Flying possibilities

[RobinHastings]

Hi, folks. The current heat is making a late-day flight look more interesting than midday thermals, so Mike, Bill and I are hoping to soar on Sunday evening. We'll probably meet in the Cox Field LZ in Alamogordo in the late afternoon. Come and join us if you can! And also, keep MONSOON MADNESS in mind - a gathering with the Southern Arizona Hang & Para Gliding Association next weekend, June 25 & 26. It will be at the Miller Canyon site just south of Sierra Vista, Arizona. I hope to be up in the campsite near the launch by late Friday night, ready to join everyone there in some airtime by 8:30 Saturday morning. I'll probably have Taro with me. Give me a call for more info and directions if you're interested! 575-541-5744.
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

Let's meet in the Cox Field LZ this Sunday at 4:00 pm. Let me know if you want to join us! So far we have Mike, Bill, me, and possibly Taro willing to fly.
-Robin

[JanZ]

Hi Guy's, I'm putting together a Paramotor "Treasure Hunt" of the sorts. Tasks are going to be Navigation, Precision Flying and Economy. Along the way there will be tasks like counting stuff or finding something from the air and get something including one landing and relaunch. The Task is about 60 minutes of airtime + the Landing. I'm thinking about the last weekend in July, most likely on Sunday 31. Launch would be around 0630-0700. Let me know if you're interested.

[Bill Cummings]

Hi Guy's, I'm putting together a Paramotor "Treasure Hunt" of the sorts. Tasks are going to be Navigation, Precision Flying and Economy. Along the way there will be tasks like counting stuff or finding something from the air and get something including one landing and relaunch. The Task is about 60 minutes of airtime + the Landing. I'm thinking about the last weekend in July, most likely on Sunday 31. Launch would be around 0630-0700. Let me know if you're interested.

I'm interested --- but I can only look on.
Will the fuel be measured in some way?
Will there be 60 minutes of fuel or less?

[JanZ]

@Bill
It would be great to have somebody to help out.
Fuel is measured by weight before take off and after landing. Less weight means you need less power to stay up but you're faster when heavy, so figuring out how much to bring is one of the challenges. I flew the Task with a full tank and will give my fuel consumption and time as a pointer. Measuring the time is going to be a little bit of a challenge, because I want the pilots to plan their route on the ground but I don't want them to launch while the clock is ticking, so I guess I'll have to stop the timing while they get ready and launch and start the clock again when they are safely in the air. Same goes for the part of the task where they have to land.

[Bill Cummings]

Something like the regular start cylinder and maybe two or three start intervals.
GPS tracks.
Reporting deadline.
Chase for out landings. (Truck, Trailer).
Time tie breaker spot landing points.
Donations only, no fees

[Bill Cummings]

Hadley called and thinks Dry will be good tomorrow for PG around 6:30 or 7pm (better in the morning)
We will talk again tomorrow morning since our staging time in the LZ is 4pm.

[JanZ]

The thing with using gps tracks is that you need the software to calculate the points. From my comps I can say it's a pain in the a.. to get it working. On top of that you have to provide the waypoints in different formats for the gps devices and not everybody has a gps in the first place. So my idea was to do it more with "proof I was there" and a printout of a map, than gps. Of cause I'll bring my truck in case somebody lands out. As for the precision Task, I'm thinking about spot landing, kicking a row of cones, Ball kicking, picking up stuff and put it in a drop zone and a figure eight or clover leaf timed slalom. This whole thing is planed as a "Friends get together and have some fun" and in no way a Competition or anything like it. Yes there are going to be Points involved and there is going to be a winner, but that's about as official as it gets. All there is to win is the respect of you friends for being the fastest or just overall best pilot.

[Bill Cummings]

Jan,
Sounding even better.
In the old days we would have to take a picture from the far side of a turn point to prove, "Killroy was here!"
They would take the film into a dark truck to verify the completion of the turn point.
Now days with digital cameras or phone cameras it makes it easier if the GPS is too difficult.

[Bill Cummings]

I looked at the weather this morning and here is what was posted for Alamogordo:
Weather Underground: 99 degrees, 6pm NW @ 8 mph, 7pm ESE @ 7 mph, 8pm ESE @ 9 mph.
Launch Code: 98 degrees, 6pm SE @ 10.

I called Mike and asked if he had a chance yet to look at the weather update and he said, "It looks about the same, L&V and hot. I'm not going down there."
As for me -- If it wasn't so hot it might be okay, -- if it wasn't so L&V, -- if it wasn't so far, -- if I had more enthusiasm.
I'm not going to go.
I'll email Gabe, Taro, and Robin with our decision and remind Robin to take along the Vertical Stabilizer and wheels if he Taro and Gabe still want to go.