Summary and Images
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by Maurice Sheldon
Today we had a special treat: an audience! A few weeks back, I had met a nice fellow in a parking lot and we started discussing PPG's. We traded numbers. Then he called me asking, "When are you flying next?" I said, "Tomorrow!" Excited , he told me he wanted to go, and I could hear his wife in the background saying, "I'm going too!" :)
I met up with Bill and Mary near where I live and we drove to the McCartney site together. When I got to the site, Bill (the Bill) was setting up his colorful wing. Conditions were a bit starnge. Very liitle wind, but it seemed to shift.
We set up and once off the ground, it was clear that the wind really picked up to 15 to 20 mph. It was strange, this shift less than 20' off the ground between no wind and strong wind. We didn't stay up long since it was quite bumpy. When I decided to land, I actually got a bit worried since I was being really bounced about.
Bill landed before me and it looked like he had a textbook landing.
My landing was among the stranger I have experienced yet. I noticed that the windsocks on the ground were indicating little to no wind, but at 50' I could tell the winds were howling. As I approached, I cut the engine and glided in. As I came within 8' of the ground, I noticed I was moving really fast, even with quite a bit of brakes. I pulled more braakes and smoothed out at 3' AGL, still moving at a good pace. I ended up landing with a run.
We ended the adventure eating some of Bill's "Marias" cokies and my hard boiled eggs and discussing this amazing form of flight with our excited audience.
Images
Readying for take-off...
And flight!
Bill doin' his thing.