past sunday was my 83rd and the happiest! at my son's, with his wife and 10 years old daughter, who baked a cake and muffins, and decorated all with all kinds of stuff. pictures, everything. couldnt be better. and she also gave me a balloon, a card hand made and decorated, and an album with pics of all of us. i was in heaven. and forgot to tell that early went flying and all went fine. even the weather.

it all started when i began to loose signal or facing erratic response. at the time i was flying early in the morning at a field near radio towers. tried changing everything, and was adviced to try another field. there the problems were gone. but they didnt allow to fly until 10 am.
then i realized that i was having false contacts at the individual cells of the radio, so replaced with welded packs. so i decided to try at the 1st field, and for some time all went well. and suddenly the problems began again. now i was facing fog for several days, so that made me think that it could be the reason. checked at the net and some confirmed that radios are sensitive to high humidity. and as at the other field i was not allowed to fly until 10, by then there was way less humidity. so it was why there i couldnt face the humidity-and the problems. i must add that, as i use a vario that runs independently from the radio, i have noticed that sometimes it stops sending signals, which means it is not reaching the receiver at my neck. a confirmation that humidity blocks the signals.
so now i know that:
1-radios that use single cells connected by pressure are prone to false contacts.
2-high humidity blocks signals.

i hope this experience will make your life easier. just remember if this happens to you. or try to avoid this.
regards

today i found myself in a new situation. and never heard of it. i was flying an electric glider early (around 7) on a clear sky, and there was a moderate breeze from the east at ground level. i climbed to about 150 meters, stopped the motor and turned into the wind. it was moving slowly forward and began to sink. then reached another layer and began to move backwards until reached a lower layer, where began to move forward again. the wind was blowing from the same direction. for all that i have learned and witnessed, wind increases as is further from the ground in what is called a gradient, but here the wind was blowing faster between 2 layers. i have been into layers where the wind blows from several directions, but always the higher the faster.
and when i thought that i had seen all!

just as a storm has a place where winds change to still-and then go back on full strenght, i have noticed that winds sometimes slow down for a while and then return. sometimes this happens when winds change direction. as i fly early in the morning, i am always looking for this to happen, even in windy season. it may be for only 1 hour, or even 2, but that is enough for me to test or just enjoy a quick flight or 2.
i watch at the channels of the weather, and take a chance. most of the time it works. even if not, it always helps me by getting ready and checking everything and enjoying the trip to and back.

now, when we thought we still had 1 more month before winds and storms were going to arrive, it feels like fall came 1 month earlier. just look at the forecast: at least 1 week with unbearable winds-and then who knows when-or if-we will have the chance to do more flying.

at least we had some good weather-even if spring arrived over 1 month late


after all, if this is the worst thing we have to face, just think of the guys at the gulf