"Why I love my Powered Parachute"

FIRST, YOU NEED TO STRONGLY AGREE THAT THE JOURNEY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAT THE DESTINATION.

Why? Because the PPC* is not designed – by any stretch of the imagination – to get you from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’. It is NOT designed to transport you between locations. It is designed however to allow you to experience the most pleasurable sensations while airborne – through all your senses: physically, mentally and yes, even spiritually. How does it accomplish the stimulation of these senses?

By allowing you the time to focus on the area, the terrain, the scenarios etc. below.

By being easy enough to fly, so that you can safely fly and yet still focus on the situations outside of the cockpit.

By removing the primary fear of stalling the aircraft.

By allowing you to safely turn-off the engine and experience the exquisite essence of floating, of sailing through the skies – hearing only the sound of the relative wind.

By removing the need for PIC (Pilot-In-Command) input.

By allowing me to easily transport the aircraft to multiple flight locations – and no crew is needed

By allowing you to re-live those fabulous childhood flying dreams.

(*Note: PPC is the standard abbreviation for Powered ParaChute.)

Let me expand on the above concepts…

The powered parachute – depending on your gross weight and the design of your wing – will usually have an airspeed of 26 to 32 mph. This relatively very slow airspeed allows you the time to see – really see – the terrain beneath you, to observe the wildlife, and to absorb some of our Earth’s incredible geology.

Seeing the land from a 3-dimensional aircraft gives you a whole new perspective of the beauty that surrounds us.

And as a side note to this facet of the PPC, it should be noted, that I have never flown an aircraft more suited to Search & Rescue events.

The PPC is intuitive to humans in its flight characteristics. You push right – to go right. You push left – to go left. You increase throttle to rise. You decrease throttle to descend. This is aircraft simplicity at it finest. The PPC really permits you to ‘fly-by-the-seat-of-you-pants’. After 2 weeks or less of flying a PPC, you no longer think about how to fly – you just focus on where to fly, and the aircraft moves there!

WARNING!

But please, do not be fooled or fall to complacency with the ease of flying the PPC. Many instructors will boast that they can solo you in 1 to 3 hours. Perhaps this is true, given the simplicity of the aircraft’s control. However, please note there is far more to flying any aircraft then flying when conditions are perfect and Murphy’s Law has left the area. Please never be content on only knowing how to fly under ideal conditions! There is a saying among Flight Instructors: "Students are given a bag of luck as they are taught to fly. The trick is to fill the student’s bag with knowledge, skill & experience before the luck runs out!"

The flight design characteristics of the PPC lend themselves to being stall resistant. (I cannot say stall proof – and we will discuss this in a future article.)

The PPC will resist stalls, whether the engine is running or not. Why? Because the primary airspeed of the PPC is not based on the thrust of the engine, but the gross weight of the aircraft. (Note: the drag of the wing also has a direct relationship to the airspeed of the PPC – but to keep from digressing from my point, I will expand on this thought in a later article).

Therefore, as long as you retain some weight while airborne – i.e., no extreme diets or calisthenics while you’re Pilot-In-Command – then you will retain your airspeed, regardless of the engine’s RPM’s or lack-of RPM’s. The pendulum design of the PPC is a very stable platform!

As just mentioned above in #3, the PPC does not need the engine to maintain its airspeed. As a matter of fact, not only will you maintain your airspeed during an engine out, but the aircraft will also be easier to maneuver. Why? Because you will no longer be fighting the torque of the engine or the ‘P’-factor, and you will not have to tune out the noise of the engine.

So where does flight with an engine off put you: Into a near spiritual state - well, at least for me. (And since it is me writing this article, it is mostly my subjective views that you get to read.) It just doesn’t matter how irritating the Wife & Kids have been; if you put me in a PPC at 4000 – 5000 AGL; shut-off my engine and let me float down. Well, by the time I flare to my landing – I am a happy boy – stress is gone – life is good again!

Is it truly spiritual? Now then, I am not a traditionally religious man (I don’t go to church every Sunday) but honestly, I sometimes feel like I can touch the face of GOD when I fly a PPC – engine-out!

The PPC does NOT require PIC input to fly. In fact, there are actual cases where a PPC has taken off by itself & flown the skies for extended periods – without any occupants – when a throttle was mistakenly pushed and/or precautions to secure the aircraft to the ground where overlooked.

And to further emphasize this point, the PPC also does not require PIC input to correct flight turbulence or correct Pilot erroneous actions. The best corrective action for a new PPC pilot is to let go of all the controls when turbulence (whether Pilot induced or weather created) is encountered. The pendulum design of the PPC will automatically correct the flight situation and stabilize the flight path!

I really hate having to be dependant on other humans. That is why I also love this aspect of the PPC. It compacts nicely. It will easily fit on a small trailer, or even in the back of a pickup truck. (Heck, the original Paraplane even folded-up to fit in the trunk of a car.) This makes the PPC very easy to transport to various beautiful locations.

Also the PPC requires no crew to take it from the trailer, through preflight, to becoming airborne. (Note: I am not advocating that pilots fly alone in new territory. There is still safety in numbers. I am only stating that I love the freedom to fly without the need of others.)

You remember those dreams – don’t you? Those great dreams that allow you to just jump face forward and think to fly. You usually fly about 1-5 feet above the ground – just thinking to fly left or right. (Come-on, I know a lot of associates claim that I have a mental sickness, but surely I am not the only one that has had these dreams!) Anyway, the relatively slow airspeed of the PPC gives you the opportunity to safely fly low. You have plenty of time to observe your surroundings for obstacles. You can safely glide over and follow the path of a dirt road just a few feet about the ground. Or come down and smell the unique aroma of an alfalfa field, just freshly cut.

So, do you have an image now of a powered parachute filling your senses? And are you beginning to realize why I love this aircraft?

Now, before we get to much further in the world of powered parachuting, let’s put together the image of what a PPC is.

Well, a PPC is an ultralight vehicle that allows the common man to fulfill the dream to fly! There are only 2-control axis (Pitch: up & down and Yaw: right & left) to control the PPC. The average speed of a PPC is only around 30 mph, and it does NOT need the engine to safely fly or land.  It has a flexible wing – some call it a canopy or chute or parachute. The wing is created as the cart is initially pushed forward by the thrust of the propeller and thus pulls the canopy forward and up, allowing it to be filled with air – changing the canopy into a ram-air wing. The wing then generates lift for the craft. The craft, once airborne, hangs in a pendulum design under the fabric wing.

Once the craft leaves the ground in its pendulum configuration:

The RPM of the engine is then used to change the angle of attack or pitch (causing the PPC to climb and/or descend)

The foot rudder bars or foot pedals are used to create drag on the respective trailing edges of the wing causing the wing to turn, and

The airspeed of the craft is then maintained by its gross weight and the drag of the wing

The initial ground thrust to build the wing and create the initial speed to generate lift is usually produced by a 2-cycle engine. This engine sits in the rear of the cart. The cart is usually built from aircraft aluminum and sometimes includes chrom-moly frame-rails. The cart will have one or two seats. The two seat design may be tandem (like on a motorcycle), side by side or the seats may be separated front to back.

A student can become a competent safe pilot in a fun-filled 3-day course.

The stability & high safety record of the PPC comes from the pendulum design of the aircraft.  The hardest part of learning to fly a PPC is controlling the unit while it is on the ground.  Once you are airborne in a PPC, you just need to avoid complacency (and high tension wires). Not only could a paraplegic easily fly the PPC, but while airborne, even a blind person could safely fly this pendulum aircraft at altitude in vacant air space!

In summary, it is simply the best way to safely 'Sail-the-Skies'!

Greetings, my name is Frederick and I am beginning a new series of instructional articles about the powered parachute. And since these articles are obviously going to be coming from my experiences and the information interpreted through my background (and perhaps unfortunately) my personality (that desires to be humorous), I thought it may be best to end this first article with a little bit of information about myself.

First let’s get the "Frederick" thing out of the way. I don’t go by "Frederick" to sound European or even sophisticated (although that would be nice). The reason I use Frederick – instead of the more common ‘Fred’ – is because I am the third in a series of "Fred’s". And to avoid confusion at Sunday dinner at Grand Mom’s – GrandDad went by "Fritz", my Dad took "Fred" and I only wanted my Mom to call me "Freddy" – so I took Frederick.

Next let’s take a quick look at my background… I am the CEO of SkyTrails Ranch, Inc. Dr. Paul Gooch and I started SkyTrails Ranch, Inc. in 1999 with one primary purpose: To create a greater number of safe & knowledgeable PPC pilots, which are less prone to complacency, and thus pilot error.

Back in college, while still in my graduate Psychology program, I was pulled into the computer industry in the late 70's by an evil aerospace company that offered me way-to-much money to program a robotics system.  And with the passing of time (and some computer BS - note that is not a degree) I became a Computer Systems Analyst - for 17 years. Now however, I have traded income (and stress) for my love of flight. I now work full-time, year-round training powered parachute pilots and sharing the experience of safe ultralight flight. I have invested a significant effort to establish SkyTrails Ranch as the best training facility for PPC’s.

As reflected in my book: "The PPC Guide & Training manual", I have a strong love for the freedom of flight - especially flight by "the-seat-of-your-pants". I have a record that shows that I am more than willing to help and support the people and businesses of the local communities as well. Currently the Sheriff’s Search & Rescue Department calls on the volunteered services of my company and its associates whenever the need arises. And the local Charities can consistently count on SkyTrails Ranch, Inc. to aid in their fund raising events.

SkyTrails Ranch, Inc. has acquired a reputation in the powered parachute world for the highest quality of PPC training (in spite of my sense of humor). And as the Southwest representation of NAPPF (the North American Powered Parachute Federation) I benefit the member pilots via my experiences flying & training ultralight pilots in the deserts, mountains, and canyons of the colorful southwestern U.S.A.

To write these articles, I rely on the hundreds of training hours here at SkyTrails Ranch, and on my observations of PPC pilots at the small and large fly-in’s around the country. I also (for tax deduction reasons) depend-on the information I gather from other Instructors and experienced PPC pilots at the fly-in’s social gathering holes (bars, campfires, restaurants, etc). (I have been very fortunate to have met, and now to call my friends, some of the best pilots and instructors throughout North America. Note: I would at this point introduce some "name-dropping", but I am not sure at this early point in my writing career, if this process would help or hurt my egocentric image.)

Obviously there are going to be many Instructor techniques and approaches to teaching flight tasks and concepts. So please, as you hopefully continue to read my articles from both the Student and Instructor viewpoints, you will remember that my approach may be the BEST approach – but it is not the ONLY approach that works! (OK, OK – already I have to remind you to "lighten-up" – you have got to remember that sense of Humor thing.)

Indeed, I will lean heavily on the techniques that work with real students (as opposed to our simulated students) here at the Ranch. Keeping that in mind, if there is any association made between the ‘pretend’ names that I makeup for examples in my text and real human PPC pilots – that association is absolutely a coincidence. [Note: I would never use the real names of my former students in these articles, unless I know they have left the country and will not have a chance to read this or they have lost the desire to read any magazine when it has pictures or they pay me to have their name in "print".]

I do not intend to make these articles items that you can quote from (in spite of my ego); I only intend to share ideas and experiences. If you have had problems teaching or learning a specific flight tasks or would like me to address a PPC training issue, please feel free to express your thoughts to me via email at Info@SkyTrailsRanch.com.

Until next time…keep preparing for the possible and remember that the easiest way to solve a problem is by avoiding it!

Frederick is the CEO & lead AFI of SkyTrails Ranch, Inc. – a full-time, year-round PPC training center in the beautiful color country of southern Utah.

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