Corn maze at Layman Farms

I was flying the other afternoon when I flew over this maze and I snapped a couple shots of it real quick. I found out later it is a corn maze at Layman Farm in Montvale off of 460. I was just flying around when it caught my eye and couldn't believe the detail they are able to put in it.
I think I might have to go try it out because it looks like fun, but I will have a copy of this picture to help me from getting lost. I might try to get back over their the next time I go up so I can get some better shots of it, but the weather lately has been pretty windy.

Flying over the house

Here are a couple more shots from the other afternoon when Kiwi and I flew over Smith Mountain Lake. The one of the house that you can barely see due to all the trees is mine. It was hard to even get a shot at all of it from it being hidden in the trees. The other house is a friends that both Kiwi and I work with. He wasn't home when we flew over but his mother-in-law was there babysitting, and she came out to wave to us. He was my first captain when I came out of the academy at the fire department, but now he has moved on to another station, and left Kiwi and me to hold the fort down.

Smith Mountain Lake

Flying over Smith Mountain Lake

This was taken the other day when Kiwi and I flew over to Smith Mountain Lake. After installing the original gas tank back on my machine that Kiwi fixed I wanted to take it for a test flight. After double checking everything we were back up in the air. I flew around for a bit just to check everything out, and than we were off to the lake. The Buckeye flew just great, and we had a great flight w/ some really nice scenery. We flew about an hour and after landing I checked the gas tank out to find no cracks or leaks. Looks like Kiwi fixed it for good, and I am back in business.

Gas tank might be fixed

The leak in the gas tank might be fixed this time. Kiwi was able to work on the tank again, and I we believe this time he got it sealed. He thinks the first time he just didn't get the tank hot enough for the plastic to bond together and seal. We put some gas in it and it seems to be holding w/ no gas leaks. So hopefully the tank will be put back on the machine and have me ready for flying again without worrying about the tank.
I have to thank Kiwi for fixing the tank even if if doesn't hold this time. I was giving him a hard time about the first time since it didn't hold. We give each other a hard time and this one was really getting to him since he loves to tinker w/ stuff and he was on a mission to get it right. I have to admit he is very smart when it comes to tinkering, and a guy once told me that "if you want to know something about nothing, just ask Dubose", well that could not be more true. He knows a little about everything and a lot about somethings, so he is a very good resource to know and have as a friend.

UFPPC(unidentified flying powered parachute)

I was on my way to the office w/ Mr. Noah and had to stop to fill Leah's car up w/ gas(whole nother story). I was standing out pumping the gas and I just happened to look up in the air and saw a PPC flying around. I was filling up at the station right near the D-Day Memorial and I figured it was Jerry Claytor since the field he flys out of is very close. I finished up filling the car and thought I would head up to his field to watch him land but this chute just kept on flying right past the field. I started to wonder if he was just doing a low pass, but than I realized that this chute did not look like the one Jerry had last time I saw his machine. I was going to hang around and see if the PPC was going to come back but Mr Noah decided he did not want to stay and he let me know that it was time to eat. The rest of the way to the office I kept looking for the UFPPC, but I never saw it again.

Grounded Again

A couple days ago Joe put the old tank that Kiwi fixed back on the machine and while filling it for the first time it started leaking again. Kiwi tried to fix it from where I cracked it the first time from a hard landing but, unfortunately it didn't take. He still believes that he can fix it so maybe this gas tank problem will finally be fixed once and for all. I wish I could find another tank just like the original, but according to Buckeye the mold for it is gone. The same day we found out about the tank Kiwi was still able to get a little flying in and he is really racking up some flying hours. He is landing and flying like a pro now and I don't know if we can stop him or if we have just unleashed a flying monster.haha Aunt Tammy(Kiwi's wife) comes over and she helps watch Noah while we are up flying.

Flight to Friends landing strip

Yesterday Kiwi and I flew over to another field to practice some touch and gos. This air strip is really nice and belongs to a man who flys a Piper Cub out of it. Jerry Claytor also lives on this strip and he flys his Buckeye PPC out of it as well. I guess this is what you would call an ultralight heaven w/ your front yard being your airport. You could pull right out of the garage and taxi to your runway as you wave to the neighbors. Jerry came out to watch us as we did some touch and gos and he got on the radio and said his brother and him would fly w/ us tomorrow as long as the weather cooperates. Jerry has his own website for PPC's and it is Chutetothrill.com.

Kiwi touch and go

Kiwi doing touch and go

Here is a short video I got of Kiwi doing a touch and go yesterday afternoon at the Funny Farm. He was practicing his landings w/ and w/ out power so when he flys for Jeff again he will be ready. He did a couple dead stick landings which means he cuts the engine completly off and comes in w/ out power. Both dead stick landings were really good and he made it look easy like he has been doing them for many years. We are all getting close to being ready to test for our BFI or go on and get our sport pilot rating for powered parachutes. I hope that we will all have our training completed by Xmas, but a lot of that will have to do w/ the weather and our instructor working together at the same time. Tomorrow looks like it might be some good flying weather so we might get some more hours logged and new pictures for the blog.

Kiwi's camera hard at work

These were taken by Kiwi on two different days that we flew. This is a great picture of the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford and the other one is a beautiful sunset over the Roanoke Valley. The Memorial is only about 10 minutes away by air and it is right beside another ultralight field that local friends fly out of. The D-Day memorial is a really nice place to visit and I recommend it to anyone that has not been there yet. It is a very moving experience to see the Memorial and when my Granddad came up from Mississippi we took him to see it. He was one of the Heroes that hit the beaches in the war and it was really interesting to see him talking to other vets who were there, and telling us about some of his personal experiences.

Here is myself coming in for a final at Rowell International

Beans Landing

This was taken by Kiwi of myself coming in at Joe's Funny Farm for a final landing. Our rescue crew of three dogs w/ 11 legs was first on scene to make sure everything was safe. They are always excited to see us come in and they are usually the first ones to congratulate us on a safe flight. The weather is still not good for flying, but their was a glimmer of hope today for a couple hours when the sun came out and showed itself, but as I am writing this it is sprinkling again outside. It is hard for me to complain about the rain since my yard was pretty much dead before we got all of this rain.

Jeff doing a barrel roll in his PPC

PPC barrel roll

This is a short video of our instructor Jeff flying his PPC last fall at the Brookneal field. We were all down there for Kiwi's wife to go up w/ Jeff to make sure it was OK for Kiwi to buy one. Jeff took her up for a orientation flight and she loved it. Jeff went up in the PPC flying solo and pulled a couple stunts while flying to show us what they are capable of doing in a Buckeye Dream Machine. She can not wait till Kiwi gets all of his training done and the new Sport Pilot rules come into effect so she can go up and enjoy the views from above. The weather is still terrible for flying right now w/ all this rain, but hopefully it will break soon and let us all get back up in the air.

Video from the other afternoon

Beans taking off

I know it has been a while since I last posted, but unfortunately the weather around here has been terrible for flying. We are getting the weather from tropical storm Ernesto right now and we are enjoying wind and rain from it. I did notice that the Red Baron who is flying coast to coast using a PPC is stuck right now also due to the weather I believe somewhere in GA. He is so close to making yet the weather just want cooperate to get it done. I hope he will be able to make soon and safely.
I hope to get myself back up in the air sometime soon, but I like to fly when their is almost no wind, and we all know that is almost unheard of around here. Maybe the weather will break coming up and we will finally get some decent flying weather.
This video was taken the last day I flew by Leah of me taking off from Rowell International. Leah would have taken more video and pictures but the camera battery died. This was the day Kiwi and I flew and the wind picked up that later in the flight. Iwish the camera battery would not have died because it could have taken some really good pictures of mine and Kiwi's happy faces as we landed safely.