Went to my first fly-in! ...Paragliding... Palomar mountain Southern California. 50+ Pilots in the air! Tacos in the landing zone! (video)
It was an incredible day! So many pilots in the air that it was hard to count. 45 minutes in the air. Check the video description for details.
The day started off with a bang. The parking lot of the LZ was full of cars. I knew this was going to be a special day!
It was an all around fun day. Everyone got down safe. The food was late, but it was still very tasty. On of the other pilots gave me some home grown habaneros. Spicy!
Nice - it's quite a different experience from normal flying. Went to one at Hat Creek recently (I should post some photos) - with 40 or so wings and hang-gliders in the air it gets busy on launch, busy in the air and busy at the LZ. But so much fun! Same goes for the first competition you do - just steps things up to a whole new level. Glad you had a good time!
I am loving every second of it. I got to meet a comp pilot named Chris. He gave me some really good tips on flying. We are already strategizing a XC for the spring. I am saving every penny I can for a new wing. I need something that can take me the distance. I am flying a 30m 1-2 Ozone Vibe from 2004. Its in good condition for the age, but I need something that is a little quicker if I am going to fly XC. Where is Hat Creek?
PS. If you're looking for a new wing buying one used with maybe a year of air time is often a great deal. Your instructor will often want you to buy new from them but I got mine on eBay in great shape. There is also a "paragliding gear for sale" group on Facebook that has many wings up for grabs every week.
If the wing doesn't have a recent inspection you can suggest they do the sale contingent on inspection. They send it in for inspection and have the person doing talk to you after, if you're happy with the result send the seller the money and get the inspector to mail it direct to you with authorization from the seller.
A fair thing to do would be to offer to split the inspection costs if you buy. If you don't then they have a new inspection that will help sell the wing. If they don't want to do an inspection that's a red flag to me.
That is a great idea. Thank you
Oh I think you'll definitely notice an improvement with an current design wing. I started out on a 1999 Gin Bolero (DHV-1 EN-A). Flew it in the mountains for a long time before upgrading to an Airwave Sport 4 (DHV-1-2 EN-B) and it was an instant win in terms of thermal and glide performance. I still have it and I got it out to kite a few years back - that wing is soooo heavy and soooo slow. When I wore out the Sport 4 I went to a Nova Ion 3 Light and stepped down a size. Again, night and day in how responsive it is, and much more stable - in three seasons of flying I don't recall having more than a 25% asym collapse and no frontals. Having a wing that is solid as a rock is very confidence building when you're flying in shitty mountain air. I mean you usually get used to stuff - but the first time I saw my Sport 4 go below me after a massive sink induced frontal... well I wasn't happy and it cut my flight short.
Hat Creek is in NorCal - just north of Lassen. It's a 2000' volanic ridge that is usually only for evening ridge soaring / glass off - it generally howls from noon onwards in the summer. So unless you're into an epic and super spicy ride over the back and into the wilderness you'll launch about an hour or two before sunset as the wind backs off (if it backs off) and soar / glass-off until sun-down.
I really thought you was gonna make it to the LZ. Still, nice plan 'B' :)
I could have made it, but there is a indian burial ground just short of the runway that I was worried about. You land there and you are in trouble. The other reason I landed short was because I saw a fellow pilot down there packing up. I figured he would need a friend to walk back with. LOL
Very considerate my friend, on both points :)
Well, the weather is still sh*t in the UK so my glider is still hibernating.
Fantastic post. Looks like you had an amazing time. Wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing your passion for paragliding.
Thanks @suzique. I can't keep it in. I just love flying. It was so cool to meet another youtube personality (Jeremy Conrad) He ran up and gave me a bear hug. The problem is that I had never seen his face because he always has a full faced helmet on and sun glasses.
I was also approached at the launch by a guy named kirk who said he got inspired to fly based on my videos. He came up introduced himself and said thanks. I was humbled. So fun.
Wow that is so awesome! Your hard work is paying off and building incredible relationships. I'm so happy for you.
wow, this is a beautiful post and your pictures look so sweet my dear . Hope to see you one day. I wish you a blessed weekend, thanks for sharing. @captainobviou3
awesome post/pictures :) @captainobviou3
thats simply awesome...made me realise of my 1st year college life
Well, I kept saying to myself, "There are other things you ought to be doing," but I just kept on watching and watching, all the way to the end...
Absolutely fantastic. I've got to get up there, somehow.
I was jazzed when I started to see other wings below you, I figured you had found some lift somewhere.
The wide angle lens is great, but it's a little bit deceptive, especially as you get close to the ground and ready to land.
Thanks a lot for posting! I loved this! :D
😄😇😄
Thanks my friend! If you really want to get off the ground, I am sure that I can help in some way. I am not sure how exactly but since we live close enough to each other, I am sure we can figure it out. I would say that in a year or so I should be able to take tandems. Thats to say that I stay as committed as I am right now. I personally became so excited about flying that I prayed "God I would really like to fly" and He made it come to pass. (sorry if it sounds super spiritual) lol
No worries, I understand completely! I ask God for very personal, very "over the top" things all the time. And I really believe that (because he loves me more than I can fully appreciate) that he will ultimately grant my requests... and may even surprise me by granting them in my lifetime.
For example, the LORD knows that I very much would like to go spelunking in the lava tubes on the Moon and on Mars... ;) And to fly in a wing suit... :) And to paraglide... :D And to surf 100foot waves off the coast of Portugal.. ;)
Thank you for your kind willingness to be of assistance with respect to paragliding. I definitely want to explore this with you further, but at the present I simply don't have even the very modest resources you've mentioned earlier... I hope that will change, but I'm "waiting on the LORD" to provide.
I would very much like to come and watch you fly sometime, though... and so I hope to keep in touch and find a time that will work. Also still looking towards that Steemit meet up at some point. :D
Blessings!
nice @captainobviou3
Well, that was fantastic. I will definitely put that on my list. I'm a pilot, but never been paragliding. It looks so peaceful and fun. Man, that was inspiring. Thanks. I live in Central CA.
What's the first step to getting into something like this?
Give the guys at Andy Jackson air Feild a call. You can call Soboba paragliding to get ahold of them. let them know you would like to know more about paragliding. They have some great instructors. Depending on how central you are in CA you may be closer to other sites. But this is where I got signed off. If you follow my channel you can see every flight and every landing. But I am not doing it the conventional way. I have been learning from other pilots, books and YouTube. To save money.
Awesome. Great info. I will start by watching your vids and get a feeling for the whole process. Looks like an amazing time. Thanks for such cool info.