WAC vs Sectional

Jose wrote:
You fly a Dakota, cross-country, at 500 feet?


I like to. But it's usually more like 1000. There are many more towers
now than there used to be, and the East coast is more dense than the
Mojave desert. (I used to fly up and down the desert like that twenty
years ago before there =were= cell phones - I probably picked up an
extra ten or twenty knots just from pitching down into the rising heated
air.)

And where did that rising heated air come from? If you were flying in a
straight line, then you likely aren't netting any gain from thermals as
you also are flying through the corresponding downdrafts.

Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
And where did that rising heated air come from? If you were flying in a
straight line, then you likely aren't netting any gain from thermals as
you also are flying through the corresponding downdrafts.

In fact, he was missing his opportunity. As has been discussed here before,
in rising air the right thing to do is slow down and let it carry you up.
Then you dive as you fly through the descending air you're sure to find
(which you mention).

He can either take the assistance as fuel savings, or trade that for a
higher power setting that will get him to his destination faster. But by
diving in the updrafts, he's throwing away any possible savings, and
probably comes out behind when he has to slow down to maintain altitude in
the downdrafts.

Pete

And where did that rising heated air come from?

The sun heats the ground. The ground heats the air. The air expands
and goes up. Cooler air comes in from the outside of the desert, not
from above me.

Sure, there are some downdrafts, but the net is up.

Jose
--
Money: What you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

If a column air is rising, adjacent air is descending.

You don't get something for nothing.

It's not for nothing, it's from the sun. But I guess I should take
some glider lessons and learn the ins and outs of thermals.

Jose
--
Money: What you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

jsmith wrote:

As for populated areas, I read the water towers to figure out where I am.

I used to do that. It's amazing how many towns are named "Municipal Water
Department."

George Patterson
He who would distinguish what is true from what is false must have an
adequate understanding of truth and falsehood.

Horsepuckey.

Jim



Low to the
ground, even with a zillion hours, a WAC is next to useless.

Excuse me, "moron", but the fan sputtered to a halt at 10,500 over Faceless
Wyoming on the way home from Oshkosh last year.

Second engine failure in 5,000 hours of flying. Why don't you regale us
with your experiences of engine failure?

Jim


wrote in message
...
Let me reword this.

The probability of the "fan sputtering to a halt", unless you are a
moron and run out of gas, is probably no greater than a truck
running you off the road at 75 miles an hour.

wrote in message
...
The air leaving the earth's surface has to be replaced from below with
more air, since nature abhors a vacuum, as we all know.

The replacing air has to come from the air surrounding the rising
column,.

Well, to be fair...it doesn't HAVE to come from the air surrounding the
rising column. Theoretically, the in-fill air supplying the rising column
could be coming from 1000 miles away, traveling along the surface the entire
distance, leaving all air at altitude undisturbed.

Of course, this never happens. But it *could*.

Pete

Priceless turds from RST Engineering, who maintains his own airplane but
can't keep the engine running.

I'd prefer you and your ego problem to not stand upwind from my airplane.
Even though in your own mind your **** don't stink!

Karl


"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...
Excuse me, "moron", but the fan sputtered to a halt at 10,500 over
Faceless Wyoming on the way home from Oshkosh last year.

Second engine failure in 5,000 hours of flying. Why don't you regale us
with your experiences of engine failure?

Jim


wrote in message
...
Let me reword this.

The probability of the "fan sputtering to a halt", unless you are a
moron and run out of gas, is probably no greater than a truck
running you off the road at 75 miles an hour.

Now that would be one hell of a thermal.



On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 22:36:12 -0800, "Peter Duniho"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
The air leaving the earth's surface has to be replaced from below with
more air, since nature abhors a vacuum, as we all know.

The replacing air has to come from the air surrounding the rising
column,.

Well, to be fair...it doesn't HAVE to come from the air surrounding the
rising column. Theoretically, the in-fill air supplying the rising column
could be coming from 1000 miles away, traveling along the surface the entire
distance, leaving all air at altitude undisturbed.

Of course, this never happens. But it *could*.

Pete