Using PPG to announce Shabbos

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Ben

An article here talks about a PPG used to announce Shabbos over the beaches of Tel-Aviv:

It’s a creative use of a PPG!

Day 391: Las Vegas, Day 7

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Ben

This morning we went out to Jean Lake for another flight. Here I am setting down the paramotor after bringing it down from the truck:

We got there pretty early:

Running through pre-flight check:

The first couple of inflations were good, but the wind kept changing direction so the wing didn’t stay up:

Finally the wind decided to commit to a direction and I took off:

I had a great flight, about 30 minutes long, and practiced flying low and maintaining a constant altitude. Here’s a highlight video:

Unfortunately, I think I flared too early, which made for a hard landing. I tried running it out but ended up falling into a seated landing:

B and I made dinner this evening:

Day 389: Las Vegas, Day 5

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Ben

Shabbos was pretty hot, but thankfully it was cool enough in the RV to spend the night. After lunch, we walked to my parent’s house since we figured it would be too hot in the RV to spend the afternoon there.

This morning we drove out to Jean Lake, a dry sink a little less than half an hour form Las Vegas. It was a windy day, but eventually the wind died down enough to pull off a forward launch. Aloft it was very bumpy, so I only flew a couple laps and came down after less than 10 minutes.

This was my third solo flight:

B models the radio harness:

I hope to fly again soon with better weather! We brought the RV back to my parent’s house to park curbside.

Day 375: Amber Waves of Grain

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Ben

Shabbos was quite hot but restful. It’s another beautiful day at Toadstool Geologic Park:

I thought it would be fun to fly over the badlands, so we drove just out of the campground and set up:

Unfortunately, I got started too late, so by the time I was ready to take off the winds had really picked up and it was three hours after sunrise, the point at which thermals start to be dangerous, so I decided to not fly. Since all the gear was out, I taught Trish how to kite the wing:

Meanwhile, the kids were up in the badlands hiking around. We had GPRS radio contact with them, so they could roam a bit:

Trish kiting in the background:

After we stowed the PPG gear, I took the kids on an interpretive hike in the badlands:

Fossilized bird tracks from the Oligocene Era:

This is a portion of a 3/4 mile trackway of fossilized Oligocene-Era rhino and giant pig tracks, the longest trackway of its kind in North America:

Adjacent to the campground was a replica sod homesteader’s cabin, built in 1984 to replace the original cabin built on this spot in the 1930s:

We drove South and West to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, where a waterhole preserved the remains of hundreds of early-Miocene-Era mammals:

The visitor center was very well done:

The kids worked through the Junior Ranger program and received their badges, as well as a Junior Ranger patch:

On our way out the park, we hiked a trail that led to a preserved Daemonelix, the fossilized burrow of the Palaeocastor:

Along the way we found a baby Horned Lizard:

The Daemonelix:

Another horned lizard:

The plains go on forever:

We continued South to overnight at the Walmart of Scottsbluff, Nebraska. See the trip map for details.

Day 350: Flying to the Knik River

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Ben

This morning we got up early so I could fly before thermals made the air too bumpy. We got out to the field close to three hours after sunrise, since the sun comes up a bit before 5AM here. I warmed up the motor, leaning back into its thrust:

The run out and launch went flawlessly:

I gained altitude as I flew out towards the river and our RV:

Ground control was standing by:

M watches me come in for a landing:

Unfortunately, I had a bit of windsock dyslexia and landed downwind instead of upwind. Thankfully, the wind wasn’t that strong, but it still made for a landing that was too fast to run out, so I kind of skidded in to a stop. Thankfully, neither pilot nor gear were harmed: