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28 Apr 07 - Rimouski Fly-In. Just a reminder for current
and upcoming PPG pilots. There will be a PPG Fly-In event in Rimouski Quebec
during the dates of 27-29 July 07. This is one of the best Fly-ins that is held
in Canada, with many fun activities for PPG pilots and family. The cost of the
event (Per pilot) is $40.00 if you book early or $50.00 for signing up at the
event This cost includes the price for a supper, and for non-pilots the
cost is $10.00 per person for the supper meal only. There is on site camping and
local accommodations available.
For further information you can contact Regis Castonguay or (418) 735-5858 or
Sebastien Gagne (418) 725-0942. You can also go to their web site at www.paramoteurrimouski.com/rencontre_rimouski_2007.html
. This is a great event, See Ya there!!
26 Apr 07 - Hi Y'all we're Back from Florida!! - Johanne and I
had a great time in sunny Florida. There was plenty of good flying sites
that were spectacular, example flying over Gators. We were planning to arrive
back earlier, however due to bad weather (snow), we were held back for an
additional week.
I will be commencing PPG courses starting next week and it's looking to be a
very busy training year .If you want to be flying this Spring, sign up
soon.
We have plenty of pics to follow up on our trip and the National PPG
Convention. I will place additional info later on in the week. Frank
28 Feb 07 - Will be out of the office from 1 Mar -23 Apr 07 -
Johanne and I will be attending the Florida PPG convention. You can contact me
by my cell, or you can leave voicemail. It you are interested to register for
this year's training, leave voicemail where I can contact you when I arrive
back. It's looking like it will be a very busy training season this year. See ya
when I get back. Frank & Johanne
28 Feb 07 - Mark and Tracy getting in some winter
water sports!! Mark has been itching to get in his River Run this
year and yesterday all the stars lines up to make it happen. Mark had flown 33
Khm's and arrived at Tracy's place when Tracy was just starting his river run.
Great pics!!
18 Feb 07 - Winter flying tips - This morning's flight was
excellent, but because of ground conditions there was certain considerations
that you must consider before launching and landing. The last week it was very
cold and windy, therefore the snow on the ground was hard packed and fairly firm
in places. Also, yesterday it was fairly nice out in the afternoon, this allowed
for the top layer of snow to melt. So, the conditions this morning was a top
layer of ice on the snow, some parts were you can step and you sank 2-3"
and others you sank a foot and others it was sheer ice.
Take off Considerations:
(No/light wind) On this type of launch in the winter you
are going to have a forceful type launch that will get your glider overhead
quickly followed by a usually longer run than usual to get into the air.
You want to make sure that you do a good ground recce. The type of ground
you are looking for is something you can step on and you may sink a little, but
it gives you good footing. Avoid a hard icy surface or deeper snow, when your
glider comes up and surges forward you will be probably running at a fairly good
pace, not a good time to be on ice or in deep snow. Make sure you check out the
complete surface that you will be running.
Take off (higher winds) Under this condition you should be
conducting a reverse launch. The critical part of this execution is to ensure
you have a good footing before you load up your glider. If you're on an icy
surface you will quickly loose you footing and fall, especially if your going to
conduct a forward launch. Again, make sure your take off surface is on good
ground.
Landing Considerations:
Before you take off, check out some good landing sites. You want to
look at snow covered hard surfaces and level ground, again for good footing. It
is a good idea to actually walk to the landing area to check out the ground to
make sure it is ideal for landing, what looks good from the air might not be
what is on the ground.
In light wind conditions you're going to land a little quicker than usual,
therefore avoid conducting power-on landings. Shut your motor off at a
reasonable height, pick your landing spot and land. If you should slip on
landing you may get slight damage to the cage, but if your engines running,
you're most likely looking at a prop strike!!
In higher wind conditions you can slow down your ground speed quickly, but
you will still be moving forward and turning towards the glider, you still want
to avoid an ice patch!!
These tips might seem to be straight forward, but sometimes you might get
excited to get into the air and find yourself in trouble on launch or landing.
Normally, I land quite close to my garage, but because of the icy
sloped conditions where I normally land, I had decided to land out farther into
the field where I knew the conditions were good for landing. A little walk
is a whole lot better than a little damage to myself or equipment. Frank
Fly Safe!!
14 Feb 07 - Beat the Storm!! It's been a while since I
was in the air and even though the weather was predicting low winds in the
morning, there was also a snow storm warning for our area. As
predicted, the winds were low and quite flyable, however it was still quite cold
and I didn't get a warm & fuzzy over the storm that was coming. A storm
front can cause alot of grief and can be quite unpredictable. So, I did the
right thing by staying on the ground!! So, I played around with maintenance on
my shop and working on different project all awhile keeping a close look at the
weather. I was waiting for the storm to come in but the weather remained good.
As a PPG pilot, it is very bad, to be on the ground when there is
good flying weather, very bad. So, by know it's 12:45
PM and the weather was still looking great, "that's it I'm going
flying". I figured I would test the air to see if I could feel or see the
storm coming. So, I launched and went up to about 1200' and the air was
excellent, so I did not want to go too far in case the front had come in
quickly. So I had stayed around the field for about 10 mins and decided to get
in a small XC flight. I ended up going to the South side of Sussex followed by
going to the town of Apohaqui. The flight lasted 45 mins and I figured that I
better not push my luck and get back on the ground. The flight was excellent and
not long after the white stuff had started. The old saying,"a man gotta do,
what a man's gotta do". (Few pics)
07 Feb 07 - Flash Trike sold!! - There will be a new Trike
pilot in the local area taking training and flying in the Spring. Congrats to
the new owner and Spring will be here before you know it!!
05 Feb 07 - Flash Trike and Single/Tandem Glider for sale
- I'll be upgrading my current Tandem Trike to a Slightly Larger version to
Tandem fly heavier pilots. The Flash Trike has only 11 Hours flight
time and the Glider (Sting 250) has about 31/2 hours. This unit has upgraded 3
blade carbon fibre prop/ power gold series simonini engine as well as Rolleez
BIG wheels (With bearing inserts). These upgrades are a $2000.00 option.
Replacement cost for this unit new would be $14900.00. I'm selling this unit for
$12500.00 taxes in. This unit has tandem capabilities, however you can
only carry a passenger if the passenger is an already qualified PPG pilot. Few
Pics
23 Jan 07 - Another Long XC flight this
morning over Poley Mountain Ski Hill- This morning's flight
was one of the best winter flights I've had this year!! The weather was light
winds but quite cold!! However if you dress for the occasion it's worth it. This
morning I flew with my Bike full face helmet with Ski goggles inside, it worked
great. It took away the wind completely off my face and neck and the only part
of me that started to get cold a little was my feet. I flew about 50 kms and
went all around the outskirts of Sussex. I can tell you from the view I had this
morning, this is one great place to fly!! There are endless open valleys going
in all directions of beautiful farmland. Near the end of my flight I had a
chance to fly over the Big Bluffs and over Poley Mountain Ski Hill.
They're were plenty of Skiers and lots of snow making going on down there. The
air was smooth as silk and the sun was shinning bright, I wish I could have
taken some pics. That will have to wait until the Spring when the weather warms
up. For anyone interested in the Dream of Flight, don't hesitate to call and
book your training!! You've waited long enough!! Frank.
14 Jan 07 - Flying with an Eagle this cold, cold morning - I
have been flying several times per week and this morning's flight was cold, -16C. With the help of my
Gerbing gloves, my hands
kept warm and I ended up with a good 60 min flight. On the way back to my house
there was a Bald Eagle eyeing me up and had followed me close to my landing
zone. I guess he was thinking that I was a little to big to tangle with, or
maybe just curious. He stayed around and watched me land. I noticed that he was
sitting on a top of a tree waiting to see what happens next. So I decided to
re-set up and launch again to see what would be the eagle's response. The Eagle
watched me take-off and was probably thinking ,"Newbie" and decided he
had enough with me and flew off. Hey, who know's he might turn out to be a
flying Buddy!!
14 Jan 07 - Evening flights with Tim & Ed - The
weather was flyable all day today, so I called up a few local PPG friends
and planned an evening flight. Tim and Ed showed up at 3:00 and we laid our
equipment out and were in the air in no time. They're were several spectators
that watched on as we took off and flew around the field, some stayed on and
asked many questions about the sport. Meanwhile, my other PPG buddy Mark D had
taken advantage also of the weather and had flown a 64 km XC this morning in the
Fredeicton area. (Few Pics)
Ed E Taking
Off
Tim R Taking
off
Some Low foot drags Mark D
taking off for long XC
01 Jan 07 - First flight of 2007!! Tim R from
Hampton showed up early this morning to get a XC flight in. The forecast for the
weather this morning was not great, it was calling for freezing rain and showers
followed by high winds. However, there was a small window of opportunity for a
flight as long as we were in the air early. Tim R. was highly motivated to
fly and had arrived at my place while I was just getting out of bed. We
quickly set up and launched into light winds and flew for about an hour. By the
time we arrived back, the freezing rain was not far behind us. "You gotta
love it when you beat the weather". NOTE* For PPG pilots looking
for good gloves to fly in the winter, go to www.gerbing.com.
I flew with them this morning and my hand were toasty the whole flight, they're
not cheap but they're worth it if you want to fly in the cold!!
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