Today was the first official day of the fly-in here at the Salton Sea.  I launched flight #79 about 45 minutes about sunrise:

Winds were strong enough that my groundspeed was down to about 8MPH so I did my first foot drag, dragging one foot along the ground, which requires careful altitude control:

This afternoon I visited the launch zone at the RV park.  It’s a busy place today:

Trish went out to photograph the pilots:

Some pilots might be practicing for airshows:

I set up for my afternoon flight:

Launching flight #79:

This delta trike came to the fly-in:

Flying low:

These two-seat PPC are huge compared to our little PPGs:

Chad Bastian tests out his latest trike:

The delta trike got a little too close for comfort:

This fellow flies my same wing but with a quad cart:

Another PPC:

PPC touch-and-go:

This guy had a motor problem and hitched a ride back:

Russ and his twelve year old son Dallon were at the fly-in again:

Dallon foot dragging:

Look ma, no hands:

Chad flying by.  Note the chase cam handing off the right wingtip:

Russ came back with a different wing to say hello:

This morning I launched flight #78 and flew inland with yesterday’s crew to the badlands.  Flying down in a wash:

There are all sorts of formations here:

Flying back over the abandoned cityscape of Salton City:

Coming in for a landing:

Today’s flight was 32 miles over 1:40, a new record for me:

Some of the folks I flew with today.  Kirk:

JD:

Lily:

Steve:

After breakfast, Trish headed off for alone time in the form of propane filling, gas getting, shopping and laundry in Indio.  She was kind enough to make lunch for us before she left:

This afternoon, Armond, who we met here last year, pulled in.  One of the first things he did was pound into the ground his fake hookup pillar.  He has fun with people who think he has hookups for electricity and sewer in the middle of nowhere:

This morning at 7:30 I launched flight #76 with a bunch of pilots and flew inland towards the Borrego Badlands:

Flying through a wash:

Fractal drainage patterns:

Flying the canyons and ridges of the badlands was amazing!  Returning to the Salton Sea:

M filmed my landing:

The flight was almost 26 miles long and lasted 88 minutes, a new record for me:

After homeschool, Trish and the kids went shopping:

My radio didn’t work so well this morning, so I put foam over the microphone and ran the headset wire through a ferrite core to reduce radio interference from my paramotor:

Trish crocheted more booties:

This morning I ended up being left behind by the other pilots, since my wing speed is about 20.5MPH.  Fellow pilot Sue offered to let me try her Ozone Roadser 2 wing.  At 25.5 square meters, it’s smaller than my 28 square meter Velocity Edge.  I picked up her wing and watched all the pilots getting ready to launch at the RV park:

It’s a pretty wing:

M brought out his motorcycle:

I launched flight #77 and was followed by another pilot:

Husband and wife team Steve and Charity flew together:

The Roadster 2 flew at 23MPH, but the real story here is the Reflex profile of the wing, which allows this wing to fly at 29MPH with the trims out.  My non-reflex wing goes from 20.5MPH to 22.5MPH with the trims out:

My wing has plenty of life left in it, but when it’s time to replace my wing, I’ll be looking to buy a reflex wing.  Thanks Sue!

This morning I drove a mile or so to the empty land across from Peg Leg and took off on flight #75, flying east towards Font’s Point.  Looking left, I could see our dispersed camping area.  Our RV is the dark one along the right edge of the camping area:

Continuing east, I encountered the badlands:

Turning south, I followed the plateau towards Font’s Point:

Approaching Font’s Point:

Along the lower edge of this photo is the parking area for Font’s Point.  For photos of the view from the ground, check out our visits to Font’s Point on Day 183 and Day 190:

I flew east along the rim:

Coming on for a landing.  The Peg Leg dispersed camping area is on the left, and my truck is at the bottom of the photo:

After breakfast, we drove over to the SeaView fruit stand, where local citrus can be purchased for sixty cents a pound:

While the kids looked for books at the library, I asked about the library’s 3D printer.  The library received the printer as part of a grant, and it’s free to use.  I looked through the object library and found this GoPro mount for the Syma X8C.  This mount will allow us to mount my GoPro camera onto M’s quadcopter.  The librarian helped me get started:

M watches the part being printed:

After a little less than 30 minutes, the part was ready:

I removed it from the machine and we were ready to go:

From the library, we drove out to “The Slot”.  To see photos from our visit two years ago, see Day 182:

Like last time, we really hoped that spire would hold up long enough for us to get by:

After our hike though The Slot, we drove over to the visitor center for the Ocotillo Wells State Vehicle Recreation Area, which is adjacent to Anza Borrego State Park.  We laughed at this sign:

The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges:

When we returned home, we installed the GoPro mount we had printed at the library:

We attached the camera to the mount.  We will test it tomorrow:

This morning I went over to the RV park to say goodbye to our PPG friends until our planned return this coming Sunday.  I watched this fellow take off:

Trish photographed some of her creations for sale:

I went out for a flight in the afternoon:

Liftoff of flight #74:

These three flew in by in formation:

I flew over them as the passed by:

Coming in to land:

As we packed up the RV, the rest of the crew continued flying:

We packed up the RV and left Salton City shortly after sunset, stopping at the gas station to dump our tanks and fill up on water.  We then continued west to Borrego Springs, where we plan to stay until Sunday when we will return to the Salton Sea.

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.