Flying the Falls High Definition African Adventure - Coming Soon!

From our friend, Mark Becker, in South Africa we have received notice that his latest adventure is called "Flying The Falls" and will soon be available on DVD (we'll have a full review here at Trikepilot Social). In the meantime, check out the dynamic scenery taped in High Definition... such a huge improvement over standard DV when looking at the wildlife and geography of the Nambian wetlands. Beautiful!

LINK

Best of John 'Ole' Olson - Stories from the Wild Blue Yonder

John Olson (or Ole') as he likes to be called, is an old-timer in the trike world. Having come from the Hang Glider adventures of the 1980s and 1990's, he has spent much of the last decade or so traveling up and down the west Coast and into Mexico where he has taught hundreds of students and acquired thousands of great stories. His website is LearnToHanglide.com and here is the page of his "best" stories. Keep in mind, John has a "spicy" sense of humor ;)

Enjoy!

LINK

WOW - Check out the slick new DTA "Combo"

I don't have any further info on this incredibly hot looking machine from DTA (without a front strut, just like the Voyageur). But there is a PICTURE GALLERY available and some other info.

Download Combo leaflet here (PDF)
Download full Combo Brochure here (PDF)

Prices from the factory in France including delivery are quoted as ranging from $28,700 for a Combo 503 to $46,200 for a Combo 912. Anyone had their hands on one of these yet?

Digital Photography Tutorials

This site includes tutorials on how
to acquire, interpret and process digital photographs. A great introduction for anyone who is looking to improve their aviation photography skills, as well as their post-processing editing techniques.

LINK

Website of the Day - Top 1000 Ultralight and Microlight Sights

A pretty deep catalog of links to sites about ultralights, microlights and trikes. Thanks to Rob Caya for the tip.

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Microlighters in South Africa

Mark Becker turned me on to this great bulletin board from South Africa. Great way to compare points of view from a different part of the world.

LINK

Magic Trikes USA - Ace Aviation

Located in Casper, Wyoming, Magic Trikes USA was created by Dan Cooper to import, sell, and service Ace Magic Trikes throughout the United State. What I particularly like about this design is its portability (check picture above!). These are part 103 single-seat designs and a great alternative to LSA.

Ace Aviation started the design on the single seater Magic Microlight series back in 1999. It has been tested, modified and produced in India since then. Materials from Europe and America are used in the construction of the trike, air-frame and sail. The airframe tubing is certified for ultralight construction. John Penry-Evans who originally came from Wales in the UK has been involved in the aerosports industry since the 1970's. He directs all of Ace Aviation’s production work in India and together with a workforce of 18 skilled people keeps the standard of the finished product very high.

LINK

Wings of Madness - Alberto Santos Dumont

Today I saw a fascinating Nova presentation (PBS) on the life and accomplishments of Alberto Santos Dumont. He was one of the most significant pioneers of flight, though his accomplishments were initially overshadowed by the Wright Brothers.

Born in Brazil, he went to Paris in 1897 where he developed the first successful powered Dirigibles. Though a man of small stature, he became the hit of Europe for his constantly changing and improving designs. Ultimately, after reaching the end of the road with lighter-than-air machines, he moved on to airplanes. Working in part to acquire a 3,000 franc (in 1906) prize for the first to fly 60 meters, he designed and successfully flew the 14-bis to an immediate win.

After retreating to the countryside at age 32, his life took a tragic turn. WWI began and he saw the fruits of his hard work and hope for their peaceful use turned to non-peaceful means. This took its toll on his psyche and he went in and out of mental institutions for more than five years. Eventually, his family moved him back to Brazil for help. While in a sanitarium in his hometown, he saw military aircraft flying overhead and ultimately crashing during Brazil's civil war. The thought of brother killing brother with his invention was too much for him and he hung himself in his room that day. He was ultimately buried with the cause of death listed as "heart attack" in order to preserve his status as a national hero of Brazil.

The show is captivating and shows how incredibly similar some of his early machines were to our modern ultralights, especially his best design, the 1909 Demoiselle #20.

Don't miss this wonderful presentation on a PBS station in your broadcast area, or check the preview and details online.

LINK TO PBS

Wikipedia Article

Ok, one more video today.. just couldn't resist!

Alex Gore makes some of the best flying videos in the world... why won't he join us?

Well, I have to say that Alex is pen-pal of mine, but we don't see or speak to each other much. I begged him to join me in creating this website about two months ago because he is simply amazing when it comes to his video and web skills. His website at WindsandWings is one of the best I've ever seen.

Unfortunately, Alex has indicated to me that he is not into the "social thingy" and has, up till now, decided not to join us here. I figure that my only choice is to try even harder to get him to join by showing you one of my favorite videos from his YouTube collection. His editing is flawless, he has a great storyline, and the music goes with the flow. A master at work.

If anyone can help change Alex's mind (Abid... Larry...??) please give him a poke and tell him we're missing him over here. In the meantime, check out "Sky Rats Adventure"

Hey...isn't that Lucien Bartosik?

Anyone know where Lucien is these days? Bring him in and get him on board!

Video of the Day - Karl's Backyard Trike Flying!

A charming little vid from Southern France ;)

Trikepilot Social Featured Member - Rhett Dooley

Sometimes I stumble upon someone with a great eye for design. Today I found Rhett Dooley's Member Page here at Trikepilot Social. His choice of colors and graphite background are very stimulating and quite attractive. Rhett has also made good use of his photo slideshow, forum posts, and comments page. Hats off to Rhett... check out his page.

Tutorial #2 - How to Add A Photo to Trikepilot Social Postst

Find more videos like this on Trikepilot - Social Edition

Potentially the COOLEST tool I've seen on the Web this year - PERIOD!

Ok, so the story goes like this...

I'm talking to Tal Newhart today, and he sort of casually mentions that his "nephew and some of his pals" have launched this new website. Well, I'm thinking it is some kind of MySpace page, or whatever. Then, I go to the Website at Animoto.com and what I find there CHANGES MY LIFE FOREVER! Seriously, it is that amazing.

What they'e done is to create a site where you can sign up, add your photos (or have it get your photos from an online site such as Flickr or Picassa or Photobucket or Trikepilot Social), pick a musical soundtrack or upload your own, and then ask it to generate a unique music video (slideshow). While you are waiting for it to be generated and a link sent to you, the site gives you a ton of interesting toys and links to play with (obviously how they fund the site).

In a couple minutes, a link is sent to you with your completed video. Now, I've been editing my videos for six years or more, and have used almost EVERY video editing tool, including those from Apple. What Animoto has done here is REMARKABLE. The video comes back as if it were done by some high-priced producer in Los Angeles. The cuts, wipes, fades, drop-ins, everything..amazing.

So simple that anyone can use it. Below is a 30 second sample I made in about ten seconds of work. See if you agree that this is going to change videos on the internet:

Tutorial #1 - How to Add A Hyperlink to Trikepilot Social Posts

Find more videos like this on Trikepilot - Social Edition

Be sure to click on the Full Screen Button to view it larger!

Bring a Friend to Trikepilot Social Day!

It's official! We're now "inventing" holidays! ;)

Seriously though, Trikepilot Social is really kicking in the afterburners here with more than 150 members strong and adding an average of five a day. We have a TON of lurkers, with now more than 4500 unique vistors this month and more than 45,000 unique page views!! Won't you please pour some gas on our fire by inviting "one" friend or more to visit and join our site?

Our goal is to become the ONE site on which EVERY trike or microlight pilot from around the world has staked a claim... so that we can FINALLY know where everyone is, what kind of machine they fly, and what if any website they have. Most importantly... so we can all share cool videos, photos, stories, how-to articles, and adventures!

We're stirring up quite a controversy with some of the "old school" bulletin board websites (which shall remain nameless) and have even been (shudder....) MODERATED from at least one of them because we attempted to notify some of its members of our site. Why? Who knows? Since all of our content if FREE and so is theirs, perhaps they just like building a walled garden around their members for fear that they will find a much more fun and interesting experience elsewhere??

I for one am a strong believer that people will reward good content with loyalty. If you "are "enjoying our content, please show us by bringing in a friend or two to crank-up our ranks and start making our MEMBER MAP look like it was shot with a machine gun!

Cheers and Safe Flying!
Spence

Video of the Day - Quik 912 Day out to Wales, UK

I wasn't sure if my Quik could take off and land from the beaches around SW Michigan...but now I know!

Um.... what to do when your engine dies, your wing fails, and you have no BRS?

When all else fails... and you are basically "SOL".... then what to do? ... BASE JUMP VIDEO of course!!

Potentially crazy folks who like to fly without an airplane. Makes us trikepilots look like we're actually "sane" individuals ;)

LINK

Sabre Trikes - American Made Ultralight and LSA machines

The designer of the Sabre Trike (Richard Helm) was a key member of the ASTM task group in charge of writing the new standard for trikes. He wrote many changes to the original proposed standard.

According to the factory, Sabre Aircraft performs stability testing to higher speeds then required, and strength testing, beyond anything required by this new category. They also claim that any Sabre Wildcat, new or old, can be certified to the Light Sport Aircraft Category, as currently written, without any modification, or further testing.

 Their open-cockpit "Wildcat" starts at $14,995 fully equiped.

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