June 30/08      PPG course June 24/08 - day four. 

On day four there was four of us. Mark, Agnes, Evan who recently got his license and me. It was windy and gusty and conditions were no improving al all. I have flown several time to check the air but every time I went up the air was very unpredictable. Agnes and Mark did some reverse ground handling. Both of them got it down to 100 % now. Evan jumped n the air but it was very bumpy and after about 10 min of up and down decided to land. The sun was getting closer to horizon and I have decided that I will fly one more time to see if air improved. I switched one of our Skylite units and took off. The climb vas very marginal in fact I was barely getting of the ground. I was chocking it up to bad air so I just stayed on full throttle knowing that eventually I will gain altitude. Meanwhile I was heading for one paraglider that was laying out on the grass. I still had about 30 ft when I noticed it so for sure I thought I will be way over it. Guess what. I have sunk right over the glider and parablended it very nicely. I have bad year, couple months ago I got dragged by wind through gravel right in front of students and then this! Crap. I remembered that Eduardo was telling me on Sunday that this paramotor did not appear to have enough power. That must be it. It was not just air, it was sudden lack of power. I have decided to try again and sure enough I got to about 20 ft, flew almost the whole length of runway trying to gain altitude but nothing in fact near the end of it I started to do down so I landed. Yap, there is for sure problem with the motor. While this was going on, the winds dropped of and Mark was able to jump in for 2 flight. It was sill bit windy and since I parablended the XS glider that was perfect for Agnes she has decided to wait it out till conditions are perfect.

  Mark and sunset....

June 30/08    Winds aloft forecast.

Very handy site if you fly in Niagara.

http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/Winds/Aloft.cgi?location=BUF&Submit=Get+Forecast&hour=06&course=azimuth

June 26/08    How to read spark plugs.

The appearance of the firing-end of a spark plug shows how well an engine has been operating, the suitability of the plug heat rating, and whether or not the carburetor and ignition timing are properly adjusted. The information below is intended to assist you in correctly choosing your spark plugs and determining operating condition of your engine. Even plugs presenting a good appearance, as those shown in Figures 6 - 24, can quite often be covered with lead deposits, which cause misfiring...

  More here.

June 23/08    PPG course June 23/08 - day three. 

Major thunderstorms. The training session today was cancelled.

It was a good decision as this is what was over our training field at 5 pm. Check it out for your self here.

June 24/08      PPG course June 22/08 - day two. 

I got together with Agnes at 3 pm and we practiced reverse handling one on one for 1 hr. Then Mark and Eduardo came. Both struggled with the reverse technique but Agnes was reverse handling no problem even though she was using our special high wind training glider that is very twitchy and hard to control. Once wind came down Agnes tried couple inflations with motor on, it went well but by the time we got ready for flight she started to feel tired and decide to post pone her flight till next day when she is fresh and fully in control. Mark managed 4 flawless flights. Eduardo flew twice both times sitting bit too early on take off and butt landing on his second flight. He landed with engine because he decided that he will lend on his own without telling me what he was planing to do. Not a good idea, the prop could have been gone.  Status on day two: 

Mark - 5 flights first sit down too early on take off - all others well done

Eduardo - 3 flights first well executed - other two with some issues

Agnes - about to fly

At the end we ended up helping to push the only flying Mark IX Spitfire back to his home. 

 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Older news 82 81 80 79 78 77 76 75 74 73 72 71 70 69 68 67 66 65 64 63 62 61 60 59 58 57 56 55 54 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1