tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20110414.post7238943497209388627..comments2023-09-28T09:00:44.681-10:00Comments on Wind Lines: Yes, Kelly, There Really Are Flying MonkeysUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20110414.post-91969303339149439192016-02-09T09:10:28.172-10:002016-02-09T09:10:28.172-10:00Aloha!! Thanks for the honorable mention! So fun r...Aloha!! Thanks for the honorable mention! So fun running into you guys the other day. Great story...glad you are back at it Thom. Hawaii has such a wonderful club. Keep up the good work!Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02036476603364757055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20110414.post-8763261042933534272016-02-06T11:47:19.280-10:002016-02-06T11:47:19.280-10:00Aloha Kelly!
Thanks for the coffee read Thom! I...Aloha Kelly! <br /><br />Thanks for the coffee read Thom! I remember watching that day unfold and wondering what folks could make of it. I was surprised there was so little chatter. Thanks for filling in the blanks in my head; now if I could fill in the blanks in my flying time.sandyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03062704709975780035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20110414.post-3428184955358118322016-02-05T15:39:44.547-10:002016-02-05T15:39:44.547-10:00Nice story, Thom. I did indeed make a few edits. I...Nice story, Thom. I did indeed make a few edits. I hope I didn't take too much license with my changes! I am sincerely enjoying my extended break from writing flying stories. You've almost stopped hounding me about it now, which I certainly appreciate. Thanks to you and Dave for taking up the slack. I look forward to being on the readership side of these stories more often. And I'm always happy to edit as needed. We encourage all pilots to share flying stories if they have any inclination at all! It's super easy and you'll find that people really enjoy reading about the flights, especially if there's any mention of them! <br /><br />This was a super fun day. The forecast that looked so epic the day before seemed like it wasn't going to materialize. The day started super east and seemed stuck that way. But after waiting a few hours it looked more promising for sure. The sea breeze wafted somewhat onshore and the clouds lifted. Great to see so many guys charging down, two first timers and four vets, three of us pretty old salty dogs on that route.<br /><br />My vario died back at Ironwoods and I thought I was in big trouble considering how weak the lift was at that point. Then I remembered I have an app for that! My phone has an atmospheric sensor and my flying app will beep like a vario, even using the accelerometer to improve small scale accuracy. Anyway it was apparently good enough! And I got a decent track log out of it to boot.<br /><br />I've also been suffering a severe handicap the last few flights: using full speed bar has been inducing a collapse on one side, every time. I thought maybe I had a trim problem from putting so many hours on this spaceship! I had asked Jorge to check with his test pilot friends about it. But then we noticed a small compression knot in my lines just before launch, and we carefully cleared it out. I didn't think much of it at the time, and I still carefully avoided any use of full speed bar during the flight, even in the few transitions where I thought it would have come in super handy, rounding the corners downwind some of the big fat protruding ridges, and over some of the gaps between ridges where I felt a bit pinned. Then just before landing I thought to test out the problem one last time, and to my surprise it was totally fixed. The compression knot had been causing it. Whew! What a relief. I'm ready to charge now, full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes! Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06249789335111913420noreply@blogger.com