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Talihina, OK weekend
Here is the story of my weekend in Talihina, OK Feb. 16 & 17, 2013. Enjoy!
Posted: 2/22/2013 By: Tony Condon
Slip Slidin' away
More 'Slip' exploration this weeked. Feels strange in a slip. I'll get some decent video and post up ASAP. The yaw string really goes over a LOT!
Posted: 9/10/2012 By: James Wynhoff
Janus C flight impressions
First, you should know I'm not one of the 'old hands' at soaring. I started in 2001, and have just around 1,000 hours now. I haven't flown a huge number of gliders. More ...
Posted: 8/10/2012 By: James Wynhoff
Oxygen cylinders
While going through the Janus to get it ready for it's annual inspection of condition, I pulled the Oxygen bottle. Long story short, it was a 3HT bottle, with a 24 year life span, and it was 33 years old. I shopped around, and found a 60 cubic foot bottle, with the correct valve assembly, here:http://www.discountcarts.com/M60-size-Aluminum-Cylinder-_p_133.html More ...
Posted: 7/30/2012 By: James Wynhoff
Janus C is flying
After 14 months of work (okay, there was really about a 3 month period of no real work) the Janus passed it's inspection of condition, and was returned to service. Refinishing the tops of the main wing panels was... quite a chore. The gelcoat was stripped by chipping, not sanding. This went amazaingly quickly. I would estimate under 40 man-hours per wing. I had really expected to spend a lot more time than that getting the old gelcoat off. There was a large delay, waiting for the CNC cut profile templates. During that waiting period, my brother and I bought a place at Sky Ranch. A 1400 sf hangar, with a 1110 sf house. Shortly after moving the project there, I got my templates and started really putting in the hours. There was some repair work to some previous repair work near the root of the left wing, then I had to build up (with Super Fill) some parts fo the wing where the gelcoat had been particularly thick. There was quite a lot of work to do right around the spoilers. After the profiling, I tackled filling the pinholes. I used PCL Polyprimer, a brush, and a six inch wide bondo squeegee to squeegee the primer into the holes. After three passes, knocking down the ridges left by the squeegee between each coat, the pinholes were gone. Then I sprayed a heavy coat of Polyprimer on, let it cure, and knocked it down with 150 grit on a 48" x 2" wide sanding bar. I used 3m Dry Guide to mark my progress and reveal the low spots. Two more coats of Polyprimer later, and a final sanding with 220, I felt the wings were ready for the PPG Concept. Wow! That stuff is pricey!! Shooting the paint took about 4 hours for each wing. The subsequent sanding and buffing took...... a lot more than that! More ...
Posted: 7/30/2012 By: James Wynhoff
Photos finally Posted
I still owe y'all a wrap up for Monday, which I'll post tonight. Yesterday I got thrown in the air as one of the first three pilots; but then the day was cancelled as we struggled off tow. I ended up flying the task anyways and averaged about 56mph (according to my copy of Winscore). Not bad for a weak, blue (no cloud) day in which I got low a couple of times! More ...
Posted: 7/4/2012 By: Noel Wade
Days 4 and 5 - Good flights and bad decisions
Sorry for the delayed posting, the last couple of days have been long and tiring! To make up for it, here's a spectacular shot of Mt Shasta from 23,000 feet. It was taken by Aussie guest-pilot Allan Barnes, who got into wave on one of the practice days and climbed quite high!
More ...
Posted: 7/3/2012 By: Noel Wade
Saturday and the Grand Adventure
You may have noticed that the "How Racing Works" post didn't appear last night... That's because - in the grand tradition of other contests I've been to - a day off turned into a grand adventure. At previous contests I've wound up hiking canyons in Utah, exploring lakes, and touring Grand Coulee Dam. More ...
Posted: 7/1/2012 By: Noel Wade
Day 3 - Finally A Good Run
Sorry, this post is going to be extremely short - even though it was my best flight so far at Montague. The super-short version is this: Thursday was good, and I got video to show off later. Friday was icky and we didn't fly. I thought it might rain so I put my plane back in the trailer last night, but now it looks like we might fly today before the Thunderstorms hit so I need to run to the airport and re-rig the plane and get it ready! [UPDATE: Saturday cancelled due to impending Thunderstorms - drat!] More ...
Posted: 6/30/2012 By: Noel Wade
Day 2 - Getting the Hang of This Place
NOTE: For the non-pilots, I'm going to post a blog tomorrow about how this sailplane-racing thing works; to try to demystify it. More ...
Posted: 6/28/2012 By: Noel Wade
