I’ve finally posted the tracklogs from Milslukern, you can get them at the Jetta LSK homepage. It’s zip files with all the tracklogs in one, so you can check out what everyone else did. Results are also online at the same page.
Mammatus
Towing tandem, Forbes flatlands
Saturday Bjørn and I tried tandem towing for the first time. We got a wheel assemby with tailboom on a WillsWing Falcon tandem. I was pilot and Bjørn passenger, Alf towed us with the Tug. It was almost no wind from the south, and we rolled for a long time before taking off. The flight was quite uneventful, and landing on the wheels very easy.
We did two tows, and the only problem seems to be that we climb a little too slow to get acceptable clearance to the powerlines to the south of the airstrip. A little more wind, or towing to the North should eliminate this problem. A new stronger engine on the tug would also be a good solution, anyone know of a used Rotax 912 for sale?
We will try a few more tows before concluding anything, but it seems like a very convenient way of getting tandem flights. It’s probably not as thrilling as running off a mountain for “normal” passenger, but it’s so much more convenient that I think it’s the better option. For training new pilots it seems to be the way to go, doing tandems first and then solo aerotow.
There will be new competition at Forbes this winter. Check out the invitation from Moyes. I’ll be there for sure. Last time was in 2001 I think, then we towed from a burnt out paddoc, this time we seem to have an airport as base, great! http://www.moyes.com.au/Forbes2007/
The ultimate showdown
The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, (Flash movie) probably old, but I saw it just now. The Chuck Norris part is hillarious.
Pics from Milslukern
Milslukern 2006 – Day 2-3-4
I did not have the time to write about the competition here, as the weather turned good and we had flying all days and looong nights with retreives and scoring. I’m running the comp more or less as a one man show, so there’s not much time to spare.
A high pressure area moved in and gave blue skies and warm weather. The high pressure made it quite stable, but with over 25 degress on the ground we got good lift during the day.
On Friday we set a “Race to nowhere” task for the Paragliding Norwegian Cup, with 60 Km goal circle. The race start at 12:30 from the 5 Km start circle around takeoff, and end when you pass 60 Km in any direction. It makes it possible to use all the valley systems, and gives the pilots more choices and freedom to solve the task.
Unfortunately the NW winds hit takeoff just after window open, and some pilots got stuck there. The ones that got out had quite good conditions, and the winnders flew over 100km. 4 PG pilots crossed the virtual 60 Km goal.
Saturday and Sunday were like Friday, but Sunday proved a little more stable and difficult for many. We got many flights over 100km, Olav Opsanger flew SE to Elverum, while Jon Gjerde took a NE route to Os near Røros.
Arnt take off at the West takeoff, Frode Halse in the foreground is grounded in the strong conditions.
Results are delayed until I get all the tracklogs from yeaterday by email. Hopefully tonight.
Milslukern 2006 – Day 1
The meteo did not forecast rain today, but as we opened the start window at Vole it was gray, and around 13:00 it started pouring down. So the first day of Milslukern went on without much flying. Some pilot flew late in the afternoon, and scored around 5 km :-)
Around 45 pilots here now, we excpect more towards the weekend. Forecast for tomorrow and the weekend is very good!
Class 6?
Might be good for soaring in mountain wave?
Towing weekend
The weather did not permit much flying on Thursday and Friday. I towed up behind Truls two times on Thursday evening from Spydeberg. It was very wet on the airstrip, but we got a OK tow into some good thermals. I flew into rain on the second tow, and stressed on landing with the wet glider, resulting in some bendt aluminium. I have not flown the Litespeed since July last year, and I was all over the sky on the first tow. I’ve never had so few hours for so long before, and I feel I need many more hours to get back into tune with the glider.
The strip at Trøgstad was too wet to use until Friday afternoon, I tok the tug over and towed Johnny for a late flight. Saturday was a very good day, 14-15 pilots showed up, and the thermals were quite good in the afternoon. Only Ingar went for XC, but I think it was very good conditions more pople should have used the opportunuity. I did 8 tows in the tug after Alf had been tow pilot for most of the day. Many pilots got their first aerotows, and we had no incidents.
Seems like most pilots had enough after one day, as only Ove, Bjørn and Terje S showed up on Sunday. Truls towed us up, I had forgotten my vario and found it difficult to stay up over the flatlands without it. I borrowed one from Terje S for my second flight, but fell through in a weak period. Very nice conditions to fly and tow in.
batwings
Interesting story about a new form of military wingsuits, that will make the soldiers glide in behind enemy lines. Wonder how they are going to land, separate parachute maybe?