Six Chuter West LLC

Western Powered Parachute News October 2009

by DougMaas on Oct.04, 2009, under Powered Parachute News, Training News, WPPA News

 wppa 2009 no backfill

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.  

First of all, and more important than anything else, we met some great folks.  We really appreciate how we were welcomed as part of the NW family of PPCers.  I only wish we could have met everybody.  

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.  

Mike Bird is a PPC tour guide extraordinaire.  His pre-arrangements with the airports, the maps he prepared for us and sent out, his list of contact phone numbers – he did all of these things for us and more.  He even met Suzi and me at a street corner in Kamiah on his scooter to then lead us to the airport.  Plus he was fun to fly with.  Thanks again, Mike.

And how about the weather you guys provided for us.  The “official” start of the caravan was on August 21.  Someone in our group flew every single day of the trip (I personally missed two days of flying due to too-good-of pre-flights and finding something that just wasn’t right!)  Plus on our way home we picked up another couple of flights.  Suzi and I flew in 12 different locations and 7 different states.  We skipped Wyoming both going and coming home, but in the RV parks in Rawlins on the way out and in Casper on the way back, we both were looking at the trees saying, “We could fly!”  

We enjoyed every site – Bonneville Skybase; Winnemucca, NV; Burns, OR; Madras, OR; Brownsville, OR; McMinnville, OR; Tillamook, OR; Arlington, WA, Lacrosse, WA, and Kamiah, ID.  My personal top three were Steve and Becky Camp’s at Lacrosse, Madras, and McMinnville.  I would expound upon each place we flew if I had time.

Of interest – one person we met thought “Vie” was a woman.  So my nickname (Suzi gave it to me) was a bit misleading.  I was surprised that several folks did not realize that we did the web site, www.ppcpilot.com

You folks are very fortunate to live in an area with such beautiful country to fly over.  We’ve been a lot of places.  We will never forget all the great folks we met, the hospitality and welcome you showed us and the wonderful flying that we experienced.  Thank you all again.  If you are ever in Kansas, you all have a place to stay and a place to fly.  Take care and fly smiling,  Bill 

 

 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 “20th 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).

7. DEFINITION

 

. For the purposes of this AC, an area is “noise-sensitive” if noise interferes with normal activities associated with the area’s use. Examples of noise-sensitive areas include residential, educational, health, and religious structures and sites, and parks, recreational areas (including areas with wilderness characteristics), wildlife refuges, and cultural and historical sites where a quiet setting is a generally recognized feature or attribute.

One of those you don’t want to argue with – just shines the light brighter and they’ll find some other thing to hit you with.

 


 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 15th. The next one is scheduled this week for October 10th with follow on solo training course on October 24th.  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  

 

 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

Comments are closed.

Looking for something?

Use the form below to search the site:

Still not finding what you're looking for? Drop a comment on a post or contact us so we can take care of it!

Visit our friends!

A few highly recommended friends...

Archives

All entries, chronologically...