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April - 2003 Parastars Fly-in, Polk City, Fl
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4/12/03
Location: Polk City, Fla
Wind: 10 mph
Duration: 1hr 5min
14.6.40
Went
to Parastars 2003 with Mom, Dad, Suzanne, Annette, Steve Randy and Sue.
Steve was Scrappy Pappying,
on assignment for Paraglider Magazine, interviewing everyone and taking pictures for the article he's
writing.
This was Randy Beach's first Fly-in, and it was sure a blast to fly again with him.
There is nothing like cruising along at 1000' and see your brother 40' off your wingtip.
We flew
together for an hour, smiling the whole time. Upon landing we notice that my Top80 still has 2/3 of
a tank of gas and his DKWhisper is almost empty. But he's a bigger guy with a bigger motor, and is at
full throttle most of his flight. I rarely get above 2/3 throttle except for take-off. Steve Beach
also got a tandem ride on a PPC. His first motor flight. He's had some PG training with Chris and Tammy
Bowles of Southern Skies Paragliding school.
4/13/03
Location: Polk City, Fla
Wind:
8 mph
Duration: 35min
15.7.25
Randy and I got one more flight in the next day, early
in the AM. My muffler was rattling and making a lot of noise but flew ok. I followed Randy and did
my best spot landing to date. We couldn't have had a better time. The wind had picked up considerably
by the time of the World Record attempt. So we didn't become part of the record. The Parastars officials
recommended a minimum of 20 flights to participate. Boy, it was a spectacular sight. 78 Poweredparagliders
in the air at once. It reminded me of the "Flying Monkeys" from the "Wizard of Oz", everyone taking
off as quickly as possible. My brother Steve got his second tandem flight, this time in a foot launch
PPG. So he was part of the Record.
I can't thank the Parastars folks enough. See you next
year. What a wonderful event.
Randy is planning to attend the next Paratoys Fly-in out here in
California. Can't wait.
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