Windstorm from the South brings Red Rain

I prefer to think it arrived dry... as dust in a windstorm and the rain came later.

Weather Underground Blew it Today

Was at the field by 0630 hours. Calm conditions as predicted. By 0700 the wind had picked up with strong gusts. Aborted after test flying the wing. The air was very disturbed and continued to build over the afternoon. Gusts exceeding 40 mph at 1400 hours. The CSYC Spring series will either be a gas or a blowout.

# 410 Sunday at Red Rocks 2010

Good to get back to Red Rocks. Nothing special to report, air was calm except at the drainage from the Hwy 285 cut.

After work it was back to the Paradiso ...

#407 #408 #409

Three quick flights. Weed in wing issues, followed by high winds.

#405 #406

First Flight I launched with the Eden III for the first time at altitude using the Falcon. I'd routed the brake lines through the Hang point loops and didn't like the feel...(too much friction)... so landed quickly. When I went to relaunch I must have been careless because a line went into the prop during inflation and band that was it for the Eden until I replace some lines.

Relaunched with the PowerPlay Sting 250 and had a nice flight. Below Marak was practicing takeoff and landing.

That afternoon Chip and Sean climbed the hills west of the house and did some free flight I went out to the boat and work on getting it livable. The offer for an electric slip is enticing.

#403 #404 Simms

0700 hours 27 degrees Very Light Breeze. Best part of the flight was boating around the field at 25 to 50 feet. Gas was low...I think there is about 1/3 of a gallon when the spy tube hits bottom. Maybe 20 minutes of air time. Snowboard pants and midweight ski gloves were just fine to keep off the cold.

1730 hours Flew with John Black in the afternoon. The guy can fly.

Denver Skyline at sunset

#401 #402

When I got to Simms there was a cop sitting on the west side of the round a bout. I waited him out for 10 minutes and finally parked the truck by the roadblocks and No Trespassing sign. I figured it was time to see if they were going to enforce the restrictions to recreational users. He watch me unload the Falcon and when I was about to wheel it into the field he graciously drove off.
So... 'm thinking that they are more interested in people dumping in the field than anything else. Good for us!

The air was light and I launched without trouble even though the trimmers were out and the breeze turned at the last second so that I was launching downwind ( 1 knot downwind... no big deal).

Nice Flight

Flying Easter Sunrise Service at Red Rocks

Flight 399 and the Big number 400

It was 27 degrees at 0600 hours. The skies were clear with no discernible breeze. I’d left the Falcon in the truck so it was just a matter of pulling on my cold weather gear and getting on the road. One of the best things about living with Chip is that Simms is only 5 minutes away. The field is looking better than it has in a couple of years. The heavy wet snows have packed the weeds down and other than a general bumpiness I’ve no complaints.
The first attempt was botched when the wing came up crooked. The breeze had picked up a bit and I missed the shift. When I set-up the second time I adjusted and took off without problem to the West. Looking at the wing I thought the brake lines looked wrong. One line (left inside) seemed unusually slack. I couldn’t see a problem and when I tried some input it reacted ok, but… it didn’t feel right so I turned back and landed by the truck. On the ground I still could not find a problem, so I re-set and launched. The air was good and did not feel as cold as I knew it was.
It was more comfortable with the seat positioned more upright but the brake lines are still too far aft. It pulls my arms back and stresses my shoulders. I’m not sure what the fix is…move the seat back… put some kind of line guide on the hang point rails. Maybe I just need to work on upper body strength. It’s better but there are still a few tweaks to get it right.
The Falcon was climbing great. At 3400 RPM I had 290 ft/min and when I adjust the prop a little more I’m sure that will improve. Considering that I was 300 RPM below optimum 375 ft/min should be attainable.
As I traversed Bear Creek Park it started to get bumpy. I had a clear view of Red Rocks, there were lots of cars in the parking lot but it didn’t look like a full house because the top 2/3rds of the seats were empty. It looked like the wind was going to pick up, there was a bank of hard blown clouds to the North. Concerned that I would get into a wind storm or strong turbulence from the up slope meeting the down slope…I decided to turn back so that I would be over home field if I needed to get down in a hurry. It would have been nice to buzz the amphitheater but no sense pushing it.
The landing was good; the wind had come up considerably with a gust that popped me up on final. Fortunately I had plenty of room and landed close to the truck.
This was a good thing to do. Getting ready yesterday and climbing out of bed before dawn occupied my mind giving me a little respite from the troubles that have been consuming my attention the past several months.