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Thanks,
Brian

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Had my first reverse launch tonight! Other then that it was a nice mellow flight. Saw lots of people I knew and impressed some locals by touching the top of a jump on a dirt bike track. Even got a standing ovation from the 2 onlookers :)… No photos sorry.

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My father took his first official flight this evening. The winds were raging but he had set up and was waiting in hopes of the winds would die. About an hour before sunset, they dropped to 3-4mph. Joe, his instructor gave the go ahead to bring up the wing and taxi. He had a perfect inflation and the taxi was going well. Joe came across the mic giving the go ahead to launch and with a squeeze of the trigger he was off.

The flight was short and uneventful. Perfect! He circled the field for about 20 minutes getting the feeling for things, did a few landing passes and finally set down smoothly. Bruce, the Sod Fliers orgnizer was up circling with him.

Congratulations Dad! I look forward to flying with you!

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Launching in Stigler, Oklahoma

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I drove out to Arkoma… that would be a small city on the border of, wait for it…. Oklahoma and Arkansas. This was my first mid-day flight. I was assured by a VERY competent pilot that the thermals were present but safe to fly. He was right on both accounts. I had an OK launch but almost immediately caught sink. It kept me level under full power. Once it released i was off like a rocket. The pockets of lift were very interesting to fly in. I half enjoyed it but was a bit fearful as well. I had minor tip collapses, nothing to fear but just beyond my bump tolerance. I lapped the field a few time and landed with out incident. A great flight for experience but not all that enjoyable.

The part of the day I really did enjoy was watching Britton Shaw taking his student for a foot launch tandem flight. Britton is one hell of an instructor and pilot. He had his student kiting like a pro in half a day in low wind conditions. He was extremely knowledgeable and patient. If the rest of the training mirrored what i saw, i would recommend Britton as an instructor if you are looking for one in the Oklahoma/Arkansas area. You can find him at RVPPG.com

Here are some photos of their tandem flight on his huge sod training field.

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