Summary
David and Maurice flew. Here are their reports...
by David Cook
"Just a little report of the activities this morning. The wind was 6 to 8 at the surface and light and variable at altitude. The cool suface air was flowing to the NW downhill toward Phoenix. It made for very simple reverse launches.
I arrived first and Albert arrived as I was setting up. Just as I was ready to get airborne, Maurice arrived and began to set up. Albert did not fly, but was great to have around.
After launch, I boated around about a five mile radius upwind for about 35 minutes. I figured Maurice was ready to launch by then so I came back just as he was getting airborne. We flew around together for about 40 minutes. Totally awesome morning. We finally quit and made our way off to work. Equipment worked fine."
by Maurice Sheldon
"It was awesome! Right up there in the top 5 flights I've had!
When I arrived at the field around 7am, Dave and Albert were already there. Dave had his equipment all set up and Albert was there to observe. The winds were steady SE 7-10 mph. Dave had a great take-off as I was mixing my fuel, and was up in the air teasing me to follow. I noticed he was bouncing around and was concerned that conditions were too bumpy, but as he flew, he looked relaxed and in control.
Albert helped me to warm up my motor while I set up the wing. I zipped into my motor, clipped in the wing and asked Albert to start the motor. An easy reverse launch and the wing was alive! It was calling to me "fly, fly". An easy turn into the wind, throttle up, and an easy run and I was airborne.
As I was getting myself comfortable, I noticed my left riser was twisted, so I came around to land to remedy the problem. I wanted to try something different so I gave more throttle as I appoached, pulling the brakes to compensate for lift. I had a nice easy touchdown. I went to kill the motor... but the kill switch didn't work. Albert came over and flicked the choke which instantly killed the motor.
I unzipped and fixed the twisted line and inspected the motor as to why the kill switch wasn't working. After a quick glance, it appeared the electrical connector had worked itself loose. Within minutes, I was strapped back in ready for a second attempt. Another perfect reverse, and Albert started the motor while my wing was hovering above me.
Once in the air, it was stupendous. The air was mostly steady, with a soft thermals bouncing me around from time to time. The views are incredible of the mountains and Tucson in the distance. The field is large and flat, with few nasties (no cactus, sticks, brush, or large vegetaion... just a lot of ants). It was an incredible rush waving to Dave as he flew within a 100 feet over and under me. It was also cool to fly over a dead cow and watch a bird fly out of it! Also, I did a bunch of low level flight over the field, practicing full throttle and brakes (less than 20' agl) and my first touch and go' (about 5 of them).
I landed first about 8:30 (I needed to get back to work in Phoenix). Dave was interested in measuring the size differences between our wings... we laid out the wings spead out on the ground on top of each other. I was surprised to see such a difference, with his wing being much bigger. That's why he can always climb me out. We were all packed up and leaving by 9. I got to work about 10:40.
I definitely plan to fly at this field again and highly recommend it."
