This morning I took off on flight #47:
Aloft, it was quite bumpy, so I landed pretty quickly. A couple hours later, the wind unexpectedly intensified, bringing massive dust devils to the lake bed:
Trish made more Pesach-compatible treats:
This afternoon, we relocated to my Parents’ synagogue parking lot, where we’ll be for the last two days of Passover. The blog will return on Sunday.
I got in a quick bike ride this afternoon:
Happy Passover and good Shabbos from Las Vegas:
This morning M and I drove down to our usual Las Vegas area camping location, Jean Dry Lake, so I could get in a morning flight:
Flight #46 take off:
There’s nothing to run into out here, so flying low isn’t a problem:
During my flight, I flew over a group of folks getting ready to launch R/C planes. Joining them was aviation photographer Eric B, who was testing out a new videography accessory for his DSLR and filmed me waving as I flew by:
Since we were running up against 3 hours after sunrise, which is the latest recommended morning flying time due to thermals potentially building as the ground heats up, I only flew for ten minutes or so:
After landing, we drove over to visit the R/C plane crowd. M had fun with Eric’s dog, which was quite large:
Barry and his friend flew a variety of planes:
This afternoon I went for a nice ride in the hills of Anthem. I’m waiting to receive a new clip for my cycling shoe, as I broke one mountain biking in Sedona, so my foot pulled out of the pedal half a dozen times on the ride:
Later this afternoon we moved the RV over to my parents’ synagogue, where it will be parked for Shabbos. Unlike curbside parking at my parents’ house, we can put out our slides here, but there’s only one circuit for the building’s exterior outlets, so we will have to make do with just one air conditioner. Hopefully it won’t be too hot.
Good Shabbos from Las Vegas!
This morning, I flew flight #44. Once again it was bumpy, so I flew briefly and landed.
Trish made pendants for the charity bike ride she hopes to ride this summer:
This evening, Wayne and Jay and I were going to fly over the massive pit mine near Casa Grande. Wayne took off:
And Jay did too:
The wind was light and variable. I had two failed launches, but the third one was a success:
The air was as bumpy as I’ve ever flown, so I didn’t fly to the mine:
After I landed, Wayne came back from the mine and landed:
While I was putting away the wing, M tried standing up while wearing the paramotor. He said he was almost able to stand up:
Not a bad day:
This morning I got in a short flight, #42. The air was bumpy, so I just did a short flight and landed:
After breakfast, I rotated the driver’s side wheels:
The kids are studying Paris in their Geography Through Art class:
Wayne and I flew together this evening:
This morning Mo went for a flight, and Wayne flew with my motor:
We confirmed that the HE125 motor has an RPM hole between 6,200 and 7,000 RPM, where the engine bogs down before the tuned pipe kicks in. This is normally not a problem, except that I need that particular amount of thrust to maintain level flight. Possible solutions include a smaller wing or a prop with less thrust. For now, I’ll just deal with always slightly ascending or descending.
M tried to teach B some skateboard tricks:
The kids worked through today’s homeschool, including science:
Today’s big news is that Tricia and B rode their first training ride for this summer’s Tour de Simcha ride, which raises money for summer camps that serve special needs and ill children. B received a 2014 jersey for her birthday, and she wore it today:
I installed Tricia’s new rear derailleur and chain, replacing the parts I previously took off of her bike to fix my bike:
This afternoon the wind was blowing close to 10MPH. Wayne and local resident Jay took off. To launch in such strong winds, I had to do a reverse launch to avoid being dragged backwards and falling onto the motor. In this launch, the wing is brought up with the pilot facing it. The wing is brought under control and, once stable, the pilot turns 180 degrees and launches normally. This was solo flight #41, and it was my first ever reverse launch. Glad I was paying attention in training:
Again, the wind was so strong I could barely move forward. I returned to my takeoff location not by turning around, but rather by turning out of the wind so I was being blown back and to the right, then back and to the left, etc., until I reached my landing location:
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