Last Saturday was very nice in Blackheath. A lot of thermaling, I met plenty of nice people and have flown with birds under the cloudbase. I had also opportunity to fly Passion and Ginie race in more turbulent conditions. It is so warm in the pod harness! Pure fun.
Enjoy a short movie from this day below:
Blackheath from lukastu on Vimeo.
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Friday, 16 August 2013
Camden - trip to the west
Hi!
Last weekend I had very nice flight with Brett to the west from Camden. Take off was difficult with nil wind... nil wind is not a problem but when it is very light and changing its direction every few seconds then it becomes tricky. Running like hell helped and after two attempts I was finally in the air.
I also could not stop the engine between take offs because pullstarter's string broke and when the engine started I was left with the handle in my hand. Funny feeling.
In the air we felt last thermal kicks but it was very pleasant after all. We have gone a few kilometers to the west to explore the area then climbed our usual ridge and come back home. 80 minutes in a little bumpy air and testing paramotor after engine out on the way back. I also flew over the field where I had emergency landing&take off last weekend. Happy and tired I was on the way back home about 6 p.m.
Canon G15 is very nice camera. I have small hands so it is easy to use it even with gloves on. Picture quality is amazing - this is what I was looking for.
Our trip, almost 40km:
Wasp paramotor with vario, GPS, SPOT and compass:
Brett is leading to the west:
Brett again:
Such a nice afternoon!
Heading south, dodgy area for emergency landing:
Heading east, this is west end of the ridge:
Houses, houses, houses...
I love those long shadows:
Someones home on the edge of the ridge:
Lakes
Field stroked with red is the one where I had emergency landing last weekend:
Brett after landing packing his wing:
Just before sunset the fog started to appear:
Red-blue sunset in the end of amazing flying day:
Brett and his Nirvana Rodeo:
This is what I found when doing after flight inspection:
$20 later it was welded in the local car station.
Last weekend I had very nice flight with Brett to the west from Camden. Take off was difficult with nil wind... nil wind is not a problem but when it is very light and changing its direction every few seconds then it becomes tricky. Running like hell helped and after two attempts I was finally in the air.
I also could not stop the engine between take offs because pullstarter's string broke and when the engine started I was left with the handle in my hand. Funny feeling.
In the air we felt last thermal kicks but it was very pleasant after all. We have gone a few kilometers to the west to explore the area then climbed our usual ridge and come back home. 80 minutes in a little bumpy air and testing paramotor after engine out on the way back. I also flew over the field where I had emergency landing&take off last weekend. Happy and tired I was on the way back home about 6 p.m.
Canon G15 is very nice camera. I have small hands so it is easy to use it even with gloves on. Picture quality is amazing - this is what I was looking for.
Our trip, almost 40km:
Wasp paramotor with vario, GPS, SPOT and compass:
Brett is leading to the west:
Brett again:
Such a nice afternoon!
Heading south, dodgy area for emergency landing:
Heading east, this is west end of the ridge:
Houses, houses, houses...
I love those long shadows:
Someones home on the edge of the ridge:
View to the north-east. Sydney on the horizon:
Lakes
Field stroked with red is the one where I had emergency landing last weekend:
Brett after landing packing his wing:
Construction site:
Just before sunset the fog started to appear:
Red-blue sunset in the end of amazing flying day:
Brett and his Nirvana Rodeo:
This is what I found when doing after flight inspection:
$20 later it was welded in the local car station.
Thursday, 8 August 2013
Moster's death
Yesterday was not the luckiest day of my paramotoring life. The beginning was pretty good but the end disappointed me.
My Moster died in the afternoon.
Here is a short story:
After work I came to the field with fresh petrol mixed with Motul 800 - as always.
I wanted to prepare myself to the competitions and adjust the speed system. After take off I realised that the speed system line is a bit too short and I have to extend it.
The air was a bit bumpy. The wind gradient was not constant and the thermals were bubbling. I did not take much risk and after about 30 minutes I decided to set up the final approach and land.
My peace of mind was disturbed about 20 meters above the ground, the engine stopped and the gliding final let begun.
After an emergency landing I did a careful check of the engine.
What has happened? How did this happen? Why did this happen? And the most important one - why did this happen to me?
The first thought was - I seized the engine. Quick glance at the plug - it is black!
At the same time my friend noticed that the connecting rod punched a hole in the engine
I disassembled the engine to see how the piston looks like. The cylinder looks fine, the bearings are fine... the cause of the emergency landing was the broken connection rod
Fly safely and check your engines!
This article is a translation of Lipton's article published on Leszek's blog
My Moster died in the afternoon.
Here is a short story:
After work I came to the field with fresh petrol mixed with Motul 800 - as always.
I wanted to prepare myself to the competitions and adjust the speed system. After take off I realised that the speed system line is a bit too short and I have to extend it.
The air was a bit bumpy. The wind gradient was not constant and the thermals were bubbling. I did not take much risk and after about 30 minutes I decided to set up the final approach and land.
My peace of mind was disturbed about 20 meters above the ground, the engine stopped and the gliding final let begun.
After an emergency landing I did a careful check of the engine.
What has happened? How did this happen? Why did this happen? And the most important one - why did this happen to me?
The first thought was - I seized the engine. Quick glance at the plug - it is black!
At the same time my friend noticed that the connecting rod punched a hole in the engine
I disassembled the engine to see how the piston looks like. The cylinder looks fine, the bearings are fine... the cause of the emergency landing was the broken connection rod
With Roman Kapler's help ( Motoroma ) I was able to investigate the cause.
The reason was that the manufacturer used slightly too small bearing (19,6mm) and in the extreme position of the connecting rod small offset appeared.
It would be good enough to use a 22mm bearing and this would not happen. 30h airtime ago when I was replacing worn parts everything worked fine.
Next time you will disassemble your paramotor to service pay attention to this detail.
As far as I know it is not the first instance of this kind of failure.
Fly safely and check your engines!
This article is a translation of Lipton's article published on Leszek's blog
Thursday, 1 August 2013
Paramania GTX impressions
Paramania GTX 22 review
I an opportunity to test Paramania GTX 22 in flight. To he honest I never flown such a small wing because of my takeoff weight which is 140kg. In case of this wing the takeoff weight is up to 160kg!
Before the flight I was worrying if I will be able to take off, how will the wing behave with such a bug wingload, how will the landing look like? The wind was about 10 knots with gusts. In the evening the wind dropped down and I decided to have a go on GTX 22 despite the gusts.
Take off:
Because of a small size the wing in above the head instantly during take off. Short run, a little bit of the brakes and I am in the air. The climb rate is surprisingly good so i am lowering the throttle a little. It is so easy to take off!
Flight:
During the flight in turbulent air I had to keep the brakes because the wing has got a tendency to swing to the sides. Pulling the brakes a little solves this problem and the wing becomes more stable. To make a full 360 it is enough to pull just a few centimetres. After the turn the wing comes to level flight without any problems.
The middle of the wing is stable but the tips are working and this is what is causing the tendency to swing to the sides.
Speed is very good. The best part of the flight was when I turned against the wind and didn't see a difference in speed. This wing is really fast!
This wing generates plenty of lift. I was flying similar RPM in level flight as I am using when flying my Nucleon 29. Before the flight I was convinced that the pilots who are flying small wings and claiming that they have plenty of lift are exadurating... now I know that they have a point.
Landing:
Slow and easy. With nil wind we were able to slow the wing almost to full stop during the landing. The trick is same as on the rest of the reflex wings: descend on high speed and flare the speed just above the ground.
Summary:
Paramania GTX is a wing which I have to return to the dealer because I got it only for testing purposes. It takes off nicely, turns easily and generates plenty of lift. Perfect to go crazy in the air. The main disadventage is the price. I do not recommend this wind to the beginner paramotor pilots but it will be fun for more experienced ones.
This article is the translation of Leszek's article.
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