If he flies over the center a dried lake bed at dawn on a calm day so he can land in any direction, has a vario so he can set his decent rate for landing, he can probably do it without crashing.
But why is he so bored with his PPC that he has to resort to such a stunt to keep things interesting?
Hey CBurg, I think it would be good if you could "EDIT" the title of this page so that any visitors to AllTrikes can see immediately this is not a trike. It's a PPC (or Powered ParaChute). Seems to, unfortunately, fit in with a different mind set among too many in the PPC / PPG crowd (see Owl Kicking, upsetting the entire Oregon Coastline, etc).
So, a HG or trike pilot does his/her preflight (including the wing) before getting in the trike / HG. Whereas, a Paraglider (or PPG / PPC) must do at least part of their pre-flight when the wing pops up (look for line twists, cravats, etc) before continuing takeoff. You can't pre-flight this wing blindfolded.
IF it's in a no-wind situation the wing may popup in perfect shape the majority of the time (if there's some air currents, it will be less likely). So, voting "Can he do it?" I'd say probably "Yes" he's got a moderately decent chance of survival statistically of getting in the air without crashing. The question really should be, "SHOULD he do it?" I'd say definitely NO! Can he land also? -- that's a lot harder. It's actually not too hard to get most aircraft into the air, getting down safely is the real trick.
In general I feel this is a very bad example for an air sport and I'm really hoping Cburg humors me and makes it clear right in the title that this isn't a trike.
@Jeff_Trike, do you think he's trying, in a misguided way, to show that a PPC is safe & easy to fly? Russian Roulette with 99 empty chambers and 1 bullet is pretty safe, and this may be about that percentage, but it's just not the right way to think about / advertise the odds. (Too many people think 1% chance is ok though-- they say, "I've done that a bunch of times and nothing ever happened to me-- it's safe!"-- Wrong! Getting away with something several times does not equate to safety.)
I don't see it as similar to overcoming odds and fear and climbing Mt. Everest either. In the end, I don't really see the point ... Russian Roulette is not really a skill game and overcoming the odds of a dice roll ... what's the point?
(Sorry I'm frequently very wordy ... I don't mean to monopolize any of the site / convo, nor do I think I'm right, I just like talking about trikes, etc and putting my thoughts and other things out there to bounce off others ... Anyone who's chatted with me here, knows I can type VERY fast too, so it's easy to say a bunch ... I hope it doesn't bother people, and please let me know if it does :-)
The 2nd time I was out at Monument Valley, I heard a GA pilot who was lost on the radio. The sun had just set and he couldn't find the airport and it was getting dark. I heard him on the radio, climbed up high and he spotted my strobes and I led him over the unlighted airstrip. We ate dinner that night and told me he also flew a PPC. He was joking about all the times he "rolled" his PPC on landing and asked me if I ever rolled my trike. I said, "No, I try to avoid that." I couldn't believe it, I guess its no big deal to roll a PPC. I guess that's why they have the cage around the propeller. So I don't see how landing blindfolded would be much worse than rolling your PPC on landing.
i just don't see the point ? how do you demonstrate safety by doing something unsafe. if it goes well he didn't prove anything . if it goes badly it hurts us all. as far as my own opinion ppc are very safe if you fly it in perfect unchanging conditions but as far as we all know that is not the norm. my choice would be a far 103 or soaring trike in light conditions and if you get in a little rougher air your flying something that can handle it.dont really think the guys doing anything wrong maybe just trying to grab a little attention we all do that to some degree.
No human or electronic equipment to help him. IFR without the "I" or safety pilot. Found these quotes on his website:
"I love flying with my Feather Powered Parachute. The range of emotions you go through is amazing. There’s anticipation before the flight… a mix of fear and thrill during the take-off… relief and relaxation in the air and a challenge during the landing."
"After 15 years of flying, I realized flying can be safe, however, most of my friends think otherwise. I was always telling them that I could fly my Powered Parachute with my eyes closed, and after a while it turned from a joke to an obsession."
"My goal is to perform a complete flight while blindfolded, that includes preparing the parachute, take off, reach 500 feet height and land without any additional instructions or directions related to the flight."
"After doing some research, I found that this has never been done before so I decided to take on the challenge of setting a new world record. I will prepare and fly my Feather Powered Parachute without a safety co-pilot or any sensors or computers that can guide me on my speed or altitude."
His PPC had an interesting set of huge wheels tilted somewhat under the carriage- that look like (and have scratches to prove it?) a method for setting the PPC down on the wheels more evenly?
Pointless stunt with no concern for what message this might send to others. Given 2nd quote above, it appears this individual is trying to draw attention or simply prove what he has been bragging about. Can it be done in a PPC with right conditions and setting? probably. If he claims he will go to at least 500agl then he probably has a vario or audible sensor unless he knows his climb rate at WOT and simply counts the seconds. IMO, of all the senses the most valuable one to a pilot is the ability to "see". Other senses can not really make up for lost sight in piloting. I hope no one tries to duplicate what he attempts to do.
Here is another of his videos flying in and around echo bay and valley of fire, near lake mead, Nevada. It's a pretty picturesque video. I don't know much about ppc, but I was intrigued by the landing. Seems a bit like a controlled crash, even without the blindfold. Just wonder if that type of wheel lacks directionality or ???
EDITING: Hi CBurg and everyone, most posts can be "Edited"-- if it is your post, and you are trying to edit the Title, or main attributes of the post, the "Edit" link is near the top, just under the title in light grey, to the left of the thumbs up and down buttons. It it is a comment you are trying to edit, the "Edit Comment" link is in blue immediately under your comment.
"HELP" in the blue menu bar at the top, has a lot of information and power user tips.
BTW Cburg mentioned "Moderator" initially. The members (including CBurg :) on this site are the Moderators- using thumbs up / thumbs down (thumbs down are anonymous) or "Report This" or anonymous posting feature (see all of this in "Help"), and your demeanor, etc. AllTrikes is VERY proud to say that no moderating has been needed, never seen mean spirited comments- everyone works to just get along and talk about trikes. That keeps more people posting and asking questions without being afraid. It stays inclusive and interesting. It looks like the benevolent tone has really been set here and the membership is now large enough to reinforce that behavior-- It's up to you!!! It's your site!
"Admin" here just pays the bills and keeps things running.
Message Admin publicly or privately at anytime with any questions or concerns.
AllTrikes.com: Your POWERFUL site for friendly, Trikes, Trike Flying, Trike Pilots, Weight Shift Control Aircraft, WSC, Lightsport, Ultralights, Powered Hang Gliders, Microlights, and a whole lot more.
I was wondering about those wierd looking disks by his wheels. His PPC has regular wheels. I wondered if the disks were some sort of float or ski? Or maybe they are some sort of training wheel to keep the PPC from rolling. They sure have a lot of scuff marks on them.
Yeah, Jeff, that's what I think those wheel/disk things are. Maybe DuckWalk preventers !!! ;)
We talked about "safe," how about legal? The more I think about it, this just can't be legal (FAA / FAR) and I can't see how Guinness is going to condone a first record- What, then other people are challenged to go farther and higher blindfolded to beat it? How can the description below be legal to perform (perhaps if he was below 50 feet?)
"this has never been done before [should be a big hint] ... I will prepare and fly my Feather Powered Parachute without a safety co-pilot or any sensors or computers that can guide me on my speed or altitude. ... perform a complete flight while blindfolded, that includes preparing the parachute, take off, reach 500 feet height and land without any additional instructions or directions related to the flight."
The dry lake is a public recreation area (under Las Vegas Class B shelf!)- how can the public be kept safe? Will he have people shoot him down if he goes outside a cordoned off area? Maybe the FAA will require the same restrictions and buffer zones as at an Airshow-- he might try at a deserted airfield and he needs the $$ donations for security? But how is he going to explain to the FAA how he will know where he is within the box? Radio spotters that stay silent until he busts the box?
And I had these thoughts on these parts of his quotes:
"… a mix of fear and thrill during the take-off"
How many of you guys are afraid during take off ??!! Something is wrong if you're afraid on takeoff ...
"After 15 years of flying, I realized flying can be safe, however, most of my friends think otherwise."
Maybe HIS friends don't think the flying is unsafe, but the flyer ??
They are actually very roll-over resistant because the undercarriage can move in any direction. Note that very early PPC had rear castering wheels to allow sideways movement.
These weird wheels first came out in the early 90’s as I recall. I’ve always thought they would be good for a helicopter trainer. Dynamic rollover is very common in them, and the ability to move laterally would most often prevent a dynamic rollover.
A few new helicopter designs have front castering wheels instead of skids for this reason.
Lots of Q's: I had heard that a PPC (with fixed wheels) can't land crosswind (but since landing distance is short, can probably land across the runway). Cburg, is that correct? and, I'm not quite understanding if most modern PPCs do or don't have castering wheels (2, 3, or 4?). So PPCs don't roll over often? I've seen videos of them rolling over, I thought it was somewhat common, maybe it was videos of rare events? (like trikes).
A PPG (with legs for landing gear) can land sideways (if the pilot can run sideways).
On my next BFR flight, I have thought about flying using the GPS & compass only with my head down.
It would be safe with the CFI in the backseat covering for me. I have never whited out in a cloud, but have heard enough horror stories. I wonder if I could keep the wings level and fly a constant heading?
Comments
www.theflyingchallenge.com
Here is a youtube video of the proposed adventure
If he flies over the center a dried lake bed at dawn on a calm day so he can land in any direction, has a vario so he can set his decent rate for landing, he can probably do it without crashing.
But why is he so bored with his PPC that he has to resort to such a stunt to keep things interesting?
Poking around on his web site I see he is from Vegas. Maybe I can attend the flight
Seems he'd better do it in Mexico...would leave the FAA no choice but to violate him...
Hey CBurg, I think it would be good if you could "EDIT" the title of this page so that any visitors to AllTrikes can see immediately this is not a trike. It's a PPC (or Powered ParaChute). Seems to, unfortunately, fit in with a different mind set among too many in the PPC / PPG crowd (see Owl Kicking, upsetting the entire Oregon Coastline, etc).
So, a HG or trike pilot does his/her preflight (including the wing) before getting in the trike / HG. Whereas, a Paraglider (or PPG / PPC) must do at least part of their pre-flight when the wing pops up (look for line twists, cravats, etc) before continuing takeoff. You can't pre-flight this wing blindfolded.
IF it's in a no-wind situation the wing may popup in perfect shape the majority of the time (if there's some air currents, it will be less likely). So, voting "Can he do it?" I'd say probably "Yes" he's got a moderately decent chance of survival statistically of getting in the air without crashing. The question really should be, "SHOULD he do it?" I'd say definitely NO! Can he land also? -- that's a lot harder. It's actually not too hard to get most aircraft into the air, getting down safely is the real trick.
In general I feel this is a very bad example for an air sport and I'm really hoping Cburg humors me and makes it clear right in the title that this isn't a trike.
@Jeff_Trike, do you think he's trying, in a misguided way, to show that a PPC is safe & easy to fly? Russian Roulette with 99 empty chambers and 1 bullet is pretty safe, and this may be about that percentage, but it's just not the right way to think about / advertise the odds. (Too many people think 1% chance is ok though-- they say, "I've done that a bunch of times and nothing ever happened to me-- it's safe!"-- Wrong! Getting away with something several times does not equate to safety.)
I don't see it as similar to overcoming odds and fear and climbing Mt. Everest either. In the end, I don't really see the point ... Russian Roulette is not really a skill game and overcoming the odds of a dice roll ... what's the point?
(Sorry I'm frequently very wordy ... I don't mean to monopolize any of the site / convo, nor do I think I'm right, I just like talking about trikes, etc and putting my thoughts and other things out there to bounce off others ... Anyone who's chatted with me here, knows I can type VERY fast too, so it's easy to say a bunch ... I hope it doesn't bother people, and please let me know if it does :-)
The 2nd time I was out at Monument Valley, I heard a GA pilot who was lost on the radio. The sun had just set and he couldn't find the airport and it was getting dark. I heard him on the radio, climbed up high and he spotted my strobes and I led him over the unlighted airstrip. We ate dinner that night and told me he also flew a PPC. He was joking about all the times he "rolled" his PPC on landing and asked me if I ever rolled my trike. I said, "No, I try to avoid that." I couldn't believe it, I guess its no big deal to roll a PPC. I guess that's why they have the cage around the propeller. So I don't see how landing blindfolded would be much worse than rolling your PPC on landing.
i just don't see the point ? how do you demonstrate safety by doing something unsafe. if it goes well he didn't prove anything . if it goes badly it hurts us all. as far as my own opinion ppc are very safe if you fly it in perfect unchanging conditions but as far as we all know that is not the norm. my choice would be a far 103 or soaring trike in light conditions and if you get in a little rougher air your flying something that can handle it.dont really think the guys doing anything wrong maybe just trying to grab a little attention we all do that to some degree.
No human or electronic equipment to help him. IFR without the "I" or safety pilot. Found these quotes on his website:
"I love flying with my Feather Powered Parachute. The range of emotions you go through is amazing. There’s anticipation before the flight… a mix of fear and thrill during the take-off… relief and relaxation in the air and a challenge during the landing."
"After 15 years of flying, I realized flying can be safe, however, most of my friends think otherwise. I was always telling them that I could fly my Powered Parachute with my eyes closed, and after a while it turned from a joke to an obsession."
"My goal is to perform a complete flight while blindfolded, that includes preparing the parachute, take off, reach 500 feet height and land without any additional instructions or directions related to the flight."
"After doing some research, I found that this has never been done before so I decided to take on the challenge of setting a new world record. I will prepare and fly my Feather Powered Parachute without a safety co-pilot or any sensors or computers that can guide me on my speed or altitude."
His PPC had an interesting set of huge wheels tilted somewhat under the carriage- that look like (and have scratches to prove it?) a method for setting the PPC down on the wheels more evenly?
Pointless stunt with no concern for what message this might send to others. Given 2nd quote above, it appears this individual is trying to draw attention or simply prove what he has been bragging about. Can it be done in a PPC with right conditions and setting? probably. If he claims he will go to at least 500agl then he probably has a vario or audible sensor unless he knows his climb rate at WOT and simply counts the seconds. IMO, of all the senses the most valuable one to a pilot is the ability to "see". Other senses can not really make up for lost sight in piloting. I hope no one tries to duplicate what he attempts to do.
I agree w/ ULtrikepilot. While he might have some other goal in mind, I would say a large part of this will be his 15 min of fame.
Agreed...I'll see if I can change the heading...most forums you can't...but I'll try
I can't figure out how to change it. Any suggestions...perhaps the moderator could add "solo a PPC/PPG" since it's sort of inbetween.
Here is another of his videos flying in and around echo bay and valley of fire, near lake mead, Nevada. It's a pretty picturesque video. I don't know much about ppc, but I was intrigued by the landing. Seems a bit like a controlled crash, even without the blindfold. Just wonder if that type of wheel lacks directionality or ???
EDITING: Hi CBurg and everyone, most posts can be "Edited"-- if it is your post, and you are trying to edit the Title, or main attributes of the post, the "Edit" link is near the top, just under the title in light grey, to the left of the thumbs up and down buttons. It it is a comment you are trying to edit, the "Edit Comment" link is in blue immediately under your comment.
"HELP" in the blue menu bar at the top, has a lot of information and power user tips.
Cake!
Admin...Nice set-up. Most other forums can't do it.
BTW Cburg mentioned "Moderator" initially. The members (including CBurg :) on this site are the Moderators- using thumbs up / thumbs down (thumbs down are anonymous) or "Report This" or anonymous posting feature (see all of this in "Help"), and your demeanor, etc. AllTrikes is VERY proud to say that no moderating has been needed, never seen mean spirited comments- everyone works to just get along and talk about trikes. That keeps more people posting and asking questions without being afraid. It stays inclusive and interesting. It looks like the benevolent tone has really been set here and the membership is now large enough to reinforce that behavior-- It's up to you!!! It's your site!
"Admin" here just pays the bills and keeps things running.
Message Admin publicly or privately at anytime with any questions or concerns.
AllTrikes.com: Your POWERFUL site for friendly, Trikes, Trike Flying, Trike Pilots, Weight Shift Control Aircraft, WSC, Lightsport, Ultralights, Powered Hang Gliders, Microlights, and a whole lot more.
COOL!
Thanks Admin...
I was wondering about those wierd looking disks by his wheels. His PPC has regular wheels. I wondered if the disks were some sort of float or ski? Or maybe they are some sort of training wheel to keep the PPC from rolling. They sure have a lot of scuff marks on them.
Yeah, Jeff, that's what I think those wheel/disk things are. Maybe DuckWalk preventers !!! ;)
We talked about "safe," how about legal? The more I think about it, this just can't be legal (FAA / FAR) and I can't see how Guinness is going to condone a first record- What, then other people are challenged to go farther and higher blindfolded to beat it? How can the description below be legal to perform (perhaps if he was below 50 feet?)
"this has never been done before [should be a big hint] ... I will prepare and fly my Feather Powered Parachute without a safety co-pilot or any sensors or computers that can guide me on my speed or altitude. ... perform a complete flight while blindfolded, that includes preparing the parachute, take off, reach 500 feet height and land without any additional instructions or directions related to the flight."
The dry lake is a public recreation area (under Las Vegas Class B shelf!)- how can the public be kept safe? Will he have people shoot him down if he goes outside a cordoned off area? Maybe the FAA will require the same restrictions and buffer zones as at an Airshow-- he might try at a deserted airfield and he needs the $$ donations for security? But how is he going to explain to the FAA how he will know where he is within the box? Radio spotters that stay silent until he busts the box?
And I had these thoughts on these parts of his quotes:
"… a mix of fear and thrill during the take-off"
How many of you guys are afraid during take off ??!! Something is wrong if you're afraid on takeoff ...
"After 15 years of flying, I realized flying can be safe, however, most of my friends think otherwise."
Maybe HIS friends don't think the flying is unsafe, but the flyer ??
They are actually very roll-over resistant because the undercarriage can move in any direction. Note that very early PPC had rear castering wheels to allow sideways movement.
These weird wheels first came out in the early 90’s as I recall. I’ve always thought they would be good for a helicopter trainer. Dynamic rollover is very common in them, and the ability to move laterally would most often prevent a dynamic rollover.
A few new helicopter designs have front castering wheels instead of skids for this reason.
Flying is never “safe” no matter how many millions your aircraft cost:
http://www.inquisitr.com/1120200/gulfstream-690c-crash-four-dead-after-aircraft-avoids-ymca/
Lots of Q's: I had heard that a PPC (with fixed wheels) can't land crosswind (but since landing distance is short, can probably land across the runway). Cburg, is that correct? and, I'm not quite understanding if most modern PPCs do or don't have castering wheels (2, 3, or 4?). So PPCs don't roll over often? I've seen videos of them rolling over, I thought it was somewhat common, maybe it was videos of rare events? (like trikes).
A PPG (with legs for landing gear) can land sideways (if the pilot can run sideways).
My wife wants me to buy her a PPC…I won’t because they roll over. I would buy one with these wheels. They can move in any direction.
The early castering wheel solution did not seem to solve the problem, and most PPC builders thought they created more problems than they solved.
On my next BFR flight, I have thought about flying using the GPS & compass only with my head down.
It would be safe with the CFI in the backseat covering for me. I have never whited out in a cloud, but have heard enough horror stories. I wonder if I could keep the wings level and fly a constant heading?