 The
"Fourth Fly:"
Powered Paragliding
Paradrome
July 13, 2002
by Jeff Goin
Of all the things to do on the 4th of
July, little could better celebrate our freedom then
to gather for PPG flying.
The day before it all started, Bud Johnson showed up with gear
in van wanting to fly. As luck would have it, I was out trying to get a
motorcycle to cough up it's problem for a mechanic who was going to repair it.
Of course it wouldn't but on the way discovered this beautiful PPG field;
"oooh...that will come in handy!". And it did.
Bud and I partook of the good evening air. The Sky Cruiser and
SD-48 are good neighbors...this field was near a residential area but the low
noise reduced our concern about bothering  anybody.
Indeed the neighbors only lined up for questions about our craft.
Thursday morning started off with a helicopter trip to the
Paradrome. Pictured left is the view from "Ellie".
The morning air was busy. In spite a very early launch the
mechanical turbulence was annoying. At 400 feet folks were parked. By 9 AM
nobody wanted to be in the air.
  The Scholtes have a new Dog. A very enthusiastic puppy whose
family tree was trimmed for herding operations. Also on the farm are Llamas.
Great amusement was provided as the herder dog "Sidney" tried to herd
the Llamas to who-knows-where.
Llamas don't want to be herded. Do you know what an unhappy
Llama does? It spits. Pictured above on the right it one Llama getting it's
ankle nipped at, in the next picture revenge is being extracted. Sidney keeps
her distance.
  Another
fun distraction was the radio controlled airplane flying. Mikey had a motor
glider that nearly everybody flew. In the far right picture it is flying in
formation with me in the PPG. Marc Damon had a nearly indestructible model that
we got some time on too. This one tried our skills at power-off landings because
of a cantankerous motor but we never damaged anything during the many quiet
arrivals.
Jeff Baumgartner brought his powered paraglider which was fun
(and easy) to fly. Only one time we took in into a bit much wind. It wound up
quickly getting out of range and going in the corner. But thankfully, in stock
and fueled, were about 15 PPG units and pilots to go with them. The next morning
we had no problem finding it (pictured in the corn above right).
  There
was no shortage of food. Pictured left is Mikey tending to the "Chicken
titties" as he called them. Delicious! Christie (one of our new pilots)
enjoys some of the fixings.
Keeping them Running
The shop was put to good use...here (below right) Alex is seen
helping Riku tend to his "RoboMotor," a homebuilt contraption he put
together last year with rivets. Lots of rivents.
   Barney,
middle right, saw action on the instructional front having flown probably
several dozen tandem instructional flights. This modified single place was
designed by Nick Scholtes and Wally Hines. It is named after a similarly colored
dinosaur.
Few things get done at the Paradrome without hydraulics, air
pressure or a big motor. Pictured far right (above) is a good example. After a
"firm" landing this Paramotor trike grew a bit of a bend.
So 3000psi worth of power from the resident front end loader was brought to bear
and the keel beam was back in shape. It's all about having the right tools!
The Gear
 This
sight is getting more common. Ed Mondek is pictured standing amongst the many
motors and wings that festooned the shop. At times it was difficult to walk
around it all but we were thankful to have such a place for storage. And it was
air conditioned!
There was lots of equipment represented here. It's always
interesting to see what else folks are flying and sometimes trade gear to
broaden our experience.
In addition to serving as shop and hangar it is equipped with
a simulator and 300 gallon fuel dispenser (just outsied). Great deal!
 
1. Cho Yong, a new addition to our group, stands by his Fly Top 80.
2. Don and Leeta Jordan adorn their addition...they just
purchased this trailer and are in the process of adding their school
information to the sides.
 The Flying
Wheat feels strange slapping against the bottoms of your souls
at 20 mph. Some always manages to get into the shoes. But boy is it fun getting
it there!
Flying in this area consists skirting along farm roads, open
fields of various crops, private runways, sod farms and streams. There are other
attractions (if you can call them that) such as land fills and rock quarries.
  Wally
Shilts (far left) and I went on several small excursions. With the many open
areas there was lots of good flying to be had and it could be done safely down
low.
The next picture shows part of group of bicyclists on an
obvious cross country of their own. I stayed off to the road and high enough to
allow for options and they seemed to get quite a kick out of my accompaniment.
 
1. While on a cross country we had to stay
alert...Joliet airport is only a few miles away from the Paradrome
2. Mikey, Bud Johnson and Nick pose in front of the tree. Bud holds a small
branch tip that he just extracted from the tree on landing. There was no charge
for tree trimming service.
People
It's always refreshing friendships and making new. Different
folks showed up on different days with some of us making all the days.
Several new students came out and they all got to fly courtesy
of Nick's tandem machine.
  
 
1. Christie works on kiting with her Treking
2. Mikey is well above the corn but immediately below my feet
3. Several folks get ready to launch...Marc Damon is walking
4. The Friday Group
5. The Saturday Group
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