Wow! Three first flights in just two days.
​Monday I met Brad and Ryan at the sledding hill with the plan of making sled runs in preparation for flying with motors the next day. They both did great and made several flights down the hill. Tuesday it was Jim’s turn on the hill. We also hoped to be adding a motor later that day for an evening flight. He too did well at the hill making many flights.
Tuesday evening it was time for motor flight for Jim and Brad, Ryan wasn’t feeling well and decided to sit it out and watch the others. As practiced earlier in the simulator and the sledding hill they took turns making their first flights while Ryan looked on jealously.
Brad was up first. He got into the seat a bit early on launch but other than that did great. He made the planned laps around the field and then set it down safely on the runway. Congratulations Brad!!
Next up was Jim. Learning from Brad’s flight he launched cleaning letting the machine lift him into the air. He too did great and landed safely on the runway. Way to go Jim!!
​Wednesday morning I met Alex and Eric for some morning flying. The grass was a bit wet from the morning dew so we laid out the tarp to help keep the wings dry during launch. Alex disappeared for a couple hours immediately after launch and spent the morning exploring the countryside. Eric and I added to his skills with a mid-air engine restart and several accuracy landing challenges. Just the PPG2 test and a few more flight and Eric will graduate.
Doctor Mark stopped in for an orientation Wednesday morning after Eric left. He is doing research on crop heath with aerial photography and all his time spent in small planes has made him want to learn to fly himself. He signed up and we spent the next two days preparing him to solo a PPG. Mark’s next task is a trip to the sledding hill.
Wednesday evening Eric was back for more flights. Kevin from Florida was there too with hopes of making his first flight. I really enjoy Kevin’s colorful expressions, very different from your typical Wisconsin talk. After I gave the boys a short demonstration it was Eric’s turn to take to the sky again. He is becoming very comfortable up there.
After that it was time for Kevin to give it a go. As Eric and I did moments earlier, Kevin launched the wing cleanly and squeezed the throttle to full which pushed him quickly into the evening air. The smile on his face as he flew overhead was clearly visible from the ground. He told me after he landed that the flight was so much more fun than he ever expected. Nice work Kevin!! Many more fun flights to come.
Andy and Jae were back to training and spent all Saturday with me. We watched the scary movie, discussed FAR 103 and spent a few hours in the simulator. They too are ready for a trip to the sledding hill, then it’s time to solo!
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Andy, Jim, Jae, Brad and Ryan all began training this week. Welcome everyone!!
It’s a bit overwhelming adding this many students to the roster but super exciting! Fortunately there are also plenty of pilots ready to graduate. Ben completed all his flying requirements and ground school this week. He just needs to take the written test to be done. His new Parajet Maverick arrived early this week so he now has everything he needs to fly on his own.
Joe nearly finished everything this week. He has just one flight left to get the USPPA required 25 and complete training.
Tony was back at the sledding hill Saturday but the winds didn’t cooperate as forecast. Instead of flying down the hill in an expected north wind, we spent our time kiting in the field in a nice but very west wind. It’s to be expected with a weather dependent sport like ours.
TJ’s new Canadian made Moster 185+ Kangook arrived. He and I spent Tuesday morning assembling it with some help from Michael. Then, while Michael and I worked on kiting in the runway, TJ spent a couple hours hanging in his new machine from the simulator breaking in the engine. We are expecting to receive his wing from Ozone sometime soon, then he will be able to fly whenever he wants.
So much fun!

Super productive week at Madcity Paragliding. Most days we were training and flying from sunrise to sunset. (Yes, I’m a little tired but stoked)
​Monday morning Rod drove up from Iowa for an orientation. He ended up staying the whole day and knocked out his first day of training. Welcome Rod!
Dustin was out to the hanger Monday afternoon for an orientation as well.
​Stuart spent Monday evening preparing to fly on his own with a few hours at the airport.
​Tuesday Michael was over from Milwaukee for day one of his training. We spent all morning kiting, he did great. The afternoon was all about ground school. Day one in the books.
​Wednesday began just after sunrise with Eric J and Brian. The forecast looked good for flying but as we were rigging up the conditions seemed stronger than predicted. As a precaution, I took to the sky first to “test the water”. While I enjoyed the challenge of the moderately bumpy air, these are not the conditions I’d be comfortable sending newer pilots aloft in. So we decided to postpone flying for the day and instead Brian and I prepped for the PPG2 written test.
​Then it was off to Sauk City to tow paraglider pilots with the Jeep. It was like Xmas in July as Mariyan received a shipment of new free flying wings. Greg, David and even Mariyan himself all got new rides. After kiting them for a few minutes I began to launch the into the sky for their first test flights. Everyone was extremely exited. The performance improvement was immediately apparent as the boys weren’t coming down as usual but instead were climbing after release. Mariyan was at cloud base by the time I got the others aloft. David, Greg, Curt and Mariyan all had recorded long flights. Way to go guys!
Then it was off to Bigfoot airfield to meet Joe and Ben. There we worked on landing accuracy. The goal was to make them more confident and competent landing in smaller and smaller areas, thus increasing their flying location options. They both did great and enjoyed the challenge.
Thursday much of the crew went to Milwaukee’s south side to play with the ridge lift at Bender Park. One of the boys from Chicago actually spent six and a half hours soaring without a break!
​I met Glen and Mark that evening at our private strip outside of Sauk. Mark hasn’t flown in a couple years and was lacking confidence. After our training session last week he was eager to give it a shot. Both he and Glen did just fine.
​Friday was another sunrise to sunset day beginning with Eric and Brian making flights at the airport.
Brad and his friend Ryan were next up with an orientation. They both signed up that day.
Tony was next and we prepped for and aced the PPG1 test.
Then it was off to Bigfoot airport to meet Joe and Ben again. Both of them are now just a few flights away from graduating. Keep it up guys!
​Saturday morning I met Matt and Eric L in sauk at our field. Eric was working on adding wheel launch to his skill set. He loved it! He now has his PPG2 Wheel launch rating in addition to his foot launch rating. Congratulations Eric!! Wheels require excellent wing control but really no physical effort to fly. A great choice on a no wind day like Saturday, it eliminates the need for running.
​Saturday was spent with Andy at Elver park working on kiting and making a couple hops down the hill.
Saturday evening we had a small gathering of pilots at a farm in Lodi. Ken, Nick, Matt, Ben and myself all flew around the lovely valley until sunset. So much fun!
Sunday morning I was back at the sledding hill with Stuart and tony. Unfortunately the wind never turned north as promised so we spent our time kiting in the field at the bottom of the hill. We will get you guys a better day on the hill before we fly.
Not enough time in the day, so much fun to be had.