July 2010

This is a regular informational bulletin published by the Western Powered Parachute Association, LLC, devoted to promoting the sport of powered parachuting through education, communications and participation.  If you would like to be removed from the mailing list go directly to the distribution site email maas0755@comcast.net   

“The mission of the Western Powered Parachute Association is to promote the sport of powered parachuting in the Western United States through Education, Participation and Resources.”

 In This Issue:

• ·          Monsoon Season Over?
• ·          Places to Fly-2010 Calendar
• ·          The Training Roster
• ·          Resources

Published by Western Powered Parachute Association LLC westernppa@comcast.net Doug Maas 360 771-4047Maas0755@comcast.net

Website: http://westernppa.org Newsletter Distribution Group Site: http://sixchuterwest.com 

Sign up to receive this monthly bulletin at www.sixchuterwest.com Just fill out the news request form on the front page. While you are on the Six Chuter West website, explore the many other “articles” in several categories.  These articles are published weekly and are archived in the various categories.

 MONSOON SEASON OVER?!

 This has been an unusually wet Spring for sure, but it looks like summer may be arriving in the Pacific N.W….as early as next week!  While we managed to get some early season training accomplished even in January and February, March through June has been a near washout in Western Washington. That is not to say that there hasn’t been some great flying going on.  The Memorial Day club rally at Twin Firs allowed us to fly every day.  And we have managed several successful accelerated classes out of Arlington and Twin Firs already this year. And we want to congratulate Don Oliver and Mark Martin for successful completion of their sport pilot flight instructor practical tests.  This brings us to a total of nine powered parachute instructors in the Pacific Northwest!

 But the challenge of weather, equipment and instructor availability, matched with a longer list of active students and potential new students has continued to stress our capacity. So if you are currently on the training list or trying to get our attention we just ask you to hang in there. We are doing our best.

 Be sure to check out the 2010 calendar below for opportunities to fly and to train.  And if you are on the training list, please stay in direct contact with your assigned instructor to schedule time and equipment.

EAA UL Chapter 127 has continued to expand, boosted recently by the inclusion of a number of weight shift pilots in the Pacific Northwest.  We will be working closely with the club to help continued expansion and you can look forward to more events and expanded training opportunities that include other categories of aircraft. If you are not a member of the chapter, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eaaulchapter127/ and sign in to request membership.

SPEAKING OF THE BEST IS IN THE WEST (Places to Fly) 2010 Calendar

 We have certainly been blessed with discovering some of the best places to train and fly in the entire U.S.  And we still have a lot of activity planned for 2010.  The following table lists various events and training activities remaining in 2010 (Not all of them).  Be sure and check out the EAA UL Chapter 127 forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eaaulchapter127/ for routine discussion and posting of all Pacific N.W. events.

 THE TRAINING SCHEDULE

 The following is our most up to date data on students, instructors and pending tests.  Please coordinate directly with your assigned instructor to schedule your training sessions. If you are having difficulty scheduling or require a reassignment of location or instructor, please email me at maas0755@comcast.net Instructors please forward me updates as necessary.

 GETTING AND STAYING CONNECTED

 THE POWERED PARACHUTER This is a new print or digital magazine created by Mike Lersbak of Sport Pilot Academy. The digital download version of the “ppcer” is about $2 a month!  Just go to https://1spa.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=1&i=13&navicat=13 to subscribe.

• SPORT PILOT ACADEMY is the most unique on line training site for powered parachutes anywhere.  Another creation of Mike Lersbak, this site provides everything from full supervised or non supervised ground school to an ongoing pilot proficiency program. Go to http://www.sportpilotu.com/ to sign up!

• WPPA BULLETIN If you want to receive regular information about the sport, events, training and news on the West Coast, you will receive this bulletin.  If you have someone who would like to join this bulletin list steer him or her directly to http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=259.  You will find a page to download the most current training catalogue and a “news” form on the lower right hand side of the page.  Fill that out to automatically receive the monthly news.
•  EAA ULTRALIGHT CHAPTER 127 If you want to network directly with other Light Sport enthusiasts in the Northwest, check out the N.W. Powered Parachute Coalition and N.W. Trike Coalition at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nwpoweredparachutecoalition/
•  EASTERN WASHINGTON PPC FORUM If you fly powered parachutes in Central or Eastern Washington, Michael Clouse has opened a great new free forum.  Find this at http://pnwpoweredparachute.forumotion.com/index.htm
•  SIX CHUTER OWNERS If you own a Six Chuter powered parachute join the Six Chuter Owner’s Website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sixchuterowners/ Just go to the site and “request to join”.  This site provides an exclusive site where Six Chuter owners can access resources specific to their powered parachutes, and exchange ideas among other owners.
•  If you want to receive free regular information on Six Chuter Inc. powered parachutes you may receive a monthly free E-bulletin from Six Chuter.  If you are not receiving this bulletin already go to this site and sign the “news” form on lower right hand side of the page. http://sixchuterwest.com/
•  PPC SALES If you are in the market for a new or used powered parachute and would like to review monthly classifieds and other information about aircraft and support services check out http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=8 
•  PPC ACCESSORIES If you are shopping for powered parachute accessories up to and including canopies, go to https://1spa.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp
•  MAINTENANCE If you need service on your Rotax engine there are three authorized Rotax service stations in the region:
• • Portland-Vancouver Vancouver Ultralight Services, Rolando Santiago 360 904 8766 http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=294
  • Eastern Washington-Oregon Freedom Aerosports LLC, Steve Camp, sbcamp@wildblue.net 5095493321 www.freedomaerosports.com
  • Puget Sound- http://www.rainierultralightengines.com/ Clyde Poser Phone: 253-447-4398 Tech support: tech@rainierultralightengines.com Information: info@rainierultralightengines.com
  • Portland-Vancouver Perry Robertson, CFI, Repairman, Troutdale, OR 503 913-8536 perrobertson@comcast.net HTTP://www.p3-sports.com

SPORT PILOT TRAINING AND TESTING

If you are not receiving the monthly Student-Testing supplement from WPPA and would like to, email Doug Maas at westernppa@comcast.net  this report tracks our students, our testing schedule and instructor assignments. If you would like to receive a copy of “Sport Pilot Maneuvers” you can request a copy from the same email address or download from the “files” section of the club website.  Go to the WPPA website www.westernppa.org to download the current year training catalogue and find other resources.

THE BEST IS IN THE WEST

If you are looking for a place to become involved in the sport of powered parachuting, or already involved, there really isn’t any better place than in the Pacific Northwest.  A common discussion on aviation forums is how sport pilot has “killed” powered parachuting, and how many folks either don’t get involved now, or flat give up because of lack of resources in other areas of the country.  The Pacific Northwest seems to be a total contrast to most other areas of the United States when it comes to powered parachuting.

Fact:  We have the largest EAA Powered Parachute Chapter in the U.S. with over 130 active members now.

Fact:  The Western Powered Parachute Association has over sixty folks “in the queue” waiting for some level of training.

Fact:  There is an average of six powered parachute rallies now each year just in Oregon and Washington alone.

I have had a discussion numerous times with other powered parachute leaders and folks in “hot spots” in the U.S. to try to understand why the sport flourishes in some areas and is virtually non existent in others.  The formula for success seems to match what has happened in our region:

1. Training Resources:  The Western Powered Parachute Association now has seven FAA certified flight instructors and three FAA pilot and instructor examiners.  And this is barely enough to keep up with the demand.
2. Other Professional Resources:  Other affiliates and support in the Pacific Northwest include a Designated Airworthiness Examiner and two FAA certified Repairman with Maintenance and Inspection ratings.
3. Other Business Support:  The Pacific Northwest seems to have attracted the entrepreneur crowd to the Sport.  We have numerous small businesses that take care of powered parachute sales, services, accessories, maintenance and repairs. This includes four primary training and maintenance centers (Portland, Vancouver, Arlington, and Quincy)
4. Social Network:  As mentioned above we have the largest EAA powered parachute chapter in the U.S.  Under the leadership of Art Smith, President of EAA UL Chapter 127 “Northwest Powered Parachute Coalition”, the club has grown from five members in 2002 to 130 members in 2010.
5. Places to Fly:  The Pacific Northwest has some of the most beautiful and diverse areas friendly to powered parachuting in the world.  These range from the oceans, mountains and valleys in Western Oregon and Washington, to the open farm lands and even desert like terrain of Central and Eastern Oregon and Washington.
6. Communications: Keeping this all knit together is a network of communications including owner forums, club forums, websites with articles and news and even a dedicated magazine “The Powered Parachuter”.
7. Leadership:  Last, or first and not least is that we have been blessed with dozens of folks who have stepped up to leadership.  This includes club leaders, instructors, business owners and scores of others.  The leadership of the sport in the Pacific Northwest helps maintain the energy, enthusiasm and resources required to keep the sport more than alive and well!

 

April 2010

This is a regular informational bulletin published by the Western Powered Parachute Association, LLC, devoted to promoting the sport of powered parachuting through education, communications and participation.  If you would like to be removed from the mailing list go directly to the distribution site email maas0755@comcast.net   

“The mission of the Western Powered Parachute Association is to promote the sport of powered parachuting in the Western United States through Education, Participation and Resources.”

 In This Issue:

• ·          The Best is in the West
• ·          The Season is Here
• ·          Places to Fly
• ·          Training & Event Schedule
• ·          Resources

Published by Western Powered Parachute Association LLC westernppa@comcast.net Doug Maas 360 771-4047Maas0755@comcast.net

Website: http://westernppa.org Newsletter Distribution Group Site: http://sixchuterwest.com 

Sign up to receive this monthly bulletin at www.sixchuterwest.com Just fill out the news request form on the front page. While you are on the Six Chuter West website, explore the many other “articles” in several categories.  These articles are published weekly and are archived in the various categories.

 THE BEST IS IN THE WEST!

 If you are looking for a place to become involved in the sport of powered parachuting, or already involved, there really isn’t any better place than in the Pacific Northwest.  A common discussion on aviation forums is how sport pilot has “killed” powered parachuting, and how many folks either don’t get involved now, or flat give up because of lack of resources in other areas of the country.  The Pacific Northwest seems to be a total contrast to most other areas of the United States when it comes to powered parachuting.

 Fact:  We have the largest EAA Powered Parachute Chapter in the U.S. with over 130 active members now.

Fact:  The Western Powered Parachute Association has over sixty folks “in the queue” waiting for some level of training.

Fact:  There is an average of six powered parachute rallies now each year just in Oregon and Washington alone.

I have had a discussion numerous times with other powered parachute leaders and folks in “hot spots” in the U.S. to try to understand why the sport flourishes in some areas and is virtually non existent in others.  The formula for success seems to match what has happened in our region:

1.  Training Resources:  The Western Powered Parachute Association now has seven FAA certified flight instructors and three FAA pilot and instructor examiners.  And this is barely enough to keep up with the demand.
2. Other Professional Resources:  Other affiliates and support in the Pacific Northwest include a Designated Airworthiness Examiner and two FAA certified Repairman with Maintenance and Inspection ratings.
3. Other Business Support:  The Pacific Northwest seems to have attracted the entrepreneur crowd to the Sport.  We have numerous small businesses that take care of powered parachute sales, services, accessories, maintenance and repairs. This includes four primary training and maintenance centers (Portland, Vancouver, Arlington, and Quincy)
4. Social Network:  As mentioned above we have the largest EAA powered parachute chapter in the U.S.  Under the leadership of Art Smith, President of EAA UL Chapter 127 “Northwest Powered Parachute Coalition”, the club has grown from five members in 2002 to 130 members in 2010.
5. Places to Fly:  The Pacific Northwest has some of the most beautiful and diverse areas friendly to powered parachuting in the world.  These range from the oceans, mountains and valleys in Western Oregon and Washington, to the open farm lands and even desert like terrain of Central and Eastern Oregon and Washington.
6. Communications: Keeping this all knit together is a network of communications including owner forums, club forums, websites with articles and news and even a dedicated magazine “The Powered Parachuter”.
7. Leadership:  Last, or first and not least is that we have been blessed with dozens of folks who have stepped up to leadership.  This includes club leaders, instructors, business owners and scores of others.  The leadership of the sport in the Pacific Northwest helps maintain the energy, enthusiasm and resources required to keep the sport more than alive and well!

 THE SEASON IS HERE

 We have had a relatively mild winter and that has helped us to make some progress early in the season with our training “back log”.  We have already had two training sessions at our Quincy, Washington Flight Training Center.  And flying and training are active early at Arlington, Lenhardt and Camas Grove Field. 

So far March has been wetter and colder than the winter, but things will moderate soon.  We have new students signed up out of our Arlington, Portland-Vancouver, and Quincy Flight Training Centers.

I will be supervising an accelerated UL pilot course at Twin Firs Farm, April 15-18^th and Mike and I will be co-supervising accelerated solo courses at Twin Firs Farm May 13^th-16^th.  Contact Doug at maas0755@comcast.net if you would like to join either of those sessions.

We are just weeks away from the 20^th Anniversary Memorial Day Powered Parachute Rally that will again be held at Twin Firs Turf Farm, Quincy, Washington. Read about the background of this event at http://sixchuterwest.com/?p=1337 If you are thinking of attending, learn more and “pre-register” (no fee necessary) at http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=547 We expect at least 60 powered parachute pilots a dozen “trike pilots” and families.  This will be one of the best opportunities of the season to learn about the sport, meet others and fly with us.

 SPEAKING OF THE BEST IS IN THE WEST (Places to Fly)

 We have certainly been blessed with discovering one of the best places to train and fly in the entire U.S.  That is twin firs turf farm located in Quincy, Washington.  Thanks to Tim Vedder, owner of Central Washington Powered Parachutes and Kim and Kent Bacon, owners of the farm, we have been allowed to routinely train at this location and have now been invited back for Memorial Day.

The field(s) we fly from here are like a groomed golf course.  The surrounding areas is predominantly open farm fields, but with plenty of interesting spots to see such as the Columbia River, and foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

 To Learn more about the location go to http://www.partiesonthegreen.com If you want to train and fly from this location you must coordinate with Tim Vedder sixchuterwest@genext.net 509 885-8444. Daily use fee $5. Field and pilot waivers required.

THE TRAINING SCHEDULE

 The following is our most up to date data on students, instructors and pending tests.  Please coordinate directly with your assigned instructor to schedule your training sessions. If you are having difficulty scheduling or require a reassignment of location or instructor, please email me at maas0755@comcast.net Instructors please forward me updates as necessary.

  EVENT CALENDAR

GETTING AND STAYING CONNECTED

•  THE POWERED PARACHUTER This is a new print or digital magazine created by Mike Lersbak of Sport Pilot Academy. The digital download version of the “ppcer” is about $2 a month!  Just go to https://1spa.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=1&i=13&navicat=13 to subscribe.
•  SPORT PILOT ACADEMY is the most unique on line training site for powered parachutes anywhere.  Another creation of Mike Lersbak, this site provides everything from full supervised or non supervised ground school to an ongoing pilot proficiency program. Go to http://www.sportpilotu.com/ to sign up!
•  WPPA BULLETIN If you want to receive regular information about the sport, events, training and news on the West Coast, you will receive this bulletin.  If you have someone who would like to join this bulletin list steer him or her directly to http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=259.  You will find a page to download the most current training catalogue and a “news” form on the lower right hand side of the page.  Fill that out to automatically receive the monthly news.
•  EAA ULTRALIGHT CHAPTER 127 If you want to network directly with other PPC enthusiasts in the Northwest, check out the N.W. Powered Parachute Coalition at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nwpoweredparachutecoalition/
•  SIX CHUTER OWNERS If you own a Six Chuter powered parachute join the Six Chuter Owner’s Website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sixchuterowners/ Just go to the site and “request to join”.  This site provides an exclusive site where Six Chuter owners can access resources specific to their powered parachutes, and exchange ideas among other owners.
•  If you want to receive free regular information on Six Chuter Inc. powered parachutes you may receive a monthly free E-bulletin from Six Chuter.  If you are not receiving this bulletin already go to this site and sign the “news” form on lower right hand side of the page. http://sixchuterwest.com/  
•  PPC SALES If you are in the market for a new or used powered parachute and would like to review monthly classifieds and other information about aircraft and support services check out http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=8 
•  PPC ACCESSORIES If you are shopping for powered parachute accessories up to and including canopies, go to https://1spa.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp  
•  MAINTENANCE If you need service on your Rotax engine there are three authorized Rotax service stations in the region:
• • Portland-Vancouver Vancouver Ultralight Services, Rolando Santiago 360 904 8766 http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=294
  • Eastern Washington-Oregon Freedom Aerosports LLC, Steve Camp, sbcamp@wildblue.net 5095493321 www.freedomaerosports.com
  • Puget Sound- http://www.rainierultralightengines.com/ Clyde Poser Phone: 253-447-4398 Tech support: tech@rainierultralightengines.com Information: info@rainierultralightengines.com
  • Portland-Vancouver Perry Robertson, CFI, Repairman, Troutdale, OR 503 913-8536 perrobertson@comcast.net HTTP://www.p3-sports.com

SPORT PILOT TRAINING AND TESTING

If you are not receiving the monthly Student-Testing supplement from WPPA and would like to, email Doug Maas at westernppa@comcast.net  this report tracks our students, our testing schedule and instructor assignments. If you would like to receive a copy of “Sport Pilot Maneuvers” you can request a copy from the same email address or download from the “files” section of the club website.  Go to the WPPA website www.westernppa.org to download the current year training catalogue and find other resources.

Joe Charlton Pilot and Buzz Kleemeyer after first solo flights, Lenhardt Field, Hubbard Oregon

TRAINING BULLETIN

FEBRUARY 2010

OVERVIEW

With holidays, schedules and our inability to turn the weather spigot off for any extended period of time, there hasn’t been much training action in December and January.  But we are going to try to “jump start” the training season earlier this year with some group sessions in Vancouver, Quincy and other areas.  Mike Lersbak and I are tentatively scheduled for a four day stretch at Twin Firs February 18^th-21^st….all weather dependent of course. I have training to finish up in Napavine and new students signing on in Vancouver too. And Mike Lersbak has quite a back up of students in Arlington.  Despite huge progress last year (we exceeded one-hundred pilots who completed sport pilot), we have more new students signing up than ever before.

This can be one of those glass half full or half empty sort of things.  On the half empty side, we have more than forty students standing in line for attention while we are down active instructors due to changing personal circumstances, and our instructors are particularly challenged with having legal SLSAs, or gaining “letters of deviation” to allow them to continue to use their own ELSA trainers to continue flight training.  On the half full side, we have more instructors who are seriously trying to maintain ability to train than any other area of the U.S.  Here is a summary of our training network as we roll into the new season.

1.      Portland-Vancouver.  Mike Bird and I are set up for training out of Camas Groves airport and we will have two SLSA models so that you can train with us without having to own your own ELSA dual control installed ppc.  Perry Robertson has a nice training set up just south of Portland and we are working with him to try to get another SLSA in place at Lendhardt field.

2.  Arlington.  Mike Lersbak has a dual control SLSA and is in business full time.  This will likely be the location that we continue to do accelerated training at due to classroom and other support facilities.

3.     Quincy.  Tim Vedder has an SLSA available, and an awesome training field.  Mike Lersbak, Mike Bird and I will continue to schedule extended training weekends at twin firs turf farm to keep up with the training load there.

4.  Napavine.  Steve Rambo has access to a very nice training field and Grubby and I are available to assist with training students in that location.

5.  Spokane.  Bill Hansen is still active but I am uncertain of what his equipment status is.

6.  Stephen Brandon is active in Tracy, California, but until his letter of deviation is issued, likely available only for training you in your own legal ELSA.

7.  Bill Dotter is active in Helena Montana, but without an SLSA.  Bill is actively training students in their own dual control ELSAs.

All of this information is to encourage you to stay closely connected with your instructor and work hard and early to “gitter done”.  Once the season hits it will be increasingly difficult to get the time and attention you will need. We are doing our best, but still need more instructors!

Remember that you have essentially three options for training:

1.  Go part 103.  We can train you in your own single seat true ultralight and we have one available in Portland-Vancouver to allow you to train legally without a “special light sport” certified aircraft.
2. Training in your own ELSA.  If you have, or are looking to purchase an ELSA and make sure that it is equipped with dual controls, all our instructors can complete your flight training in your aircraft.
3. Train in our SLSA.  The disadvantage here is the relatively few SLSAs that we have available, and the fact that you will be paying us for rental time on our aircraft.

STUDENT SCHEDULE

This is the latest training data that I have on students and instructors.  If you are getting this bulletin and are not assigned an instructor and want to sign up for any level of training, please email me soon.  If your circumstance has changed and you need to change instructors, locations or otherwise modify your training, email me with that information.

Instructors…PLEASE help us keep the report up to date by reviewing and updating your student data.

OTHER HINTS

If you are serious about getting involved in the sport, or already actively training, we highly encourage you to join EAA UL Chapter 127 “N.W. Powered Parachute Coalition”.  Email me at maas0755@comcast.net if you are interested.  This is the largest EAA powered parachute club in the U.S.!  Membership ($35) will allow you to attend five regional flight rallies this year, will gain you discounts on your flight checks, and if you join the EAA at the same time will cover you with an insurance policy when you are participating in club flight rallies.  We also have an awesome website-forum, to connect you with others in the Pacific Northwest.

Western Powered Parachute Association LLC

www.westernppa.org

C/O Doug Maas 360 360 771-4047

Maas0755@comcast.net

November 2009

This is a regular informational bulletin published by the Western Powered Parachute Association, LLC, devoted to promoting the sport of powered parachuting through education, communications and participation.  If you would like to be removed from the mailing list go directly to the distribution site email maas0755@comcast.net   

“The mission of the Western Powered Parachute Association is to promote the sport of powered parachuting in the Western United States through Education, Participation and Resources.”

 In This Issue:

•        The Few, The Proud, The Cold!
•        Scanning the Horizon (Calendar)
•        Training Corner- -Seeking a Few Good Aviators (CFIs) Again!
•        Resources

Published by Western Powered Parachute Association LLC westernppa@comcast.net Doug Maas 360 771-4047Maas0755@comcast.net

Website: http://westernppa.org Newsletter Distribution Group Site: http://sixchuterwest.com 

Sign up to receive this monthly bulletin at www.sixchuterwest.com Just fill out the news request form on the front page. While you are on the Six Chuter West website, explore the many other “articles” in several categories.  These articles are published weekly and are archived in the various categories.

 THE FEW, THE PROUD, ….THE COLD!

 As the cold and wet weather set in during the month of November I came to realize that all powered parachute aviators are not equal.  There seem to be three distinct types in the Pacific Northwest.

•  The most common are those who simply park their aircraft and will wait until the rain stops.  This is usually in the late spring.
•  The second category is those who are posting those messages on our club site about how great the flying is in Arizona and other areas of the winter sun belt!  Honestly I wish I were solidly in this category of snow bird at this point in my life!
•  The third category are the very few, I think proud and I know cold pilots who will fly every chance the weather allows during the winter.  This category includes a very few students who are gritting their teeth and trying to get training done now so that when the Spring indeed comes they will be ready to enjoy the sport.

 The pilots who are watching the weather on nearly a daily basis for the chance of capturing a cool, clear, windless day will be those who enjoy some of the most awesome flights of the year. Here is a great post on the PPC Coalition club website:

 “I love this time of year. A good heavy overcast but the air is still warm and no turbulence. The leaves are changing colors, and the dust is settled so you can see forever it seems.I have never understood why so many people pack their machines up for the winter. I fly year round and tend to still my average days of fight per week up pretty good in the winter months.

 It is also this category of pilot who is in training that I encourage to hang in there and train if and when they can during the winter months.  Beyond the fact that indeed this can result in some of the best flights of the year, the training schedule is much more open than in the spring.  When you read our training report monthly you will continue to see nearly sixty students waiting in line for attention from about five active Certified Flight Instructors.  And inevitably what occurs in the spring is that EVERYONE wants to schedule time, at the same time!  And that occurs when our events begin that makes access to CFIs even more difficult. (See Training Corner on Seeking a Few Good Aviators)

 Those who coordinate closely with instructors and get as much flight training and ground school done during the winter will indeed be the winners in the spring of 2010.

 Scanning the Horizon

 Just a few things that we are working on or at least thinking about for the year ahead:

1. More Discover Powered Parachuting courses will be schedule this coming season.  These are full half day sessions to supplement the brief discovery flight experience.  Our first session sponsored by Central Washington Powered Parachutes in Quincy this season brought 12 prospective pilots to us and resulted in several who signed on to advanced training.
2. Six Chuter Inc. celebrates 20 Years in 2010 and will sponsor the “20^th Annual Memorial Day Rally” this year.  Based on current planning we will be back at twin firs turf farm in May 2010.
3. Another Western Regional PPC Competition is being discussed.  WPPA sponsored and hosted the 2004 western Regionals and it seems time for another.  There is a lot to consider, but we are serious about putting it together.
4. Fractional Ownership Clubs are being discussed among a few business partners.  These would be clubs in three locations around the Pacific N.W., that would allow an entrance point for prospective pilots and owners who aren’t quite ready to step up to owning their own ppc.  We are in very early planning for clubs with two ppcs at each location in the Portland-Vancouver, Arlington and Quincy areas.
5. A full season of rallies is of course being planned by the N.W. Powered Parachute Coalition.  Partly based on this year’s success in Madras, the club is considering adding a Central Oregon rally to the already packed schedule.
6. Sport Pilot Academy continues to evolve with more and more resources and training available on line. http://sportpilotu.com/

 Needless to say, many of us will be busy trying to keep the activity rolling and to plan for yet another banner year in 2010. 

The Training Corner “Seeking A Few Good Aviators (CFIs)..Again!

 This is a reprint from about a year ago.  The reason for updating it and distributing it again is that despite the growth in our instructor ranks we continue to be pressed to keep up with the student load.  I continue to profess that the biggest inhibitor to growth in light sport aviation is simply the lack of instructors. That continues to seem curious to many who think our N.W. network of ppc instructors is one of the largest anywhere.  I encourage anyone with even a passing notion to instruct in powered parachutes, to read the article and give it some consideration.  We’d love to help you get started down this path.

 “Yah right”, is the response I get from most folks when I make the pitch for becoming involved in the world of Powered Parachute flight instruction.  Their natural question is, “if it is such a great job or opportunity why don’t you have enough of you?  Well they caught me there.  So I have pretty much quit sugar coating my recruitment efforts and am frankly more devoted to finding a very few, very good folks and spending considerably more time to make them successful.  Let’s start with a description of the current condition.  Then I will try to honestly provide you with the upside and downside of this glamorous job.  Oops, there I go again!

 THE CURRENT SITUATION

 In the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington), we now have eight FAA Certified Flight Instructors, powered parachute qualified.  Seven are actually in Washington with Perry Robertson, P-3 sports being the sole ppc qualified flight instructor in Oregon.  In addition to our eight instructors we have three FAA designated flight examiners, and one designated instructor flight examiner.  Four of us can even provide private pilot powered parachute level training. If you look around the remainder of the U.S. you will discover that we really seem to be in quite an enviable position, which is better off than most anywhere else. So what’s the problem? Reality is the problem.

 More than half our instructors actually have real jobs (doesn’t currently include me)!  Thus their availability for full time instruction is limited by the reality of making family wages.  And those of us who have more time to exercise our instructor privilege actually have other things happening in our lives that detract from “instructing time”.  I spend a great deal of my time, as an example, managing a couple of businesses on the side and trying to be a good grandpa. Add to that the reality of the weather, the fact our students have lives and schedules too, and the shear numbers of interested parties and you can quickly calculate the basic problem.

Another issue in “current situation” is geographic.  We have only one CFI in Eastern Washington and only one in Oregon.  We are all concentrated in Western Washington.  Again, compared to many areas of the United States where instructors are thousands of miles away this shouldn’t be much of an issue to whine about.  But we have set the bar higher for ourselves in the Pacific Northwest.  Unless you have the means to sign into one of our 12-day courses and travel to us, the normal reality of trying to schedule a routine of lessons that will lead you to your sport pilot license is daunting. Thus the problem is an acute shortage of willing, and able instructors to keep up with the demand. On various scales I challenge that this is the fundamental inhibitor of the sport throughout the entire United States.

 WHY NOT?

 Now let me outline the “challenges” of becoming a qualified instructor.  I will warn you ahead of time that this list is not for the faint of heart! All of this is offered to help you “weigh the scales” and decide if this is for you.

 Meeting The Basic Requirements 

Getting to the starting line is the first challenge.  The following table displays the basic requirements.  The average powered parachute pilot probably logs only 50 hours a year.  Several of our best candidates in the northwest are simply trying to get to the starting line. 

 Passing the Tests

 Assuming you build the minimum time required then you get to prepare for the tests.  These include two FAA written tests, the dreaded fundamentals of instruction, and the instructor pilot knowledge tests.  Let me warn you neither is easy and if the sport pilot written intimidated you then these two will certainly challenge you. There is simply too much material to play the memorization game.  You actually need to know all this stuff! And, unlike the powered parachute specific test you experience at the sport pilot level, you are studying for tests that require you to know the information for all categories of aircraft because you can teach in any aircraft you are qualified in, once you have the certificate. And once you are successful in passing (after paying of course) both these written tests then you get to have another FAA flight examiner in your back seat.  Actually in this case you may find the examiner in your front seat playing the role of student.  If you have really prepared and are truly ready the practical test flight portion is really kind of fun.  On the other hand the ground portion of the practical test is rather grueling.  The average time for ground portion of the sport pilot practical test is one and a half hours.  Compare that to the average time for the same portion of the instructor exam of three and a half hours! You REALLY need to know it by the time you get to this level.  The examiner will pass you only when they can sincerely report that you meet the practical test standards and have a personal comfort that you will indeed have the “right stuff” to be an instructor.

 Positioning Yourself to Actually Instruct

 Congratulations you have your certificate!  Now you get to face the operational realities of instructing.  These might include some of the following:

 Liability.  Most of us have been operating without benefit of credible and affordable liability insurance.  That is now available, at a cost of course, yet understanding and managing liability will hover over you so long as you instruct.

Equipment=SLSA. Here is a challenge.  Assuming you were able to meet all the qualifications and pass the tests, you have until January 2010 to purchase and operate a Special Light Sport powered parachute!  That is, if you want to train others in your[1] aircraft.  If you are shopping you will quickly discover that it is unlikely you will find a special light sport powered parachute for under $20,000.  Currently, there are only Three “SLSA” powered parachutes in the Pacific Northwest.  One is in Arlington, WA, the other Quincy, WA and third in the Portland-Vancouver region. And once you have your “SLSA” you will quickly discover that you can’t do anything but preventative maintenance.  Annual inspections are preceded by 100 Hour inspections, all of which need to be done by A & P qualified or persons with specific repairman certificates.

Operations.  Then of course you need to be in actual position to have students show up, study with you and fly.  Access to equipment, airfields and all the training resources is required. My simple learned lesson on this one is that it is a rare individual who will be able to do all this on his or her own.  If you are blessed with owning your own perfect powered parachute airfield, have the equipment, classroom, and access to training resources you are among the rare.

The Work. Being a flight instructor may at first glance be a very appealing goal.  When the reality of the daily schedule hits, it may be entirely different.  Don’t forget that we need to be up most days before the sun is up.  And an “hour” long lesson in a powered parachute usually turns into a four-hour “logistics” exercise due to staging of equipment.  And of course we expect you to do this while actually working for a living elsewhere! More on this later.

 Being Successful.

 This is for me the big deal.  This is the reality that being a great powered parachute pilot does not equate with being even a good powered parachute instructor. My experience is that there are nearly two totally different, yet compatible, skill sets here.  Yes you need to know how to fly a powered parachute.  Yet being a good instructor requires an incredible additional array of skills in communications, people skills and pure teaching ability. I will never encourage you to go through this gauntlet unless you first inventory your knowledge, skills and abilities and can honestly say that it is your love of teaching others to fly that is leading your forward.

 And I want you to really think about what the nature of instructing is.  Imagine strapping yourself in the back seat of the powered parachute and giving up control at several points during your aerial adventure to a person who doesn’t initially have the appropriate experience to do what you are asking them to do!  In many ways I think instructing in powered parachutes is a job for a younger person (Younger than I anyway).  Yet the catch 22 is that by the time most have all the assets required to be an instructor we have exceeded that ideal requirement.

 Keeping It.

 Assuming you made it through the gauntlet congratulations!  Did I forget to mention that unlike your sport pilot certificate that is good for life, your instructor privilege expires every 24 months?  Yes there is an expectation that you are actually going to instruct and that requires proof of ongoing activity, and knowledge.

 WHY?

 Whew!  After all that what incentive is left to step up? Well actually a lot.

 The Sport Needs You.

 If indeed you have the right stuff and have some interest in seeing the sport survive and thrive then one reason to consider stepping up is simply because we need you.  If you ask most of the current instructors in the Pacific Northwest why they bothered their response will likely include, “somebody had to.”  This reason, in and of itself, of course is insufficient.  Nonetheless this needs to be a consideration.

 You Can Make Money.

 I don’t know of any powered parachute flight instructor who is making a living simply by flight instruction.  Nearly all the top-notch ppc instructors I know are retired or have other supplemental businesses or income.  However, if you have realistic goals you can indeed make money through professional flight instruction.  You might pay for your own flying gas, your own flying machine, or actually supplement other income with money from your instructing.

 You Don’t Need to Do It All.

 Being a Certified Flight Instructor does not imply that you need to participate at all levels of flight instruction.  A CFI certificate means that you can actually charge for “discovery flights”, the practice of taking somebody up for a one-time flight.  In the Pacific Northwest these flights usually are $75 for an hour of your time.  All Sport Pilots need a biennial flight review.  This means that you could decide simply to provide the minimum one-hour ground and one hour flight time to pilots who line up at our flight rallies to stay current.  We have a strong team approach to instructing in the Pacific Northwest and having CFIs taking care of these two activities frees time for others to do the more challenging work of soloing new students.  And our network provides you with access to all the resources you need and support to help you get started.

 Building Time and Experience.

 Historically the main reason for instructing in the general aviation arena was to build time and experience that counted towards higher ratings and ultimately to qualify you for a job in commercial aviation.  That isn’t all practical in powered parachuting, but indeed much of your flight time can be used to earn higher pilot ratings.  So if you are working upwards towards a career in general aviation the experience of instructing is valuable.

 You Got to Love It.

 All of the reasons cited so far likely will not outweigh the considerable challenges I have written about.  But one will.  That is a fundamental love of flying and teaching others to fly.  I have often said that I love flying, but my closest second is helping a person realize a lifelong dream of flying and leading them through their first solo flight.  I have seen grown ups nearly in tears with so much joy upon landing after their first solo flight. And back to being successful.  That is very unlikely to happen without this attribute.  No matter how well positioned you are to flight instruct and no matter how well you did on the tests, you are unlikely to become a truly good flight instructor if you don’t just love it!

 ACCELERATED FLIGHT TRAINING

Our 4 day student pilot or ultralight pilot course has been our most popular this year.  We have graduated over a dozen thus far and continue to have folks sign up.  This course is made more popular because we are hosting it with the help of Central Washington Powered Parachutes in Quincy, Washington, as well as at our primary accelerated training location at Arlington.  As the training season nears end of summer we will increasingly be “stretched” to accommodate the training load in this class.  If you have folks who are interested in signing up for the course have them contact Doug at maas0755@comcast.net ASAP. Keep an eye on the training schedule at http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=259

 Road Map to Staying Connected

 WPPA BULLETIN If you want to receive regular information about the sport, events, training and news on the West Coast, you will receive this bulletin.  If you have someone who would like to join this bulletin list steer him or her directly to http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=259.  You will find a page to download the most current training catalogue and a “news” form on the lower right hand side of the page.  Fill that out to automatically receive the monthly news.

 EAA ULTRALIGHT CHAPTER 127 If you want to network directly with other PPC enthusiasts in the Northwest, check out the N.W. Powered Parachute Coalition at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nwpoweredparachutecoalition/

 SIX CHUTER OWNERS If you own a Six Chuter powered parachute join the Six Chuter Owner’s Website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sixchuterowners/ Just go to the site and “request to join”.  This site provides an exclusive site where Six Chuter owners can access resources specific to their powered parachutes, and exchange ideas among other owners.

 If you want to receive free regular information on Six Chuter Inc. powered parachutes you may receive a monthly free E-bulletin from Six Chuter.  If you are not receiving this bulletin already go to this site and sign the “news” form on lower right hand side of the page. http://sixchuterwest.com/  

 PPC SALES If you are in the market for a new or used powered parachute and would like to review monthly classifieds and other information about aircraft and support services check out http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=8 

 PPC ACCESSORIES If you are shopping for powered parachute accessories up to and including canopies, go to https://1spa.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp  

MAINTENANCE If you need service on your Rotax engine there are three authorized Rotax service stations in the region:

• Portland-Vancouver Vancouver Ultralight Services, Rolando Santiago 360 904 8766 http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=294
• Eastern Washington-Oregon Freedom Aerosports LLC, Steve Camp, sbcamp@wildblue.net 5095493321 www.freedomaerosports.com
• Puget Sound- http://www.rainierultralightengines.com/ Clyde Poser Phone: 253-447-4398 Tech support: tech@rainierultralightengines.com Information: info@rainierultralightengines.com
• Portland-Vancouver Perry Robertson, CFI, Repairman, Troutdale, OR 503 913-8536 perrobertson@comcast.net HTTP://www.p3-sports.com

 SPORT PILOT TRAINING AND TESTING

If you are not receiving the monthly Student-Testing supplement from WPPA and would like to, email Doug Maas at westernppa@comcast.net  this report tracks our students, our testing schedule and instructor assignments. If you would like to receive a copy of “Sport Pilot Maneuvers” you can request a copy from the same email address or download from the “files” section of the club website.  Go to the WPPA website www.westernppa.org to download the current year training catalogue and find other resources

 [1] FAA recently adopted a process to extend your ability to use your ELSA to train others if it has been previously certified for that.

New Student Larry Miner Bundled for Lesson in 34 degree Weather

The 2010 Western Powered Parachute Training Catalogue is available as a free download. Just click on the link to go to the training page and fill out the form to receive your complimentary copy.

You will find much valuable information in this catalogue including:

-    Why the sport of powered parachuting is considered one of the safest and most economical ways to experience aviation.
-    Why the Western Powered Parachute Association is among the most extensive and professional powered parachute networks anywhere!
-    A description of our complete training programs from discovery flights through instructor training.
-    Information on locations of our training affiliates.

We encourage you to connect directly with the training affiliate nearest you but want you to also feel free to contact us directly with any question you might have regarding our aircraft, or the sport in general.  

We look forward to meeting you and helping you to realize your dream of flying!

Click Here to Download the Training Catalogue.

 Doug Maas, President
Western Powered Parachute Association LLC
Maas0755@comcast.net
360 771-4047

This monthly bulletin is designed for instructors and students affiliated with the Western Powered Parachute Association LLC.

If you wish to be removed from the distribution list, email Doug at maas0755@comcast.net

CONGRATULATIONS!

We had a flurry of activity towards regular season end that resulted in four more folks successfully passing their sport pilot practical test.  Hans Behrens gained the distinction of being the 100^th person who completed a practical or proficiency test in our network, since the adoption of Sport Pilot.

 THE TRAINING SEASON

For many the month of October and November signals the end of the regular flying season.  The monsoon usually sets in this time of the year west of the cascades and the eastern side just gets darned cold.  Nonetheless there are a hearty few who will hang in there to enjoy some of the best flights of the year and get a real head start on their training, through the winter.  Larry Miner out of Chehalis just started his training course this past month, as an example.  This is a smart thing to do.  When you look at our training load per instructor you can easily see what happens in the Spring.  That is EVERYONE wants training attention at the same time.  And that is usually at the time that events start and getting the attention of instructors becomes increasingly difficult.  Being successful with training in the winter months requires patience and flexibility with schedules.  But it can pay off.  We encourage you to stay closely connected with your instructor now and not let your training come to a halt.

 STUDY UP

 This is also an excellent time of the year to “read up” and “study up”.  If you have not taken your sport pilot written test yet you can go to www.sportpilotu.com and sign up for on line ground school.  Mike Lersbak has started publication of The Powered Parachuter.  Subscribing to this training oriented monthly magazine is another good way to keep your mind sharp during any part of the season.  You can go to https://1spa.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=1&i=13&navicat=13 for a variety of subscription options.

 ON THE HORIZON

 A number of us have begun discussions and early planning of “fractional ownership” clubs in three to four locations around the region including Portland-Vancouver, Quincy, Arlington and Bend.  These clubs would divide the ownership of one or more ppcs to make it more affordable and to allow owners to be trained in their “own” ELSA.  And these clubs would allow a prospective pilot to get into the sport for a “fraction” of what it would cost them to own their own ppc by themselves. We should have an initial plan and prospectus out for these clubs before the end of the year. If you might be interested in joining and buying into one of these clubs please email me at maas0755@comcast.net so I can keep you “in the loop”.

 Mike Bird and Doug Maas will be “resettling” their Vancouver operation into Groves Field near Camas, Washington.  The more recent location of Brush Prairie has just not worked out well for training purposes and the Camas folks, at least to this point, have been wonderful in accomodating powered parachutes and our operation.

DOWN TO BUSINESS

This is the latest training data I have for instructors and students.

 Instructors!

1. I am missing contact emails for many of your students.  Please forward me current email addresses for the students you have listed so that we can keep them informed.
2. Please take the time (things are slow so no excuses!)…to send me edits and updates to your student list.  Continuing to contribute to the effort helps us to maintain accurate data on our training load and to help each other in the process

Students

1.  Please check our listing for you to insure that your status is correct.  If it is not, email me at maas0755@comcast.net
2. Otherwise, stay in direct contact with your listed instructor for continued scheduling
3. If for some reason your circumstance has changed and you require a different instructor, please contact me to discuss.

TESTING

This is our “short list” of students we have “in the que” for testing.  Please provide me with updates as necessary

Instructors…if you have a student or a number of students that you are working with to prepare for the practical test, please let us know your plans.  We’d like to get blocks of time on the calendar and locations tied down, particularly for multiple tests.

 Doug Maas
maas0755@comcast.net  
360 771-4047

Mike Lersbak, Sport Pilot Academy creator, has designed, and published the new “journal” style publication. Mike launched the publication with several goals in mind, including:

• Provide a publication that is all about powered parachute flying and not mixed with or competing with other forms of aviation.
• Use the journal to enhance education, training and ongoing proficiency in powered parachutes.
• Make the publication fun!
• Provide the journal in a traditional printed subscription form as well as a less expensive and downloadable format.

While the Powered Parachuter will no doubt have a national and even international appeal you will find that it has a distinctive “Western Flavor”.  You will not find a ppc publication anywhre with this much information specifically relevant to the sport that you are involved in, or considering becoming involved in.

Mike is providing opportunities for our N.W. businesses to support this effort through “article style” and traditional advertising.  Contact Mike directly at mikel@sportpilotu.com for a copy of the Powered Parachute Media Guide.

We encourage everyone to support the sport and the publication by getting your subscrption today.  You won’t be sorry! Subscribe to the Powered Parachuter.

“An Alternative to Flying Illegally”

There may have been some aircraft owners that missed the deadline of January 31, 2008 to receive an Experimental Light Sport Aircraft registration.  And now you are thinking you have (1) a spare parts supply for your friends, (2) an illegal aircraft if you choose to fly it, or (c) something you maybe can sell to someone in Mexico or Canada.  Not so fast, think again.

You may be able to get your former vehicle into the Experimental Exhibition category provided you do a little extra paperwork. The following are some of the restrictions to Exhibition category:

1.    The pilot needs to hold an appropriate certificate.

2.    The aircraft must be inspected each year in accordance with the scope and detail of FAR 43 appendix-D (Annual inspection) The inspection must be carried out by an A&P, possibly you can talk your FSDO into letting you do the condition inspection if you have a Light Sport Repairman/Maintenance certificate .

3.    You may not fly over densely populated areas except for the purpose of takeoff and landing .

4.    You may not operate the aircraft for compensation or hire . (ie, no commercial operations)

5.    The aircraft may only be operated for the purpose of exhibition, maintenance and proficiency .

6.    Exhibition is defined as: attending a school or shopping mall exhibition, fly-in, rally, airshow, aerobatic competition or organized practice session .

7.    For flights other than those listed above, the aircraft may only operate within a specified geographical area, usually a circle of 300 NM based on the airport at which the aircraft is based .    NEW or REVISED Operating Limitations eliminate the 300 NM proficiency area .   In other words, NO RESTRICTIONS WHERE YOU CAN FLY, EXCEPT FOR CLASS B AIRSPACE .

8.    At the beginning of each year, the operator must submit a list of the events he/she intends to attend that year (program letter) .

9.    For any flights not listed in the program letter and which lie outside the 300 NM radius, the FAA must be informed in advance by FAX or post card . (Inform, NOT ask permission) .   THIS DOES NOT APPLY IF YOUR OPERATING LIMITATIONS DO NOT STATE A 300 NM PROFICIENCY AREA .

As you can see from the above there really isn’t much restriction.  Let’s go through the points one by one.

1. An appropriate pilot certificate would of course be your Sport Pilot certificate with proper class endorsement.  No problem there.
2. Everyone has to have an annual.  The slight problem is that yours will have to be signed off by and A&P.  Many A&Ps will work with a customer and allow the customer to do the annual with them supervising and for a fee sign the logbook.  This requires some asking around to find a sympathetic A&P wanting to make some easy cash.  IF you attend the Mantenance repairman course you may be able to convince you rlocal FSDO that you are capable of performing the condition inspection.  Since an LSR/M  can do the condition inspection on a certified SLSA this would be a reasonable request.
3. Most of us don’t want to fly over densely populated areas with a two stroke engine anyway.
4. Can’t do that with ELSA either.
5. Ok, here is where things start to get interesting.  And that is answered by:
6. Exhibition defined.  Looks like you can go to most of the events you go to now and that is correct.  The FAA is fairly lenient in the event definitions.  So most any pre-planned event would qualify.
7. Here is another restriction of sorts.  You can only fly a non-stop, out and back from your home field.  That means you can’t take off and go over to a friends field and land.  When you take off from your home field you must land back there.  And you are allowed 300 nautical miles to do that.  I dare say that should be enough area.
8. (Note: All samples available by visiting RULE Aviation Website http://www.ruleaviation.com/experimental%20exhibition.htm )Another part of that paperwork I was talking about.  I have included an example of a program letter here:  Sample program letter    And a fill able program letter form here: Experimental program letter for you to use if you decide to try for a Exhibition certificate.
9. 300 nautical miles should be enough area to have fun.  And if you want to go out of the are at the last minute just “inform” the FAA and you have met your legal requirements.

Here is a sample of what your operating limitations might look like:  Sample operating limitations

So aside from the extra paperwork that is mostly just telling the FAA in advance where you plan to go have fun,  the Experimental Exhibition category is a way to get your aircraft back flying and do it in a legal way and have a unique certificate.  Feel free to email me with any questions.  Here is the link to the process:  Procedure for Exhibition category

Clyde Poser, DAR

Rule Aviation

 

October 2009

This is a regular informational bulletin published by the Western Powered Parachute Association, LLC, devoted to promoting the sport of powered parachuting through education, communications and participation.  If you would like to be removed from the mailing list go directly to the distribution site email maas0755@comcast.net   

“The mission of the Western Powered Parachute Association is to promote the sport of powered parachuting in the Western United States through Education, Participation and Resources.”

 In This Issue:

• ·          What a Season!
• ·          Scanning the Horizon (Calendar)
• ·          Event Calendar
• ·          Training Corner- -How High (low) Can I Fly?
• ·          Resources

 AFFILIATES

Sport Pilot Academy

www.sportpilotacademy.com  

 Six Chuter West

www.sixchuterwest.com

 Published by Western Powered Parachute Association LLC

westernppa@comcast.net Doug Maas 360 771-4047Maas0755@comcast.net Website: http://westernppa.org Newsletter Distribution Group Site: http://sixchuterwest.com   

Sign up to receive this monthly bulletin at www.sixchuterwest.com Just fill out the news request form on the front page. While you are on the Six Chuter West website, explore the many other “articles” in several categories.  These articles are published weekly and are archived in the various categories.

 WHAT A SEASON!

 It seems like forever since the last bulletin that we distributed, but the reality is that in the midst of the flying season we just get caught up in “outside” activity.  Thus the routine has become much less rhetoric during the summer and more time to read and write during the winter.  This season has been extraordinarily busy with more club members, more flying activities and more new students and pilots than ever (at least in Pacific N.W.).  That seems curious given the economic environment, but I have quit trying to figure it out.  Rather I just spend my time trying to respond to it.

 We started the year with the best turn out ever at our season opener, the “Memorial Day Rally”, at an awesome new location in Central Washington. That was partly made possible due to efforts by Tim Vedder, owner of Central Washington Powered Parachutes. http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=296  Tim connected with owners of the Twin Firs Turf Farm in Quincy Washington who invited us on to their farm at no cost to the club.  As always, great flying, great activities and wonderful people.

 Memorial Day set the stage for constant flying all over the Pacific N.W. In the midst of the recreational flying we added over a dozen new sport pilots, two new instructors (Mike Bird and Perry Robertson), and introduced the sport to well over a hundred people!

 The season seems to usually begin to wind down during the Brownsville rally.  Winding down isn’t the appropriate word for this year’s Brownsville!  This was likely the largest rally ever for the N.W. Powered Parachute Coalition with over 60 registered pilots and their families.

 And we got another great report and unbelievable photos from Steve Camp’s rally (last one on the ppc coalition schedule for the year)

 Another great weekend of flying. Here are some pictures from the caravan at LaCrosse and of the regular fly-in. One of my GPS at 0 mph. 30 mph winds high but only about 6 mph down low. Jim Payne

 The coalition helped to host the Powered Parachute Caravan this year.  Here is Bill Vietti (Vie’s) post to us after that event:

 Now that things are back to normal – work, honey do’s, etc. – I thought I’d take a few minutes to jot down some thoughts about our experiences and our trip to the northwest.  

Doug Maas was so kind to invite us to join your NW Coalition and begin the process of setting everything up for us.  Another regret is that he did not get to join us anywhere along the way.  Doug, I sure hope you and your bride enjoyed your 40th anniversary as well as hope her back is 100% again now or soon.  

 And here is the best part.  With Steve Camp’s rally in Lacrosse and some pretty good stretches of weather, it looks like we will continue to “recreate” well into the early winter!  With additional instructors and some other neat things on the horizon this could also be a busy winter (maybe less flying, but more educational activity than ever.)

 In the midst of one of the best seasons ever though we were struck with a real tragedy.  Robbie Whitesell, the FAA supervisor for our Pacific Northwest Examiners was killed in a light sport airplane crash in Alaska.  Robbie had just completed his second “tour” with us at the Arlington Air show where he completed seven re-authorizations of examiner status.  He flew with Doug Maas, Jim Groebner, Mike Lersbak, Bill Dotter, Dennis Stanley and two airplane examiners.  He died during a flight with another examiner just a day after Arlington.  Robbie was known to us a thoroughly professional, hard working, and always…always fun to work with.  He always had a smile on his face.  This is not only a difficult one for all of us who knew him, but also a blow to sport pilot.  Robbie was one of only a couple FAA supervisors qualified in and actively supervising the powered parachute side of sport pilot. We’re not sure how this will impact support from AFS 610, but regardless the personal loss here is just very difficult to deal with.

 Now that said, Robbie loved what he was doing.  He loved that he was flying in various category light sport aircraft and expressed his enthusiasm in travelling across the U.S. and working with a variety of us.

 This is a tough season to summarize. Maybe I just won’t try and instead just point to the year ahead.

 Scanning the Horizon

 Just a few things that we are working on or at least thinking about for the year ahead:

1. Another round of winter “webinars”, sponsored by the N.W. Powered Parachute Coalition.  These webinars will be no cost to club members and will offer an opportunity for a monthly training session hosted by our N.W. PPC instructors and WPPA.  If you are particularly interested in a specific topic email me at maas0755@comcast.net
2. Winter webinar specifically for instructors and prospective instructors who want to affiliate with the Western Powered Parachute Association.  We will talk and plan for how we want to operate this coming year and will invite potential new CFIs to join us.
3. More Discover Powered Parachuting courses will be schedule this coming season.  These are full half day sessions to supplement the brief discovery flight experience.  Our first session sponsored by Central Washington Powered Parachutes in Quincy this season brought 12 prospective pilots to us and resulted in several who signed on to advanced training.
4. Six Chuter Inc. celebrates 20 Years in 2010 and will sponsor the “20^th Annual Memorial Day Rally” this year.  Based on current planning we will be back at twin firs turf farm in May 2010.
5. Another Western Regional PPC Competition is being discussed.  WPPA sponsored and hosted the 2004 western Regionals and it seems time for another.  There is a lot to consider, but we are serious about putting it together.
6. Fractional Ownership Clubs are being discussed among a few business partners.  These would be clubs in three locations around the Pacific N.W., that would allow an entrance point for prospective pilots and owners who aren’t quite ready to step up to owning their own ppc.  We are in very early planning for clubs with two ppcs at each location in the Portland-Vancouver, Arlington and Quincy areas.
7. A full season of rallies is of course being planned by the N.W. Powered Parachute Coalition.  Partly based on this year’s success in Madras, the club is considering adding a Central Oregon rally to the already packed schedule.
8. Sport Pilot Academy continues to evolve with more and more resources and training available on line. http://sportpilotu.com/

 Needless to say, many of us will be busy trying to keep the activity rolling and to plan for yet another banner year in 2010.

 The Training Corner How High (low) Can I fly?

 I want to spend a little time this month discussing altitudes for three reasons:

1.  The issue of “minimum altitudes” seems to be one of the most confusing issues for new sport pilot candidates and even for experienced pilots during their flight review.
2. A recent “complaint” was received about low flying over an Oregon State Park.  This spurred a lively discussion about what is legal and what is “right”.
3. And finally, the most serious incident of this year’s ppc season was the result of flying low…and into a power line.

 First let’s just examine what the FARs says.  When we are testing candidates and ask a variety of “how high must you fly” questions many candidates often revert to the answer “500’ “. When prompted “is that your final answer”, I sometimes then get “no it could be 1000’ “.  So in many cases we look this one up.  And the answer is that “it depends” on where you are, e.g. a) “anywhere”, b) congested areas, or c) sparsely populated areas.

§ 91.119   Minimum safe altitudes: General.

Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:

(a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.

(b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.

(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

So indeed out in the “hinterlands” of Steve Camp’s Palouse country and of course many other areas that we fly, it is perfectly legal to skim the land at 10’ or even less.  It may not be totally smart, nonetheless legal.  And when we approach persons, vehicles, vessels or structures while flying nap of the earth we are required legally to skirt that object by 500’.

 The congested area rule requires you to pull out a sectional chart and locate obstacles, usually marked with the upside down blue V indicating tower or obstruction and then looking closely to find the “agl” (above ground level) altitude of an obstacle that is within 2000’ horizontal ft of where you intend to fly and then adding 1000’ to that (at minimum!).  So read that carefully and understand that it is not just an automatic 1000’

 Next with regard to “noise sensitive areas”, we often analyze this requirement by looking for designated wilderness areas on the map and assuming it is only there that we are required to maintain a minimum of 2000’ agl.  This one honestly doesn’t seem to come up often. But we received an email complaint recently from a hiker near Smith Rock State Park in Madras.  The complaint was about an allegedly low flying powered parachute creating noise and disturbing hikers.  We had some lively response about our rights to occupy the air, but regardless of those valid points it is important to know what the requirement is.  Here is some guidance from CFI Jim Groebner (aka Grubby):

 I’m thinking ignoring the 2000 AGL thing and arguing about it is a losing proposition.  And its not just national parks – any noise-sensitive area (below).

 All darned good advice in my instruction book.

 And finally, one of our very experienced pilots had the misfortune of running into a power line on approach to, or flying near the Brownsville rally field.  The result was some minor injuries to pilot and passenger and a severely mangled aircraft. We have written rather extensively about low flying or “nap of the earth” as it is sometimes referred to.  And there is no need to try to beat up on what happened.  So just a reminder of some points to consider: (not all applicable in the case of the Brownsville incident)…

 Regardless of whether you can fly nap of the earth legally, consider what you want to do from a safety perspective.

1. Do not fly nap of the earth unless you are thoroughly familiar with that area, and then only after you have made high passes to insure that nothing has changed.
2. Consider “low level” flying which is a consistent altitude that does not require constant climbing and descending.  “Nap of the earth” implies that you are trying to follow earth contours.  The result of that can be excessive sink rates and “controlled flight into terrain”.
3. If you see poles….assume there are wires between them!  Power lines are nearly impossible to see from the air.
4. Don’t fly over anything that you can’t land on safely.
5. Don’t fly low.  Stay high and safe!

 BEGINNING POWERED PARACHUTING

Our first ever “Beginning Powered Parachuting” Class is scheduled for August 15 at Twin Firs Turf Farm, Quincy Washington on August 15^th. The next one is scheduled this week for October 10^th with follow on solo training course on October 24^th.  Sponsored and organized by Tim Vedder of Central Washington Powered Parachutes, this is a unique approach to recruiting new prospective pilots to the sport.  Class participants will spend a morning with our CFI team of Mike Lersbak and Doug Maas and will participate in a discovery flight lesson, a one-hour classroom session introducing powered parachutes and training requirements, and then join us for a barbecue lunch provided by the Boy Scouts of America.  Participants will also receive a course completion certificate and a “low and slow” T Shirt.  This first session was limited to 12 participants and was full within 48 Hrs. of posting information on the class!  If you know of others who would like to experience a similar class, ask them to read about the course at http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=908  or contact Doug Maas at maas0755@comcast.net .  Based on the success of this session we will plan more in the future at this location and others around the Pacific Northwest.

 ACCELERATED FLIGHT TRAINING

Our 4 day student pilot or ultralight pilot course has been our most popular this year.  We have graduated over a dozen thus far and continue to have folks sign up.  This course is made more popular because we are hosting it with the help of Central Washington Powered Parachutes in Quincy, Washington, as well as at our primary accelerated training location at Arlington.  As the training season nears end of summer we will increasingly be “stretched” to accommodate the training load in this class.  If you have folks who are interested in signing up for the course have them contact Doug at maas0755@comcast.net ASAP.

 Road Map to Staying Connected

 WPPA BULLETIN If you want to receive regular information about the sport, events, training and news on the West Coast, you will receive this bulletin.  If you have someone who would like to join this bulletin list steer him or her directly to http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=259.  You will find a page to download the most current training catalogue and a “news” form on the lower right hand side of the page.  Fill that out to automatically receive the monthly news.

 EAA ULTRALIGHT CHAPTER 127 If you want to network directly with other PPC enthusiasts in the Northwest, check out the N.W. Powered Parachute Coalition at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nwpoweredparachutecoalition/

 SIX CHUTER OWNERS If you own a Six Chuter powered parachute join the Six Chuter Owner’s Website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sixchuterowners/ Just go to the site and “request to join”.  This site provides an exclusive site where Six Chuter owners can access resources specific to their powered parachutes, and exchange ideas among other owners.

 If you want to receive free regular information on Six Chuter Inc. powered parachutes you may receive a monthly free E-bulletin from Six Chuter.  If you are not receiving this bulletin already go to this site and sign the “news” form on lower right hand side of the page. http://sixchuterwest.com/  

 PPC SALES If you are in the market for a new or used powered parachute and would like to review monthly classifieds and other information about aircraft and support services check out http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=8 

 PPC ACCESSORIES If you are shopping for powered parachute accessories up to and including canopies, go to https://1spa.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp  

• MAINTENANCE If you need service on your Rotax engine there are three authorized Rotax service stations in the region:
  • Portland-Vancouver Vancouver Ultralight Services, Rolando Santiago 360 904 8766 http://sixchuterwest.com/?page_id=294
  • Eastern Washington-Oregon Freedom Aerosports LLC, Steve Camp, sbcamp@wildblue.net 5095493321 www.freedomaerosports.com  
  • Puget Sound- http://www.rainierultralightengines.com/ Clyde Poser Phone: 253-447-4398 Tech support: tech@rainierultralightengines.com Information: info@rainierultralightengines.com
  • Portland-Vancouver Perry Robertson, CFI, Repairman, Troutdale, OR 503 913-8536 perrobertson@comcast.net HTTP://www.p3-sports.com

 SPORT PILOT TRAINING AND TESTING

If you are not receiving the monthly Student-Testing supplement from WPPA and would like to, email Doug Maas at westernppa@comcast.net  this report tracks our students, our testing schedule and instructor assignments. If you would like to receive a copy of “Sport Pilot Maneuvers” you can request a copy from the same email address or download from the “files” section of the club website.  Go to the WPPA website www.westernppa.org to download the current year training catalogue and find other resources