Just got the report that Norm went 207 with the SuperTron a Castle Ridge (~8,500 ft alt)! Just happened 15 minutes ago. The Tron "blew up" on the next pass so 207 is it for now. There were many passes in the 180's. I would guess there will some vid coming soon!

The glass is up next so we will see!

what? whats the supertron?

It's the industrial strength Electron 60" sold by Tuffplanes. I just realized that's a new 60" record too!

no offense... but

Video..... not only did it jump 40+mph but its now faster than every composite 60" plane? hmmmm.... their either joking with you or the gun is seriously out of calibration..

No joke, it's the 8000 plus ft of altitude and 50+ winds over the top of the ridge. The radar guns are both Stalker Pros.

Where is this place?

Originally Posted by joe manor

Where is this place?

Type "castle ridge" at http://google.com

Click "cached" in the first returned link.

I cant find it

Found it.

Credit to Rob Crockett on the now defunct site:

http://www.ncws.com/rcrock/

_____________________________________________-

Castle Ridge Soaring Site

Boreal, CA

Description: This alpine site is located north of Interstate 80 between Sacramento and Truckee in the Tahoe National Forest, near the Pacific Crest Trail. An enormous high altitude bowl facing the prevailing SW wind guarentees the best lift around, but access requires a ride on a bumpy dirt road and hiking in a mile and up 1000 feet.

Location: Heading west on Interstate 80, drive about 14 miles beyond the junction with Highway 20, and turn off at the Boreal/Castle Peak exit. Turn left/north at the stop sign and go under the freeway. Set your odometer here, and continue up the hill to the right/east. Follow the paved road as it turns back north, through the dirt parking area and onto the dirt road through the green gate, and veer right at the fork at 0.2 miles. At 0.7 miles, veer left up the hill. There are other small spurs, but stick to the main road. At 1.7 miles, park at the cul-de-sac, and gather up your gear. Begin the hike by taking the broad trail up the hill on the NW side of the parking area. Keep to the main trail (not taking the right spur that doubles back to Donner Summit/I-80) until you get to the saddle in the low ridge a short distance in. Here, turn right/east onto the more primative but well traveled trail following the spine of the ridge toward Castle Peak. Follow this rocky trail beyond the exposed area, back into the forest near the top, to the junction of Castle Ridge with Castle Peak. Make your way NW along the ridge and pick a spot to fly.

Flying and Cautions: In the afternoon, the "delta breeze" from the SW in the valley is a 40mph gale directly facing this slope. At an altitude of 8700 feet ASL, the lift at this site is strong and smooth, and this site has an absolutely huge lift band. The site is an enormous bowl about a mile long that concentrates the lift, and towers over Round Valley and the Pacific Crest Trail below. This is the finest, smoothest, biggest, fastest lift (hands down) that I have ever seen. The gradient on the back side is well defined, and there is little turbulence to mess with tracking at ballistic speeds under the wind. At this altitude, the air seems smooth as a baby’s backside, and I find I need much less ballast than I would expect given the wind and flight speeds. I can crank up speeds dymanic soaring on the back side as high as I dare, and the gradient position is very stable. In the morning (10:00 am to 1:00 pm), the air is very smooth, but the heat on the slope in the afternoon makes the lift cycle a little later in the day, with peak winds around 2:00 pm.

The dirt road in is rough in places. To drive all the way in, I'd say the higher ground clearance of a truck or SUV is required, though I don't think 4WD would be. I am continually surprised though to see less equiped vehicles on this sort of road, maybe with a more patient driver than I am.

This is not a official Forest Service trail, and it shows--the trail is steep and rocky, though reasonably well marked, and with a little panting, not too bad. I recommend good boots, with the usual things for an alpine hike (water, food, first-aid kit, sun protection lotion, etc). Be careful with your footing—you will be checking out he scenery one second and brushing the gravel off of your elbos the next otherwise. A lesiurely hike in takes an hour and forty minutes to the primary site near the base of Basin peak, and back down about half that. You can instead take the Pacific crest trail to the west side of Basin Peak, then follow a jeep trail up over the top of Basin Peak, but the hike is longer and footing maybe not as good.

As with any hike in the mountains, check the weather forcasts carefully before you go. In particular, if the forcasts call for higher humidity and thunderstorms in the afternoon, forget it. You definitely don’t want to be on a mountain ridge sporting an antennae with any electrical storms in the area.

Remember that you are an ambassidor of R/C soaring while you are there. It is great fun flying with the eagles there, but people can see you flying from miles away, so go easy on the wildlife. Say hello to the many hikers you will see, and make very sure you don’t hit any of them with your plane. Pack out everything, and try to stay on the trails.

GPS coordinates: You don’t need them, but if you have a GPS unit, a little guidence can add to your confidence. The 100 yard wooded area near the juction of Castle ridge with Castle peak has many short small trails, but the coordinates below detail the most direct route with the best trail.

Rob Crockett, 8/17/2000

so the EPP electron is faster than thos beautiful Carbon Strls?

Looks like The SuperTron (Electron DS) now has the EPP foam record!!! Way to go Norm !! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Don't think anybody is going to touch that one for a while.

I'd better finish mine now !!

Joe Manor, better get your standard Electron over here so I can MOD it for you.

As always, we keep the Supertron and all Tuffplanes planes in stock.

Steve
http://www.californiasailplanes.com

8000 feet of altitude dosent make a LOT of difference... you can basically use 2 mph per 1000 feet. So his ground ( radar) speed was only 16 mph faster than his airspeed.. roughlyI knew the electron planform had alot of potential!


EDIT: fixed typo to make it 1000 feet instead of 100.

Originally Posted by ZagiCrazy

no offense... but

Video..... not only did it jump 40+mph but its now faster than every composite 60" plane? hmmmm.... their either joking with you or the gun is seriously out of calibration..

Joe, it doesn't look to me like it "jumped" at all with many passes in the 180s!! (see the description in the 279 MPH post)

Looks like the the right pilot at the right time with the right plane.

Steve
http://www.californiasailplanes.com

Yeah, too bad the SRTLs didn't make the trip, would've love to see what they could've done!

Originally Posted by ZagiCrazy

so the EPP electron is faster than thos beautiful Carbon Strls?