13 November, 2011

Went Paramotoring on Saturday.

My friends house in a nearby valley. 

Impofu Dam from 2Km NE and 300m up.

On Saturday afternoon I had a quick (1Hour) paramotor flight. My wife went to a friend's birthday and I was supposed to fix the roof. Guess what, as soon as she left, I left too. And no, I did not go up on the roof - I went somewhat higher, much higher :-) 
The takeoff was a bit dodgy due to my chronic unfitness. Once in the air I realized the speed bar was still locked behind the leg straps. I guess I was to keen (hasty) to get up. I wanted to fly to the Impofu dam for a picture session but the wind was coming directly from the said dam, which meant I reeeeally needed that speed bar. To deploy it though, I had to undue my leg straps. Not a wise move considering the air was a bit rough at times. However, all went well and on half bar I was doing about 28-30Km/h against the wind. At that speed I will be at the said dam, in 20 or so minutes. The Impofu dam is only 10Km from my TO. However, the closer I got to it, the stronger the wind got (and rough). I did not want to push my luck twice on the same flight and about 2KM from the dam I decided to get out of there. I flew to a friend's house where the air was much calmer (and warmer). After that I got low over a nearby wildlife sanctuary where I saw some bush buck. A pity the camera's battery did not hold up. Never the less, a nice 1hour flight. And yeah, it was much better then fixing the roof :-)
P.S. The landing was much better then the takeoff.