petitjeantrip

Powered parachute flying in Central Arkansas

Petit Jean Flying Adventure
(pictures are here)

Well I finally completed one of my adventures! I have been wanting for quite some time to load up my PPC with my backpacking gear, fly out somewhere remote and campout overnight. The chance finally came the other day. My grandfather had died a few days prior and after the funeral and doing all the family stuff, I checked the weather. It was prime flying both that afternoon and the next morning.

I called one of the state parks here in Arkansas, Petit Jean Mountain to ask about their fly-in campsite. Their web site touts it as being the only fly-in campsite in the state. He told me a little bit about it and I knew I had to check it out! They had tent sites only (at the airport), running water, bathrooms, showers, picnic tables, campfire grills and even BBQ grills!

Now, my kind of camping is actually carrying my gear on my back and REALLY roughing it! I enjoy backpacking in the wilderness carrying only a minimum amount of gear. My stove that I use fits in the palm of your hand and weighs a mere 6 ounces! But hearing how nice this place was, I was sold!

I found the co-ordinates to the strip on www.airnav.com and loaded them into my GPS. The site also had other pertinent information like their telephone number, radio frequency, and runway information. I made a copy of the flight area from the sectional, folded it up and put it in my cargo pocket.

Next, I started loading my backpack as fast as I could. It was about 4:45 when I made the decision to go, and now I was really trying to beat the sunset time. Basically I just got my sleeping pad and bag, tent, my stove, fuel, and a few other of my backpacking type gear. My girlfriend saw my frantic running around the house and said she would help me by getting out of the way! Actually she was a big help as I showed her how to check the weather for me on wunderground.com. I told her to watch for storms that were popping up around the area and I showed her how to watch the winds. She would be my meteorologist in the morning when I got ready for the return trip.

After I got all packed up and ready, I checked the weather meticulously one last time. The winds were forecasted to be excellent both this evening and in the morning. All I could do now was hope for the best! So off the airport I went!

I made a quick pit stop for fuel and really hauled butt to the field. Sunset was 8:30 and it was now about 6 P.M.

Once I got to the airport, I immediately noticed the windsock was a limp noodle…nice!! I quickly opened the hanger door and pulled out the Frontier Flyer. A little bit of oil, top of the fuel and a good pre-flight and she was ready to fly. Next, I put the backpack in the backseat, took a ratchet strap and cinched it down good. I test flew this configuration a while ago to make sure it would fly OK. Now it was time to put it to use!

I began taxing out, past the FBO, crossed the runway and onto the grass area. Once I got setup, I did a quick recheck of my gear, the lines and the windsock. All looked great! I got on the radio and announced my take-off, then fired the engine up. My temps were still good, so I began my roll out and wing inflation. I like the quickness of the accordion layout, but the kite up is always perfect with the inverted. The wing popped right up and as usual the end cells were a little slow to open. A few quick pumps of the rudder and they opened right up. All cells were open, lines were clean, and temps were good, next came full throttle! Almost instantly she leaped in the air. I stayed in the ultralight pattern and made my way out of the traffic. Next, I announced on the radio that I was leaving the pattern, departing to the west. I was Petit Jean bound!

I had about an 8 MPH tailwind that was helping to speed me along. The time now was about 7:15, so I had about an hour and a half to land before it got dark.

The air was incredibly smooth. I Don’t think I even felt one bump the whole way! I traveled my usual route for flying, heading towards the Arkansas river, then making my way to Pinnacle mountain. The only thing different was, this time I didn’t linger or circle around to see stuff. I was on my way to point B and I had to get there! Because I was afraid of not making it on time, I climbed to about 3,000 feet. I did increase my speed to about 40 MPH, however, it was much cooler up there and my short sleeved shirt didn’t quite cut it. So I dropped back down to around 1,000 feet where my speed was good and the air temp was more tolerable.

I was now beginning to venture into new territory. My regular turn around point was about an hour from my home field, and passing it by was exhilarating. I was over half way to my destination. The new sights were awesome and the feeling of freedom overwhelming. The towns were now few and far between as this was now rural territory.

An hour and a half into the flight, I could see my destination. It was a distinct mountain with a pronounced ridge to the north. The ridge is the burial spot of famed Petit Jean. I saw several landmarks below me and checked with my sectional as a backup. I relied totally on my GPS but it was fun to follow along on the chart. I could tell almost right where I was because the landmarks matched up remarkably on the map. I’ve got to add here, that I’m sure I could have made it their with the aid of a sectional, but the GPS is not only fun, it contains too much information to not have for a cross country trip. It pointed me RIGHT where I needed to go, was able to find a faster wind, calculated my time to get there, and told me when the sunset was.

Now I’m about 5 miles from the field. I added a little more power so that my altitude would put me about 300 feet above the mountain. 3 miles out I made the call on the radio to announce my intentions, “Petit Jean traffic, Powered parachute Two Four Juliet Whisky is 3 miles east of the field inbound for landing. Any traffic please advise, Petit Jean.” I listened intently while I searched for the field. When I talked to the FBO manager before I left the house, he told me they left around 5 PM. It was now about 8:20 so I knew I would pretty much be on my own. There was no answer on the radio. I again called at 2 miles and related my position.

I now had the field in site. The air was still smooth as glass and I was not sure which way the wind was blowing. I made my approach to enter the pattern and to scope out the windsock. Once over the field I could see the limp, orange sock. I did a few fly arounds and determined there was nobody there. The runway was VERY long. Almost a mile long I think. I lined up for runway two one and began my descent. I eased over to the freshly mowed grass and set her down very gently. Engine off and the chute came down almost in slow motion. Whew! It was nice to be there!!

As soon as I got unbuckled, I immediately called my girlfriend who was anxiously awaiting word from me. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing I had made it there in good shape. It was a quick call as I had much to do now. I quickly bagged the chute and strapped it to the side. Then I taxied on to the runway and started looking for the camp area. I had not seen it while I was in the air and was not sure what to expect. On the runway, I decided to open her up and see how fast she would go. I got up to 40 MPH no problem at all and that was not even half throttle!

Down towards the other end of the runway I could see a parking area for aircraft. Then I could see the campground behind a fenced in area. It didn’t take long to figure out this was no ordinary campground. It was immaculate with loads of amenities! There were elevated tent sites, with nice picnic tables, a campfire ring that had a grate for cooking on, a hibachi style grill, running water, electric hookups, trails running to each site, and even a pole to hang your lantern or food so the critters wouldn’t get to it! The showers there were very modern and well lit. I have never seen such a nice campground! Of course, most of my camping has been done in the backcountry on pristine land. But still, I don’t think there are many campgrounds this nice at an airport in a state park!

After making a fire with the pre-cut wood already there, I ate a little dinner and enjoyed the serenity. This place would make a GREAT fly-in and camp out!

Normally I sleep pretty good when I’m outdoors. Tonight was different though because of worrying about the return trip. I kept waking up in the middle of the night listening to make sure the wind was not picking up. Of course, I couldn’t do anything about it now, but I was a little nervous about not making it back due to winds picking up.

I awoke before sunrise and decided to go ahead and start getting packed up. Once the sun started shedding some light, I could see the treetops moving around quite a bit. I made a call to check on the weather and it was showing 7 from the east. This was going to be a headwind and a slower flight home.

I waited around just a bit for the airport manager to show up so I could pay the camping fee. Which by the way was a steep 20 bucks but still worth it. About 8:15 he shows up and we start talking about powered parachutes. He was quite interested in them and when I brought up the idea of a fly-in, he sounded really enthusiastic about it. The whole Petit Jean Mountain is ideal for camping and full of activities for the entire family.

I double-checked my gear in the back seat and taxied out to the grass strip. Once the chute was laid out and I was strapped back in, I was off into the sky. I wanted to do a touch and go for my small audience, but making a heading of straight back to my field 43 miles away was more important.

Immediately I noticed the GPS showing a ground speed of only 17 MPH. Not good at all. My options were to land somewhere and try to get fuel at a gas station, or keep going as far as I could get. I should have topped off my tank at the airport. But instead only put 5 more gallons that I was carrying in a fuel can.

I began climbing and descending to different altitudes to find the best speed. It seemed to be fastest at around 1000 feet with about 20 MPH. Even though it wasn’t even 9 A.M. yet, the air had already become quite rough. I could climb higher for smoother air, but the forward speed dropped.

About 45 minutes into the flight, I was flying over a small town. I noticed an intersection with a gas station and a large field behind it. I really should have landed here and refueled if nothing but to calm my nerves. If I ran out of fuel enroute, I had more than enough places to land safely. Really the problem would have just been the severe inconvenience. Instead of landing to refuel, I pressed on.

I had a light breakfast of a Diet Coke and a granola bar. Soon after the fluid intake, was the strong desire to allow fluid outtake. I read about one of the list members (Nail) solution to this problem a while ago. A ziplock bag! The concept sounds pretty simple. Pee into the bag then seal it up. WELL its not quite that easy! I won’t go into a lot of detail, just take my word for it. I did manage to not make a mess though!!

My speed was now a whopping 24 MPH and making it back was looking pretty solid. Now I was more able to enjoy the scenery. This stretch of land on the way home is dotted with farm fields, small towns, and the Arkansas river is winding its way all along.

Not far from my position now is a C-130 drop zone. However I was not aware how close I was until I caught a glimpse of a lower flying formation of C-130s. They were right off my 11 O’clock a half mile in front and about 200 feet lower than me. WHEW that woke me up! I climbed several hundred feet altered my heading to avoid the area. I wish I knew what frequency they were on so I could have heard them commenting on me!

Home was now in sight and I began to prepare for landing. I tuned my Icom aircraft radio to the right frequency, lowered my altitude and setup to enter the pattern. No other aircraft were flying in the area so I had the field to myself. I made a smooth touchdown, brought the chute to the ground and breathed a sigh of relief! My long awaited adventure had finally come to fruition! It was a fabulous time and now I’m looking forward to doing this more!