Paramotor Training Eleventh Day 10th, 11th, & 12th Flight

Eleventh day training with Dan Decker of PPGTennessee.com.

Three great flights and a touch and go. An awesome evening! It was cold but worth it.

I wasn't able to use my finger toggles with gloves on. I didn't realize how much I like using them. The first two flights I went up and did patterns flighing straight down the run way without touching down. Lower each time. The repair that I did to the throttle has really helped with control.

Dan had another pilot in traing there that was ready for his first flight. After he lanuched for his second flight I launched for my third. While Dan worked with him I just flew around the field at a higher alltitude. It was a blast to just fly around and relax. I watched the other pilot while I enjoyed the view. I flew in behind him and followed him in for his landing. A great landing too.

Then I was ready for another fly by followed by a touch an go. The touch and go was not great but I managed to save it and launch back into the air. It's a great feeling coming in with the motor still running. Feels lke you have options.

So, that's flight numbers 10, 11 and 12. And better weather is coming.

Filmed these with the Sony Action Cam AS30, Flip Cam, and iPad Mini. Used iMovie to put them together.

Paramotor Training Tenth Day

The tenth day of training started out great, but ended with me not flying or even taxing.

It was a cold morning in December so I was dressed the part and ready for it. Had the trike and paramotor all assembled and ready to go. Even got the engine warmed up before Dan got there.

As soon as he arived we laid the wing out on the runway and lined up the trike. That's when it starting going wrong. First the pull start acted up but we got it started. Then, the throttle was acting sluggish. That ended it.

It's just not worth pushing forward when things are stacking up against you. As the saying goes, it's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground. It's not always the funest taking down your gear after a flight, but it's even worse when you didn't get to fly.

Paramotor Training Ninth Day 8th & 9th Flight

Ninth day training with Dan Decker of PPGTennessee.com.

Flight 8 and 9 today. I'm starting to get comfortable with the launches and being up in the air. Landings are just going to take time for me to get the hang of.

Filmed these with the Sony Action Cam AS30 and iPad Mini. Used iMovie to put them together.

Paramotor Training Eighth Day 6th & 7th Flight

Eighth day training with Dan Decker of PPGTennessee.com.

This is my first early morning launch and the first time at a new field. Two more flights. I was hoping to finish up training but we started to get a cross wind.

Did a quick taxi run and then set up for a launch. The dew was spraying me from the front tire. The first launch was good... The second, not so much. It was a great save though.

Both landings were a mess. I'm still having issues with throttle control and overcorrecting.

Isabella finished the morning by running the trike up and down the runway, getting soaked in the process from the dew off the front tire.

Filmed these with the Sony Action Cam AS30 and iPad Mini. Used iMovie to put them together.

Paramotor Training Seventh Day 4th & 5th Flight

Seventh day training with Dan Decker of PPGTennessee.com.

Had a slight breeze this evening so started out with some taxing. I managed to turn 90 degrees from one taxi way onto the main runway.

Two more flights with the landings getting a little better but still not as good as my original landing. I got some oscillation going on the second landing approach. I'm over correcting instead of just letting it fly. I also think I'm focusing too close instead of at a distance to manage direction.

Filmed these with the Sony Action Cam AS30 and iPad Mini. Used iMovie to put them together.

Paramotor Training Sixth Day Flight 2 & 3

Sixth day training with Dan Decker of PPGTennessee.com.

After tightening my drive belt and replacing an exhaust spring I was ready for my next flight.

We managed to get two flights in today but they were shorter flights. Take offs were good but my landings were not as good as my first.

The first landing of the day I didn't flair enough and ended up off sideways on the runway. The second landing I flaired better but come in off course again. Great flights though. I got to practice some turning in both directions and got a better idea of how much I can pull on the breaks to get it to turn.

In order to loose some altitude on the third approach Dan had me do four 360's. It was enough circling to get me slightly dizzy. I will definitely need to work on adjusting my senses to handle that.

Filmed these with the Sony Action Cam AS30 and iPad Mini. Used iMovie to put them together.

Paramotor Training Fifth Day and First Flight

Fifth day training with Dan Decker of PPGTennessee.com.

Today is the day for my first flight!

I got my wing back and it passed inspection. Paratour was great and took good care of my wing.

We started off with a few taxi runs with my wing. Oh what a difference it was. My Edel Power Atlas inflates and comes up so much easier than the practice wing. It felt like I was barely moving to keep the wing up.

After some good taxis Dan said I was ready to go up.

The plan was to fly a couple of patterns around the field and then land and get ready for a second flight.

Taxi with the wing… go full throttle… and… lift off!!! The feeling is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Totally awesome! The take off was pretty smooth. My first turns were slow and cautious. I didn’t really know how much you can pull on the breaks. Taxing and flying are a bit different. I didn’t want to collapse the wing or turn too tight or go into a spin. Slow an cautious keeps you safe. The patterns went well. The landing was almost effortless. It felt great.

Once I was down, we looked over the machine again to be sure it was ready for another flight. We found that one of my exhaust spring bolts was missing. So much for the second flight.

Couldn't ask for a better first flight. It was awesome. It was awesome to have my kids there to experience it with me. They all want to fly.

Filmed these with the Sony Action Cam AS30 and iPad Mini. Used iMovie to put them together.

Paramotor Trike Line Guides

I started my training with some temporary line guides made out of zip ties. They did the job but I wanted a better solution.

PVC pipe has come to the rescue before and I thought it would be perfect for this as well. I used some electrical grade PVC and started by cutting it to shape.

After I got to use them on a couple of taxi runs I noticed that my design need a bit more updating.

They turned out great and are easily removable.

I used my iPad Mini to film and iMovie to put it together.

Paramotor Training Fourth Day

Fourth day of training with Dan Decker of PPGTennessee.com.

Since my wing is still out for inspection we used the practice wing again.

My throttle control was better and that meant I had better runs per inflation. I even managed a full 180 degree turn at the end of a run.

Filmed these with the iPad Mini. Used iMovie to put them together.

Paramotor Training Third Day

I headed back out to the first place we trained to contiue my training. This was my third day of training with Dan Decker of PPGTennessee.com.

My Power Atlas wing is out for inspection so we used one of Dan's practice wings for more powered taxing. The practice wings is almost 30 years old and is a brut. I wore my shoulders out pulling the A risers for the launches.

I really need to get a better feel for the throttle controll. By the end of the runs I was doing much better. This wing comes up with a totally different feel than my wing. It was great practice.

Filmed these with the Sony Action Cam AS30 and iPad Mini. My daughter Ashlyn used the iPad and I tried a new mounting location for the Sony Action Cam, let me know what you think of it. Used iMovie to put them together.

Paraglider Finger Break Toggles Add-On

After trying to learn to manage break toggles, throttle, and A risers all at the same time I decided to try something a little different.

I saw these Finger Break Toggles on Ebay and decided to try something like them.

I added them directly to the original break toggles so I could use either option. They are great for training. It's a lot easier to just have my finger controlling the break lines and the rest of my fingers to handle the throttle and A-risers.

I used my iPad Mini to film and iMovie to put it together.

Paramotor Training Second Day

Got out for my second day of paramotor training with Dan Decker of PPGTennessee.com.

Switched up the location to T-Top Airfield in Eagleville, TN. This location has much longer runs that we were able to take advantage of.

Started out with more taxing by towing but using the longer runs. I was able to get more used to catching wing issues and correcting them. I also realized that I was paying far more attention than necessary to wing and not where I was steering the trike. To the point where I ended up with a good sun burn on my face since I was starring up at the wing so much and the sun was right there. Considering that the Sony AS30 Action Cam was pointing into the sun it produced some great videos.

By the end of the day I was doing better focusing on both direction and wing. Enough so that Dan thought I was ready to power up the Fresh Breeze Monster paramotor and try taxing without the tow. My final run was a solo taxi using the paramotor engine for the first time.

Filmed these with the Sony Action Cam AS30 and iPad Mini. Used iMovie to put them together.

Paramotor Throttle Palm Rest Add-On

Here is a little add-on I created for my Fresh Breeze Monster paramotor throttle. This should work for any round handled throttle. I was having problems with the throttle control twisting in my hand. It would twist enough that my fingers couldn't reach the control.

I had some flattened PVC left over from another project. (You can see how I get flat PVC from drain pipe on my other channel here: http://youtu.be/dWgqGPs9oPM )

I formed it around the throttle handle and secured it with zip ties. It lines up with my palm as I hold the throttle and keeps it from twisting. It works great!

Paramotor Training First Day

I was finally able to catch up with Dan Decker of PPGTennessee.com and start training.

We talked about the way he wanted to train. He explained that he like to minimize equipment and personal damage as much as possible. Sounded good to me.

Since I have a trike to mount the paramotor on, we started off with him towing my trike with his quad. It’s a great way to practice taxing and wing control. This also helps to reduce equipment damage and allowed me to focus on just controlling the wing.

Dan is great and has a good supply of patience and humor. He also has some great experience and teaches well.

Paramotor Training, What I Looked for

Wow! There are a lot of options when it comes to training. And then again, not really.

Unless you have plenty of time and resources it might be kind of daunting trying to find training that fits in your budget or time constraints. If your lucky enough to live near a trainer, that certainly helps.

Once again, I used Google to start looking. You can find all sorts of stuff using Google. Good and bad, and even crazy. YouTube is great too.

The first training I came across was in California and Mexico with Dale Shanze. He has some awesome videos and is quite the character. He boasted of being the best and is pretty clear that his is the only way and his is the safest equipment. It was also expensive on top of the cost of getting to California. He also touted that the only legitimate pilot rating system was one from his organization (WPPGA). Or that the wrong rating was from the other organization (USPPA) (more on this later).

The next one I found was slightly closer to me and offered free training if I bought equipment from him. Capt. Kurt Fister has some good videos and demonstrated why his equipment was the only type to get. He also boasted of being the best and down played the pilot rating systems of any organization. I already had equipment and I still had to travel or pay for his travel to get the training.

Next was Blackhawk Paramotor in California. They have some great package deals at good prices. They also have some great videos. Once again I would have to travel to get the training. They didn't even really talk about pilot ratings although they mention that they are USPPA certified.

So what is the deal with pilot certification? I started looking into it and this is what I found. The sport or activity of paramotoring falls under the FAA regulation 103 for ultralight vehicles. In a nut shell, we don't need any kind of license to fly the paramotors or paragliding. There are certain rulles we do need to abide by to keep from getting fined. But other than that, nothing. You could buy your gear and be in the air the same day if you were so inclined. Now, it that safe? Not likely.

So, what is the fuss all about? I tend to fall in line with Capt. Kurt when he talks about not regulating a sport that doesn't require regulating. However I understand why the USPPA started the rating that they use. They saw the desire to be able to demonstrate through a rating how much experience and knowledge a pilot had. This could be used for insurance purposes, training, and other areas where having a rating gives clout to the sport and the pilot. I think the beef comes from the idea that the only way to get a rating was from already rated trainers and there is a cost associated with the training.

Personally, I'm not too concerned about a rating. I'd rather show you a flight log demonstrating my experience. I do see the benefit in it though. If someone told me I needed a certain rating to participate in something I probably just wouldn't participate. But, if an airport that I wanted to fly from required a certain rating I hope that I already had the rating. What a catch 22!

Ok, back to the training...

I guess I'm looking for inexpensive training form experienced trainers. Close enough for me to get to easily. I found Souther Skies who sell the Fresh Breeze and Edel equipment that I have. They were a little closer and offered daily training prices that were enticing. It would still be an overnight situation which would incur more costs. I was looking at upwards of $300 a day for training. Not too bad, but it could add up quick.

I kept searching. The interesting thing I found from a couple of sites when they talked about their training was that it was important to them that you got local training. I could appreciate that. Not only would this start a relationship with someone near by that you could always bounce things off of but it would also allow you to train more regularly with the same people.

Frustration. Now I wanted to find someone nearby and I had already searched and wasn't having any luck. Then I started looking in some PPG forums to see if there were any trainers in TN. Even better if they were in Nashville. I found one guy that was at least flying in my area and contacted him and he put me in touch with Dan Decker of Tennessee PPG. I contacted Dan and started the conversation about training. He offered a one time price for training that would get me well trained in trike and foot launches with follow up training if needed.

Now I'm just waiting for the weather to cooperate! Can't wait!

Powered Paraglider Flight Log

I wanted to keep track of my kiting (ground handling) and flights so I started looking around for a flight log for powered paragliders. So, I Googled it.

I was surprised to only find a couple of them. One was an older app that only ran on PCs. You can find it at USPPA Resources page. Click here to get the page. It looks good but it wasn't what I was looking for.

I found one on Southern Skies paramotor site on their Training page. Click here to get to it. It's an Excel file and a good one but a bit too sparse for me. I wanted to keep track of more data.

The last one I found was just a blog post like this one telling about how they made one of their own by using a commercial flight log and converting it to record their data. Click here to go to the blog. He was collecting more data but it wasn't digital.

So after looking through these I decide to use Google Docs to come up with my own. That way I could access it from anywhere and could share it with my trainer when I got one. I could also create one that could be copied by others to use. I have a link to my personal one in the right navigation under links. Or click here. I also created a template that you can use to start your own.

You can use the template a couple of ways. You can start a new spreadsheet in Google docs and then click on File -> New -> Template. Then enter 'ppg' in the search box to find the template and apply it. Or you can click here to get it.

I would love any feedback you have for the flight log and I'll update the template with the suggestions.

Paramotor Trike Go-Kart

I figured out how to mount the paramotor to the trike.  And what could be more fun than karting around on the ground with a big fan strapped to your trike.  It was a blast even if I didn't go anywhere near full throttle.  Good thing too since the trike didn't have brakes.  Ruined a good pair of Crocs

Check out the video.

Who needs brakes?!!

First Time Starting a Paramotor, Fresh Breeze Monster

Finally got everything together tonight to try starting my Fresh Breeze Monster paramotor. I wasn't sure how easy or hard it was going to be.

Picked up some non-ethanol fuel and mixed the oil.  Since this was a used paramotor, the first thing I did was make sure that all the old fuel was out of the system. Once that was done, I added the fresh fuel and checked for any leaks. The inline shutoff valve was leaking just bit when it was in the on position. I turned the valve off and the leak stopped.  There was still plenty of fuel already in the carberator so I figured I could get it started and just run the gas out. 

The first couple of pulls on the starter and nothing happened other than turning it over.

Then, eureka! Holding it back on the trike is not the easies thing to do.  My son Drake and I were having a blast.

Unboxing Fresh Breeze Paramotor, Eldin Power Atlas Wing and Trike Buggy

I found a great deal on a paramotor package. Now to see if I can get it into the budget. I figure my bride would be my first line of defense to see if this was a bad idea.

Me, "So, I found this great deal on a paramotor..."

Precious, "Well, you've always wanted to fly".

Woohoo! I was blown away. I had asked God to use her to shut this dream down again if the time wasn't right, and He went beyond just a yes, to affirming my life-long dream. I hadn't even realized how much I had communicated that dream with her. Obviously, more than I thought.

I videoed the unboxing of the equipment. The Eldin Power Atlas wing was the first to unbox.

It was in great shape. A little dusty and I may look into cleaning it. All the lines were in tact and in good shape. The risers had trim, but no speed bar set up.

Next was the Trike Buggy.
Well packed and in great shape. I was surprised at how light the parts were.

The harness and paramotor were last.
Once again, great shape and well packed.

I'm so excited about this. More to come.

So, you've always wanted to fly?

Same here. Ever since I can remember, I've dreamed of flying. Being able to soar like an eagle (funny how it's always an eagle). I've always wondered what it would be like to just spread my arms out and take off. I would imaging landing on high areas and being able to see everything.

I've lived in some windy areas. I can remember as a kid holding my jacket out into the wind and trying to get some lift. Or as we would drive along sticking my hand out the window making it move up and down depending on how I tilted it.

My father and I used to go to the hang glider launch sites and sit there all day watching them. The expense seemed out of reach and I was too young at the time.

Kites were the next best thing. I eventually found dual string stunt kites. They were great. You could feel the power of the wind in the strings. Being able to do loops and turns is great fun.

Then I found power or traction kites. Now these things can pull! You can even use them to power you around on trikes or surfboards.

I looked into ultralights several times but the expense, and size of storage once again killed the dream.

Paramotoring is a different animal altogether though. In the last few years, the safety of these massive kites, parafoils really, have come a long way. The cost is reasonable as well. And the size of storage is minimal.

So, here begins my journey into soaring via paramotoring (powered paragliding), paragliding, and paratriking (paramotor mounted to a trike).