American Flyer
Balloon Fiesta Paramotor Fly-in
 
New Mexico, USA           October 3, 4, 5 & 6  2002
 
** "The following is not an official report, but my personal view of this event."
 Elisabeth Guerin
 

This edition of the Balloon Fiesta fly-in was a PPG event that will be remembered.  

Helped by their local Fantastico Flyers, and supported by the Ultralight chapter of EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association), ASC and USPPA, Jerry & Michelle Daniele of American Flyer, did an excellent work to organize this fly-in. 

American Flyer recently moved their paramotor school to a huge grass field beside Albuquerque:  "GrassLands".  Yes, grass !  It is where they held the fly-in this year and it was the best of both worlds:  Savoring the wonderful New Mexican desert sceneries, but taking-off from a grassy field.  (I hope you read this Milos ;-) 
A still present Hispanic culture and a nice PPG community make this fly-in very special.  

It is always held during the Kodak Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, which is the biggest North American hot air balloon gathering, and it just a few miles away from GrassLands.

The area offers great sceneries, some of them are almost lunar.  Pilots enjoyed adding their memorable flights over the volcanoes in their log book.  

Paramotors flying with the hot air balloons.

Flying over the volcanoes.

Picture of the volcano courtesy of Bruce Brown

 

Thursday was windy and cold, but it was warm for the rest of the weekend and very good for flying.  

At 5200" ASL, the mornings were chilly and everybody would be wearing warm jackets.  But soon after that, around 10:00 am, people were trading them for T-shirts.
There were about 50 pilots, including 3 women pilots and 3 powered parachute (PPC) pilots, coming from all over the United States as well as from Canada and Israel.

Under the big tent, the pilots briefing conducted by Jerry & Michelle Daniele, Jeff Goin and Eric Dufour, held at 7:00 every morning.

At the pilots briefing.

Briefing pictures courtesy of Jeff Goin

 

Of course, Jack Kimble, who usually attends most of the fly-ins all over the world, was there enjoying the event and he flew his patriotic American flag wing.  

The next fly-in he will attend should be in Malaysia.  

Jack is a great American ambassador for our sport.
 

Bruce Brown instructor in Ohio, Maurice Sheldon (Mo), instructor in Arizona and Bill Briley, instructor in North Carolina, gave PPG tandem rides on a trike.
Friday morning, Eric Dufour, instructor in Florida and in Canada, invited Michelle Daniele, instructor in New Mexico, to fly PPG tandem on a trike with him...  But with her as the pilot in command:  "You are ready Michelle.  I will coach you and you will do just fine; you will see", Eric said.  

As predicted, Michelle did just perfect and now knows that she is ready to work for the next step of tandem piloting on wheels.

After this flight, she was feeling exactly what most of the students do after their first solo, except the guys usually don't hold Eric in their arm like this.  ;-) 

Here is with Eric Dufour and a very happy Michelle Daniele right after her first tandem flight as the pilot in command. 

Picture courtesy of Bruce Brown. 
 

 
 

In the afternoon, after the early morning flights with the hot air balloons, a couple of pilots took a nap.  

Some went to Albuquerque, in the heart of the Balloon Fiesta festivities.  

Some others have chosen to stay on the site, chatting under the big tent, instead of doing the "siesta" or the "fiesta".

 

 
 
Every evenings there was a huge bonfire.  

Friday night, we had a nice Mariachis show, followed by a raffle, where people could win T-shirts, harnesses, a large kite, a flight suit, a stuff sac, etc.

Steven and Janette Otero, treated us with tasty New Mexican meals cooked right in front of us, on the site.

Harolyn Ellison provided Ortho-bionomy massages right on the site.  

Bill McCoy and Lou Aragona of Coyote Metals (505-293-1422) had a booth on the site, where we could see (and buy) nice local hand made crafts.

 

Bubba & Jeannie Peters from Colorado. 
 
Many pilots came with their RV and few more toys in addition to their paramotor.

Bob "Bubba" Peters, one of  American Flyers' graduates, brought his motorcycle to add more fun while going all over the huge field.
 
On mornings and evenings, some games took place and Eric Dufour started playing "ParaSoccer" or "ParaBall".
 

Most of the pictures of the "paracone" and "parasoccer" are a courtesy of Bruce Brown.  The others are mine.
 
Because there were some cones on the field, Eric Dufour started by kicking a few while at low pass and then continued playing by bringing one on his foot, and then, one on the other one... 

And taking a third over a cone and between the other cones, and so on...  Being a skilled pilot himself, Jeff Goin from Illinois,  had a blast joining Eric at the "cone game".
Jack Kimbel from Florida  & world PPG "fly-ins hunter" ;-); Bob Armond, PPG instructor in California; Ron Estrada PPG pilot from Michigan & owner of the www.poweredparaglider.com and Bud Johnson, PPG pilot of Louisiana & North American "PPG fly-ins hunter" ;-)
 

Bruce Brown, instructor in  Ohio, Ron Estrada of Michigan, Jeff Goin of Illinois, founder of the USPPA association, Eric Dufour, instructor  in Florida and Canada and Bill Briley, instructor in North Carolina. 
 
Some paramotor pilots from Arizona:  Tod Hollan, David Crockett, Bill Wright and Maurice (Mo) Sheldon , PPG instructor. 

By the way, there was two PPG pilots named David Crockett attending this fly-in.  The other one is from Mexico and he is related to the legendary cowboy.

Enjoying the wide open spaces, seeing the Monsano Mountains turning to some nice colors at sunset and hearing pilots talking about their nice flight over the Rio Grande River, reminded me of the terrific time we had during the memorable months we spent in Albuquerque back in 1999.
 
Among the people we had the chance to meet during our stay, was Lorrie Loomis.  Since 1999, she has added over 125 flights to her log book.  Ray, her husband who started flying at the same time, has over 600 flights and is now a PPG instructor for American Flyer.   
Steve Tustison and Steve Leich are both PPG pilots from California.

Tustison wears the official T-shirt of this year's Balloon Fiesta PPG fly-in.  It is one of the nicest PPG t-shirts I have seen so far and I made sure to come back with one of my own.

They sell for  $20.00 US, plus $4.00 for shipping in the US.  To get one, you can contact American Flyer. 
   
All the instructors attending:

Up, clock wise:  Arnon Lufti (PPG) from Israel, Bruce Brown (PPG & PG) at Powered Paragliding Ohio, Andy McAvin, (PPG) of TX Flight Sports in Texas, Leon Walkers, (PPC) in Michigan, Bill Briley, (PPG) in North Carolina, Dwight Offman (PPC) of Sky Chariots and Mike Gonzales (PPC), both in New Mexico, Eric Dufour (PPG) of Fly by Ranch in Florida and Paratour in Canada.

Bottom:  Bob Armond (PPG) of Skytoys in California, Jerry & Michelle Daniele (PPG) of American Flyer in New Mexico, Ray Loomis (PPG) of American Flyer and Maurice Sheldon (PPG) of Airparamo in Arizona. 
   
There was a paragliding accuracy landing contest, with Bob Armond, instructor in California, as the tow operator. 

The contestants had lots of fun and it was just as entertaining for people who were watching. 

Eric Dufour was the winner.  He had his foot right on the target...   Well,  Eric has the  background of a skilled   accuracy landing skydiver.

   
A record has been beaten:  The heaviest pilot flying at altitude...  and it was a solo.

Bill Bishop from Colorado, did his first paramotor flight during the weekend, with Michelle Daniele coaching on the radio and Eric Dufour helping Bill taking off.  The crowd cheered when he left the ground with his SD Mini-Monster engine and his tandem glider.  Another touching moment adding to the event and another great guy among us in the sport.    

Eric Dufour, Bill Bishop, Michelle and Jerry Daniele ----------->>

   
    
PPG pilot from Florida and owner of Paralite, Jim Jackson came with his son JJ, who plans to become a paramotorist soon.

Eric Dufour of Florida and Canada, came with the new paramotor glider Sting and the new SD paramotor with a new generation of the RDM engine with a clutch and now silent.

Arnon Lufti of Israel, who is traveling all over the United States for a 4 months trip, came with his Vortex paramotor and his Reflex wing. 
Arnon taught the others a game, consisting on ground handling doing a 360.  I enjoyed watching it and he did pretty well.  

On Saturday, three school busses brought almost a hundred kids on the site, to see the paramotors closer and meet with the glider guys.  They have been chosen to form the jury charged to vote  for the quietest paramotor in flight.  The SD with new generation of rdm engine won the title.
 
The new SD with the now silent  RDM engine with a clutch.

Picture of the SD courtesy of Jeff Goin
 
The SD rdm 22 hp comes with the Fresh Breeze composite 2 pieces prop for an improved noise level, more power and a fast response on the throttle.

It still has the good strong frame, but with only one ring around the prop and 2 rings on the lower part of the cage for more strength.  It has also a clutch with a belt reduction drive system, which contributes to make the SD rdm one of the quietest units available.  

The reduction is 3.8 to 1 and the max rpm 9400.  The thrust is a REAL 120 to 125 lbs tested. 
It come with the J-bars and also the under bars with attachment points on the harness.  Both can be used.  The RDM motor is running well, and is reliable.  It is easy to adjust as the carb is up with easy access on the screws.   
From Left to right:  Michelle Daniele, instructor in New Mexico, Jerry and Michelle's daughter Jordan, Jerry Daniele, instructor in New Mexico, Bob Peters pilot from Colorado, Mo Sheldon, instructor in Arizona, Arnon Lufti, instructor in Israel, Tod Hollan pilot from Arizona, Jeff Goin, pilot from Illinois, Bruce Brown, instructor in Ohio, Bill Briley, instructor in North Carolina, Ron Estrada pilot from Michigan, me, Eric Dufour, instructor in Florida and in Canada, and in front, Andy McAvin instructor in Texas.  

Picture courtesy of Ron Estrada

 

We concluded the fly-in with an enjoyable dinner at the nice Luna Mansion restaurant:  Beautiful place, good service, delicious meals and low prices.  

The owner David Scovill, came to our table and said:  "Are you the guys who flew over our place today?  Well, I'd like to fly that thing too."  
 
So, see you again at the Balloon Fiesta PPG fly-in 2003, Dave!  This time, with a glider over your head, a propeller on your back and a bigger smile on your face.