Yeah, I don't know the dr's mesa guy though. It looks like maybe you can follow the road way past devils thumb and get up higher so the climb isn't as bad, but then the distance is over a mile hike. I would rather the shorter distance and more climbing.

And if DT seems like too much of a chore, train tracks faces for a sw wind as well...

train tracks???

Originally Posted by Dragon 2

train tracks???

Oh, i meant train tower. Leaving delta, past the little airport around the corner, then off the road to the left.

Rich, Byron and myself are headed up to devils thumb.

Rich didn't make it, but wants to see pics and hear stories. Heading to FT now.

Typhoon went 109, went faster but bad flutter noises made me keep the speed down. Went too far north to land caught in rotors. Fuse broke behind wing, that's ok, I happen to have a spare fuse. Wings all good.

M60 was caught up to 85. Got flipped in that monster sheer and nosed in. Which is actually good as it is old and I need to rip it apart to put in a new battery and build it up stronger.

The little wing, will call it the ck39, went to 91 before I hit a bad rotor on the back down low and got flipped out. No damage to that one, it's ready for a lot more speed.

Almost forgot, just for Chris... Is still there, weathering well (not)...

btw, not sure if there is a lot of room, or a lot of ability to move rocks, just north of the general pilot area (red dot) is an area where the rocks are smaller, and no rotor, generally smooth. If you go past the green line, it is rotor from the hill in front of that part... horrible for landing.

Maybe we can move out the bigger rocks between the green and red for a not horrible landing area, but even still, it is a site that you need balls to fly a crunchy... no way around it. I'd bet it has one of the hardest sheer's out there, so flying anything takes some nuts.... you remember how just coming back to the front it will flip you good...

parking is about where the yellow is, then pick your poison for how to approach the 600+ foot climb.

Thanks for the flying update from Devil's Thumb Paul. You are pretty ballsy flying the Typhoon up there. I'm going to get a couple heavy JW's built up for that place. My plan of attack with my local hill is to fly a heavy plank and feel out the air and get landing practice before throwing out the heavy, expensive stuff. I will fly the D80 up there on a smooth perfect day. Wonder if you could've gotten much more speed on that day with a different ship?

I would love for you guys to find out a way to get access to the Doctor's Mesa site. That sounds interesting and from what I recall, maybe a better LZ? Let's see if we can meet the land owner.

Been breezy over here but entertaining family from out of town. I'm ready to a session soon. Have a great week ya'll.

I think a lot more speed was out there, the Typhoon was going faster, but I hit a point where you could hear flutter so I had to pull it back.

And it's been years since I have flown that site, and of course the wind and sheer is big there, and rough as hell, so will take another trip or two to get back into it. The m60 was way too light and getting tossed about, the typhoon cut through but was still getting bashed about... the little chevron seemed to handle it the best, until I went too deep and got flipped in the rotor.

I will have a build for DS bee ready, the M60 rebuilt and the little ck39 at least, for next time.

I will probably do the d40 up there, but not the k2m, not unless I feel out a landing spot better and get enough big rocks clear. That will keep for your site, maybe jones, and a trip to weldon.

Byron was with me, he is gonna try to figure out who it is on Dr's Mesa and get in contact with them. Yeah, much better landing area...

Sorry to hear about the Typhoon. How long did the hike take? I flew FT in 20 to 30 mph wind. A lot of ballast was needed, but worth the high speed passes I flew my speedo custom and it flew great

Originally Posted by Dragon 2

Sorry to hear about the Typhoon. How long did the hike take? I flew FT in 20 to 30 mph wind. A lot of ballast was needed, but worth the high speed passes I flew my speedo custom and it flew great

Not sure how long the hike up took, seems it took longer to hike down though. Was 25 mph at the edge of the front side when we got up there.

As to the typhoon, I'm sure that fuse could be fixed, but with the spare, why bother, will sit it in a corner until I feel like fixing it.

I took the covering off the M60. Amazingly it all came off easy, with the tape under it too. It does have a ballast tube in it on the CG. Will have to measure the tube to be able to make slugs to fit it. Main spar is wood, so will probably reenforce a bit... but in the end it will get new stuff on it to stiffen it up a lot.

Hey folks. I know this is a slope soaring thread, but you guys seem very active so I figured I'd ask here.

I'm moving to Grand Junction in three weeks.
(This is me)

I'm looking for some folks to fly with. Right now I'm flying mostly FPV quads, but I've got a few 3D foamies, some flitetest planes, and I keep building/crashing FPV wings and high-wings. (Got some plans for longer-range wings now that I'm moving to CO.) I don't slope soar (since I currently live in Ohio, where we don't have slopes) but I love flying everything I can fly.

Anyway, I guess I'm just looking for some tips and ideas of where to fly and who to fly with.

And what's the deal with BLM lands as far as R/C aircraft go? Are they generally OK so long as I'm not bothering anybody or livestock? Can I just pull over on the side of the road and fly?

Well, there is a club in junction, they have a field south of town. (http://gjmodeleers.com/rcclub/)
They have paved runways, based on their web page they have expanded a bit since I was last there.

And down in montrose is another club (their field is in olathe) http://www.mmaa-modelairplanes.org/

I don't think there are too many club people in this thread (could be wrong). Most of us just head out to public land, up on a hill, and fly. So for the most part you are good on most any public land around here.

You should come out slope flying at some point, and an if you do FPV (and record) loads of places to fly and get great video.

Originally Posted by acclivity

Well, there is a club in junction, they have a field south of town. (http://gjmodeleers.com/rcclub/)
They have paved runways, based on their web page they have expanded a bit since I was last there.

And down in montrose is another club (their field is in olathe) http://www.mmaa-modelairplanes.org/

I don't think there are too many club people in this thread (could be wrong). Most of us just head out to public land, up on a hill, and fly. So for the most part you are good on most any public land around here.

You should come out slope flying at some point, and an if you do FPV (and record) loads of places to fly and get great video.

Yeah, I'm not a club guy, either. Clubs, in my experience, have too many fusspots and silly rules.

You can be sure I'll build/buy some kind of slope soarer pretty soon. The videos and photos I've seen in this thread have me pretty interested.