Henry’s First Flight!! Andy Graduated! Pat’s 25th!

Henry started just a few weeks ago but he’s already made his first flight. In fact he made several flights. Stuck in Wisconsin over the holidays because of covid concerns at home back east, he had a bunch of spare time available. We made the most of it and finished up his ground school, simulator and even some towing to get him wing time before strapping on the motor.
He did great! We decided to use the Miniplane with the Top80 because he was of the appropriate weight. The 80cc paramotor weighs just 42 pounds compared to the bigger 185cc machines that are in the 55-60 pound range. Henry was calm and focused when he set up for his initial inflation. He brought the wing up nicely and added throttle as directed over the headset. A few running steps followed by a timely brake input and he was off! A few laps around the airfield as rehearsed including a couple practice approaches and we set up to bring him down. Moments later he was safely back on the runway. Congratulations Henry!
Andy and Pat O were back again to finish up the flight requirements for their PPG2 ratings. Both needed to do the mid-flight restarting drill which involves killing the engine and starting it back up with the pull starter. The task proved to be easier the either of them expected. Both started it again on their first pull. Nice work boys! Having done that Andy completed his training and officially earned his PPG2 rating. Pat just needs to pass the written test and he’s good to go too.
Jae and Orhun also added flights to their logbooks this past week. Both are nearly completed training. Glenn was out one morning as well.
Guy and Matt S were out to the airport for towing, one of the final steps before motorized flight. Both enjoyed the experience quite a bit. Guy strongly preferred towing to repeatedly hiking up the sledding hill. I certainly understand his reasoning.
Graduates Kory and Eric J were also out this week to fly.
What a fun way to spend the holidays!
Andrea, Megan, Pat L and Matt L all spent time this past week working on their kiting skills.