Eagle Tree systems for Dynamic soaring?

[Mike the Snake]

I fly DS. Presently the radar gun limits are at or just above 300mph.

Many of us have planes capable of above 300mph (Groundspeed NOT airspeed), many have gone much faster, but the radar cannot give readings above it's limit.

Can Eagltree accurately log speeds above 300mph from a glider flying super tight circles above 300mph?

We are all looking for an accurate way to measure the speeds of our fastest gliders.

[billpa]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your question. Yes, the recorders' airspeed pitot system typically reads up to about 390 MPH, even though the stated max is 300 MPH. The GPS unit does groundspeed, and the limit is much higher than 300 MPH, but I am not sure how the tight circles will affect the measurements.

Regards,

Bill, for Eagle Tree

[Mike the Snake]

Thanks for the reply!

Sounds promising.

We have used a Garmin GPS in our gliders, and the point to point measurements seemed to give readings that were high. We are going to do more tests soon.

There's a plane or two in the works that can possibly crush the 302mph record, but no way to measure above the 300.

We are going to see if we can get any consistancies. If the GPS reads a consistant number or percentage above what solid radar reads, maybe we could adjust and come up with something close.

Eagletree looks promising, as it has 2 aspects, groundspeed And airspeed that can be recorded and studied.

Possibly using all four types of measurement (Radar, Eagletree with airspeed and GPS, and video frame measurement) we might be able extrapolate the speeds above 300mph.

[Kenny Sharp]

I've also straped a Garmin Vista on top of my plane. It was only an F5B Caleb with just under 2 KW.
Still though, I was able to measure 140 mph out of a dive. I was as careful as I could be to keep it in a straight line. Still though, it did not satisfy my requirements for accuracy.

I have the pro system, and I'm anxious to try it out.
Right now, I'm struggling with installing a pitot tube and static air port so I can get accurate readings. This will go in my Surprise 14.