5th - Labor Day - Flying across Michigan with Roger, Ed and Brian

Today's flight has been planned almost from the time when I first started flying my paraglider with a motor. Although I always hoped to cross the state of Michigan after being towed up it seemed way too unrealistic given the availability of time and my thermal skills.

I had one failed attempt with the motor earlier that ended with a nice 30 somthing miles XC in SW Michigan a couple of months ago. At the time it turned out to be a good thing not to go long distance, since I neither had a chase car (we were on the way back from Chicago and friends would pick up my car later in the day after they got up) nor did I have a good idea of where to fill up the gas tank on the way. Upon landing my redrive bearings were so loose I probably would have had to land out on the crossing anyway.

This time I had a bit more planning (about three days in advance compared to one) involved. The direction was to be right opposite from what I always thought of how to do this. Typically if winds are consistent across the state it follows the jet stream roughly from West to East. Looking at the forecast a couple of days before the flight rather suggested going from East to West. Coincidently that actually fits better anyway, since one takes off about an hour from home, so if things go wrong in the beginning it does not involve too much time for driving, but one can rather do something else for the rest of the day. A quick post on the local pilots message board ended with four pilots willing to take to the air and one very dedicated pilot to offer ground support. A second chase car with video crew also showed at take-off so things looked great. Unfortunately we got on the road a bit too late so there was hardly any time to find an adequate spot right on Lake Erie. We therefore opted for a new flying location we just discovered a couple of weeks earlier which is about 5 miles inland. Nonetheless the lake was clearly visible and since we did not go for any official record we neglected that detail.

Around 8am we all got into the air and with no wind I was glad to have an easier to launch wing borrowed from Roger who was flying Bill's Apco Thrust on the first leg. After a few miles of scattered flying we grouped together pretty well.

While getting everything organized and the GPS running I realized that we only had 28mph ground speed. With a first planned leg of about 80 miles I knew we probably would not make it. Fortunately Ed was climbing high up and started heading away from us which brought my senses back on track. At around 3000ft we were now going 34mph which was a bit better, but still at the edge. We passed the Milan dragstrip.

Then we flew just South of Mark Deseck's place which I realized too late when it was to the side and by then the SE winds did not allow for a quick detour. A few miles later I started looking out for LZs to refuel. Again we passed a strip before I could alter the course. About 10 miles ahead another small airport showed up and a brief check with the others confirmed the need to land soon, either way. Just before arriving at the airfield we enjoyed a nice view of the Michigan International Speedway.

Fortunately the ground crew had us in sight and on the radio and pulled in just after I landed at Shamrock airfield. A short break and Brian decided to pass on the now pretty rowdy air. Roger went up and then Ed had an uneventful take-off. Unfortunately a few seconds later we saw him drifting into an adjacent corn field. Apparently his motor quit working. He kept a cool head and sat it nicely down though the thermals started ripping out of that field. When I got the news that he was not hurt and the ground crew would assist him I took off again. With a short view on his wing I was on my way to Marshall.

I opted for my Action this time, since the air was getting more and more turbulent. This take-off was around 10:45am which I did not really realize until later. The climb-out was quite exciting and the rough air did not stop until around 3500 feet. I added a few hundred feet more altitude and we were on track for our second leg. Even at that altitude the thermal activity came through the blue sky where we passed several smaller towns like Spring Arbor or Albion.

Not carrying a vario I estimated the lift at up to 1000 feet per minute. It was the first time ever I had small collapses on the Action. In fact we saw two dust devils coming through right after we landed, both about 30-40 feet in diameter. Time for a little break. Originally planned as our first stop we reached our halfway point around 12:20pm at the municipal airport of Marshall, MI. The Aerosports Connection group had their national meeting that weekend, but the scheduled fun flying for Labor Day apparently did not attract anyone. Besides some sail plane towing no other operation was active. This photo is taken on approach to the airport which is in the center of the picture.

Bill Malossi who volunteered not only to take care of chase car duties, but also commissioned his van for transport also provided sandwiches, shrimps with cocktail sauce and drinks. This came in pretty handy after 3hrs in the air. A big thankyou to him for everything. Roger started getting ready again around 3pm, but my stomach and the memories of the dust devils going through kept me at a slow pace for another hour. Around 4pm we took to the air again with Roger going first. He caught a good thermal shooting up quickly while I launched into the backend and in massive sink scrambled for staying above the tree line. Eventually the next thermal came through and I took it up to crusing altitude again at around 4000 feet. It was quite a roller coaster ride through the top ends of the slowly receding thermals and respective sink areas. We hoped for a single leg this time to our final destination somewhere around the town of Holland. I tried to contact fellow flier Terry Lutke who lives kind of on the way, but only reached his voice mail so we had our eyes on another airfield South of his place for a potential stop-over. Winds still were not very high so we soon realized we had to land once more to refuel. Given the still very active sky I was not too unhappy over it. We passed the towns of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo in order to then pick a field close to the highway and again our trusty road crew showed up while Roger was still circling over the field. The farmer stopped by, registering my greeting and explanation of our activity without any comment. A few minutes later he took off again on his four wheeler. No havind said a single word. Well, we probably would not want to hang out here for too long I figured, although in the end we took again a break of 1hr. This would actually make for a nice airfield:

Before the last leg I took a shot of the troop. Bill Malossi, Ed Manion and Roger Alford in front of the Paramobil:

Bill and Ed discussing the driving route while Roger prepares for take-off:

Meanwhile I got a call from Terry Lutke who gave us recommendations where to land at Lake Michigan and he also decided to meet us there. Almost immediately after climb out we first saw the lake. It was still far on the horizon, but the setting sun started to reflect of it.

10 miles before goal we encountered some pretty densely wooded land and decided to swerve to the North a bit.

From here on it was pure fun flying hands off and concentrating on enjoying the moment. The following pictures give a few impressions:

Then we finally reached the shore line although a few miles North from the intended landing spot so we got to enjoy some more nice minutes of flying along the beach .

Terry took a shot from the ground upon reaching the beach:

He also snatched one of the pilots with the gear:

And one of the complete team with Roger, myself, Ed and Bill:

After a short celebration we packed the Paramobil and headed back East.

Here is a quick overview of the data:
Start of the Day: 5:30am
End of the Day: 1:30am
Miles driven: ???
Miles flown: 180
hours in the air: 5hrs 44min
max speed: 42mph
average speed: 29mph
max altitude: 4000ft MSL
average altitude: 2300ft MSL

Unfortunately I could not print out the GPS path, but this shows roughly the route we took:

Many kudos again to especially Bill who provided the best imaginable ground support and also to the two pilots who joined us for part of the way, Brian (Launchpad) and Ed. I am glad Roger was able to join me for this special event, especially because it is hardly a year ago since he first flew a PPG.

Back to Riverside Airpark and the 2018 Lake-to-Lake Mitten Trip