How About Story Time

YO,

I'd seen your Mark VIII video before. I'm waiting for the Mark IX you promised: a tube feeding a holding tank at the glider's CG. A level-sensing switch empties it at the appropriate time by closing a valve on the input side, pressurizing the tank using compressed air from a companion tank (charged on the ground or, in version IXa, by a small onboard 12v air compressor), and opening a valve to the discharge tube leading all the way back thru the fuselage to a tube that extends (a la Mark VIII) horizontally until it's aft of the rudder. Then, with an abundance of caution, it flushes the entire system each time with 50 cc of water from a connector to the water ballast system. I heard you had to make some adjustments after the air compressor accidentally pressurized your left water ballast tank and partially separated the wing skin from the spar. How could you have known that would happen? I agree a $2.99 check valve should fix that in the future. Teething problems like this are part of every great technological advance

Sign me up when it's ready. What good is technology if we don't use it? Besides, I'm tired of pilots complaining every time they see my wheel come down in a thermal.

Chip Bearden
JB

My late friend, Renny Rozzoni, always carried a couple of bottles of a
sports drink when he flew.Â* After finishing one bottle, he would use it
as a pee reservoir.Â* After a certain incident, he never again carried
yellow Gator Aid, only red and blue...

On 4/19/2020 8:52 PM, wrote:
Sorry, I think I forgot to mention in my write up a many years ago that I put a spacer between the seat pan and the belly to prevent squeezing the tube.

But I have had the water balloon experience--when I used the tube in sub-freezing conditions and it froze. Fortunately, the blockage melted because I was running out of control. That's when I added the blowout tube--with a plug on the end. A little valve would be better but I was worried I'd get it confused with my drinking water tube. If what you're saying is true (I'll take your word for it), no big deal.

Chip Bearden
JB

--
Dan, 5J

Yep, I usually get "fruit punch" (sorta red) for Gatorade.....so I don't mix bottles.....BTW, earlier Gatorade had a "wide mouth" top, also a full US quart, not the new smaller capacity.....easier to "refill"....good for long road trips as well...
Quart sized+ ziplock baggies were also useful.....never tried external catheter or similar...

The nice thing about a condom and leg bag on the floor is that you hook it up ahead of time and so when it comes time to pee, there is nothing to fiddle with.

Boggs

http://www.nadler.com/public/1995_Fl...e_Monerai.html

On Monday, April 20, 2020 at 4:05:39 PM UTC-4, Waveguru wrote:
The nice thing about a condom and leg bag on the floor is that you hook it up ahead of time and so when it comes time to pee, there is nothing to fiddle with.

Boggs

So back on story track.
Some years ago we were flying in the Club Class WGC at Musbach in Germany.
It was not so nice a day, still raining, when Christian told us to grid for a 5:00 launch.
Days last late in the summer we're told.
Off we go, flying across to the Alb where we go by the entire German Open Class nationals field sitting in lawn chairs to watch the show. This was easy because we were at their height. Gradually reality happened and we all landed out not very far from each other.
I called Dianne and told her I was in Geisingen and pick me up near the church.
We got together just fine and had the Hornet in the box in quick time just as the sun was setting, now about 8:30 or so.
Pulling out of the field I mentioned to our other crew (the glider owner, Benno) that the trailer did not look right. Sure enough, we had a broken torsion bar on the axle. We're 120k from home and need to be ready to fly the next day.
Benno then called our friend Helge, who happened to be with the open guys at Klippeneck. Helge said he would see what he could do. Less than 30 minute later Helge said he had found a guy with Hornet who told him to go to his shop, put his glider in the shop, and take the trailer. Bring it back when you are done.
At a little after 10:30 we had moved out Hornet into the borrowed trailer and headed back to base. We flew the next day, 400k or so.
While I was flying, Benno got to find a new axle and fit it to his trailer.
It's amazing the generosity we see in our soaring family.
UH

On Mon, 20 Apr 2020 16:02:36 -0700, unclhank wrote:

On Monday, April 20, 2020 at 4:05:39 PM UTC-4, Waveguru wrote:
The nice thing about a condom and leg bag on the floor is that you hook
it up ahead of time and so when it comes time to pee, there is nothing
to fiddle with.

Boggs

So back on story track.
Some years ago we were flying in the Club Class WGC at Musbach in
Germany.
It was not so nice a day, still raining, when Christian told us to grid
for a 5:00 launch.
Days last late in the summer we're told.
Off we go, flying across to the Alb where we go by the entire German
Open Class nationals field sitting in lawn chairs to watch the show.
This was easy because we were at their height. Gradually reality
happened and we all landed out not very far from each other.
I called Dianne and told her I was in Geisingen and pick me up near the
church.
We got together just fine and had the Hornet in the box in quick time
just as the sun was setting, now about 8:30 or so.
Pulling out of the field I mentioned to our other crew (the glider
owner, Benno) that the trailer did not look right. Sure enough, we had a
broken torsion bar on the axle. We're 120k from home and need to be
ready to fly the next day.
Benno then called our friend Helge, who happened to be with the open
guys at Klippeneck. Helge said he would see what he could do. Less than
30 minute later Helge said he had found a guy with Hornet who told him
to go to his shop, put his glider in the shop, and take the trailer.
Bring it back when you are done.
At a little after 10:30 we had moved out Hornet into the borrowed
trailer and headed back to base. We flew the next day, 400k or so.
While I was flying, Benno got to find a new axle and fit it to his
trailer.
It's amazing the generosity we see in our soaring family.
UH

Nice story!

IME the same happens on a lot of individual, and especially aviation-
related sports. Not fill-size flying, but my mind creeps back to the
early 90s, when the French Free Flight event at Poitou used to be huge,
with 130-135 entrants in F1A being the norm. Come flyoff time, there were
a large number of people with full scores, whittled down to two of us
Brits in the first few flyoffs. We were travelling together fore the
trip. I n the last two flyoff rounds just the two of us were left. In
both, we found good air, launched and then jumped into the same car to
head off downwind to get the toys back. Mike Fantham (WC in 1993),
finally got the best air and maxed. I didn't find such good air and
dropped the flight for second. That was one of the most enjoyable events
I've flown.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

OK- this kind of ties in to the 18 meter gliders need their own records and class thread.

One of our (former) pilots at Moriarty was known for running down his batteries, because they were connected to his radio and PTT switch. I mean, this guy's Tail Letters should have been "TMI." Everything he saw, experienced or imagined went out on 123.3. One day he blasted out. "I just had a DISASTER in my cockpit! My catheter just popped off, and now I got pee all over everything!"

Naturally, everybody in radio range was having catheter problems as we laughed our asses off.

A couple of hours later, I found myself getting a bit low, but with a bailout runway (barely) in reach. Our intrepid urine-soaked hero pulled into my weak-ass 200 fpm bugfart a few hundred feet below me. It finally got to about 400 fpm and we climbed to 10,000 MSL (3,800 AGL). I keyed the mic and said, "Another circle and I'll be ready to head home."

He replied, "Ha! With these 18 meter tips, I can already make it back.. Easy!"

I said, "Lucky you. You got 18 meters. But my catheter doesn't fall off."

On Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 3:53:17 PM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
I arrived one day at Fremont County Airport in Canon City, CO to find
Tom prepping his ASW-20 for, I believe, a World 100 km triangle Record
attempt.

Hey Dan, looks like you conflated two flights :-)

My world record was indeed flown from Fremont County, but several years after our pair flight....

For quite a few years, I'd been studying the wave off the Sangre de Cristo in the Wet Valley above Westcliffe, CO. First in my ASW-20, then the ASH-26E. So our flight was one of many tests of how to best work the conditions..

In November 2003, I was at Fremont County airport doing an annual on the '26E with my AI. We did most of the work on Saturday and put it all back together in Sunday morning. Since the ship was assembled at the end of the annual, flying it home to BFSS at Kelly Airpark seemed like a good idea.

I noticed lennies in the Wet Valley, so declared my most recent tweak to the 100km triangle I'd come up with.

Wind was dead calm on the ground. Motoring toward Westcliffe, I passed through the inversion at around 10K and was suddenly pushing into a 40+ knot headwind. Soon, I connected with the secondary wave near my planned start point. I shut down the engine and did some exploring to make sense of the lift area.

Somewhere around 14K or so (need to dig up the IGC file - working from memory here), I made the start and set on 120KIAS with arms firmly locked on the stick. Cruising crosswind in the secondary and climbing, I approach downwind of the first turn. So I turn into the wind, still doing 120, and press on in the sink until connecting with the primary. A sort crosswind run to reach the first turn and a huge wingover from 120 down to 60 or so, then dive back to 120 and blast on to the next turn. This leg is all lift.

I do another wingover at the second turn, making sure I don't hit 18K. The last leg is a little difficult due to a few rotor wisps getting in the way, so I have to maneuver to stay in the clear. The finish point is still in the lift zone.

Since the first lap took less than 30 minutes, I go around again, now that I know what to expect. Second time was a bit faster, 243.4 kph or 151.2 mph! A month later, Horacio Miranda does 249 kph in Argentina.

While I'm doing this, my wife is driving back north to Kelly Airpark with the trailer.

After crossing the finish line, I slow down and climb to 17K+ and then hop wave to wave back to Kelly Airpark.

5Z

Long time stalker, first time poster.
My first story is about how thankful I am for Hank Nixon and Diane Black's generosity. I apologizing for not thanking you ~40 years later is IMHO better than not at all. I haven't had anything to deal with soaring for a long time, but so many of my best memories have to deal with soaring and contests. First things first. My dad (Mike Teter; MJ) was a member of the Harris Hill Soaring Society (HHSC). I got to go to many contests and had the great fortune of being a "spotter" for Charlie Spratt back at the first 15-Meter Nationals at Bryan, OH back in 1976(?). I have good memories of working the gate at Region 5 in Chester (despite constantly having teenager fights with my dad during the contests). I spent my teenage years as a junior member of the HHSC (IMHO, one of the best opportunities on the planet). I flew ok, but wasn't anything special. My memory/story is that right before the start of 10th grade, several of the HHSC juniors and some of the grownups took some ships (2-33/1-26) out to Middletown Soaring Club for an excursion. We all had a great time (sorry for the food poisoning puking in your basement due to some bad Pizza Hut pizza). I didn't know it at the time, but my parents had decided to separate... I don't know the details, but Hank and Diane let me stay with them for a week or so rather than deal with the drama. Diane drove me home in one of her fun cars (I want to say it was a Rover instead of a Jag). I'm now 54-years old. Ex-spook. PhD. Had a lot of fun, but still. I remember Hank and Diane doing something very kind and I appreciate it. Thank you.
Eventually, I ended up in NM doing nuclear weapons work, but I never felt that Moriarty (despite being 5 miles from my ranch) was a good place for kids (unlike HHSC). I also got to be one of Charlie Spratt's kids. That was great, although if I could, I wish I could tell Charlie that I'm sorry for being a pain in the ass. Cheers.
On Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 11:40:32 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Maybe this is a good opportunity for some of us to share some stories of our experiences.
I'll go first.-

During the regional at Harris Hill in 2013 I was flying K21 with grandson Calvin Mampe, Rachel Conklin, and her sister Michelle. All 3 had flown multiple contests with me before, 2 having done so before they were old enough to solo.
Half way through the contest, my wife Dianne had a terrible fall and ended up hospitalized with some very serious injuries. All 3 of the juniors had good flights with me earlier in the contest so I told them to just keep on flying.
On Friday, Calvin and Rachel flew but decided to abandon the task part way around the course due to rain. They did not want to land out and take the ship apart in the rain. Smart!
The next day Rachel and Michelle flew together. About 4:00 I was in the ICU with Dianne when Calvin called. When I answered, he simply said “K21 four miles�. Our 2 young ladies had flown the course for a reasonable score. To my knowledge, this is the first time two young sisters had ever flown in competition. We had a seriously great group hug that night. This may be my best ever moment as a supporter of youth soaring.
Following up- Michelle is now an A&P working for Textron and just finished her first restoration, a 1-26E. Rachel is instructing at Flight Safety and soon will have all the requirements for her ATP.

UH