Campbell Field Airport - Weirwood Virginia

Some of you readers may know that I've always had my head in the clouds with regards to aviation and flying things.  From a young age I have always been facinated with flight or things that fly.  Building model aircraft, rockets, gliders, and eventually getting my private pilot certificate.  Well, I can't fly General Aviation anymore due to the rising costs of raising kids,... and the rising costs of airplanes too, so I took a good look at an ultralight known as a powered paraglider.  This is an efficient glider that many people would fly off the mountains with and search for thermals, however, I strap on a 125cc weed eater style motor onto my back to propel me into the air and I can fly around.

Since getting into this sport I have had the opportunity to fly with some local guys here and there, but a lot of flying is out there by myself on a calm evening or early dawn patrol morning.  The opportunity came to drive down to Virginia for a fly-in / camp-in weekend with these guys and a few others, so I went.

Since this is a grass airport that is away from things, camping at the airport is allowed but is also 'dry camping', meaning there are no hook ups, electric, or water facilities that we could.  Most guys pack bottles of water and walk across the airport to the bathroom that the owner graciously let open for us.  I stopped north of the airport by about an hour to a public state park campground and was able to fill my fresh water tank for the last hour of driving.  This way, I wasn't toting 40 gallons of fresh water for the full 5 1/2 hr drive.  Also, I would need to have power for the few days, so I took the Honda 2000 and a small gas can.  Since it was only me and all I really needed was the fridge, I didn't have to run it that often.

The camp setup, with the generator tucked behind.

The first night was likely the best flying weather I would have for the few days there.  The sunset was very nice across the bay facing Baltimore and the air down low was very smooth.  With such a large flying area, we could easily cruise around the airport and surrounding farm fields without having to venture anywhere or worry about power lines.

Cruising low one evening.

Flight #1 in the book for the weekend

But, as mentioned above, the flight weather was variable each day with the wind was steady throughout the day and actually smooth for the first 800 feet or so.  Then the wind gradient would increase the winds and park most of us till we retreated down low.  When exploring the airport I came across this astonishingly accurate weather sign.

Weather meter at the airport

So, what does this flying contraption look like?  Here are some shots of me in the air cruising in the sunlight in my flying lawn chair.  :-)  The wing above me is 28 sq. meters of nylon fabric just like those stunt kites you see at the shore, and I'm being pushed thru the air with a 125cc Weed Eater engine behind me.

So, there was a lot of good flying that weekend good commeraderie amongst other pilots.  Food was plentiful and some of those guys really know how to throw a fly-in.  I have some video up on my YouTube channel of my paragliding and I'm still trying to get this video from this weekend of flying edited.  Sometimes my GoPro acts up,... might be time for an upgrade from the Hero2 to something more current.

Sunday morning came fast and it was time to pack up.  About an hour drive back up route 13 to the campground at Shad Landing and I was able to dump tanks there with a few minutes to even use my tank flush to get a good rinse of the tanks since our camping trip wasn't going to be for a few more weeks to go up to Knoebels for the fall craft fair.