This is Portland Oregon . This is where I work . I cross two of these bridges every day going to and from work . I cross them all day long with my job and I have benn here for 25 years and I have NEVER seen these guy's . Yes you can fly under the bridges, I guess ? They have sea planes landing and taking off of the Willamette river all day long and we have so many bridges (10) that it would be tuff not to fly under one .
Yes the same safety questions crossed my mined as did your's .

I would allso like to add that HENRY BOWMAN IS A BAD MAN !!!!!

I am now hooked on watching these video's on You Tube and I'm now trying to figure out how to get into this.

Man, in if we flew under a bridge, life wouldn't be worth living if they caught you

Having a gyro on floats would prolly work? supposedly, any water outside of controlled airspace is ok to land on yes officer, I was attempting to land under the bridge and decided to do a go around (15 times)

A funny story, in about 1985 I bought a 'Moyes Mars 210' hang glider (diamond shape/early) and it was green and purple, I thought it was very rare.... but it turned out, some guy managed to sneak up on top of the Sydney harbour bridge in the dark, then set up his kite and he hang glided off, under and over the harbour bridge for a while, then disappeared off into the suburbs.... the cops were looking for him (Baaaaadly!) and he had used a green and purple kite.... pretty easy to spot.... so Bill moyes only made purple and green ones for a few months so everywhere the cops looked there were purple and green gliders ..... so mine was like one out of 200

I like stories like that

So Bowman !
What is the range on one of them ?
And what do you know about FLIGHT JUNKIES and Captain Kurt ?

Okay Scary,
First off temper my thoughts with the fact Im a noobie.
Yes, Muz I will be making the very best ADM's as I lost my beautiful gyro to some really bad ones....
No its not quite the bicycle rules, but they are very forgiving of these cause most people look at them and go "oooo pretty!" not "those guys are flying reckless"
As for the water, you can't see it but I guarantee everyone of these guys has an Agama self inflating rescue rig. I got one and don't plan on flying over water to soon.

Scary, range is about 2.5 to three hours for fuel depending on the rig and set up.
If you fly up to 5000 feet, and kill power, you can fly down to 1000 feet and start over, there are all sorts of world records for time aloft. Also, in your video quest is a much cheaper form of flight called paragliding...same wing, no engine and you are ridge soaring only....living in Oregon, I'll bet you can see some of them, maybe over near the Tillamook Cheese factory.

My buddy and I went out yesterday, he set up and went in 5 minuets, flew for 20 landed and stowed his gear and we left, in less time than it would have taken for me to drive one way to the airport and he got his flying fix in!
In the industry, Kurt Fister is considered a dangerous moron by some very well respected people! Also look about for anything to do with Dell Schanze,...he is the Dennis Fetters of the Para world!

watch this video, if your not hooked, nothing can move you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jeI8z5CV4E

That good Hen, I am allergic to death.... it doesn't go well with me, I am sure it is the same for you

I can see why they would become addictive it would be good if you got someone to drive you upwind an hour or 2 and you fly back and they drive back or catch a bus or train a couple of hours out of town and fly back

I guess Dell Schanze is why it is elegal to land or takeoff from the Oregon beaches from Washington to California in a PPG.

Thank you for the info Bowman .

yeah, never met him, but by all accounts a total Douchebag!

Every sport has their Douchebag, some have more than others....

Ours just seem to be real big ones

It does look pretty tempting.

.

Benry ... I am watching your transition with interest

I have been around some of the heavy 2 place trike-chutes and had no yearning to fly one .... but after watching some of those back pack videos it looks like fun

Well todays practice wasnt so spectacular.
Winds got a little squirrely and i scooped up some sand in my ram openings.
I got the brite idea that I should just turn the wing upside down and shake it out, as I was alone and my wing is 28 meters...its a handful!
Anyway I ended up getting my lines all fandangoed and spent the next hour unfucking them:(
As far as this part goes, rotors are much easier.
On the other hand, my assembled rig and stuff sack with chute goes into my truck bed in under 2 minuets, ready to go road worthy!
I will soon be getting airborne, but am taking my time with the kiting,as my instructor pointed out 1 hour of kiteing practice is like a month of flying!
And once you start flying, its real hard to convince someone to go back to kiting!
Will try again tomorrow morning...ill let you all know how it goes.

I too am very interested in this and how you are doing .

.

Benry ... I watched the kiting practice in the video ... looks like a cool and relaxed way to get the feel of the control ropes .... but I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the wind picked up .... would you lift off .... or is there a way you can bring the chute back down

You have total control Arnie, the two steering toggles in your hands are actually brake toggles, the more you pull the more the wing tips roll in.
You could get banged up a bit if you got hit by a dust devil, and it has happened.
There is a guy some of you will recognize his name Jeff Goins, he writes for PSF each month.
He was making a video about stunt kiting where they kite up and walk up things like the sides of RV's or street poles.
Anyway, a dust devil caught him while filming and busted him up....
You really need to wrap your noodle around the whole micro weather reading.Its nothing like the gyros where the bigger the wind the funner the ride.
One thing I have already learned and keep observing is this is NOT a guaranteed form of flight!
Many times as a beginner you may get all set up and not get airborne cause the weather changed, or you blew a takeoff so many times that you are now exhausted or a host of other reasons.
This truly is an exercise in self control, obviously as you gain skill you will be more and more successful.

That's why I never looked into it. We have a couple that attends our fly-ins and they have a two-seat chute. They can only fly it in the late afternoons, or a very calm day.

I attended a local fly-in once where there was a guy with a foot-launched PPC. The winds were variable and a little gusty, and he must have tried a half-dozen times to get off the ground, going through all the motions of laying out the chute, running up the engine, getting it kited, only to have it roll off to the side as he started running. He did finally get off the ground, but as he was flying around low over the airstrip the wind direction changed and he settled to the ground and did a face-plant. He forgot to get off the throttle so the fan was pushing him into the ground just as the wind picked up again and drug him through the weeds and briar bushes.
Not the most elegant way to end the flight...in front of a crowd too!
Maybe he just wasn't very experienced.

The videos on the Blackhawk site make me want to try it though. Skimming along a beach, or over the open countryside with your feet dangling down seems like a nice way to spend a lazy afternoon.

Is the motor electric start? I only ask, because if you encountered a shitload of lift/thermal you could switch off and play for ages in the updraught, then start up again and continue on your way?

I know that paraglider wings can carry plenty of weight, so in enough updraught, the weight of the motor shouldn't be a problem

Muz, there are a lot of different rigs out there. Mine being one of the most expensive has pull and electric, and updraft soaring is one of the most enjoyable aspects of this sport.
You can literally stay aloft for hours doing what you described.

And when the engine is off, its totally peaceful and quiet!

You are trained to land engine off every time so its exactly like if you have ever parachuted? once you pop open and are under canopy it gets to be a nice quiet comfy ride, except you can stay aloft for a very long time.

This has got me pumped .
I'm broke and I can't do anything about it right now .
But I'm pumped .
This is viable for me .
If I can get my trancefir at work I can start working overtime and maybe swing this .
It's compact it's easily portable and easily stored.
Foot launce is the way to go for me .
And there is so many places for me to foot launch in walking distance from my house, too bad I live too blocks from the second bigest, busiest, controlled airspace, airport in Oregon .
But it ain't like PPG's showup on radar .

Back in my skydiving days I would hop and pop at 10.500 just so I could hang out and enjoy the view and the peace and quiet ( except for your riser break flapping in the wind ).
There is a glider port bicycle distance from my house and those guys will loiter all day long .
I'm guessing that I could do the same thing .