Summary and Images
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by Tony Fassette
Mo and I flew Wednesday morning at LP. We met up with a nice gentleman, Scott, who joined us with his powered parachute.
We all got our flights in. Weather was perfect between 6:30 and 7:00. A little bumpy after that.
The only other air traffic was John and Greg flying their Ultralights. Man are those nice units! It was fun being in the air with those guys.
Scott mentioned that he is interested in PPG and has a wing but is interested in a motor. I mentioned he should check out Jerry and Michelle at American Flyer. I have the SD 48 and think it's a great unit. Not to mention, you can't beat the customer service at American Flyer.
by Maurice Sheldon
Tony's report pretty much summed it up, but I'll add some more comments.
I had recieved a call the night before from Scott Malone. He told me he was interested in looking into PPG, and that he flew a PPC and had done some PG. I mentioned that I was planning to fly the next morning with Tony. He agreed to meet us and bring his PPC.
I had inadvertently set my alarm to 4:15 PM, and didn't get up until 5 AM, thanks (for the first time) to my son's crying. I ended up getting to the field at bit later than I anticipated at 6:15.
The weather was great. No clouds, light winds from the NE, and a bright moon.
Tony was all set up and was just getting ready to launch with Scott helping him. As I was getting ready to launch, Tony came in to land. Apparently he had little fuel and was worried about running too low. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of him.
I was off the ground, but came too close for my comfort over some parked fixed wing gliders. I made it over them without incident, but next time I go out there, I'll find more space for my take off.
On another topic, I built a headset and was eager to try it out. Basically, I bastardized some small headphones and the Radio Shack headset I recently bought, and attached them to a set of over-ear protectors. I used the boom mic and PPT button from the RS headset, eypoxying them to the outside of one side of the over-ear protectors. Then carefully drilling little holes and guiding wire through strategic places, I inserted the speakers from the headphones into each side of the over-ear protectors. Take a look at the pics.
The radio and headset seemed to work well, except that my mic picked up a lot of the motor sounds when I was transmitting. Unfortunately, Tony's batteries were dead, so I couldn't test anything with him. Luckily, Scott had brought his radio. I did a distance test and was able to communicate effectively with Scott, who was transmitting from the ground as I flew. At what seemed to me two miles out, we were still able to hear and communicate clearly.
When I came in to land, Scott was readying his PPC to fly. It looked like he had a nice flight and I got some good pictures of him flying around.
The prospect of flying with PPC guys seems quite good. They fly about the same speed we do and TO and landing requirements are similar (although PPG is shorter and smaller). We seem to be a good match in sharing airspace. The only worry I have is that they are heavier, and prop wash or wing rotors could be a problem. Perhaps this would be a good question for the BIG list?
As usual, John Kemmeries and Julie Potter, were excellent hosts. It was a pleasure to use thier field and location.
Images
Readying for take-off...
Off he goes!
Scott flying his PPC.
Close-ups of my new headset.
