Another useless thread...

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by ljh34465

The second or third time, I said let's spice it up a bit and he agreed - got the chute on and did some mild aerobatics but ran out of thermals. I can tell you it is weird seeing the sky coming up from behind you on a backward loop

Glider pilots are just crazy. I can't plan that far ahead. I need a prop or turbine to pull my butt back to the airport.

[Lee4145]

I did some gliding up at Canyon and the guy told me he knew people that would come in and glide over to Albuquerque! Now that sounded nuts to me.

Many years ago, I did some "flying" in your area - namely, Estrella Sailport.

If you can remember generally where that was, that's the area of greater Phoenix I live. I'm 6 or 7 miles from there.

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Lee4145

I did some gliding up at Canyon and the guy told me he knew people that would come in and glide over to Albuquerque! Now that sounded nuts to me.

If you can remember generally where that was, that's the area of greater Phoenix I live. I'm 6 or 7 miles from there.

It can be done, especially with the glide ratios on those sailplanes. I'd hate to misjudge a thermal or miss something. Best glide distance would have to be right above stall speed, too. Stressful.

[ljh34465]

The racing sailplane my friend had, had a 50:1 glide ratio. That was not the one we went up in - it obviously was a single seater.

Brian, I don't know if you experience the "lift" from a thermal when you are flying a regular plane but it is unreal - you just do a tight corkscrew bank and ride it up.

I was on a beach in the Caribbean and watched pelicans do the same thing - up so high could barely see them.

And yes, even the best miss the thermals - heard many stories of them "collecting" and partially disassembling the glider to get it in the trailer towed by a 4 x 4 out in the desert - almost like a hot air balloon chase crew scenario. ( But we always made it back for a nice landing at the airstrip)

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by ljh34465

The racing sailplane my friend had, had a 50:1 glide ratio. That was not the one we went up in - it obviously was a single seater.

Brian, I don't know if you experience the "lift" from a thermal when you are flying a regular plane but it is unreal - you just do a tight corkscrew bank and ride it up.

I was on a beach in the Caribbean and watched pelicans do the same thing - up so high could barely see them.

You can feel it but it's not nearly the same effect on most small planes. Glide ratio isn't that high, the weight is significantly higher, and the wings aren't designed to catch the updraft like that.

[brian.austin]

I need a different scope for the .22-250. Cheap Bushnell really doesn't cut it at 200 yds. I did okay with a 3" group with the first 5 shots (which is great for a $500 gun with no sighting in and one darn sensitive trigger).

That trigger needs to be adjusted, too. As my friend/spotter mentioned when he shot it: "If you touch it, you fired it." Toward the end, though, shooting at 100 yds, I was doing 1" groups with it so maybe I'll wait on that...

[Killjoy]

Time for a brake job on my car. It was starting to shimmy when I stepped on the brake pedal.
So, rather than turn the old rotors for $25 a piece, I replaced them for $35 each.

I figured it would be a quick swap last night. I put the left side together, no problem.
Then I got to the right side. After I pulled the brakes off, I opened the box for the other rotor only to find out that it's NOT NEW. Of course this was after the parts store had closed.

You just can't make this stuff up.

[Austen]

^^^^^^^^^

Eagerly awaiting Part 2 of the Disk Brake Saga !!!

Have some "K" while you wait for the store to reopen, you deserve it !!!

And spare 29 seconds of your time here...........

Not Happy Jan.........

Video Player

Austen.

[Killjoy]

Thanks for the video clip, and the Karma.

Well, as it turns out, the rotor was new. Silly me. Since one had machine marks in a cross hatch pattern, and the other in a circular pattern (around the rotor) I thought one was new, and the other was used.
Apparently the manufacturer has changed their supplier, and are now getting them from China. So I ended up with one Chinese rotor and one Canadian rotor.
Lo and behold, even thought is was new, the Chinese rotor was squealing. So I ended up basically replacing it (yeah, doing another brake job basically) and all is good.

It's a good thing it's four wheel disc. I hate working on drum brakes.

So, the lessons here are;
1. Check your parts before you leave the store, to make sure they match each other.
2. Make sure they give you the RIGHT parts (did I mention they gave me the wrong pads for the rear?)
Yeah, apparently there are two versions of the same vehicle. The pads from the cars made in the U.S. are a tad smaller than the pads from the cars made in Japan.

So, in order to save a few bucks in doing it myself, I threw away a whole day.
But that's okay. Every dollar I save by doing things myself, I can justify spending it on camera equipment. Now I just have to convince the wife of that.
Good thing I didn't have anything better to do today, like get the boat ready for tomorrow.

Oh, wait! Now I have to go and get the boat ready for tomorrow.

[Killjoy]

In all seriousness (even though this IS a useless thread) I have been with my job for 14 years now.
They give a sabbatical (eight weeks off) every seven years, for people to go and recharge their batteries, and come back with some fresh ideas.
So, it's time for me to take a little time off.

Any suggestions for where I should go shooting? Within driving distance please.
For reference, I live in the SF Bay Area. I am not beyond driving to San Diego, Oregon, or even to Tahoe and beyond.

I am thinking of going to Bodie, and to Mono Lake. After all, I believe that they are fairly close to each other? Seeing as they are also fairly close to Yosemite, I may swing through there. I can never get enough of that park.