Powered Paragliding in
Toledo 2002

Note: all the Blue outlined pictures can be clicked on to enlarge

1. After loading in IL we prepare to depart. Jeff, Kate, Nick (holding daughter Mo), and Mikester the Trikester.
2. The crew of the Enterprise. Nick is in his usual Navigator position (sleeping) behind Kate. 
3. The "Dukes" took much cajoling to get them out of their chairs and in front of the camera...but, for a rare moment, they look good! 

Flying

Overload. On Saturday evening, after a grand flyfest I swore off Sunday morning flying...I'd had enough for a change. Yeah right...at least I wasn't the first one up this time. By about 7:30 AM the perfect weather snuck a 'cruiser on my back and a Silex in my thumbs.

Another wonderful benefit of these events is being able to try new things. I flew the RDM Sky cruiser motor (I want one!), Polaris, Eden and Muse wings. Thankfully modern gliders have come a long way and most are now pretty easy to inflate and have good glide. There is no reason one should be given up for the other.

The same is true with paramotors...distance bars have become commonplace even on the simplest motors such as the direct drive Fly 70. It's likely that they reduce torque effects and indeed have improved launch handling dramatically. 

There was a flight pattern which was mostly followed and that made it fairly easy to stay out of each others way. Hugeness of field helped too...you could land simultaneously with your closest 20 pilot buddies and not get in each others way. We did have to mix with a PPC and a tandem trike (Nick), both of which were real wake makers but managed their greater speed well. 

Pictured above is Bill Walsh blowing more than the normal smoke. This was a half-mile away but incredibly visible. He uses this when he flies demonstration of the PPG. The pictures below show a sequence of his fly-by. Just a little lower and I would have been snagged by his trailing snakes.

Formation

With so many competent pilots it was great to be able to form up on each other and enjoy the time together. We never got too close but it was enough to require extra concentration. Mid-air collisions are certainly an elevated risk at a fly-in so everybody must be on the their tows.

Pictured above is a foursome the circled half way around the field. Flyers were Arnon (far left), Dan Kriseler, Wally Shilts and Mike Canella. 

Quite a few left the field and went on various cross country jaunts. There is actually quite a lot to see. 

Pictured left is Dan Kriseler and Wally Shilts (closer), Mikey and Walt Hines, Check flies low close formation and lastly are the trikesters Nick and Mikey. We did a lot of low formation but had to be careful flying around the circumference of the field...the trees ended abruptly and an approaching glider would have been difficult to spot. 

Launching and Landing

The field is 20+ acres of mowed hay over hard ground. It was easy to launch with good traction and clear air. The same was true for landing...the only difficulty being to make sure another pilot wasn't shooting for the same space.

There were many places to land, in fact, since other hay fields were mowed and even some green areas proved landable. Corn was a no-no and fortunately we didn't have anyone take the tasseled trip.

There were some props dinged but nothing serious enough to keep the pilot from flying. Admittedly this would be a good venue for the prop sales folks! Most of the damage occurred on Sat morning when there was absolutely no wind. 

Tandems and Trikes

Wheel launched PPG training seems to be the way to go. It allows the instructor to repeatedly fly without the significant effort of foot launched flying. Yet the student gets the benefit of flying and controlling before going alone.

Dan Kriseler did the only foot launched tandem (middle picture above). Dan is a USPPA instructor and will likely be a Tandem administrator.

Scenery

Yes it's flat and there's a lot of corn; but there is quite a lot of interesting fluf lurking amongst the stalks. The most notable is the Maumee river where most of us ventured to at least once. As the below pictures show...it's gorgeous.

Note the 3rd picture you can see a fellow down low. Although the river was very shallow (you could probably easily stand in many parts of it), it's contents are still moving and this is very risky indeed. So please, don't try that at home!

1. Maumee's "Grass Bridge" looking towards Toledo.
2. The same from overhead. Yes those are trees growing along the ruins. 
It's obviously been many years since trains rumbled over it.
3. Nick on the left and Dan Jeffries on the right with our low-water cruiser in the middle.
4. This house is next to the grass bridge...very unusual.
5. Don Jordan heads West towards the Maumee with I-475 behind.

People

Always the highlight...many USPPA members too. It would seem our membership is comprised significantly of those who really fly a lot. We did no promotion (although still took apps) because there was just too much flying and kibitzing to be done.

1. Dawn - One of two female pilots; Cynthia Adkison the other.
2. Chris gets me back. That is a film camera he wields...it uses actual film. 
3. Harry Rosset, his wife and dog enjoy the post-sunset buzz of paramotors.
4. During a fly-by the Dukes Danny K and Bill Walsh gear up to swing and throw...at me!

1. Laz, Danny K and James bid farewell in the Enterprise
2. Nick points out the Turtle Sundae...appropriate for a few of us
3. Kate and Nick indulge...heavily!
4. John Phillips taking a brief break from flying
5. Don Jordan paused JUST long enough to grab this one

1. The Enterprise ships out for chow with a full Compliment. 
2. Paralite came with goodies and a group gathered. It's Kate, Jim, a friend, Jeff B, and Phil & Cindy Adkison.
3. Bruce Brown gives the pilot briefing which he kept brief indeed.
4. Some of the IL contingent: Mikey, Kate, Alex (Ron Estrada's son) and Nick holding the Pasha.

Competition

What a great idea...the object was to take off, fly to a spot, punch your card then takeoff and fly to the next spot, repeating the process until you've acquired four differently shaped holes punched in your card. To finish you must HAND the card back to the judge who writes down your time.

Unfortunately it was calm and some decided against it but a number of troopers braved the stillness, including myself. We drew names out of hat to see who was first off and I wound up with the short straw. 

It was fun...I took off first but landed second...Arnon beat me with his noticeably faster Reflex (I was under my very fun Silex). It was obvious the only chance I had was to reduce my turn time which helped but wasn't quite enough. It was very tiring doing 6 no-winders in rapid succession...thankfully it came up ok each time. Four for the comp, one pre-comp flight along with a follow-up to enjoy the remaining smoothness of morning.

Bruce had set the wind socks up the day before with the various hole punches. They weren't really that far away...the first was only a quarter mile and the farthest was no more than 3 miles. 

After landing near the windsock I would un-clip, leave the motor run, punch the card then clip in for launch. On one I didn't even re-lay out the wing...it was laid out reasonably well so I just clipped in a went for it. Thankfully it worked.

On the final landing near the judge (Dan Jeffries) I landed just in front, ran up to him and handed the card off before my wing hit the ground. What a blast!

Then I relaxed and took it all in...it was quite the scene to see a continuous parade of paramotors heading airward and groundward...fun even just to watch.

Commercial Others

These folks came mostly to fly or be around the flyers but they also represented their product or service. Ron Estrada of www.PoweredParaglider.com was there with a tent; his slaves, er children were helping to man it. 

Jim Jackson brought some of his latest Paralite goodies along with some new things to test. The RDM 100 has been improved dramatically along with the weight shift. 

Andy McGavin brought a Muse and an Eden which many flew. I liked the Muse even more than the Eden.

Francesco DeSantis (Check) brought a Polaris and Nerveaux which he and others flew the lines off of. I flew the Polaris but wasn't fast enough fly the other...he had to pack it up Saturday afternoon.

Arnon was there representing the Reflex and Vortex...that little guy has more energy than most and boy is he the salesman! W we sure had fun with the flying though.

1. USPPA member Chris wears our colors.
2. The very classy "PoweredParaglider.com" tent is temporarily staffed by Kate of Kansas.
3. Ron Estrada himself with Son Alex.

Packing Up

Some left on Saturday evening so the morning session on Saturday was the biggest. By Sunday evening few tents remained and we sadly packed up the trailer to head west. A great time was had and look forward to next year...let's hope Bruce does it again.

Thanks Bruce!