Summary, Video and Images
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by Maurice Sheldon
I drove up Friday night and arrived in Socorro at 4am. Luckily there was a room that was waiting for me so I slept for two hours.
I met up with Michelle and Jerry at the field at about 6:30 am. And was it cold!!! I had my winter jacket on with a hood and thick gloves and I was still freezing.
The wind was 10-15 mph, too strong for the balloons to launch. But the PPG folks thought this wasn't too bad. Jerry was the first to fly and soon afterwards another crew of PPG folks arrived at the field. They were from a new PPG company called AirPro and the owner was a former student of Michelle and Jerry. They had several experienced pilots including an advanced instructor, David Sigier, who was in the air shortly afterwards. David had been one of Eric Dufour's instuctors for several years and had recently completed the manuevers course in Florida with Chris Santacroce. And it showed in his expert piloting skills. He did a series of aerobatic manuevers that were astounding to watch, including wing overs, loops, SAT's and a one footed landing followed by a one step take-off. The best (and worst) part was that he made it all look so easy!!
The equipment AirPro had was quite interesting as well: the BackBone PPG and Nervures wing. The BackBone PPG looks like a combination of the Sky Crusier and Miniplane, with a 100 cc RDM engine, clutch drive and a lightweight frame. Also the Nervures wings looked really nimble, well constructed, and a good match for PPG use. According to David, you could do a reverse launch with the Nervures in very low to no wind.
AirPro offered to let me try their equipment and because of the higher winds, I decided to try the BackBone motor with my trusty Symphony wing. The PPG is quite powerful and got me off the ground quite easily. Once in the air, the harness was very comfortable in flight. I only flew for about ten minutes for two reasons: I had 15 minutes of gas and I was freezing!!! Unfortunately, this really didn't give me adequate time to fully comment on the equipment.
About 5 pilots flew that morning, from 20 or so that were present. At about 10:30 am the PPG crew stopped flying since the wind had picked up and become rowdy. I spent the rest of the day bumbling around the city of Socorro enjoying the annual festivities of the rally.
In the evening I joined AirPro as part of a caravan parade. There must have been 50 different vehicles of all sizes and stripes from a lighted semi with a 70' flatbed decorated in Christmas decor to a pair of Harley decked out as reindeer. Airpro had their truck all decorated with lights and a sled on the roof with a PPG behind it. David rode in the sled tossing candy to the onlookers. As the parade progressed it became much more fun, probably from the strong, spiked drinks we were enjoying as we drove slowly past the crowds.
When the parade was over, I headed over to join Jerry and Michelle's party at a restaurant for dinner and a gift exchange. There were about 20 people there. It's a nice group they have organized and it was quite enjoyable for me to be able to participate in this event with a bunch of PPG enthustiasts. I thought it was funny how two pilots I had never met introduced themselves to me as: "So your wannabee Mo on the BIG list. Nice to meet you." After dinner, I went back to the hotel and conked out from exhaustion.
Sunday morning the winds were higher than the previous day. And to boot, it had snowed, so it was colder. It was strange seeing my car covered in ice and snow, a sight not seen in this neck of the desert.
David was the only pilot to fly that day since the high winds and cold pretty much scared off everyone else. Again he did some really radical and expert flying. Several people kited, including me. I tried kiting the Nervures wing and it handled very well in the high wind, so much so I was off the ground a few feet at times, but I got dragged around a lot even with people holding me down.
At about 9:30 we decided to call it quits and head over for a free breakfast for the Balloon Rally attendants. The breakfast was a grease fest and not very good, but it satisfied our hunger. After breakfast, we said our good-byes, packed up, and checkout of our rooms. I was on the road heading back home at 11:30. Got back to Phoenix at 5:30 with 900 more miles on my car.
Although I was only gone for a few days, it felt like two weeks. I didn't fly much, but it was an extremely worthwhile, relaxing, and fun get away.
Images
Jerry Danielle reading for take-off...
And lift off.
David Sigier flying.
Some expensive cargo.
Evening Parade.
The scenic ride back on highway 60.
Check out the large radio telescope array in NM.
Socorro video
