Thursday, July 20, 2006

Awesome Day

Yesterday was an awesome day. Matty jumped off city view into a cycle but bombed after it passed through.

In the late afternoon when it was calm we finally got to fly with the power harness.

The shaft that I have been waiting for arrived in Perth the day after I left. Mattys mum very kindly forwarded it on to the Gero post office and amazingly it was there ready for collecion the next day. The original plan was to use the Fun 220 with the power harness as I figured it would be as slow and easy as it gets.... However even after I fitted the long shaft the clearance from the rear wires still looked dodgy to me. So, I cut the keel off the fun 160 and had a go with that.

The fun 160 is a really sweet little glider, its perfect and a joy to fly. It was no difference with the power harness, with the prop windmilling it comes down like a cesna with 30' of flaps, spot landings are easy. You just aim for a point 45' under you and pull the bar in, with the engine off you hear the prop spinning behind you as you creating plenty of drag. As the ground rushes up you keep the wings level and round out. 2 step landing. Easy.

The takeoff is over really quick, the climb out is awesome, I didn't have a vario yesterday but it felt like 400fpm to me.

I went first and after I landed Matty had a go, both our flights were perfect in every way. Not really a surprise, we have both been tracking down and grilling every person with a power harness that we could find to ensure that there were no surprises.

I am going to have so much fun with that thing! It was a bit rough today but when we next have smooth air I am going to take it up with my vario and log the sink rate with the prop braked vertically where it should offer the least drag.

After I log 10 hours on the power harness with the fun (so about the end of next week sometime) I will put it under the climax, I expect the same Airborne ease of handling as the fun, just a lot more speed on approach.

Today Matty jumped off the Northern End of City view and got hammered in the rough air. I watched and then picked him up afterwards. We spent the whole afternoon driving up and down the coast looking for a N Dune gooning site but the wind is not cooperating.

All I have is DV cam footage of the first powered flights yesterday and I ca't get it off the camera untill i get a 4 pin firewire cable. Do you think I can fnd one in Gero?

Pics and video soon when I find that cable....



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