Finally Some Good Wind In Milwaukee!
Posted by Mirko Bodul on Aug 16, 2003, 01:39
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Monday, Aug 11, 2003
Finally! After 3 months of almost nothing winds off the lake, we finally get two decent days in a row. A far cry from last year, as July was probably our best summer month ever.
Anyway, I got over to Big Bay Park around noon, for some "lunch flying." As I keep about 8 or 9 planes in my van at all times, I'm always ready to fly something. On top of that, 3 or 4 of these planes are already assembled inside the van, (one of them is a 100" ASW-27). Three transmitters are always ready to run all my planes.
So out came the Airtech "Fitness," the short walk to the edge, the toss off, and the incredibly good lift. The wind was blowing 20-25 mph, and seemed almost straight in. This was a great sign; no need to work left to get in front of the tree line to get height, which we have to do if the wind is from the left. Plenty of gulls were out there, some following the plane, most ignoring this intruder. The "Fitness" was flying so well that I started thinking about something much heavier. So I made the obligatory low passes over the water, close enough to see the shadow of the plane underneath it, and got lined up for the uphill landing. Two passes like this, approaching from the low right, and a perfect "plop" right in front of me on the side of the slope.
Then I went back to the van and pulled out the already assembled 2 meter "Hornisse" and took it over to the edge. After I tossed off the Hornisse by its nose; this six pound bruiser went straight out and stated climbing very quickly. Making a couple of passes from right to left and going several hundred yards out, the thought came up that maybe I should move a mile south, down to Atwater Beach which is considerably higher and the field of vision is quite a bit wider than Big Bay. But as lunch time was evaporating, I decided to go there after work to see what would happen. I landed the "Hornisse" by the same method as the "Fitness." But the plane actually carried further to the left in the landing zone,that I actually had to walk down the slope some 20 feet to the left. Its harder to judge the heavier plane. No flaps on either plane, so these were excellent landings.
After 4:00 PM, Monday
The wind was still holding its power, so I started with the "Hornisse" at the bluff of Atwater Beach Park. Although just as strong as earlier, flying the plane was not as interesting here, due to the left angle of the wind. Easy access, great lift, and a soft bluff to land on, makes this our preferred site here on the North Shore. So after about ten minutes of slogging into this left angled wind, I brought the plane down on the edge of the bluff without incident, into the high vegetation.
Now I trotted out the heavy Pixel; this was the one with the vacuum bagged wings and carbon lined fuselage. With this thin wing, the left angled wind would not slow this plane down much going north. Sure enough, the Pixel, she was cruisin'. Very fine flying! Except when the left stab fell off ten minutes into the flight. The rest of the Pixel came down from about forty feet above the slope like a crazy helicopter blade while the stab fluttered down wind to near the edge of the slope.
I had actually looked at the stabs just as I took the plane out of the car, wondering if I should tape them on. Shoulda, coulda, woulda: didn't bother, nothing ever happened to either of my Pixels before without tape on the stabs! Well, here was a first!
So I walked halfway down the slope on the stairway, assuming it had fallen into some vegetation. Austin, who had arrived at the slope just as I started flying the Pixel, got to the plane before me. To my horror, I saw that it had fallen into a patch of stumps and dry dirt that didn't have a single blade of grass in this area. In fact, it had come down on the only place on the entire slope that had no vegetation. The many small stumps were about two feet apart in a geometric pattern. Ha! The Pixel had not touched any of them on impact -- no damage at all! What luck!
By now Greg showed up as we came back up the slope stairway, so we decided to head back to Big Bay where the wind angle was better. There, Greg flew his "Extreme," I flew the "Fitness," while Austin kept us company. We all went home around 7:00 PM.
(More coming about Tuesday)
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