Sweet. I always liked flying all day during the week with you. I would get home just in time to make coffee for the wife. A lot less work got done but I would rather fly than garden and do house work. Don't feel left out though Joe. This is my first real flying session this year. Man am I rusty. Where's everyone else flying?

I'm up here in Michigan flying every chance I get. I have been doing dome of the Rc groups comp. And doing well at them.I still have a art hobby thermaci for hi-start to put together and fly. Just need to find the time..

I had been flying everytime I can since January :P this weekend was really sucky for the slope no wind and in the wrong direction :P hopefully next week I can put some slope hours, I need to make my secod ladder :P

regards

EZ

I answer questions in the background quite often. Lately I've been thinking they should really be discussed here more as it will help others along the way. First let me say a couple of things. Please read the requirements pages. I do constantly as I suffer from CRS (can't remember s***) This serves multiple purposes. 1) It will usually answer the question at hand. 2) If it doesn't answer the question it helps us to know that we need to make changes to the requirements pages so it does. 3) Remember to re-read the requirements pages for your new level. The task requirements change for tasks to make them progressively harder as you go along. I would hate to have to send back a form because something was overlooked. Make sure of what the task requires as far as times and landings are. If you still have questions feel free to write, e-mail or PM me. Heck you can even call me if you want. I try to be quick in responding and I never mind talking about flying or the program. If you have a hint or tip on task completion strategies share them. Learning from one another will benefit us all. That being said, here's my take on the ladder tasks:

Land as soon as you can and get re-launched as soon as things look good. I've made the mistake a few times already of thinking the air was so good it was no problem. Then suddenly the lift shut off or the wind picked up. It left me standing with egg on my face and a task incomplete. Joe and I both love to post larger than needed times on our tasks. IMHO it can and will bite you in the behind. The level 1 ladders aren't so bad since you don't have to start over when missing a time/landing. Later on choosing when to launch as well as picking a good day for the task attempt will be much more important as you can't just try as many times as you need to get the next "rung" on the ladder.

okay i have a question about the 1km and return.. How are we to check to see how far out we are ? The guys at my local club who have flown cross country stuff are going to help. Im just wondering if i need to have a tracker or logger ? this is the last thing i need to do to finish this level..

Google Earth is your friend. That's what we do at least. Since the G&R is a straight line you simply draw a line on Google Earth from your starting point out to 1 K. Launch and pass over your starting point and fly past your 1 K marker and return. Don't forget that you can wander around all you want to find lift. You just have to pass over the starting point, 1K marker and then the finish (starting) point again to complete the task. As an example. From my house I found the 1 K point. Then I zoomed in and found that not only is there a road quite close but a lone tree that I could use as a marker for the distance. It's amazing what you can find on Google Earth as you zoom in for markers. Does this answer your question?

yes it does. In Fact on July fourth we are going to set this up. we have a road at the flying field that is 1k out.. so Dennis is going to sit on the road and when my plane goes over him he is going to tell whoever is next to me (via Phone) that i made it and i can turn aroun d

But you'll miss out on the fun of hanging out the window flying. Good luck! Hope to see that form soon.

http://thermalrider.com/redhen/steveboone1.html

Who is that short haired guy. I forgot all about that pic. Thanks for posting it Joe. That day was a blast. Joe even got his 1K earlier that day from my van.

Which one of them short haird guys you talking about? (>;

Joe

Second attempt for my second ladder :P the weather is not helping, I went with no expectations yesterday to my slope and there was no wind and lots of sink. On the bright side I made a brilliant 5 minutes flight I thought I will have to walk a kilometer to recover the plane but I hit a thermal and brought my NotaBubbledancer back :P the 10 minutes flight was as exiting and after that there was nothing to do than pack and go back home, horrible conditions not even the alula would make it for a toss and turn :P

anyhow hopefully the weather and wind will get better in the coming weeks

regards

EZ

I made an attempt at my thermal ladder last weekend. Since I had company here for the week it gave me witnesses and they wanted to see the planes fly. I didn't make it. I did however get to teach my dad to fly at age 73. He had a blast with the Radian. That was worth more than the ladder for me. This weekend looked good both days but I had too much work to do to even think about flying. The project list is getting smaller though. The pilots lounge is getting closer to done as well.

Since my last post I have attempted the add em up 2 more times. Both times I used the Radian as I want to do some of the lower level tasks with it. It's silly not to use your best ship but the Radians fly great and I want to make a point that a "low dollar" ship will get it done. Once I was foiled by company showing up so I had to quit flying. The second attempt the thermals dried up. I just couldn't get the 5 min minimums to finish out. I was so close. At one point I considered making the 1K run as I had the altitude. It would have been all upwind in light lift though, so I opted to let it wait for a better day. I'm not even messing with the landings until last. They're not a problem for me to hit at L1 using a Radian.
The SSP home field is looking better. I started a lawn care initiative this year and it's starting to pay off. It's starting to look like a mini turf farm now. (way mini) DIE WEEDS, DIE Another over seeding is planned as well. The runway itself looks great as I heavily over seeded it last fall. "Sorry about around the house dear. I may have "accidentally" seeded the runway twice." Can you say, lush? There's even an area for tents. If it were a bit larger I would hold contests. If you would like to check out the site on Google Earth it's at LAT: 41°29'26.26"N LON: 86°31'32.40"W. This is an early spring photo before the grass really greened up. The new pilot's lounge can be seen jutting from the back of the house. Now you can even fly from the air conditioned lounge as well as the pool. Only the best for our members.

well Friday morning the Sky was Clear.. The weather was warm and I was ready to make the 1k run out and back. I got my Dad and drove him to the 1 k mark with a air horn and a Walkie Talkie.
I thru it up in the air used the motor for 20 seconds(600 feet according to my aurora on board gps) and started on my way. The wind was Dead calm so I didnt have that to help or worry about. Well I was going and the Art hobby castor 2.5 was getting smaller and smaller and I gave up I turned it around and brought it back called my dad and he told me i was about 75 yard from him. So he talked me into a second attemp. This time I made It to him and on the return trip i got into a great thermal and this ended up being a 35 minute flight. I landed at the inside mark of the 1 meter mark on my tape. So as long as its not a out and back thing I made it. I didnt turn my motor on again so i dont think i did anything wrong since I caught a thermal and went with it... Let me know..

Also The ladder task sucks.. HAHAHAHA.. I can hit 16 mins on my first flight or practice flights. But when i need anything over 10 minutes I cant seem to get it.