Vernon Anderson's knocking at 300 mph door!

[d.noland]

Congratulations to Vernon for piloting his Opus MC3 to a new PB of 298 yesterday at Castle! SO CLOSE TO 300 but the energy was just not there to give it up. But I have to say his plane and flying skills were looking rock solid, just needed that extra little puff of air and he would have been there..!!

Also congratulations out to Norm who achieved a new PB of 263 in lighter conditions earlier in the day!

Dennis

[Jantar2A]

Congrats to all,,,,298 with an opus,,they will do 300 some day,,cool

Nice flying guy's

Nick

[invictarocks]

Thanks guys - I never thought I'd be this close... I was even starting to doubt the mighty OPUS there for a while, but this sure renewed my faith!

AMEN BROTHER!!!

:)

[Mike the Snake]

I was JUST going to make a new thread for you Vernon!

Was going to say you weren't making a Big enough deal over this, this is a HUGE DEAL Man!

I never doubted the Opus! If it can hang at GR, and go 292 while death fluttering, the only thing that's gonna kill the MC3 is the ground!


Awesome speeds.

[infopimp]

And I thought the 150s I saw you peeling off at Coyote on 06 were "something"... sweet feathery jesus.

[Jason Lilly]

Gary L called me and told me that you guys were on the way up to Castle yesterday.

BIG Congrats go out to Vernon and Norm! I can't wait to make that hike!

[invictarocks]

Thanks - It's a great hike - Much better when it's not covered in snow and ice.

[Indubitably]

Congratulations Vernon!! Im sure glad that i met you before you went faster than me! Its much more fun congratulating a friend, than acknowledging some one i dont know. I really respect your flying skills. And i do have some questions.

1 Wind speed?
2 Any flutter?
3 Any balast, or whats the AUW?
4 Any, i mean what modifications? and your thoughts on them.
5 How fast did Dennis go?
6 what was Norm flying?
7 Who else went?
8 When may i come up and fly with you guys? Ive friends that also want to come and fly.
Maybe thats enough questions for now?
John

Ps, use this site, i think i sent you the wrong site for posting numbers.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=743385

[screamin' eagle]

Right on brudda!

[_Sloper]

Way to go guys! Congrats on the PB Vern and taking the Opus to the 2 MPH from the big 300! Need to check castle out...if I can make the hike haha

JZ

[danand]

Congratulations Vern (and Norm too)!

Remember back when we were happy to break 100mph? You sure put in the hours of practice, not too mention a few sailplanes, to get there. Must seem unreal now.

You should see 300+ in a month or two when the east winds come back (and you won't have to make the 4 hr drive and the 3 hr mountain hike up to castle)!

Congratulations again,
Dan

[Mike the Snake]

Wasn't your PB like 265?

That's over 30 mph faster than your old PB, straight Rockin.

So socking the boom eliminated the flutter we saw at Weldon?

[daboz]

Wondering if the main problem with the Opus is JUST the soft boom? I never had anything but solid out of mine but I added a lot of tow! NOW, Keith’s, not sure what version think carbon Opus, but Fri. at Weldon I could hear and see Keith’s tail boom oscillating with what looked like at least an inch of amplitude almost every time it crossed the shear. Not real fast either, John was flying it, I THIKN but don't remember about 150/180 or so...

[invictarocks]

Congratulations Vern (and Norm too)!

Remember back when we were happy to break 100mph? You sure put in the hours of practice, not too mention a few sailplanes, to get there. Must seem unreal now.

You should see 300+ in a month or two when the east winds come back (and you won't have to make the 4 hr drive and the 3 hr mountain hike up to castle)!

Congratulations again,
Dan
Hey, thanks alot. I remember when you blew up your first plane at 87 miles and hour and we thought it was the coolest thing in the universe. Seems like a million years ago now. What a trip it's been.

Thank you thank you THANK YOU for the carbon sock idea. Opus lovers around the world owe you, Mickey and Dennis a debt of gratitude. Sometimes genius is as simple as not overlooking the obvious. I never would have tried it.

-Vern

[invictarocks]

Wasn't your PB like 265?

That's over 30 mph faster than your old PB, straight Rockin.

So socking the boom eliminated the flutter we saw at Weldon?

Yeah, quite a PB bump, but MAN, the juice was just PUMPIN'!!! I bet some of the laps (not the fastest ones) were about 250 yard diameter circles. To get the good energy required thinking that was almost beyond my clock speed. I've never focused on something so intensely before.

- No fluttering of anything period. I think the high altitude is really alot easier on the plane. After the sock, I've never had that "weldon" flutter again. It was the whole tail, which is what I'd thought that day (at weldon).

Thanks Mike. See you soon.

[invictarocks]

Wasn't your PB like 265?

That's over 30 mph faster than your old PB, straight Rockin.

So socking the boom eliminated the flutter we saw at Weldon?

It was 267, both directions, limited by that flutter at weldon. Remember? You kicked my azz that day! Hahahaha

[invictarocks]

Thanks John, I appreciate that. You fly like you have the hands of a surgeon. :cool:

1 Wind speed?
Around 45

2 Any flutter?
Nope.

3 Any balast, or whats the AUW?
Just the wing slugs, which puts it at about 89oz I think... Lemmie weigh it:
Whoops. 96oz

4 Any, i mean what modifications? and your thoughts on them.
Sock on the boom, KEY. One servo in fuse (it's just simpler and more direct.)

5 How fast did Dennis go?
296, but I had the best air of the day.

6 what was Norm flying?
Norm flies a self-designed and built contraption that he calles the "Kamakazi" which weighs a ton and a half. One of his planes had 45 oz/in loading.

7 Who else went?
Donald Lee.

8 When may i come up and fly with you guys? Ive friends that also want to come and fly.
We'll have to get it together - That site is a big time/effort investment, and we've been skunked more than we've ripped. It's always pre-frontal, and it snows there alot, so the window of opportunity is pretty small every year. Once it starts snowing, the road is closed and the hike gets substatially longer. This year, I bought crampons and an ice axe for late-season attempts, but we didn't need them this time.

-V

[speedster]

I have 2 opus ready for Santa Anna`s :D
Doug

[Mike the Snake]

Vernon, I have no doubt if your plane wasn't fluttering that day you would have kicked MY azz that day at Weldon!

[garylegerton]

Congrats Vernon, Thats smokin fast. One of these days I'd love to make a trip to Castle again. I was up there once about 4 years ago but the winds were only like 10 or 12 MPH. It is a absolutely beautifull hill. I knew that if there were some wind speeds that the hill could easily produce record speeds.

Take it easy, Gary Legerton

[invictarocks]

Thanks Gary - It was an incredible experience - You need to come with us if we get another shot before the road is closed! The scale of that place is really mind-boggling... 300 year old redwoods at the base of the backside look like little landscaping shrubs. hahahahaa. Frontside slope goes on forever.