Bald Knob Road???

[aussiejarred]

umm well, i was driving to peachester today, and i saw that on the hump - (where you ds) theres like what looks like there gonna build a road up it - it was hard to see cause i was down the bottom, but theres a lot of dirt graded at the width of a 1 lane road? just letting you know...

[thevon]

Yes, the club president has been saying that they're putting a road in there. Hard to know what it will mean for the DSing. It may still be OK, but you'd think it would make the top wider and probably not as good.

[sean]

I went for a fly at Bald Knob this afternoon. The new road looks close to being complete, though I drove up the old way. It's much wider than I was expecting and has dramatically altered the shape of the hump.

The Camel Hump is still DSable, infact the road looks like it might possibly improve the shear layer for the main part of the hump. It was working well today in wind that was bordering on being too east for the Camel Hump, and not very strong. It felt different to fly, I think the shear layer was a bit higher than it used to be in similar conditions. It'll be interesting to see how it affects the shear when the wind isn't so east and has a bit more strength, there's a possiblity it could be much better, though it could also be worse, only time will tell.

The road has made the Hump much less forgiving though. Before the road was put in, the soft grass made it possible to get away with some pretty bad hits into the top of the ridge while DSing, but now there's basically a dirt wall at the top of the ridge so any crash up there will do a lot of damage. I also found it harder to see down the back (though it depends where you stand) and I have a feeling the alternate DS spot on the second "hump" (where I got my Erwin to 178) has been ruined as the road has taken a lot out of that area (and the tree I've hit several times while DSing is still there ). Thankfully landings are still pretty easy on the grass in front of the road.

Fingers crossed the road helps the shear . I feel a bit sad though as I have lots of good memories of flying there on sunny days surrounded by green paddocks while being watched by confused looking cows . It's not quite the same there now with a big dirt scar running along the ridge.

[aussiejarred]

nice- or not really??? haha anyway i have my fingers crossed aswell - as far as i know, thats the closest place for me to DS, only had one shot but i got the bug...

[nick]

hi sean

i had a fly at bald knob last sunday and walked down the track and i think it will be better, maybe a higher shear like you say and a nice track to walk down, when the grass grows over the dirt and rocks it should also give more protection for a crash!, hope to see you sunday
regards

nick

[sean]

That's a good point, it'll be interesting to see how it changes over time.

I'm thinking there must still be drainage to do on the road. As it is it looks like a giant aquaduct, looks like any water will run straight down the road and erode it badly.

[thevon]

Very interesting. This is a serious issue and as a concerned RC glider nut I feel that a mission to examine the situation is called for! (maybe tomorrow!).

Thanks for the update Sean. I agree with your sentiments. In my opinion sex is great, but nothing beats the real thing .... flying a glider on a grassy ridge with wind in your face, a huge view, cowshyte under your boots and surrounded by a nice soft Kikuyu grass landing area. I can see myself putting potholes in that road. Progress is sad sometimes!

[drcuzo]

Would it be possible to spend an hour putting in grass runners along the sides of the road to accelerate the re growth progress?

Steve

[nick]

good idea it will make it faster if you plant some couch runners
but now is the time to do it
just before rain
winter won't have much rain hopefully
rgards nick

[drcuzo]

Nick

It is meant be be showering/rain tomorrow. I will take a bucket and shovel up tomorrow.

Steve