjoyed our company...enough that Wally stayed behind for more. Unfortunately I had to work the next day and so headed out for home through Providence. 

It was a great time and included one of my top 5 PPG flights. I'm looking forward to going back.

May 16, 2002
Baltimore, MD - The Dukes, MD

Wally Hines, one of the Chicago clan, accompanied me this trip and it was good to have him. He was quite a sport when we realized the first night the Enterprise was equipped for solo operations...no bedding. As can be seen here the Arcus is more than just a wing.

We arrived late to a warm welcome by Dan Kriseler and the property owner John. Both John and his wife were amiable, fun-loving sorts that made us feel at home. We parked the Enterprise up near on the runway and retured for the night.

What a great thing: to wake up AT the airport in the middle of the country anticipating a day of PPG with good people. That's hard to beat!

Their location is gorgeous and easy (in most directions anyway). 3000 feet of well manicured runway is abutted mostly by tall grass. There are other ultralights that call this home and they all get along pretty well.

It also warrants good local knowledge...prohibited area P-40 is Camp David. THE Camp David. Flying in there is probably only done once...the flying site is sometimes as close as 3 miles to the edge of it (when expanded).

On the map at right, their flying sight is just NW of "Libertytown" and about 8 miles NE of Frederick airport.

Morning Air

The winds started early and so did I. While Wally put his Sky Cruiser together I scoped  out the area from above. What beautiful countryside! 

Bumps were already nibbling hard on my lines so the flight was short. That was OK because it was nice simply being out there.

Not long after my landing Dan Showed up. This is someone who loves life. After tinkering around for a little bit he took us over to the barn. It wasn't flyable with our craft but...

For the first time in my life I saw a hovercraft up close. John (the property owner) bought this thing several years ago (Not telling Dan until it came out on the runway) to enjoy all this runway when not flyable. John is on the left, Wally is behind in fear and Dan is at the controls (the why of wally's fear).

Dan had great control, as it turned out, and then after offering some simple (but VERY important) instructions, set Wally and I loose on it. John, who was recovering from major surgery (the man is a truck!), did not pilot it this time.

Afternoon gusty winds provided time to mow, line the runway and work on a prop whose trailing edge delaminated (yes, in flight). 

It's just Kiting

Still gusty winds prevailed when we took to the lawn chairs form some familiar weather waiting. Every few minutes we would observe the winds "mellowing out". Of course they weren't really but in our delusional state of want, they were.

Eventually reality was put aside we got the wings out to kite. Dan and I did battle for probably 20 minutes, trying to get the best of each other by downing his glider using whatever means presented itself (including Bruce's famous D-Line pull).

We were getting "handled" pretty snappily by the wind. It was fun and I was laughing hard when the gust came.

My little carcass got lifted clean into the air 10 to 15 feet while facing backwards. It was high enough that I had time to let up on the brakes and re-flair before "landing". I still landed like a sack of potatoes but on my feet. Of course I didn't STAY on my feet...it was too hard for that...but nothing hurt. I couldn't tell anyway I was laughing so hard at the the sight of Dan.

The same gust that lofted me, yanked Dan to the ground and proceeded to drag him head-first, laughing, through this big hay field. When he finally finished his cross-country slide, he was wearing half of that hay field on his pants (see picture)!

We thought it good to continue parawaiting.

Finally by about 6:30pm conditions improved to allow flying. By 7:30pm it was smooth and perfect. Several other Dukes members took the air along with Wally, Dan and I. The following pictures tell of the perfection.

1. Just NW of the LZ looking SE as one of the Dukes prepares to launch
2. Dan Kriseler takes to the air
3. Dan cruising in formation

The evening glass-off was pristine. It allowed low flying in the pasturelands and roads. One road in particular was well suited to this...it was just accross a small valley from the runway, on the side of a hill and had no power lines. I walked down this road for a while with the wing overhead. THAT made my day!

Eventually most folks who wanted to fly did so including Wally. It was a great group of folks who helped make for an enjoyable visit.

1. Wally flying for a low pass at the launch area
2. Some of the Dukes relaxing and flying

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