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Post by ezza on Aug 21, 2007 8:18:38 GMT 10
Hey Guys, We just had a five minute gap in the rain and I ran out to the slope and it is blowing 50-58 knots easterly!!!  It was to the point where during a gust it would blow you back a step or so then much harder to walk into the wind. Had to move trees out of the way to make out the driveway and also had to recover our bin from the other side of the road. Lucky it had already been emptied.  I have the Reaper fully loaded with lead and ready for the next gap in the rain....if we get another. These are the sort of days that those far inland ridges would be working.....tempting to take a day off. Good luck to anyone flying today!  |
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Post by jase on Aug 21, 2007 9:24:48 GMT 10
i'm keen as to get up to Mt Mee. rostered myself off from 12 noon and everything.. up until last night seabreeze was showing the strong winds hitting us from 11am. but now it seams they won't get here until 7pm tonight.
i've got the afternoon off anyway so i'm going to go somewhere and make the most of it....
beleive it or not. we woke up this morning in brisbane to perfect clear skys.
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Post by ezza on Aug 21, 2007 10:20:02 GMT 10
I can't believe it is fine up there.
I just got back in and checked the wind guage, to see what I was flying in, average windspeed of 48 knots with peak gust of 55 knots!
I put in all the lead and ended up AUW of 1.63kg. Once I pushed my way out to the edge and the wind seemed to drop for a second so I threw the Reaper out. She penetrated out quite slowly but better than expected, still getting bounced around alot. Taking large aileron throws to keep her going straight and not rolling over. First thing I realiesed after throwing the plane was that I should have worn some ski goggles as my eyes are watering like crazy after just a few seconds. It was actually quite scary as any elevator results in huge altitude gain, and even a slight downwind turn brings the plane back towards the slope at light speed. My vision is quickly getting very blurry, "what the heck am I doing, this might be the end of my plane". I notice that dives tend to get steeper quickly, I guess the wind is pushing down on the nose, so then pull a little elevator and with the extra speed she goes real high. I have got to land. Manage to side slip over the ridge and all is fine until it freefalls from about 15 ft up, down onto the ridge top. Cracked the broken fuse spar a little but not too bad considering. Finally got to try some extreme winds can't imagine what it would be like to have a ridge with no turbulence over the back and that windstrength. Mindblowing! Got to say it is more fun to fly in 20 knots.
I guess the winds are heading up your way. Let us know if any one gets out.
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Post by jase on Aug 21, 2007 10:55:31 GMT 10
andrew has headed up to Kevs Ridge and i'll be going up after work. i should be flying by 1pm.. i think the 20kt winds are expected here by 2:30 - 3pm and the 40kt stuff by 7pm tonight. i'll be flying either until it gets dark or starts raining.
we'll put up posts tonight on how things went. but i think the wind is just starting to roll in here
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Post by ezza on Aug 21, 2007 11:04:04 GMT 10
Seabreeze still showing average windspeed of 48 knots at Byron.
Hopefully when the wind gets up there, you have less rain than down here. It looks like we have been though a mild cyclone! Trees, branches and junk everywhere.
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Post by sean on Aug 21, 2007 11:42:55 GMT 10
Must be the calm before the storm up here, the weather is perfect, clear sunny skies and low wind.
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Post by jase on Aug 21, 2007 15:35:07 GMT 10
this is just crazy. 3:30 in the afternoon and the wind has gone back around to the sw at 6kts.
it is raining though.
on the lighter side of things. andrew and i were up at sids ridge for about 1/2 hour before the rain set in trying to DS on the western side of the slope. but with 6kts of wind pushing our planes it wasn't too successful.
as the rain started to sprinkle down we decided to head up to Mt Mee. but as we got back onto the main road Andrew pulled over and we kinda both just called it a day. if it wasn't raining up there, there was probably enough low cloud around to make it near 0 visibility.
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Post by jase on Aug 21, 2007 15:52:16 GMT 10
gotta curse at this wind.... 3:55pm and the wind finally arrives.
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Post by thevon on Aug 21, 2007 17:47:56 GMT 10
That's amazing, how much difference there is in the weather only a couple of hours drive away! At 2:30pm there was not a breath of wind here, just a misty drizzle and low cloud. The wind's picked up since and there are some broken tree branches on the roads.
Ezza I know exactly what you're talking about - it's not actually so much fun flying in wind like that. One time I flew a very heavily ballasted Duck at Woody Point and got flipped back into the top of the Norfolk Is pine tree. Finally I had to go home and get a huge aluminium extension ladder. The locals were pretty worried I think - it was so strong that it kept trying to blow the ladder over until I climbed up and tied it to the tree. Then climbing the tree it was lurching around, and the bits of branches I knocked were flying across the road. But I got the plane down.
But at Easter I enjoyed flying the Drongo in a massive southeaster at Pedwell Rd - it was in its element - best it's ever flown. But that was probably 35knots, not 50+ !!
I'll post a bit about Sids Ridge under the DS locations thread
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Post by jase on Aug 21, 2007 17:52:39 GMT 10
yes, well. now that i see a true 25 - 30kt SE wind it does show me how much wind energy is there. i can only imagine how much ballast is needed on days like this.
hopefully thursday morning is fine.
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Post by laanguy on Aug 21, 2007 21:17:21 GMT 10
Hey Guys, We just had a five minute gap in the rain and I ran out to the slope and it is blowing 50-58 knots easterly!!! Hmmm, I am dissapointed in you.....50 knot winds and where is the Opus??? Are you waiting for the right day, is 50 not enough? Andrew |
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Post by ezza on Aug 21, 2007 23:34:18 GMT 10
Hehehehe, hey Andrew, good to see you here on Windsock. Yeah it was fifty knots but not a dsable site. I am trying to only fly the Opus at ds spots. I would hate myself if I wrecked it on the frontside!!! Actually I went out to a spot tonight, that I have been looking at for a while. It is near the Channon which is about 30-40mins inland. It works in an easterly and strong easterlies are rare. I knew if I drove out there after work I had about one hour to fly, if there was no rain. After sitting in the ute for 45mins waiting for the rain to stop I drove down the road scoping another spot when the rain cleared briefly. I had about 5-10 mins to give it a try before I had to get back for work. Unfortunately the wind was a lot lighter than at the coast, about 15-25knots. It was from the SE out there as well, so it was pretty cross slope. I just wish I had more time. I got several low 100mph passes with the Reaper, there was heaps more in the place I just had to go.  It was still great to fly a fresh spot that I found and prove that it works. Look forward to trying it in a straight easterly or maybe even a NE, as the SE was causing a little turbulence so had to fly pretty low. Have only flown the Opus once and can't wait to ds it. Have you been ds'ing/flying lately. Any new ships etc,? |
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Post by laanguy on Aug 22, 2007 8:19:11 GMT 10
Too much working and not enough flying, though had a few days last week for some light DS. If they rain stays away today I will go out with my Bird and some ballast, wind is perfect direction at the moment and gusting to about 30knots.
Nothing new except a 3.2m budget mouldie, will not have it flying for a while. Alot arriving next month but nothing for me. Just trying to work and save. For christmas I will either get an Opus or perhaps a v-tailed Furio. Been reading about the new Furios doing really well in the F3f races in the states and the extra 1.2m of wing over the Opus, plus the fact that I can fly flat field with it might make the decision easier. They ballast up pretty well too and seeing how easily the 160" dynamic went, perhaps a strong 3m is better. Maybe I end up with just a glass Opus as they will be pretty cheap.
Andrew
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Post by ezza on Aug 22, 2007 8:42:32 GMT 10
Too much working and not enough flying, though had a few days last week for some light DS. If they rain stays away today I will go out with my Bird and some ballast, wind is perfect direction at the moment and gusting to about 30knots. Nothing new except a 3.2m budget mouldie, will not have it flying for a while. Alot arriving next month but nothing for me. Just trying to work and save. For christmas I will either get an Opus or perhaps a v-tailed Furio. Been reading about the new Furios doing really well in the F3f races in the states and the extra 1.2m of wing over the Opus, plus the fact that I can fly flat field with it might make the decision easier. They ballast up pretty well too and seeing how easily the 160" dynamic went, perhaps a strong 3m is better. Maybe I end up with just a glass Opus as they will be pretty cheap. Andrew Good to hear you have a few things in the pipeline. Best of luck today, maybe you will be able to move your Aussie record up a bit. Not too far though, you need to wait for us all to catch up!! I think you are right a 3m+ ship would be the ultimate, a few of the manufacturers seem to be making them strong enough these days. F3F....that would be fun. Do you guys ever have any comps down your way? |
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Post by laanguy on Aug 22, 2007 8:51:46 GMT 10
The only competition down here is to see who can keep their plane in one piece.
The Standard Furio is very strong, seen one doing some extreme flying and competition winch launches that are mind blowing. I have one of the top aussie flyers helping me out with the furios and his experience is pushing me towards the v-tailed furio. I get straight from the manufacturer so I can always ask for double carbon to make it bullet proof....but not side of the hill proof.
There are so many DS guys now that it won't be long before lots of aussies are in the 150 club, so I need to push the speeds to keep a bit of a buffer between me and everyone else. With my lack of flying at the moment I will not be on the top for long and look forward to chasing someone else.
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It was to the point where during a gust it would blow you back a step or so then much harder to walk into the wind. Had to move trees out of the way to make out the driveway and also had to recover our bin from the other side of the road. Lucky it had already been emptied. 
