Chris,

Is your file under 200MB? If so you can post it on RCGroups.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/announcement.php?f=274

Not a bad idea at all! Nothing like a little bribe to keep things moving along! If you organize (i.e. do all the work) I'll donate!
Greg

Originally Posted by quadshot

I had a cool experience with one of the neighbors when I was trying to slip the lock at the gate. The guy at the second house from the end walked up and said "What are you doing trying to jimmy the lock. Hold on let me get you the key!!!" He opened the gate for me a James and said they just put the gate up to keep the trashy people from leaving empty beer bottles and condoms out there. He said to just not close the gate all the way so we can get back out.

He also said next time if you see one of the neighbors out there to ask them to open the gate. Although I think he is the only cool one there, because when James and I came back the neighbor next door to him yelled over to us not to leave the gate unlocked. I told him that I just closed it all the way, and that his neighbor said it was alright. He was about to say something else when the cool neighbor chimed in and told him it was alright these guys are cool. The uptight neighbor started to argue with him, but the cool guy told him he didn't want to have to come over there and kick his ass or something like that, and just laughed it off. Pretty classic. The cool guy waved at us when we drove away and the uptight guy just stared at me as I waive at him.

Anyway I think we all need to pitch in and buy Christmas baskets or something for the four houses there. I know I am going to buy the cool neighbor one!

I'm wondering whether slope gliding is allowed at Mt. Soledad in La Jolla? Does anybody know the rules up there? I'm sure others have considered it while pondering the northwest winds and any slopes to accomodate them.

-James
Who dit'nt...

Originally Posted by quadshot

Anyway I think we all need to pitch in and buy Christmas baskets or something for the four houses there. I know I am going to buy the cool neighbor one!

Great idea, quadshot! The first two houses on the slope side are definitely cool people as is the first house on the other side. A very pretty blonde Kiwi gal lives there and she's opened the gate for me a couple of times. The gal at the first house slopeside's name is Barbara. Her ex was a pain towards us for years but I guess she rectified that problem for us.

I'd be more than happy to take the initiative to make your idea happen. Matter of fact, I think a separate thread directed towards the Poway slopers would be appropriate, dontcha think?

mw

Quadshot,

Great idea. I'm in for sure. Just spoke with Mark and he'll start another thread so we'll see how this goes in there.

Jim

Discussion on Poway neighbors is in this thread.

mw

Originally Posted by wr_mizzard

I'm wondering whether slope gliding is allowed at Mt. Soledad in La Jolla? Does anybody know the rules up there? I'm sure others have considered it while pondering the northwest winds and any slopes to accomodate them.

-James
Who dit'nt...

DO NOT FLY MT SOLEDAD.....
I have tried twice and both times as soon as the glider is about 20 yards out it gets hit by massive radio interferance from the towers on top of the mountain. Both times the recovery of the glider was super gnarly with bushes over your head. Interestngly enough it will do a range check in the parking lot just fine and only seems affected in flight.
BUT,
Things may have changed. This was about 10 years ago the last time I tried.
I flew directly from the "cross" in the parking lot and the glider i think was a zaggy type thing.
If you have sucess let me know.....
George

Originally Posted by Foamer1

DO NOT FLY MT SOLEDAD.....
I have tried twice and both times as soon as the glider is about 20 yards out it gets hit by massive radio interferance from the towers on top of the mountain. Both times the recovery of the glider was super gnarly with bushes over your head. Interestngly enough it will do a range check in the parking lot just fine and only seems affected in flight.
BUT,
Things may have changed. This was about 10 years ago the last time I tried.
I flew directly from the "cross" in the parking lot and the glider i think was a zaggy type thing.
If you have sucess let me know.....
George

That would explain the hits I was taking...nothing to take it to the ground, but a lot of twitchyness about 20 yards out, like you said. Kinda' makes sense since the car radio started tuning in about 10 stations at once driving up the hill.

I ask because, for some reason, I have a vague memory of seeing some sign or hearing somewhere that slope gliding was not allowed there.
But, being near dark and not seeing it on the posted sign of rules I had to go for it...it was probably 8-10mph NW of the cross, where the steepest valley on the mountain is. If I kept it close to the top I was able to maintain control doing some figure eights above the dark horizon. As soon as it went far out or up it got twitchy. Oh well.

-James
Looking for more hills close to work

We were not the first to try MT SOLEDAD


February 23rd and 24th, 1930 were two very important dates in San Diego sailplane history. Hawley Bowlus and Charles Lindbergh had recently completed a "soaring safari" trip to Lebec, California and had returned to San Diego to continue their fun. Charles Lindbergh met Hawley Bowlus when Hawley was the production manager for the construction of the Spirit of St. Louis at the Ryan factory in San Diego. After his record flight across the Atlantic, both Charles and Anne Lindbergh took lessons in soaring from Hawley Bowlus here in San Diego.


But the 23rd and 24th of February were two days for the record books, not days for instruction. On Sunday, the 23rd, Bowlus headed out to Mt. Soledad near La Jolla and set up his serial #18 sailplane which had a 60 foot wingspan and, like most Bowlus models, used tip-ailerons instead of conventional ailerons. Bowlus' intent on this day was to break the American or World endurance records for sailplanes. Earlier in the year, Bowlus had set the record for American endurance...now the question was "could he do it again?" In the early afternoon, Bowlus was launched by shock cord from the top of the mountain and enjoyed a 45 minute soaring flight that ended at the foot of the Biological grade near the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (remember, in those days, La Jolla Shores was quite barren and there were plenty of empty lots to land in...). After bringing the sailplane back to the top of the mountain, Bowlus launched again, but only for a short hop. Bowlus decided that although he had flown at Mt. Soledad before, the lift at this site was not sufficient and he moved the entire operation to Pt. Loma, a more familiar flying site (1).


At 5:47:03 p.m. that evening, Bowlus was launched into a 30 mile per hour wind that sent the #18 sailplane 500 feet into the air. This was later described as a "spectacular launch" by local newspaper reporters. Bowlus then flew into the darkness as night fell over the area. It was reported that the wind blew steadily and sometimes gusted to 35 miles per hour, keeping Bowlus at an altitude of between 800-1,000 feet above the Point, a new altitude record.


"Red lanterns were placed along the Point Loma road and the narrow ledge between the foot of the cliffs and the ocean below, to guide Bowlus in case of a forced landing. A huge bonfire marked the landing area, and automobile headlights were used to help beacon the course. More than one thousand persons motored to the point during the night and early morning to witness the flight, and watchers on the ground staged a number of stunts to 'entertain' Bowlus as he soared back and forth above the cliffs." (1)


Bowlus finally landed in the darkness (with the help of automobile headlights to guide him) at 2:43:30 a.m. Monday the 24th, after a flight of 9 hours, 5 minutes, and 27 and 2/5 seconds according to official reports (2). This gave Bowlus a new Official American Endurance Record for sailplanes. However, the day was hardly over.


By mid-morning on the 24th, Bowlus and Charles Lindbergh traveled to the top of Mt. Soledad and brought with them a new Bowlus sailplane, serial #20, ready for its maiden soaring flight. This sailplane carried the logo for the Anne Lindbergh Gliders Club, a newly formed all-women's gliding club in the San Diego area (6). The women called the glider the "Good Ship Anne" in honor of Mrs. Lindbergh, who was getting instruction at the Bowlus Sailplane Company. At this early hour, however, the winds were "too bumpy," so Bowlus and Lindbergh decided to grab some lunch and try again later.


At 2:21 p.m., Charles Lindbergh was launched in the #20 Bowlus sailplane by shock cord from the top of Mount Soledad. On the launch, the tailskid of the sailplane was knocked off, but Lindbergh "kept his plane on an even keel" (4,5,7). After flying over Mt. Soledad and La Jolla Shores, Lindbergh decided to keep heading to the north, using the lift along the cliffs at Torrey Pines to keep up. He finally landed 20 minutes after takeoff on the beach just south of Del Mar. This flight made headlines in the local newspapers and was regarded as setting a "Western Regional Distance Record" of 10 miles and was called "the most spectacular glider flight ever made in this section." It is quite possible that this was the first flight to use the lift above the cliffs at Torrey Pines, although about this time a group of young high school boys (including the three time national champion soaring pilot Johnny Robinson) were flying primary gliders on Blacks Beach below the cliffs during low tides, and only sometimes sustaining in the lift. It is hard to imagine which is more "spectacular," Bowlus flying a sailplane to a new endurance record overnight or Charles Lindbergh flying a sailplane in the lift at the soon-to-be-discovered Torrey Pines Gliderport, however, the 23rd and 24th of February, 1930 certainly rank high on the list of great events in San Diego soaring history!

one, two, three, words

Mark that is great on the poway gift thread.
Check it out everyone in Mark's link above.

Hey Everyone Finally Got My Videos To Work. I Had To Cut The Movie Down In Segments And Post Each One So I Thought I Started A New Thread And Have Them There.
Check Out The Tread Called:
Video Daves Beach Last Saturday 12-1-2007

This weekend is looking OK, too. I have some final exams to study for today, but I'll be heading up to blossom saturday afternoon if the predictions are good.

Laguna may be good on Sunday, too, with some cushy snow to land on

--Alex

If I get out of work early enough I might head up to Dave's Beach...anybody interested in some gusty/gutsy combat? If not I'll stay local and hit up Cardiff cliffs, aka Campgrounds. today is Friday, Dec 6.

-James

I got about 30 mins in during the tail end of a long/late lunch at North Torrey- it was ROCKING! Go James Go!

Greg