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CHIEF

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5095

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Anyone here fly a powered parachute? I got my private pilot license on my 17th birthday, worked as an aircraft A&I apprentice all through college, but never got around to purchasing a plane. Lately, I have the bug for this: https://powrachute.com/airwolf/ . Just want to have something to toodle around the neighborhood, run down the riverbed, shoot hogs out of, fly over the lake, go see friends and family that live close, and take them up. 

This video is just intoxicating, would love to experience this:

Would also be fun to shoot hogs from:

I think I can write it off for doing aerial shots for real estate, and maybe do a couple of hog hunts a month to make it pay for itself. I am doing my damnedest to justify the purchase to Mrs. CHIEF. Fuck CHIEF Jr., he would rather buy a new four seat loaded out enclosed Ranger, and my old two-seater is just fine. Hell, I can drive it to the gas station in our neighborhood, the roads are all private, you can drive golf carts, UTVs, go-karts, or anything else on the streets. I can keep it in my garage, and drive it to the airstrip, less than a half mile. Damn the torpedoes.

CHIEF

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5095

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4 minutes ago, Johnny Chimpo said:

My friends got into this pretty big out in California. One of them got out after a few broken ribs on a hard landing but I think the rest are still doing it. They really enjoyed it but it can definitely get a little sketchy sometimes. 

Were they landing on tires, or on their feet? I'm too old for the backpack model, which is a ton cheaper. I would also upgrade to shocks. Would also have to be "ice cream" days, do not want to fight high wind, or turbulence, the last two days would have been perfect, in the evening.

CHIEF

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Johnny Chimpo

Johnny Chimpo 479

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I think there was a bit of both sorts of landings. The guy that went down hard though was definitely in a pod / shell so he must have been landing on tires. One thing about California though there’s a fair bit more terrain relief and wind / turbulence, standing updrafts over hills etc that may make it a little more complicated than Texas. 

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5095

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51 minutes ago, destroya said:

Looks rad. How much do they cost?

This one is a Cadillac. 100hp four stroke, so it is quite, and more reliable. Looking at $35k. You can get one for half as much, just doesn't seem like a good idea to skimp with the possible consequences.

CHIEF

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NotActuallyALonghorn

NotActuallyALonghorn 4977

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I've always thought one of these things would be pretty fun, but I think I would personally go with something like a Quicksilver MX. Maybe I am wrong, but my understanding is that you are pretty much stuck at one airspeed for level flight with a powered parachute. Speed up and you gain altitude, slow down and you lose it. I guess the simplicity is part of the beauty, but I would eventually want something with a bit more performance.

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5095

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10 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

I've always thought one of these things would be pretty fun, but I think I would personally go with something like a Quicksilver MX. Maybe I am wrong, but my understanding is that you are pretty much stuck at one airspeed for level flight with a powered parachute. Speed up and you gain altitude, slow down and you lose it. I guess the simplicity is part of the beauty, but I would eventually want something with a bit more performance.

If you watch the guys feet, the pedals are not only rudders, but elevators. You control your speed not only with the throttle, but with the angle of attack on the parachute. You deflect the leading edge downward by pushing both feet forward to gain airspeed with increased throttle without gaining altitude.. This model even has trim tabs, it has rope locks so you can trim it to crab in crosswinds. Max cruise is about 36 mph.

CHIEF

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5095

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6 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

That makes sense. Still relatively tame, but if you are just wanting to float around and shoot at some pigs or whatever it might be the best option. 

Yeah, that's pretty much it. It's kinda like having a drone, but you get to ride along.

CHIEF

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CHIEF 5095

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The county judge to the east of me has had one for 15 years and loves it. He bought my grandfather's insurance business back in the 70's, and when my grandfather was alive we would eat breakfast with him a few times per week, said it's his favorite thing he has owned.

CHIEF

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5095

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Getting the ol', " you promised me a swummin' pool" bullshit from Mrs. CHIEF. Well, I ain't cleaning the fuckin' pecan leaves outta that bitch, it's all yuurs. Been married 27 years, and, yeah, I "strong armed her into my Syclone". I threatened to sell the gotdamn Poon-toon boat, and give up the slip. I hate drunk arguments when she is probably right. But I'm buy-in' that fucker anyways....Good night.

CHIEF

 

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17808

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9 hours ago, CHIEF said:

Getting the ol', " you promised me a swummin' pool" bullshit from Mrs. CHIEF. Well, I ain't cleaning the fuckin' pecan leaves outta that bitch, it's all yuurs. Been married 27 years, and, yeah, I "strong armed her into my Syclone". I threatened to sell the gotdamn Poon-toon boat, and give up the slip. I hate drunk arguments when she is probably right. But I'm buy-in' that fucker anyways....Good night.

CHIEF

 

This is how it's done.

Did you have any menudo this morning?  

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CHIEF 5095

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7 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

This is how it's done.

Did you have any menudo this morning?  

I wish, didn't want to drive into town. I'm in quite the quandary. I'm using the "it's your boat, I don't care if we sell it" angle. She wants to wait until CHIEF Jr. graduates for a pool. That is three semesters away with him working. Hell, I could be dead by then. Then she uses the old, well you can have it as long as you don't use any of our money. Fuck, we have joint accounts on everything. I possibly could run it through the company, but she will ask my Mom if our company is paying for it, and my Mom won't lie. 

CHIEF

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17808

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1 hour ago, royiv said:

Never have joint accounts with your wife. She can spend money on whatever the fuck she wants without you getting annoyed and you can spend money on whatever the fuck you want without her getting annoyed.

This is so not the case.  I mean, I don't disagree with the premise - don't have joint accounts.  But she will ALWAYS reserve the right to get annoyed, no matter the time, place or situation.  It's like next you're going to tell me boobs feel like a bag of sand.

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5095

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So, own the house free and clear. Worth about $600k. Our income tax is always outrageous, since we can only take the standard $6500 deductible. Thinking about a HELOC for $100k on a 10 year or 15 year. Wife can spend $30k on the pool (which will be a badass pool in our neck of the woods, we have no rock). The pool would be the only sunk cost that we be unrecoverable without selling. With the remaining, can upgrade the Ranger and buy the chute. Both can be depreciated and deducted as business expenses. My parents lost everything, but the paid off house when oil crashed in '85. They always preached to never take a loan out against the house. Mrs. CHIEF takes that as gospel. I feel we are missing out on using our money to our advantage. If shit went to hell in a hand basket, I feel like the worst thing that could happen, is a lien gets filed on the house. It will be left to CHIEF Jr., so at worst, he would have to pay off the lien. I'm I wrong here? Can everyone get a trophy? 

CHIEF

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NotActuallyALonghorn

NotActuallyALonghorn 4977

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I'm pretty sure you can find a good used one for under 10k. Now that you have set the high expectations, it is time to start shopping around for a good deal. When you find one that "is a steal" you will be much more likely to get her approval. After learning the ropes start talking about how much you love it and how it is practical for pig control and other business ventures, but it would be nice to be able to upgrade for reliability purposes and such.

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CHIEF

CHIEF 5095

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1 hour ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

I'm pretty sure you can find a good used one for under 10k. Now that you have set the high expectations, it is time to start shopping around for a good deal. When you find one that "is a steal" you will be much more likely to get her approval. After learning the ropes start talking about how much you love it and how it is practical for pig control and other business ventures, but it would be nice to be able to upgrade for reliability purposes and such.

All the preppers have snatched them up to avoid the Zombie Apocalypse.

Price isn't the issue, it's just that she isn't interested in a ride. I had a couple of buddies that bought a ratty old 172 before we got married. So the first time she had ever been in a plane, I trimmed it off about treetop level and flew around looking at shit. My folks lived on a hill, it had a hill directly in the flight path in front of where you would fly level with the house. So we dove and gained a bunch of airspeed, buzzed by, then had to stand it on it's tail to avoid the next hill. I let it climb hanging on the prop, did a little tail slide, kicked the rudder and came back the same way we went by. The negative G's kinda freaked her out, and she won't fly with me anymore.

CHIEF

 

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