Nov 30/12 – Stan working on his license

Stan came to me partially trained in USA with 2 flights on his belt. He is now working on his Canadian license.

Here are some excerpts from his log:

Powered training 2:30 to 5 pm – 6 flights, all reverse inflation, first 3 in bumpy conditions, tried inflate with trims and half position – corrected, flight 2 could not get in seat – seat adjusted, flight 4 – too much flare – corrected, all take off good, failed 4 forward launches,

Powered training 3  to 5 pm – 8 flights, all reverse – even in very low wind, holding A lines under other lines – corrected,  all take off good, all landinggs good, Fl;are not very smooth – corrected

Powered training 1  to 3:30 pm – 6 flights, all reverse – even in very low wind, Glidser does not work well in low wind situation, I have accidentally shut of fuel supply, forced landing handled well, one one landing Stan did not get out of seat and hit ground with frame hard, practiced tight turns,

 Ground handling   First solo flight

  Getting ready   Prep

Nov 27/12 – Greg, PPG course day two

Very cold day. Worked on forward inflations, the wind picked up so we have mastered reverse inflation and reverse kiting skills. After 3 hrs Greg was ready for first solo flight. Forward inflation, great take off, no problem flying and very good landing. Perhaps bit too close to the bushes at the north side of the runway. I expected big celebration and happiness after first solo but Greg was not feeling well – he has problems with motion sickness so he was not feeling well. We have decided to sleep on this first flight.  We are planing  to fly on Friday so I will keep you posted. It would be too bad if Greg could not fly PPG because of this – he is definitely above average and would for sure enjoy this sport.
  Forward ground handling   First solo flight

  Great reverse ground handling skills in high winds

First solo flight after only 5 hrs of ground school and 5 hours of practical training. Very well done Greg – congratulations!

Nov 21/12 – Cayuga Island

I visited my buddy Chris and we had great flight from near his house on Cayuga Island. Nigara Falls, NY.

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Nov 20/12 – Greg starts his PPG course

Completed ground school in am – issued SPP.  Worked on forward inflations as winds were light. After 1 hour Greg was able to inflate the paraglider with motor on his back. He is “natural” and will fly soon.


Nov 15/12 – Garry, PPG course day 3

Very nice day BUT no wind. Worked on forward inflations.  It is a slow go. Almost there but no cigar as Garry says.


  

Nov 14/12 – Garry, PPG course day two.

Again very cold day. Worked on forward inflations as winds were light. Practiced riding trike. At the end Garry was able to inflate the paraglider with motor on his back. He will fly soon.


  Taxiing
  Practice runs

Nov 13/12 – Garry started his PPG course today.

We have completed ground school, issued SPP and put in 2 hrs of ground handling. Garry managed quite few forward inflations with pretty good control afterwards. It was cold!

Nov 12/12 – Switch to Apple – no updates for while.

I needed new laptop and I have decided that I will switch to Apple. I can’t seem to find any wyswig html editors in App store so this update is from my ancient laptop. So what is new? Both Anton and Bryan did very well in the course. Anton had 25 flights and Bryan 11 flight after 5 days of training. The weather turned bad on Thursday and both Anton and Bryan needed to be back home on Friday so that was it for this course. Bryan did not rush, he already has his private pilot license

Here is note from Anton:

—– Original Message —–

  • From: Anton
  • To: Andre Zeman
  • Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2012 12:51 PM
  • Subject: Thank-you

Andre,

Thanks so much for the amazing PPG course.  There were times when I wondered if I should give up but you were there with great feedback, reminders of how there are things out of our control, and realistic perspectives on ones progress.  That really helped me relax, slow down, and enjoy the doing.

If I was to leave a note for your future students I’d say this; exercise like crazy starting three months before your PPG lessons to get in shape.  It will allow you to practice twice as much and that means you’ll learn that much faster. If you are looking for specifics then over three months work up to at least regular endurance running (5mph x 30min) with regular runners, sprinting (10mph x 30sec) and leg-ups(30) with heavy boots on.

Looking back on what I learnt from you I have a hard time believing just how much you taught us and how much stuck in such a short time!  I’m definitely going to recommend you as an instructor to my Peterborough peeps who sat on the sidelines dreaming of the someday that they start PPG.

Keep in touch,

Anton

Peterborough, ON

Anton take off.