Sweet and flying machines

Steel-framed flying machines waited on Steve Camp’s “Freedom Field” on Mud Flat west of Dusty early Saturday morning, waiting for the sun to rise.

One fires up its engine, moving the glorified winged go-kart across the field. Its five-foot fan fills a rainbow-colored trailing parachute with air to send both operator and machine into the sky.

Such was the scene at Camp’s field last weekend, as nearly two dozen powered parachute owners came in for a flying derby, filling the skies of western Whitman County.

“It’s really one of the safest, gentlest and easiest ways to fly,” said Mike Lersbak of Spokane.

Camp has been hosting the gathering of his fellow pilots for the past decade, about as long as he’s owned his own powered parachute.

“It’s a lot of fun. These are some really good people who just love to fly,” Camp said of his guests. “And we have a no-idiot rule, so we make sure nobody’s out there buzzing cows or anything.”

A few did make a Friday night trip to see the Tigercats’ play Garfield-Palouse under the lights of the LaCrosse High School football field.

Most of the flights took off in sorties from Camp’s field when the wind was at its weakest, at sun-up and sun-down.

“It sure seems to whip up more once the sun is out,” said Ken Avery, a pilot from Spokane.

The planes come in various models, but most all of them are powered by Rotax two-stroke engines that provide anywhere from 45 to 100 horsepower.

They carry up to 15 gallons of regular gasoline, which gives them a few hours of flight time.

The heavier two-seater planes provide more stability, explained Avery. Wind blowing over the hills that border Camp’s field tossed the one-seaters sideways, and sometimes overpower their engines.

While watching another pilot take to the sky around 8 a.m. Saturday, Avery estimated the 20-mile headwind reduced his travel speed to about five or 10 miles per hour.

“That wind really makes it hard to do anything,” said Avery. “It’s gonna be tough for him to even get turned around to land.”

Those who lifted off earlier in the day - right at or before sunrise - had an easier go and got up into the sailing winds easily enough to buzz the sights around the west Palouse.

Many took their chute-planes to the Snake River, even cruising far enough west to buzz Palouse Falls.

“It’s a pretty amazing thing to be right there,” said Camp. “You really can’t get that view from anywhere else.”

Previous gatherings at the Camp ranch have included rescue missions when fellow pilots had to land in fields after their gas ran out.

Last weekend’s gathering also provided the opportunity for some new pilots to train.

The smallest, single-seat planes require no training or medical screening to fly. Larger planes do require more certification and training.

One training pilot took off from Freedom Field, but wound up in a field of camelina stubble once he hit the wind shear coming over the hills.

“That’s the great thing about it,” said Lersbak. “It’s a parachute, so if you fall, you’ve got the escape hatch built right in.”