UtraFlight magazine <> 2002 February issue

UTAH  Training School  By Irene Byers

What a backdrop for learning to fly a Powered parachute!!!  

SkyTrails Ranch

Amazingly, his wife was not in a total state of shock when he came driving in with two brand new Powered Parachutes and a trailer to cart them around. It was just that his fact-finding mission to Maine with a swing-by into Kansas produced greater results than she had anticipated. Her query about where he got the trailer was answered with, "Well, I needed something to put the planes on."
Important Preflight chute inspection and layout.

"What planes?" she asked. Giving a typical blonde-and-male, no frills reply, Frederick quickly blurted, "Honey, we’re definitely in business now!"

Having an away-from-the-family, high-stress computer systems analyst occupation, Frederick Scheffel didn’t flinch when his optometrist (and now partner, Dr. Paul Gooch) opened his eyes to the PPC light.

"Paul had flown quite a bit. He told me how great it was. And since the stress of the computer industry was hurting my marriage and my kids, I wanted something that I could enjoy as being more important than the money I would make. It just wasn’t important any more," Frederick stated.

Taking the bold step, Frederick, along with Paul, purchased their first PPC in February 1999. He then followed that purchase with his introductory flight in March. His business venture with Gooch began in May that year, after purchasing the Powrachute PPCs.

It’s a wonder the operation sprouted wings at all in light of his miserable first flight. "I

was ready to get out of the plane. The wind was changing directions, gusty and really terrible. I was beginning to have second thoughts," Frederick said.

Letting it settle a bit, Scheffel decided not to renege on this undertaking that would spell more time with family. With a great deal of research across the Ultralight spectrum, Frederick (over lunch with Paul) took the final plunge. SkyTrails Ranch, Inc. took shape as a full-time, year-round PPC training center.

Along with being Powrachute’s Western US distributor, Frederick is bent on providing a training center devoted to "safe Powered Parachute Flight lessons. Along with our highly praised PPC Guide and Training

What a great place to combine a vacation along with PPC training

Manual (and CD), our goal is to become the Training Standard for the industry.

"My beginning training consisted of something like, "Hey, don’t forget to shut off the engine when you come down to land." "No windsock, no radio, no way of communicating with the guy that sent me up in the air. Not a comfortable feeling," he said. With the decision final, Frederick set about developing his training manual. Though intended for the beginner, SkyTrails’ three and four-day sessions have also proven to be valuable instruction for those pilots with over 200 hours. SkyTrails offers BFI refresher courses and BFI checkout flights, as well. The agenda is not just to learn safe flying, but also to acquire information regarding the history of PPC’ing, principles of flight, aerodynamics, FAR 103, weather factors, mechanical aspects, communication, maintenance, emergency procedures, ground maneuvering, and much more than there is room for here.

In addition to his superb manual, Frederick uses videos, slides, a PPC model, many overheads and daily videos of each student’s learnings. This is a good time for immediate feedback and camaraderie-type laughs. Written tests are evaluated immediately for optimum learning.

In Frederick’s words, "Our instructors specialize in getting students safely and confidently into the air. With the attitude that nothing is complicated, that every section can be broken down into simple, easy tasks, our patient instructors take the novice student from the basics to eventual power-out landings and scenic, prepared cross-country flights. All the students say how comfortable it is to go from not knowing anything to doing power-out landings, and what a boost in confidence that is, due to our step-by-step approach."

Conducting his first class in January 2000, Frederick holds the sessions on a field boasting "zero obstacles. It’s a huge 400 acre field with no telephone poles, no houses, nothing at all to intercept. The student can feel total confidence. It’s really comfortable for the instructors, also."

With three AFI/BFI’s and a couple part-time instructors, SkyTrails maintains two students per instructor as its ratio. A minimum of five PPCs are kept on hand at all times for the school.

UltraFlight’s PPC Giveaway winner Fred Wright, from Denver, CO, received his PPC training at SkyTrails in early November 2001, just prior to the Color Country Chute-Out. Joining Wright as students were Betty Pfieffer, of High Energy Sports, and Jim Byers, UltraFlight Magazine publisher.

Betty Pfeiffer is into manufacturing parachutes. She stated, "Since I am building parachutes, I thought it was important to know how to fly them. I had been up in powered parachutes before, but had not flown solo. I was surprised at how much fun it was. The throttle finesse was a whole new dimension to fly, and especially when landing. I mean, I was just grinning.

"I must admit when I looked up at the wing (her own new ‘Eclectic’ wing), I did in my mind say, "Gee, I hope we put all the reinforcements in the wing. I think it is really important to fly under my own product."

 

 

 

Only special, pampered students get pillows!

As a previous hang gliding instructor, Betty paid close attention to SkyTrails’ manner of training. "Frederick’s sequencing, the steps of the training were just wonderful, not overwhelming. It’s a real confidence booster, and he made sure everyone understood what we were doing before we went out to do it."

Touching on Frederick’s sense of humor, Betty said, "What he is doing is very important, especially the safety issues. But he makes it fun. His humor not only helps to remember important parts, but it also gives you a smile. I think he has two strong points — his communication and his emphasis on safety."

So, Betty, how do we remove this lipstick mark?

Since Fred Wright was a total novice to the sport, I was very interested in his perspective of the school. "It was very professional. A lot of my time in the military, I was an instructor. We broke it down — you crawled before you walked, and you walked before you ran. They crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s. SkyTrails did the same. I felt very comfortable.

Paul Gooch shares with Fred Wright on lift-mechanics.

"They babysat me when I needed to be babysat and talked me through everything. They gave me enough rope to go out there and hang myself, so to speak. But I didn’t hang myself. I took the instruction to heart and really concentrated hard. Because you get up there and a lot of adrenalin is going. They constantly harped on safety. It’s a good thing."

Along with its intensive training, SkyTrails offers a garage and storage facility for students’ use during the sessions. Plus, a mechanic is usually available for assembly or repairs. An on-site warehouse stores common parts and supplies that may be needed during training hours.

Betty Pfeiffer listens to instructions for kiting-the-chute.

The three-day training package at $1075 includes the use of in-house Powrachutes, all dual-training flights, solo flights and classroom materials. (Students may bring their own equipment; though Frederick will not train on equipment he is unfamiliar with himself.)

Conducted on the first and third weekends of each month, training days run from Thursday morning through Saturday evening. For an additional $200, the student will enjoy one-on-one attention with an extra four flying hours on Sunday, which includes a scenic cross-country flight over the outstanding color country and unique terrain of southern Utah. Travel and lodging are the only other expenses.

More chute-kiting practice

"Many people like to make a vacation out of our training sessions. If your spouse wants to participate in the training at the same time, we offer their instruction at a reduced price," stated Frederick.

And what a vacation spot it is! SkyTrails Ranch is located in the lower southwest corner of Utah, 90 minutes east of Las Vegas, 90 miles north of the Grand Canyon, and 35 minutes southwest of Zion National Park. Other classic natural sights nearby include Bryce Canyon, Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

In winter, the high desert area offers great snow skiing just one hour north (about 8,000 ft elevation) in Brian Head. Being two miles north of Arizona, St. George lies in the high desert at 2800 ft and rests in a picturesque valley surrounded by impressive sandstone formations. Approximately 20 minutes north and west are the Pine Valley Mountains (over 10,000 ft) which offer cool temperatures in Summer.

As for climate, St. George offers year-round flying with only a skiff of snow in the winter. In the summertime, flying is usually from 6 to 9:30 am with ground school during the heat of the day, followed by flying in the late afternoon hours; whereas, winter temperatures call for ground school in the morning and flying from 2:30 to 5:30 pm.

Spring unfolds with warm breezes and desert flowers. Fall is similar to Spring except with beautiful autumn foliage. Though the summer temperatures range from 95 to 101 degrees Fahrenheit, the low humidity makes these temps manageable. Rainfall averages about eight inches per year.
SkyTrails Ranch Instructors flight test of the new Powrachute

Showing an obvious strong love for PPC flight, both Frederick and Paul are active in their local community and work with the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Department when needed. In addition, the local hospital and police department have free access to the company’s services.

Interwoven with his serious commitment to training is Frederick’s natural, spontaneous sense of humor. "If students have little or no sense of humor, they may want a different school," he said. Perhaps his vast array of experiences has impacted this characterisic — a degree in psychology, his computer related work, and teaching college swimming, snow skiing, tennis, first grade, sixth-eighth grades, business computer classes and some college psych courses.

As for flying, Frederick’s flying ambitions were cut short when his eyes departed the 20-20 range after he entered college in the Air Force ROTC program. Being asked to take the back seat as Navigator (along with his hurt pride) resulted in his quitting the Air Force ROTC program. "However, in retrospect, this probably saved my life, as I would have been destined to Viet Nam as a fighter pilot," he states.

Born in Maryland, Frederick found all roads pointing to Utah with his first visit to St. George in 1971. He finally claimed the area as home in 1993, was married three years later to Soon Jin, and now enjoys his son (Alexander 4) and daughter (Sabrena 2).

In addition to valuing his natural family, Frederick becomes attached to the students who take training at SkyTrails Ranch. "It’s true how people you train become a friend to you. It’s a very close-knit thing." I have a notion that his sense of humor plays a part in the cement that joins them in such a bond.

Summarizing the gist of things at SkyTrails, Frederick added, "Seeing the look of confidence on their faces at the end of the course — it’s amazing, and such a joy for me to share in the student’s achievements! During the two years that we have had the school, we haven’t even had a scraped finger." Just a little manure in the face!! Real manure (only once), at that. (I had to do it, Frederick!)

For more information, contact...

SkyTrails Ranch, Inc.
435 Paintbrush Way
St. George, UT 84790-8320

Phone 435.656.0800 <> Email: info@SkyTrailsRanch.com 

"PPC Guide & Training Manual" is $49

"Sport Pilot-PPC Training Manual" and the "UL-PPC Guide & Training Manual" are
copyright by  SkyTrails Ranch, Inc.

All other products mentioned are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.

Questions or problems regarding this web site should be directed to Info@SkyTrailsRanch.com <> Phone: 435-656-0800
Copyright © 2007 SkyTrails Ranch, Inc. All rights reserved.
Last modified: Friday May 30, 2008.