 The
Magic Chair
By Jeff Goin
Dec 16, 2001
Occasionally conditions converge on
perfection as yesterday did. I found myself North of Vero Beach in a large
fairgrounds field, a full sky-cruiser idling behind me and A's in hand. There
was no wind and I was nervous. I'm always nervous in this situation. With all
the gear strapped to me and the warm humidity pressing in, I didn't want to have
to do it again. Thankfully I didn't.
The max effort run, finesse and
anxiousness of the forward quickly yielded perfect smoothness and relaxed
cruising. There was not a ripple in the sky! With a full tank...I had nearly 3
hours of cruising to look forward to.
And cruise I did. Golf courses are
the state crop of FL, but before they're harvested by the club folk, they make
for phenomenal flying. With no wind I could go in the direction of my choice.
With fairway below me it was possible to safely slide from hole to hole between
5 and 50 feet high. Not only were the landing options safe...they were great!
After a thorough inspection of the
golf course I headed North. Way North.
Under these conditions our PPG
becomes a Magic Chair, transporting us to the anywhere of our desires. But it's
not just the anywhere...it's the anyhigh too that makes it's magic so marvelous.
In my case the vast majority of the flight is hands off, steering by weight
shift.
The inland waterway shrinks as I
climb for the crossing. Music from the oldies rock station wins over the
spark plug buzz in my ears. At 1600 feet I've edged nearly over to the eastern
edge of the waterway and start down towards the beach...at this point I could
easily glide either to the beach or the barrier island that I head for.
Beautiful beach lures me North and I
continue for almost an hour. First North, then South then finally crossing again
near my launch site. After flying by my friend Kevin's (who's kind enough to
house me for the two days) I put the fairgrounds between my legs.
It's getting bumpier now anyway so,
after 2.5 hours I land and stand. It was so good, this magic chair flight I had
to reflect. A fellow rode by on a horse shortly after my landing, curious but
not interested. One person's Magic Chair's is another's crazy endeavor.
Topping it Off
And that wasn't enough.
The afternoon provided a different
but equally enjoyable respite from the norm as I headed North to meet Brad
Weiss. He is a local instructor and very experienced pilot and he was entrusting
me to one of his local haunts along the beach.
 
 
On the upper left, I put my wing in the launch position
just vacated by Brad who can be seen taking air behind me. Upper right is me
bringing up the Mistral. Lower left is a formation flyby with some sea birds and
lower
Right is Brad about to re-launch. Ground photos by Kevin Smith.
 
Left is Brad high over the barrier island. Right is myself
shooting breeze with Brad who
is getting ready to go again. And he calls ME a parajunkie!
The launch are is narrow with a low
wood fence, power lines and a road about 150 feet back off the lip of the dune.
But with the 10 kts of wind it was easy to inflate, walk up to the edge and just
"push off" with minimal power. It was fun to land, stand there and do
just that.
 |
|
Kevin Smith is a friend who is
kind enough to endure my eccentricities and indulge this crazy sport. He
came with us, taking some great pictures too...thanks Kevin! |
The flying was great with a NE wind
making light work of the launch. There is no need for sand to get in the wing
either as it can be laid on top of the tall grass both before launch and
afterwards.
Soaring
One of the highlights of the day was
the motorless soaring afterwards. These dunes are puny, but the wind picked up
and provided an incredible experience.
At first we tried the tandem wing but
an increased wind was too much...after wrestling with it for a while, Brad
suggested trying the solo wings. I was all over it...we didn't even need the
tandem wing...it was almost perfect for the Mistral!
We took turns launching from the dune
using Brad's training harness and could occasionally gain altitude (a foot or
two). On several occasions I was able to run along the ground and get lifted
into soaring flight along the beach. THAT was incredible!
There is something so intriguing
about running along the beach to be lifted in the air and gliding along inches
above the sand. Indeed it's similar to flying dreams I've had.
It was an impressive end to day that
started out hard to beat. The Magic Chair had cast it's spell anew. |
