2012/10/30 Stanwell Park soaring

Hi!

During last few days I had some opportunity to fly Stanwell Park again. I did a bit of testing upon camera position mounted on the monopod.
Wind was not strong enough to stay in the air easily so I had chance to practice scratching and top landings since I was not interested in landing on the beach :)

A few pictures:

2012/10/21 WASP (Osa) paramotor review

Hi!


There is not much about this paramotor on the internet.

I decided to write this WASP paramotor review.

The first version was published in polish paramotor.com.pl blog.

I saw a few youtube videos showing it. Well known paramotor pilot is an author of one them so I knew that the source is not manipulated. In the video maximum thrust obtained is 55kg and weight is c.a. 19kg (with no fuel). Very nice indeed!

The price for OSA basic set is 9500 PLN = 3012 USD. Centrifugal clutch and prop covers are included. You can buy simplified version of prop pin for additional 500PLN and spare prop for 800PLN.

I am not very experienced PPG pilot but I like simple and reliable solutions. I weight 70kg naked. Some time ago I had adventure with paramotor based on Solo 210 engine and Sky Fides 2S wing. This set was slow and kind of boring. I decided to have  another go with paramotor - but this time with proper gear.

And I am sick of parawaiting...

When the wind direction is not good enough I would like to get under the cloud in some other way and fly away. This is the main reason why I decided to take one more attempt.

I admire sellers who respect their clients. I could not get in touch enough with techno-fly sellers. This scared me even more when I was thinking the service - if I cannot get in touch with them when I want to but their product what will happen when I will need their support?

I ordered WASP (osa) paramotor from AirAction paragliding school. From the very first moment I was surprised how easy it is to contact Walter (the owner of airaction). I payed with use of PayPal.

I ordered the frame divided into 3 parts and centrifugal clutch - so the very basic set. Later on I regret that I haven't decided to go with 5 parts frame - this would simplify airline paramotor transport to Sydney (from Poland). At the end of the day I managed to transport it but with a lot of hassle.

First 10L of the fuel needs to be mixed with oil in 1:25 ratio. After this period the mixture is to be 1:40. I decided to but dynamo-metrical screwdriver to be sure that all screws are in properly. For example the prop is to be screwed with 6Nm (newton-meter) momentum at first and 10Nm afterwards. I would not be able to do it just by the feeling.  

The most critical moment of flying was always starting the engine to me. Solo without decomposer required lot of force to start. I am not very well build so it was critical. Walter confirmed by email that WASP starts easily. And it is true! What a nice surprise.

When the paramotor is warm i.e. it is running for 10-15 minutes on middle RPM I can feel that the power is increased and I need less RPM to keep the level flight.

I will be happy to share my experiences after  50h in the air.

So far I am very satified and cannot wait to fly it more!

2012/10/13 Stanwell Park (AU) soaring

Hey!

This was good day in Stanwell Park. I have flown my sigma6 but the wind was a little to strong for this wing.

I decided to have a go on Synthesis. It is amazing how different this wing flies. I can tell that it is more dynamic then Sigma, much faster but sink rate is greater as well. Playing with trimmers is a lot of fun. I was almost as fast as hang gliders. But I was also the lowest flying pilot that day.

It was nice to be back in Stanwell. Looking forward for more at the weekend :-)

2012/09/15 Pobierowo (PL) paramotoring

Hey!
Finally I had opportunity to fly my new paramotor and the wing.
It is true that Synthesis is a difficult wing to take off with no wind. I had to run like crazy.
Despite this fact I felt in love with Synthesis and even more with WASP paramotor. It starts easily, has got cluth for safety and is very light i.e. <20kg fully assembled with no fuel. With 55kg max thrust looks like perfect solution for my 70kg of body weight. I have flown only two hours in total by now so it is not a lot. Looking forward to fly in Sydney area.

2012/09/03 New paramotor gear!

Hi!
It has been a lot of time since my last post. Partially because of the weather and partially because of the health issues.
I am sick of parawaiting! Time to give paramotor another go.
I decided to buy paramotor WASP and wing Dudek Synthesis 25. I am really looking forward to fly over the beaches in Sydney with it.

2012/02/04-08 Bright (AU) thermalling

Plan was to go to XC camp to Manilla but... Manilla was flooded. Ok, lets go to Bright!
Saturday,
First day of flying in Bright. Smooth and strong thermals, cloudbase at 2500m. Above certain altitude air thermals were huge and everywhere. I was afraid of over development so once I have seen dangerously growing cumulus I decided to land after 2h flight. In the evening we were prepared for next days in terms of our goals and flight directions. Chatting with pilots on camp gave us a lot of local knowledge which we were hoping to make use of soon.
Sunday,
Too windy. We were trying to practice groundhandling on local airport but it was way to windy. Instead of flying we went to swim in the river. Quite a lot of fun. In Bright they make local beer called 'X'. Different kinds of this one are available in the local brewery. Very very nice experience at the end of the day.
Monday,
I get one flight around one hour but it was very turbulent and bumpy. I didn't consider it as a fun. In the evening we have gone to Kieva valley and tried some other flying spot. Late evening thermals were still working, not strong enough to climb to me but significantly extending our flight times. Sinking was about 0.2 m/s. Rob made use of one of them and stayed in the air for about 20 min. My second flight was about 20 minutes of so partially according to the 'magic air' i.e. katabatic flow.
Tuesday,
The best day of flying. Early in the morning nice XC flight from Take off to Smoko back to take off to Harietville and then landing in Smoko. In the meantime one of the pilots thrown his reserve, I was witnessing from the air. A few times in wet and cold cloud were very refreshing and enjoyable. I learned a lot about thermalling without thermalling assistant because my GPS crashed a day before leaving from Sydney. Second flight late in the evening, about 4pm, over 1h and straight way from take off to Harrietville. That was fun, smooth thermalls, up to 3,5 m/s but 0.6 to 1m/s in general. Very calm and warm air made this flight simple and enjoyable. Hitchhiking works in Victoria pretty well. I hope to came back there in a future despite it is about 8h drive from Sydney.






2012_02_4567_Bright (Victoria AU) from lukastu on Vimeo.

2012/01/31 Stanwell Park (AU) soaring

Hi folks,

I was quite sceptic about the weather and the forecast that day. Fortunately Simon decided to go so I had nothing to lose. We were on the site at 0800 but it was on at 1510. A little bit of scrathing at the beginning but stronger later which allowed me to fly nice 5 turnpoints. After 3h in the air I has hungry, exhausted, wind was getting stronger and it was getting dark. Time for landing. Very nice site and plenty of new contacts. Looking forward to see you again folks!

Picassa gallery is here

2012_01_21 Stanwell Park Soaring from lukastu on Vimeo.

2012/01/21 Cooks (AU) soaring

Hello,

Wind radar showed that Cooks is on, so quick decision and after 2h I was in the air. Soaring as always and playing with the glider as well as learning perfect top-landings took almost 2 hours of airtime. My girlfriend, Krysia, took plenty of pictures of me flying. Enjoy!

Picassa gallery is here

2011/12/31 Cooks (AU) Farewall to 2011

Hi,

I was not able to fly for 3 months up to the day when I couldn't stand more waiting and decided to fly. These were last days of 2011. The summer is on and proper seabreeze is on as well (unfortunately sometimes too strong). But I have flown both Sydney cliffs and just get more addicted ;) I have tried different camera positions with monopod. Have a look!

2011/12/30 Farewell to 2011 from lukastu on Vimeo.

2011/09/24-25 Manilla (AU) thermalling

Hey,

 Flying Manilla was my dream ever since I have took up paragliding. And the dream has come true. On Saturday it was very turbulent and windy. I just landed at the bottom of the taking off place but Ion has flown 108km! Very good flight. I was very ambitious on Sunday. It is much easier to fly with ground support which follows every your move. I have met Godfried (the owner of Manilla camping and Mount Borah as well as instructor in local paragliding school). Very nice atmosphere at the camping with plenty of thermalling tips around . I enjoyed this trip a lot!

2011-09-24-Manilla-AU from lukastu on Vimeo.

2011/09/04 Blackheath (AU) thermalling

Hello world,

I had opportunity to fly blue mountains. This is one of the most beautifull places I have ever flown. Sand stone cliffs, plenty of forests and bush... you have to watch it ;)

2011/09/04 Spring thermalling from lukastu on Vimeo.

2011/08/14 Cooks Terrace (AU) costal flying

Hi folks,

This is another Sydney site. The cliff faces E and this is the best wind direction to this site. Huge (160x40m) taking off/landing paddock gives plenty of opportunities for landing. I need to come back here! :)

2011/08/14 Soaring, Cooks, Sydney, AU from lukastu on Vimeo.

2011/08/06 Long Reef (AU) costal soaring

Hi my friends,

My first flights in Australia. If fact these are Sydney cliffs with plenty of local pilots. Weather is amusing here. To get to the cliffs from the city center it is enough to take L90 bus and after 1h + 5 min walk we are on the site. Long reef can be flown witn NNE ENE and SSE winds. Very nice combination. Most of the pilots are friendly and happy to share experiences and car when going to fly.


2011_08_05 LongReef Flying from lukastu on Vimeo.

2011/06/12 Szczyrk (PL) thermalling

Hi folks,

I have gone to Szczyrk (Southern Poland) to try out my new glider - Sigma 6, size M and 3 years old. I am quite light on this glider but as long as I am aware of this I am on the safe side. These were good thermic days. The last flight was amusing. As the only one I get to the cloudbase was soaring the cloud for the first day in my life. Unforgettable experience. After one hour three gliders from Bielsko Biala has arrived and we played around. After 3 h i get a bit cold so decided to land but the air was rised everywhere. You can always count on wingovers in terms of losing your altitude. New wing is heavier on the brakes than fides, and needs more attention in turbulence - but it is fun! I am really looking forward to fly it again :)

2011/06/02 Trzesacz (PL) costal flying

Hi Al,

Back in Poland. I have met my old friends from this site coming from Zielona Gora and Berlin. Weak soaring conditions, a lot of scrathing. I have get few small collapses but nothing particularly dangerous. A lot of fun, chatting and parawaiting. Sunny day with cold sea breeze.

09/07/2011 Trzesacz Memories from lukastu on Vimeo.

2011/05/04 Tinto (UK) turbulent thermalling

A nice, cold air in the morning predicted good thermal conditions. If fact this was very turbulent day, a lot of opportunity to practice glider control skills. Around 2h in the air, about 8 slope landings and new camera position. Nice day after two non-flying weeks :)



Cheers!

2011/04/12-18 Bassano (IT) thermalling trip

Bonjorno bella senioritas! :)
This trip has been planned for over half a year. Very good company of two Michals made the 15h of driving enjoyable. Because we came to Semonzo at 3a.m. we decided to spend first night on the benches on front of the paragliding shop. Next day we bought Fly Cards as well as shuttle tickets and gone to register on the camping. First day of flying and my 20km XC. The longest registered flight of the day ( http://www.xccomp.org/module.php?id=26&contest=INT&l=en&date=20110413&competitorid=101246 )!  Turbulent landing on the riverside and calming bath in the purely clear water. So far so good! Next days full of thermalling and doing a tandem with Michal. Very nice trip, very relaxing and enjoyable. I wish I could come back there just now...

Bassano Trip 2011 Trailer from lukastu on Vimeo.

2011 April Bassano Trip from lukastu on Vimeo.

2011/04/10 Pobierowo (PL) PPG flying

Hi,
My first standalone PPG flight. I was quite nervous before the flight, but after one bad take off attempt I took off properly. Nice 0,5h flying because of the wind gradient. At 20om altitude I could't go forward... ehhh reflex wing would be a salvation :-) Nice smooth landing ended this flight. I definitely have to extend the brakes because my hands went to pain after 5 min of flying. I have to change a line in starter to some better quality line and solder the cut-off cable - it's the second time when I could't turn off the engine. Stopping the airflow into the engine solves the problem but I don't fell like do anything with the engine and propeller runs.

2011/04/09 Trzesacz (PL) cliff soaring

Hello,
At the 9th of the April ZieloneGora team visited Trzesacz to practice the coastal flying. Unfortunately the wind was not straight to the cliff and was a bit to strong. But a few take off's and smooth landings trained with a good company.