Pete's Progress

[ptwizz]

Re. Gloves:

I have a pair of govt. surplus 'vehicle gloves'. They're thin leather, supple enough to feel individual lines and warm enough to fly in freezing conditions. I can't remember how much I paid for them, but it would have been under a tenner.

I have the gloves on before starting up and launching, so no problems trying to find them in flight.

I'm off to a BHPA coaching course this weekend. Not that I have any plans to start coaching, but I'm told the course content is useful for any pilot, so well worth the £30 it's costing me.

[mdr2000]

I've sorted the gloves, most seem to use the mac wets not tried them out yet but they fit nice and snug and you can feel everything so confident they are the right choice.. Cheap too!

Hope the coaching course went well.. Not getting anywhere near as much flying as id like at the minute, seems everyone I know can drop everything at the drop of a hat and disappear wherever the weather is, sadly I can't, commitments but have flown at least once or twice every month so not exactly missing out I suppose...

[carlwarren]

I've sorted the gloves, most seem to use the mac wets not tried them out yet but they fit nice and snug and you can feel everything so confident they are the right choice.. Cheap too!

Hope the coaching course went well.. Not getting anywhere near as much flying as id like at the minute, seems everyone I know can drop everything at the drop of a hat and disappear wherever the weather is, sadly I can't, commitments but have flown at least once or twice every month so not exactly missing out I suppose...

Errrrrr Snowdon weds or thurs ...

[mdr2000]

I've sorted the gloves, most seem to use the mac wets not tried them out yet but they fit nice and snug and you can feel everything so confident they are the right choice.. Cheap too!

Hope the coaching course went well.. Not getting anywhere near as much flying as id like at the minute, seems everyone I know can drop everything at the drop of a hat and disappear wherever the weather is, sadly I can't, commitments but have flown at least once or twice every month so not exactly missing out I suppose...

Errrrrr Snowdon weds or thurs ...

Can make Wednesday or Thursday but not the weekend mate... Seen the vid of the last one.... Awesome!

[ptwizz]

Good news from the weekend - my reserve works!

Fortunately I established this under controlled conditions, not as the result of a collapse, spiral etc.

I attended the Big Fat Repack run by the Thames Valley club. They have a zip line set up, so pilots can experience the whole deployment procedure while hanging in the harness, wearing helmet and gloves.

Even at the relatively low speed achieved on the zip line (estimated around 18mph from a 4m drop) the opening of the reserve (Apco Mayday 18) pulled me up to a virtual halt very quickly.

After deployment, I repacked the reserve under the guidance of a qualified packer. There's nothing quite like a full understanding of the principles and practise to give confidence.

Still no flying this year but I'm not going to be fooled into launching in any weather just because I know my reserve works.

[ptwizz]

On Saturday morning the gods of aviation appeared to be smiling upon Norfolk. I rounded up a couple of other paramotorists from the NHGPC, we met at Beeston and planned a couple of hours flight around mid Norfolk.

Of the three of us, I was the only one to leave the ground. Both my fellow pilots had motor problems.

This was to be my first flight with a reserve. Once off the ground and climbing, I tried to get into the seat in the usual manner, bringing my knees up to my chin. Unfortunately, the front mounted reserve resrticts this movement and, despite some writhing and wriggling, I couldn't get in.

One very uncomfortable circuit later, I landed. I decided the aforementioned gods were taking the piss and called it a day.

Back at home, I set up the Bailey for a hang test in my workshop. After about an hour's fiddling and practise I found a way to reliably get myself into the seat with the reserve in place.

Not much of a flight, but it was my first this year.

[ptwizz]

A wonderful couple of days paramotoring weather over the weekend - due to assorted domestic commitments I only managed to get to the field on Sunday. Much of the day was spent helping (i.e. mostly standing around and chatting with) the tow launching free-flyers. Around 5pm the thermals settled down to a tolerable level and I got myself in the air.

Launch was uneventful, the trusty Bailey gets me to 1000ft before I've left the field. I spent most of the flight just bimbling about the area, familiarising myself with the landmarks and trying to teach myself to estimate my altitude.

As the last of the free flyers were packing up, I made a few low passes over my proposed landing site (i.e. where I had launched from and near the car!).

The two windsocks on the site were almost constantly at 90° to each other and the local turbulance reflected this. On one pass, I hit a significant pocket of sink, prompting a rapid application of power to keep myself away from the geography.

Discretion being the better part of valour, I landed some way up the field in calmer air, preferring a long walk with intact kit to a short walk with a bent cage or worse.

Looking forward to more good flying weather and new launch sites. I'm pretty familiar with the Beeston area now, it will be nice to get out over pastures new.

[ptwizz]

Had a totally splendid flight yesterday evening. One of the pilots at the field described it as like 'flying in a warm bath'.

Wind was virtually nil on the ground, but launching was as easy as ever with the Bailey and 29.5m² of wing soon picking me up, despite a slightly early 'jump' into the air. Note to self - keep running until feet can't reach ground - then run a bit more.

Using the Gaggle app, I saw a peak ground speed of 34mph (compared to 20mph average), so there was definitely some wind at altitude (2500ft or so).

Again, I spent the time within a few miles of the field, just mentally mapping the area and identifying towns and villages.

A member of my club has offered to drive me and my kit to another launch site, on the north Norfolk coast, so I can make a proper XC flight back to the field. Very much looking forward to covering some distance

[PatPux]

Yes, I made that same note to self for my second flight. So I really consciously kept running and running , but I still have to say that even though I had definitely left the ground and had my legs treading nothing, I still felt like i sank back as I tried to get in the seat.

So I think next note to self is , run and run and run and even when your off keep the legs down and ready to run again in case you sink back. All probably related to being on the heavy side I suppose.

On your preparation for XC, I haven't been able to help myself from planning mine , even though it is some way off. So I have been mapping various triangles and routes from the Membury back to the house and flying them on GE to familiarise myself.

I am sure the real thing will look completely different, but can't do any harm. There are a few good references around, eg Didcot Power Station , RAF Welford, The White Horse, Ashdown House and the M4, of course.

The obvious one of the Membury mast 500ft AGL , is actually pretty invisible until it is silhouetted.

Anyway, Good Luck, it's good reading a blog of where I will be going, with any luck!

[ptwizz]

I got a couple of relatively uneventful flights in at the PMC fly-in. I can't say I learnt anything new, just spent the time bimbling about and enjoying being in the air with a few others.

I am now comfortable with using the trimmers, letting them all the way out once I've got some altitude and pulling them most of the way back in before making an approach to land, or when there's any significant turbulence.

Watching some pilots flying in marginal conditions on Saturday was informative

Next time out, I shall rig the speedbar and have a play with that.

[ptwizz]

Flew from Beeston on Friday evening. Virtually nil wind and launched without issue.

I seem to have got the feel for launching in low/nil wind conditions, to the extent that I was not thinking about the launch itself, but already had my eye on the movements of the nearby crops and what that might mean in terms of local thermal activity.

Once in the air, my suspicions were confirmed. Over the crop, the air was rough and I was being swung and pitched to the extent that it was difficult to tell whether my brake inputs were having any effect at all.

A bit more altitude and away from the field, things were a bit less rock'n'roll, but still bumpy. I had set myself a target, to fly to a village a few miles away and return to the field.

I was expecting the thermal activity to drop off, but the entire flight was the same roller coaster ride. At the roughest moments, I was looking up at my wing, watching for any partial collapses and gaining confidence that the wing was coping well. I still have no idea where the limit is.

On returning to the field, I made a couple of low passes to asses the conditions near the ground and to let the tow pilots know I intended landing.

The bottom of the field seemed calmest, so I approached to land there. At about 150 to 100ft I decided I was landing this this time and cut the engine.

At about 30ft, a gust threatened to send me into the crop, but I was able to correct and land just on the grass, only to have my wing drop into the crop, providing me with 20 minutes entertainment picking it out without tangling lines or damaging the vegitation.

I achieved my modest goal and gained more experience of rough conditions, expanding my flying envelope and confidence in my kit. Another good day.

PS. After flying in rough (for me) conditions on Friday evening and riding a motorcycle I built in my shed on Saturday and Sunday, this morning I pulled some neck muscles while making breakfast. There is no such thing as a safe hobby.

[ptwizz]

Sunday saw me in the air for the first time in six months. I nearly didn't make the field at all, but some last minute resceduling of Mother's day made it possible.

A largely overcast morning meant little in the way of thermal activity, and the fairly smooth south easterly was just enough for a few minutes of ground handling to remind myself what a wing looked like.

Conditions were near perfect for a forward launch. Tension on the A's, one step forward and the wing swung quickly over my head. A quick look up to check, hit the power and I was in the air after 6 paces or so.

I think I've figured out the 'sink after launch' thing. My first ever launch attempt had me running for ages, because I was leaning forward and the prop's thrust was pushing me into the ground. Since then, I have always made a conscious effort to lean back while running. I suspect I am leaning too far back, generating upward thrust which helps me off the ground, but them swings back to horizontal thrust when I launch. I should probably trust that the Bailey is designed correctly and just run as feels natural, not leaning forward or back.

Within a few minutes of launch, the cloud began to break and as soon as patches of sunshine emerged, little bubbles of thermal activity could be felt.

I spent an hour doing nothing more than bimbling about at 1000 to 2000ft, a couple of miles upwind of the field.

Landing was as straightforward as the launch. By this time, the wind had dropped so that there wasn't enough to keep the wing under control and it fell into a heap on one tip.

I couldn't have asked for a better refresher flight.

Next week (weather permitting) my first competition(ish).

[Guest]

Sink after launch....

Possibility 1: you have used an amount of brake input to take off, and released the pressure to fast after take off.

Possibility 2: you did not have enough 'speed to fly' in the first place. (by that I mean, the wing is not fully loaded at take off) so rather than pulling you off the ground, (correct) you feel 'enough lift' and take off. THEN the wing speeds up due to added load which will also cause it to sink until it has built up enough speed to fly.

90% of the time at our place when this is apparent, its option 2

To conclude with a tip:

During your next launch, make sure that your last running stride is not in contact with the ground, and if brakes were used for take off (which is 100% fine of curse) that you let them go progressively with height.

GOOD LUCK!

SW

[ptwizz]

Thanks for the further insight, Simon.

Since I watched someone trash a prop by jumping into the air too soon, I've always tried to keep running into the air. Props are expensive! That's not to say I've never done it and I know what it feels like - like the lines turned to rubber for a moment!

I have never been comfortable with using brake to launch, my 29.5m wing has never needed it and I'm happier to launch with speed rather than angle of attack. Launching 'hands up' also allows me to feel wing movements through the risers.

The sink occurred not immediately on launch, but a couple of seconds later. No drop in engine RPM, no noticeable pitching of the wing, just a brief loss of climb rate (the term sink may be inappropriate).

Thanks again, all good stuff to keep in mind.

[ptwizz]

Another possibility occurs to me:

Wind was very light, so I waited for a gust to launch into. If the end of the gust was just after launch, this would be a loss of airspeed.

[Guest]

The sink occurred not immediately on launch, but a couple of seconds later. No drop in engine RPM, no noticeable pitching of the wing, just a brief loss of climb rate (the term sink may be inappropriate).

Thanks again, all good stuff to keep in mind.

This is because when the wing becomes fully loaded (at take off) it speeds up (because of the extra load), and sinks this 'process' takes a few seconds, then the wing will reach its speed to fly it will generate full lift and away you go.

Excess thrust can help to reduce this (if your low on thrust then it may just be something you have to get used to and factor in, or run run run run run forrest!

SW

[ptwizz]

Friday was optimistically booked off work for a days flying.

On arrival at the field, wind was reasonably low and the free flying types were not getting enough lift to get away, so not much in the way of thermals.

This was to be my first attempt at using the speedbar, which I had fitted and adjusted while dangling in my garage. After having it checked over by an experienced pilot, I was ready to go.

The first launch attempt was aborted due to not warming the engine enough.

On the second attempt, I remembered Simons words and prepared for a long, smooth run to full flying speed. This didn't happen.

The wing came up nicely, all straight and lines taught as I hit the power and ran. After two or three steps, I had left the ground (or my legs had got shorter). I wasn't convinced I had anything like enough speed, so kept running as the ground rapidly became involved again.

Check the wing - still where it should be - keep running and I was off again after another 10 steps or so. A couple of seconds passed before gravity noticed what I was up to and made it's presence known. Another couple of strides on the ground and finally I climbed away.

While there wasn't enough solid lift for the free flyers, there was enough activity for a fairly bumpy ride.

At 2500 feet or so, I felt comfortable enough to experiment with the speedbar.

While fitting the bar to the Bailey, I had noticed a convenient velcro arrangement to keep the bar up at the edge of the seat, away from flailing feet during launch. I had made sure that the velcro would release when I pushed on the bar during the hang tests.

In the air, things were a little different. I found the bar (or it's loop to be accurate) with my heel and pushed. It wouldn't move. I checked that the lines and risers were still where they should be and decided to investigate on the ground before going any further.

Some time later, I had pushed into the increasing wind enough to get to the upwind side of the field. (Speedbar would have been really handy!)

Not only had the wind come up a bit, but the thermals were consolidating into areas of significant lift. Getting back down near the ground took another 10 minutes of thermal-dodging.

After landing, I checked the speedbar. It was free from the velcro retainer and nothing appeared to obstruct movement of the lines. From speaking to other pilots, it appears that I had simply underestimated the force required.

With the wind picking up further, I preferred to be on the ground, wishing I was in the air, rather than the alternative.

Next time, I will just have to remember to exert some authority with the speedbar.

If the weather holds, my next flights will be at the orienteering event. I won't try to learn a new trick during the event, so the speedbar will have to wait.

[PatPux]

Great Blog, always look forward to the next episode.

[alan_k]

Excellent blog Pete, as I think I've said before.

Loved the description of the hip hop take off

Cheers, Alan

[ptwizz]

Aww, thanks gents.

[Guest]

Great blog as said above

It sounds like we may have nailed that one dude. So... to polish it off...

Start with less of a push your not trying to snatch the wing up, your trying to drag it up.

Try (in the same way as building up your speed, to build up your thrust)

If you are gunning it from the outset, the thrust will spit you off the ground and the wing will need to catch up (hence a dip and another 10 steps)

Try to almost marry the two during take off 'speed and thrust' but just a little bit of extra thrust during and after take off.

I hope that makes sense lol

SW

[bingreed]

This is all very interesting and hugely relevant, much like the rest of Pete's excellent training blog.

Like Pete I fly an older Bailey (relatively heavy, relatively low thrust) and a modern 29m reflex wing. I too have experienced the extended take-off run; wouldn't call it sink as such, just feels like the wing ain't quite ready to truly fly. Once suitable velocity has been reached the wing feels noticably "tighter" and the final climb out is relatively uneventful (though still relatively slow cos I'm a 95kg fat knacker ).

No doubt too that I'm still running leaning forward too much...

I have learnt to keep running and to keep hands up; extended running might make for amusing viewing but I've learnt there's no point trying to "unstick" with the brakes if there's insufficient velocity for the wing to generate enough lift.

One day I'll have a shiny, powerful new machine and the confidence/ability to use all the thrust. Until then I'm happy to run a bit longer.

[Hann__]

Bingreed, don`t knock it - all that extra time spent running is developing the correct wing control skills and responses that are required when launching a PPG.

If you can launch with a motor with a modest output a pokier set-up will be easy for you!

I`ve got a Moster and it hoiks me into the air rather easily, but i get the feeling sometimes that it`s masking possible launch control subtleties that i would be more likely to learn if the run-out was longer - i suppose i could always use part-throttle!

A powerful engine can also get you into trouble a lot quicker, too..........

[ptwizz]

I have now found a local launch site, with a very friendly club, the Priory Farm Aviators. They mostly fly microlights from a strip 4 miles from my house.

I flew from their strip yesterday. It took me three attempts to get away, due to a narrow strip with light wind swinging through 180° every few minutes.

First attempt: With the light wind at 45° to strip, I set up and waited for wind to drop. In virtually nil wind, I set off, only to have a gust come in , forcing me to turn into the wind and run out of space before I could launch.

Second attempt: Wind still light at 45° to the strip, I set up facing the wind and waited for a breeze to come through. I set off again, this time the breeze dropped to zero and I ran out of ground again.

Reverting to the nil wind approach, I got away at the third attempt.

The flight was relatively uneventful. I had waited until early evening as RASPS was showing over 400fpm during the afternoon. By 7pm there was still plenty of lift about, but reasonably smooth.

I spent 40 minutes or so just surveying the local landmarks so I could find my way back. Plus a few minutes skirting the edge of Old Buck ATZ to get as close to my house as I can.

Most of the microlight types had not seen a paramotor close up before, so I was the focus of some interest. My failed launches were made in front of several cameras.

With a site closer to home, I am looking forward to many more summer evening flights.

[ptwizz]

Far too long without getting my arse in the air. Saturday saw a string of 4 or 5 failed launch attempts in nil wind.

Sunday looked more promising with a little breeze, so I headed out planning to fly from Shipdham in the morning and Northrepps in the afternoon.

As it turned out, I couldn't fly from either location, because I had just missed the people who could give me permission to fly the sites.

However, I met Mike Chilvers and several other parmotorists at Northrepps. I took the opportunity for some much needed ground handling practise.

I was also able to assist a novice with some ground handling, he had turned up with a wing (Revo) which he had never been able to get up. After a brief inspection, we adjusted the trims (one had been all the way in, the other all the way out) and soon had the wing in the air. By the end of the day, he was running across the field with the wing under control and, with a bit of a push, made a 'flight' of approximately 20 feet and an altitude of 6".

Although I didn't get into the air myself, there is significant satisfaction to be had from assisting another potential pilot in his first steps.