Andrea and Craig’s First Flights! And so much more...

Andrea began her training last fall after watching her friend Andy go through the entire program. Seeing him succeed gave her enough confidence to sign up and give it a go herself. Her flexible work schedule really helped us deal with the challenging weather we had this past winter. She was always super excited during training and she did very well at kiting. Having already gone through some general aviation training, much of the physics and some of the law knowledge was easier for her to grasp. We had several towing sessions for her to get comfortable with wing control before we added the motor. When it came time to try and launch for her first time she did great! We had a mild breeze which always helps by lowering the take off speed and slowing everything down a bit. On her first attempt she easily made her way into the air with Andy and I watching attentively. Her launch was pretty much textbook, she did everything as rehearsed. After the planned laps around the airport she set it down safely. After landing she said “I don’t know what I was so afraid of, that was amazing!” Congratulations Andrea!!
Craig also made his first flight last week. He is another one of the local Kiteboarding crew that has now learned to fly PPG. Craig too has been out to the field often this past winter. His kite handling skills quickly transferred over to paraglider handling. His first day he was easily keeping the wing overhead while performing my requested commands. Adding the motor was a simple task after a couple hours in the simulator and a bunch of indoor ground schooling. On the big day of his first flight we laid the wing out pointing straight down the runway. With almost no wind helping him he relied on the thrust from the motor to help him run quick enough to launch. Once up to speed, a slight addition of brake pressure and he was off. A bit erratic at first but he soon settled in and tempered his control inputs to make for a smooth flight. After a few practice approaches he set it down safely. Way to go Craig!!
In other news;
Michael was back up from Indiana to assemble and fly his new Top80 Miniplane. That thing is so light and still plenty powerful. Definitely one of my favorites.
Rob was out for an orientation. We one working on getting him flying soon.
Kellen and Mark T were out to the hanger to get their electric starters hooked up on their new Defiants. That makes a world of difference in convenience.
​Orhun was back in the sky after a long break. Just a few more flights for him and he will be all finished with training.
​Chris was out to hook up his speed bar and hand me his reserve to get repacked. We took the opportunity to practice throwing the reserve. Standing in the grass just away from the hanger, he gave it a toss in the 15mph wind. Kellen and I were standing by to lend a hand if needed and good thing too because as soon as the reserve inflated it was dragging all three of us across the field. I grabbed the edge of the fabric and collapsed it before it got too crazy. Mariyan has repacked it already and Chris has it mounted on his paramotor once again. Hopefully he will never need to throw it on flight.
I dropped a small project off at Tom’s shop, our friendly welder, for repair. I found him at the shop knee deep in a Porsche.
I spent last Saturday morning towing some of the PG crew aloft in Sauk City. Nia, Jack, Adam and Mariyan were all there. It was great to be back at it now that the field has mostly dried.
Off to Aspen for a week of skiing with the family and I’ll be back at it hard. I love this job!!