It is a good day. It isn't over yet. Still have a good amount of paperwork to do.
This morning did a spinning class with my favorite Lifetime Fitness instructor, Qaiser. The class was filled and some wannabe participants couldn't participate because all of the bikes were taken. There are about 55 bikes. Jerry [my mayor friend] was there and his health seems to be greatly improved.
Paperwork was then done at the office and joined my friend Scott for a light lunch at a new restaurant in my building on the corner. Kabul House has moved from Evanston to fairly close to my old office on Dempster and now is on the corner in the Metropolitan of Skokie which is the same building my office is in. The food is excellent and the service is very good too.
Scott and I were checking out the weather and decided an earlier trip to the field for flying was warranted due to the excellent wind conditions.
Here is a link to my photos from this afternoon:
http://picasaweb.google.com/davidmcw3/FlyingPPG12810#
Here is the text describing my flight which was just written to our Illinois powered paragliding Yahoo group:
"
It was good. I did it.
Scott, Guinness and I went out. It was not too refreshing. The external temp on
my car was reading 30 as I arrived at the field. It was reading 26 as I left.
The wind was just enough for a reverse launch and a little bumpy but not bad at
all. It was out of the wnw.
Scott had just seen his ophtalmologist and had his eyes dilated. Unfortunately
his pupils stayed dilated too long and he wasn't able to fly. Guinness had a
good time wandering around the field.
It is a bit of a challenge to fly in all of the clothing that is needed to stay
warm in this weaather. It was a not real easy to keep the throttle in the right
position with heavy gloves and polypropylene liners. Reaching up after letting
go of the brakes to get the handles again was a bit of a stretch. The throttle
accumulated a little ice and after my second launch was frozen in place on full
but just needed to be spread apart to disengage.
The first flight was rather chilling. If you are a snow skier you have probably
noticed how for the first hour on the slopes you get chilled pretty easily. Then
a warming trip into the lodge allows you to warm up pretty quickly. After
warming up and getting back on the slopes you then stay warm for hours. It seems
our bodies need to get acclimated to the cold and than adapt pretty well. This
is what it was like for me today.
On my first launch attempt the wing came up pretty well but then fell off to the
side and lost pressure. I believe a gust caught it from the side and a little
bit from behind. This left me set up for a reverse which I proceeded to do after
feeling the wind a bit for proper direction and straightening the wing with a
little bit of kiting. The launc went well. I found some pretty significant lift
and got hit by a fairly strong gust at just over 500' AGL and then found myself
quickly at 800+'. The air wasn't too bumpy but I did get whacked on occasion. I
took a few photos but my camera doesn't like the cold. When it is cold it will
register low battery even if it was recently charged. My hands got pretty
chilled so I came in for a landing. Scott and Guinness were fine but Scott still
had trouble with his vision.
I decided to take a second flight and give Scott's eyes a little more time to
clear from his dilation. Another reverse was done after Scott sorted things out
and I brought it up a couple of more times to feel the wind and make sure all
was well. As I launched I notice a police car in the parking lot near our cars.
I was quite comfortable by this time and took a longer flight. There is a soccer
field near where we fly and the snow was untracked in it. I decided it would be
nice to leave some foot drag tracks right in the middle of the field so I did.
The police car was still in the parking lot and the officer was talking to
Scott. I landed near the parking lot and had a nice conversation with officer
Gary who is a GA pilot. Scott and Gary were carrying the conversation while I
packed my gear after Scott decided he was getting chilled and his eyes weren't
improving enough for him to comfortably fly.
The officer made a note of my driver's license information and was very
pleasant. Scott & I now have another local friend of PPG. There were a couple of
gentlemen who walked up as I was preparing for my first launch who said they had
seen us flying there before. There was also a nice young lady, named Bridgette,
who I saw at this site about a month or so earlier when the weather was much
nicer.
It was a good flight. Just cold enough to keep my wing dry. Lance, you were
right it almost wasn't cold enough!
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Sunday [Reed, we will
miss you and envy you too! Jeff, how are you healing after the surgery Monday?],
the 19th, at 11am. John Ille is a north suburban pilot who told me he was
planning to join us for lunch then but has a church choir commitment for later
that Sunday so he won't be able to join us for a flight afterward assuming the
weather is good.
Happy holidays and my best to All of you and all of yours!
Dave
"
Hope that all is well with you too!
Happy holidays!
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