Libye, part II

Here is the promised video: condensed emotions lived.
So many trikes at a time, so many pilots together! Not so long ago trikes did not even exist... a new story is beginning!

It confirms my impression that trikes, paragliders, power gliders are a true solution for the future!

I hope you'll like it!

Flying the Titan Tarancon Cuenca Espagne October

Titan Tornado

A charming light airplane. Very well known in USA, there are a lot of fans. It is a large small plane with a lot of space inside, excellent visibility and nearly nothing to spoil the view. Its shape is very clean and aerodynamic, efficient turn, nervous driving... noble. For the pilots looking for something different.
Charming airplane with character!

I'm working on improving my editions, hope you'll like the video.

Saludos everybody!

Paco Diaz

Tripoli September 09 What a show!!

We have flown for Gadafi's in power 40th anniversary and African Union 10th anniversary.

2 hours show by Martin Arnaud (Tajin project) and french organisation.
600 VIP (presidents...)250.000 people in the streets
120M covered stage, lights, water fountains, 300 dancers, fireworks, aerial show with power gliders...!!!

1.200 people... (and more data I will not mention) for Colonel Gadafi's benefit. 

Exceptional piece of work never executed before by Paraddax, with 22 trikes 6 of which tandem, many pilots... hard work!! 
What first seemed easy proved tricky: banner towing with the security system not always operating... a few scares including a pilot to the see!


...to follow.

July 2009 cold and unstable summer in France

Bad meteo in general... it's true the meteo is generally better in Sapin! Nevertheless when it's flyable you can fly longer hours here with softer thermals.

This time we are base in a stable... improvised workshop! We are working on improving joystick piloting; for the time being it is not precise enough to fly thermals with it. We are training to follow lines, roads, surveillance missions. Auto-pilot is an excellent system because no human being no matter how strong he could be, can stand more than half an hour piloting this thingy thing... and if you don't believe me just ask the french army special forces student pilots!
As a consequence we're piloting more and more with the joystick as if it were a video game... even for landing! I only get back to the brakes in case of emergency.
I must admit it is pretty scary at the beginning to let yourself be piloted by a machine! but like everything, you get used to it, it is just a matter of training. Now it is rather comfortable to let the computer drive the aircraft... I would never have believed that before!

As usual, thanks a lot for following this blog, it's a pleasure to share my adventures, moments of life with you passionate about flight.

Paco Diaz Salto

Strasbourg-Paris-Antalya-Madrid-Frankfurt May 2009

Twelve pilots, a ground team, a Palaca opening show in Turquey...

Vidéo des entraînements

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbjFhC2M39A&feature=channel_page

Antalya

City on the Turkish sea side , romantic place at night, slightly too many tourists in my opinion, but very quiet during the low season. In the distance you can see interesting nice slopes of a mountain range. The pilots would not stop watching it saying it was certainly a great place to paraglide! We'll come back under other circumstances to check that!
Native people are highly sympathetic, sweet mix between East and West!

When somebody asks me "is it danger fly?", I answer quickly that I highly prefer powergliding that taxi driving!! There is no adventure compared to give your life to a Turkish taxi driver! They're mad around here! We didn't stop telling them we were not in a hurry and they shouldn't go so fast, they would not listen!! You just had a look at the pilots' faces aboard the taxi!

Flying in luxury
Everything begun with a mistake! A bus was waiting for me at the airport. The driver rushed to take my cases that I would not let loose... in the end I surrendered. I was alone on the bus: one bus for my only self!! with air conditioning, and colored lights...Where are we going?? 
The bus stops just in front  of the white and gold majestic entrance of a palace hotel. There is parked a RollsRoyce... one of those few in the world with the logo on the wheel that remains fix when the wheel turns!
I walk down the long entrance hall until the reception along water fountains with thousands of lights... I could not believe it! That was a joke: a man in hat open the door and three fair-haired 2m tall girls (certainly Russians) were waiting for me: one with a glass of pink Champagne, one with a refresh towel and one... that kept following me around to collect the towel I never gave back after use (I didn't know!!!)
When they  offered me to sit in a luxury sofa I started to be sure it was a mistake!
After so much light, gold and crystal, princess stairs all around... back to reality... my reality! slightly less glamour: a very nice man accompanies me back to the very same bus that had brought me here. This time the driver let me at a good distance of my hotel and let me take my case without getting down, and walk! No pity for the unknown! Back into my world!
I won't miss the Palace. Life in there is not the same as the average. Thanks to them I've got work and keep in touch with realities of "true" life. I preferred the drive in bus with doors opened as air conditioning and the plain smile of people around here. Usually one hour bus is a bit long; this time not!

Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.es/pacovuela/TurquiaFrankfurtII?authkey=Gv1sRgCNC43vHtxcC9aQ#

In april, flights by thousands

Special lessons for special trainees: the french army special operations commando...
From parachute pilots to robot pilots? flying tandem, single and eventually the FR-102 robot, with a touch of night ballooning, three axis microlight and skydiving interludes!!
Thank you very much to everybody in the team, thank you FlyingRobots... we are now 5 pilots for the robot; I'm happy and relieved to eventually have fellow pilots involved in this great project.
Numerous flights, good friends, united and sympathetic group. It was a pleasure to fly with good pilots

Thanks everybody!

From Barajas to Ocaña

Ocaña legendary aerodrome in Castilla la Mancha, Don Quixotte country...

To wake me up from the trip nothing like a little jump in Ocaña. Good vibes, crowded sky, planes, gliders, microlights, aerobatics, skydiving... a condensate of aeronautics and aerial sports a few minutes away from Madrid!

March 2009 flying in China

When dreams become true...

After so many sacrifices and hard work, so many exhausting hours flying... I can eventually say it was all worth it! Every day we go a bit further ahead and eventually make a foolish old dream come true: make that a paragliding machine takes off, flies and lands on its own! For legal reasons I must be on board at any time to control, but now it's the artificial intelligence (I, we taught to fly) that flies me around.
I no longer have to put all my strength and energy in piloting. I can now observe and study how the robot pilots and reacts. It is now able to pilot like I do.. or even better sometimes.
I've had to bear a great deal of criticism, incredulous and disillusioned comments toward the project. I've learnt a lot listening; I've learnt patience, I've learnt dreams don't come true in one day, that you have to put all your heart soul and energy to overcome the difficulties without losing faith.

Great thanks from deep in my heart to all that have followed and supported us, for those who have bet on a few foolish guys with foolish ideas, backing us day after day, failure after failure... one day you reach the goal... it would not have been possible without them!

Thank you to my family, friends, trainees, clients who have had the patience to bear me like I am, always out, far away, here and there, from an hotel to another like an uprooted no family, you've always been beside me in my loneliness.

Now we keep on dreaming, making new plans that could write aeronautical History on day. Who would have guessed I would be in the magazines my father use to buy on Sundays when I was a child and dreamt maybe I could fly one day too. Thanks to my father's courage and enthusiasm, I was able to start flying early and get prepared for this maverick unique job I'm passionate about.

From China
Paco Diaz

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3HK6FQOjUM&feature=channel_page

Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.es/pacovuela/ChinaI?authkey=Gv1sRgCJemzN2WvoCrSQ#
http://picasaweb.google.es/pacovuela/ChinaII?authkey=Gv1sRgCM3FjryPtd3P0QE#

Fine weather in March

We spent a lot of time flying this month of march, hot weather, first thermals, blossom... spring explosion in Extremadura!
Aboard our hot air balloon it is a great show, another point of view, another way to watch nature and life... magical...
We have also flown a lot the one seat trike. It is really fun and handy. We play to manoeuvre on the ground without taking off.




A few pictures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ2rMk1pVtE&feature=channel_page

Sky diving

Here is the video of my last journey to Portugal: Sky diving in the clouds; magical show! I can rarely afford a leisure break and therefore upmost enjoy it.
It was a real pleasure with you guys, great ambiance; I remember how one of you kept singing in the plane all the way up! I felt at home.
Thank you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A0EDa4S72o

When the weather is bad...

Time for imagination!! It is time to be at the workshop and give birth to handfuls of ideas and projects stored in my mind.
Like every year, I've conceived a new model of trike. This time I emphasised comfort airborne and was born this small compact aircraft. It is very well accessorised, very safe, a mini microlight with paraglider and plenty of small details that we were missing on previous models.
It is a way of expressing myself, giving real shape to all the observations I make every time I fly, what i like, what I dislike, what is missing... I put it all in this model, that nevertheless can adapt any engine.
I already flies! I'll soon have a video.


Thank you for following me.
In February I'll be "in the air" again, in China to test a new different robot much more developed than previous ones. I'll try to keep in touch and send regular pictures and videos.


See you soon.