She Did It! Jade Flew!! TJ Graduates! So much more...

Jade started the day by taking a tandem flight with Mariyan. During the flight he handed Jade the brake toggles so she could get a feel for the effort needed to steer a paramotor. She has been kiting for weeks already but her bum knee has been holding her back so it was decided we’d give the trike a shot. After her flight with Mariyan she climbed in the trike and buckled up while I hooked up the ATV to tow her. She quickly adapted to this new style of kiting and with just a few passes was doing well enough to move to the next step, adding the motor. Launching a wing with a trike is very different that foot launch. It requires less effort but a great deal of timing and throttle control. After several unsuccessful attempts she figured it out and was able to bring the wing up under control. Then it was time to give it a go. Moments after she got the wing to settle in place over her head I gave the “FULL THROTTLE” go ahead. She rolled ever faster down the runway and was soon airborne for the first time all by herself! She did great! Three laps around the field as practiced then set it down safely in the middle of the runway. As an insensitive, her husband Eric who has 21 flight completed, refused to cut his hair until Jade flew on her own. So, she waisted no time in taking him up on the challenge and grabbed her scissors a few minutes after landing. Congratulations Jade!!
TJ has been in training for months. Weather and Covid-19 have been messing with his schedule. However, all his tasks were completed by Monday and he just needed a few remaining flights to graduate. As with most paramotor pilots, he is constantly talking about the sport with his significant other. His fiancée Christy just had to find out what all the fuss was about for herself so we set her up with a tandem flight. She and Mariyan took to the skies to answer her questions. TJ joined them in the sky for one of his last required flights and they toured the area by paramotor together for quite a while. Upon landing she said with a big smile that she “could understand the appeal” of paramotoring. Perhaps we will see her piloting her own PPG sometime soon.
​Pat also took a tandem flight in preparation for his first sometime soon.
We had the winch fired up and were towing Sunday with Steph at the wheel and Mariyan at the controls. Greg, Curt and David all caught mild thermals.
Matt D assembled, broke in and flew his new Atom80 Miniplane.
​Eric J, Glen, Brian and Josh all continued training.
Travis stopped by for an orientation.
Mark and I finished putting his machine back together and checked his hang point.
So much more...