Pre-Parastars
Knowing there would be those who
preferred more time to fly, the site was opened up for minimal cost to those
wanting to set up camp for an entire week including the Monday before the events
official opening. And many did.
It also gave opportunity for setting up
the significant amount of infrastructure that was provided. Showers and
port-a-johns were available for the camping masses.
The price also included the
museum...a first rate gathering of classic and antique aircraft, most all
of which are in a flyable state.
Man Behind the Museum
 The
fly-in was held at Fantasy of Flight, a first-rate museum collection of
mostly WWII era aircraft in flyable condition. It is owned and funded by
Kermit Weeks , a man with an amazing passion.  That
passion alone keeps this part of aviation alive for many and we are the
benefactors...both for allowing us use of the facility and for preserving
so much of aviation history.
Kermit, pictured right, let Guy
Deandra snap this picture of us standing together. He is approachable and
outgoing...a true gentleman.
It is apparent from listening to Kermit
that he fell in love with aviation early on. When life provided the good fortune
that allowed this collection, he chose to share it.
 Not
satisfied to just watch us fly our craft, he came out and took training.
From what I saw he caught on pretty quick. Like most folks...he found it
harder than it looks. Check was chosen to take him up on a Tandem flight
but the weather turned bad enough in the afternoon that he used his better
judgment to postpone it.
Being at such an accessible site
drew many both into our area and the Museum. On many occasions traffic on
Interstate 4, the thoroughfare connecting Tampa and Orlando, traffic would
slow to a crawl to watch our graceful craft. Being next to an exit, a lot
of them came over to see us.
The Full-Timers
We can fly our unique craft anywhere but
what makes these events so memorable are the people. So many people!
And what a collection we are. From
varied backgrounds we come together to share in this common love. Thanks
so much to those attendees who have made this sport their avocation and
obviously love it...my hat is off to you:
-
Chris & Tammy Bowles
(Southern Skies),
-
Bruce Brown (Fly Ohio),
-
Javier & Jose Casaudemec (Aerolight),
-
Francesco Desantis (You Can
Fly 2),
-
Eric Dufour (Paratour),
-
Jerry & Michelle Daniele
(American Flyers),
-
Jim Jackson (Sky
Cruiser),
-
Scott Johnson (Miniplane),
-
Scott Traverse (everything
with a piston),
-
Bill Walsh (Adventure),
These folks have given up their
real jobs for the glamour and high dollars offered by joining the
exclusive club of paramotor instructors & builders. Sorry...I couldn't
resist.
Jesting aside, all of these could
easily make more money doing something else (and for fewer hours) but
simply love the sport. We are better off having them on our side!
Alex Varv helped many with motors,
Nick Scholtes helped with radios and helmets and many others contributed
parts and expertise in a variety of ways.
Scott Traverse diagnosed motor
problems from across the field just by listening to them...this man is
amazing.
USPPA
It was an enormous show of support
that so many joined both as members but also as contributors. Terry Alford
and Eric Dufour volunteered and were appointed to the training
committee...they're efforts will be welcome. We grew by nearly 20% in 4
days!
Congratulations to Dan Kriseler,
Bruce Brown and David Sigier for becoming USPPA instructors. Jose &
Javier will be joining their ranks shortly.
Our new monthly publication
debuted thanks to the enormous effort of Rob Reynolds who did a marvelous
job putting together such a quality piece on ridiculously short
notice.
We had our first national meeting,
the minutes of which
Record Achieved
Eric Dufour organized the mass airborne
record attempt and successfully beat last years number by a wide margin.
74 machines were in the air when
the tally stopped and since three were tandem flights, a total of 77
pilots/students were airborne.
Thrust & Porosity Tests
A The thrust test has been run on many
machines and the results will be published hear and in the monthly magazine when
they come out.
The test was designed to proved
reasonably controlled circumstances with simple operation. While low numbers
will be disputed and high numbers touted, it is an honest effort to make a
comparison among the many different motors. Everyone realizes that conditions
change and the same motor will perform +/- 5% on any given run. This is why
multiple tests were run on the same motors just to see how much deviation took
place. All were welcome to observe the testing and to add their motor to the
frey.
Terry Alford provided porosity tests
which were quite revealing. Many Silex's came up short in this department.
After Hours
 The
Dukes put on the parties but there were other late-night activities. After the
banquet a bunch of us wanted to get a different kind of air-time...body
flying...indoor skydiving. So we all piled into the "Enterprise" and
headed off to Orlando for Skyventure.
Brad Weiss worked out all
the special details (getting the tunnel for a half-hour for example) and we all
took turns. Pictured above (top row) is Chris Santecroce, Jeff Goin, John
Phillips, Brian, (bottom row) Eric Dufour and Brad Weiss.
 This
indoor vertical wind tunnel blows a 12-foot wide column of air at over 100
mph...allowing the flyer to float exactly as a skydiver does in free-fall. There
is no sensation of falling since there is no acceleration. But, being identical
to free-fall, every little move of the body dramatically changes your motion.
It's not as easy as it looks!
We took turns going in pairs.
Flying alone is challenging enough but getting in that small space with
another flyer adds significantly to the difficulty. Like paramotoring, it
gets better with practice and there is MUCH to learn.
Traveling from
afar
 Kanji from Japan, pictured
right, is a reporter and very enthusiastic chap about our tiny little
sport. He is interested in what the USPPA is doing and how it is doing about it.
Hopefully we will be able to provide information and help his compatriats enjoy
this more elsewhere as well as here.
It was great meeting
so many who traveled so far...my only regret is that there wasn't enough
to time to spend with everyone.
On the Air
Michael Purdy and Casey Cadwell of
wsRadio.ws were present and interviewed many participants. These will be
aired during upcoming Powered Paragliding shows.
You can listen to the show every
Monday from 5 to 7pm Pacific when it is on live. Call-in's are taken from
around the country and our sport is the subject.
The show is also archived and can
be heard by clicking on www.wsRadio.ws.
Next Year
It seems we haven't burned them
out...the Parastars I talked to are willing to do it again next year. Now
if they can successfully again snare Terry Alford, Bill Hocker, Jeff
Thompson and the others who put so much time into it, we will all benefit!
|
Planning an Event
Casual fly-ins don't require a huge amount of planning,
especially if they're small. But at this level it's another game
altogether.
Under the dynamic leadership of Terry Alford and with
enormous help from many of the Parastars club members, they made their
goal of having a first-rate event.
The Ocotillo Wells event, hosted by Bob Armond, was a
great warm up (literally for some of us) and another great time.
The USPPA will be working with Terry Alford, Bob Armond
and the Daniele's to put together information on hosting a fly-in. These
folks have the experience and are willing to share it. We will work
together with them to help others who want to have similar events.
Sponsors were lined up to offer food and tents.
Lon provided some great sound equipment...REALLY good
stuff making a lot of clear sound without mega-wattage.
Neil provided financing to help with the many items
requiring up-front deposits.
Vendors provided goodies to be offered in the raffles
and generally supported the event with their presence which makes it more
interesting.
The Safety Officers helped keep everyone on track and
out of harms way.
Demonstration pilots Chris, Brian and Mike put on an
impressive show of manuevers and skill.
Forums and forum speakers were lined up to share useful
information on many aspects of our sport.
Dawn, Greg and others got everybody checked in and
equipped with their appropriate forms and flags.
Rick provided nearly round-the-clock security. At least
one night he slept in a chair at the entrance.
And these are only the ones the I was aware of...you can
rest assured there were many others.
Enormous amounts of volunteer work and planning combined
with personal sacrifice and hard work to pull it off. Money was borrowed
on faith and vendors lent their support by leaving Sun-N-Fun to come where
the pilots were. It worked...it's where the pilots were!
A few of the Parastars caught:
 Greg
Casper - besides being a dedicated volunteer in many roles - helped me
find my missing camera in the middle of the field. Thanks!
Rob , Eric, and Jeff were safety officers...a sometimes
thankless but important job. Lon (on the right) helped with many things
the most obvious was the sound system which he packed up EVERY NIGHT.
 Dawn
helped run the show from the Red Bull tent. She checked in, corralled,
made announcements and generally added bright light to the proceedings.
Nick Scholtes occupies the background with Bill Walsh
and Scott Traverse in Front.  Nick
filled in as safety officer when he wasn't working on his Tandem training.
There are, of course, many more that simply weren't
victimized by my camera. You were all great! |
