Ben’s First Flight!

Ben contacted me after trying to self train for months without success. He had good kiting skills and was pretty comfortable with the motor he got from Blackhawk so the training process was somewhat accelerated but I still covered everything in the syllabus to be sure he didn’t miss anything. As they say “you don’t know what you don’t know”.
Before the trip to Colorado, Ben and I made the first attempt to get him flying his rig. His technique was great but when I told him to go to full throttle the machine just didn’t have the push needed. Despite being a three blade 210cc machine it just doesn’t push that hard. Before we parted for the day I had him try on my Parajet Maverick with the Moster 185+ on it. He was blown away by how light and powerful it was compared to his Blackhawk.
We got together the day I returned from the Colorado PG trip. Out of frustration he sold his Blackhawk while I was away. The plan for tonight was to use the Parajet. Even though is was a hot, humid, no wind day he pulled off a clean launch on his first attempt with the Maverick. With his family watching from the ground he made several laps around the airport and with my guidance landed in the middle of the runway on his feet. Congratulations Ben!!
Joe was also out to the airport that evening and made two perfectly executed flights.
Glenn continued his training with a refresher in the simulator and kiting with a practice throttle as well as time wing handling with his machine on his back. The additional weight of the paramotor and loss of agility proved to be challenging but he did great. I anticipate him flying next time we meet.