I have been having a blast flying around my local area in my Buckeye, Dream Machine 582 Powered Parachute.   I have had some of the most interesting flights and have taken some gorgeous photos to show some of the beauty that is right in my own backyard.  I should get a digital camera and keep it on board so that I can always have a camera ready for those times when I wished I had one, that's almost every flight.   

When flying around have you ever seen someone come out of their house onto their back deck with one arm pointing up at you and with the other arm they are beckoning other members of the house to come out to see you flying by?  I see it all the time.  Many times I will do a little show for them such as; spirals with and without power, figure eights and wagging the airframe.  Are you asking yourself what wagging the airframe is? A powered parachute can't really wag it's wing, so I wag the airframe.  The airframe is suspended under the wing by ropes and acts like a pendulum, when multiple hard right turns and then hard left turns are followed closely behind each other the parachute does not have a chance to actually complete the turn, it stays some what centered, the airframe is pushed side to side by the thrust of the propeller.

You never know when it will happen, but flying at only 30 MPH I have had a chance to view some of natures beauty and not pass it by to quickly before I could take it in.  Some times I happen to have a camera ready, but most times I just have my memories of some awesome view.   The fog rolling in from the Connecticut river over Hartford with only the tops of the taller buildings jutting through with the exception of the state capital building which was totally free of fog all the way to the ground with the morning sun glistening from the gold dome.  Or the golden orange sun set viewed through the top widows of Heublein Tower atop Avon mountain, from the same altitude as the tower, the sun filled the glass area completely and it looked as if the tower was a light house that shown that beautiful color around to fill the valleys below with a warm glow.  How about seeing the hundreds of fish nests in Barkhamsted reservoir.  In the shallow banks along sides and around all the islands the bottom of the reservoir has a dark color except wherever the fish make their nests.  They are about two to two and a half in diameter and the fish can be easily seen moving about within these circles.  Just spectacular!  Have you ever seen more than one sun set in the same day or witnessed the sun raise from the west?  Sue Cody a friend who can't wait to go flying with me have seen multiple sun sets many times.  We fly around until the sun sets and then give the powered parachute full power and climb, we rise faster than the sun sets so it looks as if the sun is rising again, from the west.  Then I'll idle the engine to descend to watch the sun set again.  We do this proposing of going at full throttle and idling back to watch the sun rise and set again and again.  I will try to get some of these pictures 

I fly out of Simsbury airport (4B9) in Simsbury, CT.  The paved runway is 2205' with a parallel grass strip just as long and to the east side of the grass strip is a grass area that is 500'x500'+, more than enough room to use to fly in or out of.  The Simsbury Flying Club operates the field and has the nicest bunch of folks anywhere around.  The club members  are very supportive of anyone that flies anything.  They have made me feel right at home and have encouraged the owners of other types of flying vehicles to base themselves there.  The hangar space I use is rented from the club and is shared with Mike Allen who broadcasts the WTIC Radios' Air One traffic reports.  This is very convenient for me,  only 3 miles from home, it protected from the elements, there is no trailer parked in my driveway, there is no loading and unloading of the trailer that I have to borrow each time it is used, I can use of the hanger for other projects if needed and best of all are the club members with all their aviation knowledge.

These pictures below were taken by Lou Urban, his wife Jeanne-Marie is the one strapped in behind me in picture #2.  In picture #1 the gentleman writing an article for our local newspaper is Fred Wilhelm the most senior person that I have instructed is 76 years young.  Bradley International airport is about 9 miles northeast of the airport I use, see photo #5.  

Photos by Lou Urban

Photo by Wayne Cahoon

This is how I see the world. 1) Granby, CT looking north 2) St. Thomas Seminary Bloomfield, CT 3) Heublein Tower, Talcott Mountain, Simsbury, CT 4) Barkhamsted reservoir Barkhamsted, CT 

Photos by Wayne Cahoon

Photo by Lee Janser