On these discussion groups and R.A.S in particular I keep seeing “=20”
Can some please explain the meaning?


At 17:02 24 April 2014, Papa3 wrote:
On Wednesday, April 23, 2014 3:47:58 PM UTC-4, Soartech wrote:
At Pocono Mountains airport, about 5-10 miles upwind of the ridge, the
wi=
nd is NW at 18 gusting to 30! Plenty of ridge lift I would guess.=20
=20
Temp is 44 and it is overcast.

The limiting factor in most long distance flights from Blairstown is the
Ha=
wk Mountain transition. One has to go from Hawk Mountain upwind to
Sharp/=
Second mountains. Neither of these is an especially good ridge, and the
la=
nding option are either a) the unused part of a cemetery (fitting) or b)
a
=
couple of reclaimed open-pit coalmines (you might survive, the ship
probabl=
y wouldn't). While it's certainly doable with low bases and 30kt
headwinds=
in a 40:1 uber-segler, it's no picnic. In a 1-26, it's an even taller
or=
der. =20

Yesterday was just another example of how many factors have to come
togethe=
r for truly long ridge flights. The northeast quadrant of the
Appalachians=
was plagued by overcast conditions until late in the day, even though
the
=
winds were pretty close to ideal. =20

P3