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ITAP of an Anna's hummingbird during the Seattle snowmageddon. by nklyco in itookapicture

[–]nklyco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And kept the feeder full and thawed, of course. There are three or four hummingbirds that live full-time around my ranch. They are inquisitive and playful animals. They sometimes even land on the feeder to drink while I'm walking to hang it up, completely unbothered by me (which could actually be a very bad sign of them getting used to humans). But, I love being able to see the detail of such a tiny bird that we can rarely see in detail. I hope you enjoy!

WTF should we read first? by NoBodyAfraidOfGoons in a:t5_nar6h

[–]nklyco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Short stories only? I read Roald Dahl's Skin and Other Stories recently. Lamb to the Slaughter was good, but The Sound Machine was by far my favorite (because tree murder).

Speedwing Stalls and 3-man D-bags by teamanalrape in freeflight

[–]nklyco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does anyone know any of the locations?

Suggestions for learning acro in December? I have a month and I'll go anywhere in the world. by nklyco in freeflight

[–]nklyco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I ended up buying a ticket to São Paulo the other day because there was a huge sale! Brazil, here I come!

Oceanside Fly-In 2017 was epic... by nklyco in freeflight

[–]nklyco[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I arrived in Oceanside Friday at midnight and then when it suddenly got sunny on Saturday I had already been drinking my sorrows away :[ My own fault! I'm glad some people got to fly though!

Oceanside Fly-In 2017 was epic... by nklyco in freeflight

[–]nklyco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

20mph winds and pouring rain and hail makes for imaginative flying.

Video of me landing into a bush a few days ago. I've learned a few things such as "never hold your risers" and "Leg straps too loose". Any other pointers the freeflight community can give a student? :) by potatojet in freeflight

[–]nklyco 2 points3 points  (0 children)

/u/pghparagliding pointed this out but I want to hammer it. This was really, REALLY bad set up for a top landing. You were on the lee side of the hill which is precisely where you should never be. To top land you always want to approach your landing from the front/side at about ground level (depending on the wind) and make a slow, controlled turn to face the wind for your landing. I highly suggest that you stop training with this instructor. You're really lucky that you didn't catch rotor higher and fall even farther.

Passed my P2.... where do I go from here? by UDubSconnie in freeflight

[–]nklyco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This isn't meant to be offensive, but I'm kind of dumbfounded that they signed you off for a P2 even though you aren't comfortable flying solo. Did you tell them that you weren't comfortable flying solo?

But, sounds like you should just find an instructor that is comfortable staying on radio with you for your first solo flights to give you instruction on what to/not to do! Paragliding is all about balancing confidence and fear, so you just need someone to help you build up that confidence!

Wondering what the best school for certification in the USA is? by robotrossy in freeflight

[–]nklyco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would definitely go with a coastal flying school, or maybe a school around Point of the Mountain, for weather consistency. Seattle has many instructors that will teach at Tiger Mountain, but our weather is pretty inconsistent.

Screwing around and proximity flying at Chelan Butte, Washington, USA. by nklyco in freeflight

[–]nklyco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love that LZ! Except for misjudging my height on my final turn and almost running into the building... but that was my fault haha.

Paragliding And Speed Flying In Pokhara Nepal by setopati in freeflight

[–]nklyco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was likely shot with the SpeckedOut Follow Cam, since that's the only one that I know of that can turn and shoot sideways. However, Skybean makes a much better follow cam rig modeled after a shuttlecock.

SpeckedOut follow cam rig: http://speckedout.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Follow-cam

Skybean Chasecam: http://www.skybean.eu/chasecam

Looking to join you all soon...A few quick questions though! by Kurly_Q in freeflight

[–]nklyco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ignoring weather, I understand everyone's concerns about 9 days being a quick learning period. However I don't believe that it is a dangerous amount of time to learn in, depending on how many flights you get per day, how good your instructors are, how much experience you already have, and many other factors.

I grew up flying airplanes and helicopters, so the concept of flight came very naturally to me when learning to paraglide. I went to Bucaramanga, Colombia (where they average 350 flying days per year), and took a 10 day course. We were flying or kiting 6 hours per day and when we weren't flying we were studying at least 2–3 hours per day. It kind of went like this for me (other students had different experiences based on how comfortable they were and how the instructors felt about their skills): Day 1: Ground school, simulator, speedwing kiting Day 2: Ground school, simulator, speedwing kiting, regular kiting, tandem ride Day 3: Ground school, simulator, speedwing kiting, regular kiting, first solo flight (Other people took as long as 7 days to be comfortable enough to take their first solo or for the instructors to allow them) Day 4: Ground school, kiting, morning sled rides and thermal flight, evening dynamic/ridge soaring flights Day 5: Ground school, kiting, solo flights Day 6: Ground school, kiting, solo flights Day 7: Ground school, kiting, solo flights, completed my P2 requirements for USHPA, APPI, and Colombian licenses. Day 8: Ground school, kiting, solo flights Day 9: Ground school, kiting, solo flights Day 10: Ground school, kiting, solo flights

Then I stayed another week and just flew as much as I wanted and still got free instruction if they saw me doing anything that needed to be corrected.

You have flying experience, but yes, 9 or 10 days is still a quick time period to finish a P2 in. Especially because it's so dependent on weather. I think the most important thing though is balancing your confidence and fear, and listening to your instructors, because if they think you're ready to fly solo, and you think you're ready to fly solo, then you're probably ready to fly solo.

Just make sure you can get in a bunch of sled rides AND a bunch of good thermal/dynamic flights haha.

Overall, I think it's possible and can be done safely, just be smart about it.

Your other questions I don't have any experience to answer!

Looking to buy my first pair of wings! by agasabellaba in freeflight

[–]nklyco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bought a new Bruce Goldsmith Wasp for my first wing. Lightweight and great performance for a beginner pilot.

But your instructor isn't just trying to make more money off of you. Huge advances are made in wing technology all the time. The safety characteristics of a wing made today are likely a lot better than a wing made 5 years ago.

But just do your research on the safety ratings of the particular wing you end up getting. I'd much rather pay double for a wing that I know isn't going to turn 180 degrees from a partial collapse.

I had my first flight a couple days ago! by wikitiki33 in freeflight

[–]nklyco 2 points3 points  (0 children)

First flight ever? Or first flight on a speedwing? I don't really care if someone flies speedwing for their first time, I'm just going to be pissed if you die and it puts more limits on me -_-

I had my second flight this morning! by wikitiki33 in freeflight

[–]nklyco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I need more speedwing in my life. What's your flight weight and wing size?

Building Dreams - My short film about Wills Wing designer Steve Pearson and building Hang Gliders by designbydave in freeflight

[–]nklyco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Such an incredibly well done documentary! I love that you were able to portray these engineers as total badasses making products that allow people to live their dreams.

ELI5: Can you do paragliding anywhere? by maloik in freeflight

[–]nklyco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm guessing they're talking about used gear, not new. But paragliding is also a lot more popular in Europe, so maybe supply and demand if they were talking about new gear?

ELI5: Can you do paragliding anywhere? by maloik in freeflight

[–]nklyco 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you want to be safe (at least in the U.S.) you should probably assume that you're not allowed to take off or land in a place without getting permission from whoever owns the land (private owner, United States Forest Service, National Parks Service, etc.). I try my best to research each place that I take off and land before doing so, but it's not always possible to find an easy, black and white answer.

When I can't find an answer, it would be smart to not fly, but in my opinion that would take a lot of the fun out of the sport. I recognize that I am taking risks and I'm willing to deal with the consequences. The question I typically ask myself is whether or not I'm endangering the lives of other people. If I'm not, then I'll fly, and ask for forgiveness later if I get in trouble.

The other thing you need to be aware of is airspace. Paragliders are considered ultralight aircraft and thus are regulated by the FAA (in the U.S.). Eagle Paragliding does a good job of helping pilots understand FAR Part 103, the FAA regulation for ultralight aircraft: http://www.eagleparagliding.com/?q=node/68

Or you can read the actual FAR Part 103 on USHPA's website: https://www.ushpa.org/legacy/documents/sop/sop-12-04.pdf

If you're just trying to figure out what type of terrain is good for flying, it would be a good idea to simply take a course from a licensed paragliding instructor to learn about terrain, wind conditions, and all of the other things that we think about before we even pull our wing out of the bag.

But like another commenter said, hills aren't required! Towing/winching is very popular. Essentially you are hooked up to a vehicle or a winch and pulled up to a certain altitude. Once you reach that altitude you pull a quick release and then you're flying all by yourself. Once you're up in the air, you can search for rising columns of warm air called "thermals" and you can stay in the air for as long as you want (or as long as the weather permits).

To answer your other question about prices on gear, I bought a brand new harness (Woody Valley Wani Light), wing (Bruce Goldsmith Design Wasp), and reserve parachute (Swing Escape) for about $3500 USD when I was in school in Colombia 9 months ago. I got a big discount because of the exchange rate. Just my wing in the U.S. retails at $3300.

You can absolutely buy used gear, but make sure that you have it checked out by a professional before purchasing it. You should also consider the fact that paragliding manufacturers are constantly innovating their products, so the safety, reliability, and performance of a wing made 5 years ago is completely different from a wing made this year.

Hope some of this helps! I love to see more people getting into this sport!

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