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!