Stanwell soaring with chase camera

On Wednesday evening I had chance to test the chase camera prototype.
I was a bit worried how it is going to behave in the air so I took reserve with me.
As I took off the camera was surprisingly stable without tendency to get into the lines. I did not try any wingovers. GoPro was set to take a photo every 5s. so I ended up having heaps of pictures.
All of them were pretty much the same because I have flown the south (short) ridge of Stanwell.
After all I am very satisfied with the result. Just have to change the angle of the camera to point it a bit higher over the horizon. 

Sunrise paramotor flight

Hi!

Yesterday I got a call and was asked if I am keen to fly tomorrow at the very morning. Of course I was.
I was meant to be at Prospect Reservoir (ca 40km west from Sydney) at 0700.
At this time five pilots including me were on the site. We all spread our wings and warmed up the motors.
There were two trikes and three foot launch paramotors in between us. I took photo camera with me to the air. So much fun with nice light conditions.
The flight was very pleasant with a few small bumps which Synthesis handled without any problems. I basically did one huge circle around the reservoir. Pilots were everywhere. Beautiful view at Sydney sky-scarpers on the horizon was a great reward for getting up so early on Sunday.
After one hour I decided to land because the sun had already warmed up the launching site and I wanted avoid bumpy (thermal) landing since the area is all grey/black. Nil wind landing was a bit fast as usual but I touched down without any issues.
It was great to meet new pilots flying paramotors in Sydney area. Plenty of pictures from today. Enjoy!


Sydney's skyscrapers on the horizon:

Nucleon in the air:

Tony with Nirvana & U-Turn reflex wing:

Chasing camera prototype

Hi!

When being back home I had chance to use my Dad's workshop.

I found plenty of tutorials in the internet showing chasing camera DIY for paragliding purposes.

I decided to use different ideas to make chasing camera as simple as possible.

In my version you can set two angles of the camera. The funnel is 2L Sprite bottle used.

The rest is pretty well seen in the pictures.

Hopefully I will be able to try it out very soon!

First paramotoring in 2013!

Hi!

Last weekend I had a chance to get back to paramotoring. I went to the site about 6pm, checked the motor and the wing. After almost two months of staying untouched in my friends garage the paramotor started from the very first pull. Very enjoyable flight along the beaches to Stanwell Park and back to Wollongong marina. Approximately one hour in the air. The sun was setting painting water and sand in warm colours.

Plenty of accessories are to be mounted  for the next flying but... one step at the time. These are:

• chase camera
• additional camera attached to the cage
• GPS with LK8000 software
• choke to start the engine in the air
• mirror to let me check level of the fuel

I also tested how fast I can climb on max throttle - it is 1.4 m/s with trimmers fully closed.
It is not much, but the wing is a bit small for me.  I have to perform some more testing next time when the scenery will not be that spectacular!! ;)


I had neither gopro nor canon so here is just one picture after landing.

  

2013/01/13 Back in Stanwell!

Hey!

After one month holidays back in Europe I eventually flown Stnawell again. Feels so good to be back and to see all mates again.
I did only one flight about 15 minutes because the wind was dying and the rain was coming.

My new flying suit :

Jason in the air:

First breath of Sigma in 2013:

Mitsi after landing:

2012/12 Paramotoring in Woonona (dolphins!)

Hi!

Almost month ago I have flown Wonnona down to Wollongong and return. It was pretty cold up there, I did 50km in 102 minutes. The wind was a bit northerly so it was easier to go to Wollongong then coming back to Woonona. Wollongong industrial harbor looks impressive from the air. Especially massive coal storage. Someone was flying hill 60 on greenish wing. I took tall chimney as a turn point. On the way back I met wild dolphins. Amazing experience. I did a few low passes above them. Hope you can spot them in the movie.

Turn on the speakers and enjoy!



 
2012/12/12 PPG 50km return, dolphins! Woonona/Wollongong from lukastu on Vimeo.

My method to simpify preflight check

Hi!

This method is not a revolution but it is very easy and is simplifying preflight check a lot.

I bought red nail color. Then I made sure that all screws are properly tightened. Next step was to paint the screws, nuts and bases with one line.

Now it is easy to see if the nuts or bolts has changed its position. Crack on the paint can suggest that something bad has started happening  and this particular screw require special attention.

To get rid of the paint just use a bit of fuel on a fiber and wash it out. 
 

Cheers!