Awake: 6:35am Temp 59 sleep 6+04 sunny overnight @ Nicktown, PA.
We drive the Suzuki to 8:00 am Mass & join the Koffee Klub afterward. Our meeting was very active this morning & well attended. Al gave me an extension cord on a reel to repair in my spare time. By accident he had cut it while trimming their hedges. In talking with John B. @ the Koffee Klub meeting this morning, both Roger & I agreed to exercise our curiosity & visit the Rocky Hollow Airfield later today. John has been talking about this place for over a week now; it’s time we check it out.
Early afternoon, I splice Al’s extension cord & @ the same time, without my neighbor Chuck knowing it, help him by moving the firewood pieces closer to the end of his truck bed for easy unloading. He is 80 + yrs now & it’s tough for him to climb steps.
Early dinner: BLT with a mixed salad.
John B. arrives @ 6:25pm; he is ready to visit the Rocky Hollow Airfield & so am I. We pick up Roger along the way & John guides us through the back roads of Nicktown on a tour that I have little memory of through my early yrs of living near Nicktown.
A huge rock with a painted picture of an airplane with words advertising the “Rocky Hollow Airfield” is our clue to turn onto a gravel road; less than a mile later, a large hanger, an equally large covered pavilion, some very heavy earth moving equipment & a very wide expanse of mowed & landscaped field with asphalt runways come into view. We have arrived @ this place that Roger & I have never known existed. John encourages us to walk across the field to get a closer look @ the (2) 4000 ft long runways with windsocks.
The owner of all of this vastness can barely be seen down by the heavy earth moving equipment; John assures us that Bernie will be coming to the hangar soon since he knows we have arrived.
Inside the hangar are (6 or 7) powered Paragliders on a tricycle frame; some of them are tandem. When parked, the nylon wing is wrapped up & stored in a canvas bag & fastened on the back of the tricycle frame.
Bernie drives up, introduces himself & begins to explain to us how a paraglider is flown. He continues to educate us as he pulls one of his tandem paragliders out from the hangar; opens the canvas bag & spreads out the nylon cords that are attached to the nylon wing. With the brake set on the tricycle frame, Bernie starts the (20) horsepower engine & the spinning prop magically brings the deflated wing assembly to life filling all the compartments with air. Bernie looks directly @ me & says: “Let’s go flying.”
I hadn’t planned on doing this & yes, it looks like fun; but is it safe? As Bernie hands me a helmet with earphones & microphone, he assures me that there has been only (1) incident in the (7) yrs of his operation & that fellow was not adhering to airport policy.
Amazing enough, our takeoff roll from the grassy strip was smooth & short. In flight, Bernie was explaining the instrument panel & how the paraglider is controlled; quite simple I deducted; but like any machine being operated, there are restrictions & limitations. Our climb, cruise, & decent speeds remained about the same: 20 mph. Bernie pointed out his many avenues of landing fields in the event any of his students or himself should have to make an unscheduled landing. Also on the horizon, the small towns of Colver, Carrolltown, Homer City, Indiana, Barnesboro, Spangler, Nicktown etc could be easily seen from our initial altitude of 2500 ft about ground level. We cruise within a (5) mile area for about 45 min & then darkness began to set in. Bernie made a few high speed passes (about 35-40) mph, max speed, over Roger & John below before touching down smoothly close to the hangar. It was a new experience for me; 95% of the time, I felt I was in good hands & was quite comfortable flying in this type of machine.
Back in the hangar, for my braveness & being a most casual passenger, Bernie awarded me with (2) tee shirts with the inscription on the back: “I survived a flight with Bernie.” I was his “100th” passenger so far in 2007 & that was penned on the front of both of my tee shirts. We were all honored to have a beer with Bernie on the occasion of this occasion.
I drop Roger off @ his sister’s house & John & I arrive @ the bus after 11:30pm. Kathy was calmly waiting to hear "the rest of my story."
High temp=78 Lights out: 12:26am
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