After a dozen years or so, the Experimental Balloon Association springtime festival came back to Post Mills this weekend, and our club wasn't completely sure how to handle it. The optimists predicted that we might be able to squeeze in a few flights on Sunday (after the event was officially over). The pessimists, remembering the pandemonium of years past, were pessimistic.
The optimists were right! The balloonists and spectators were well-behaved, and, for the most part, the runway was kept clear of parades, sunbathers, and fire trucks Sunday afternoon. Some say that this was attributable to the air traffic control services provided by Charlie Zue on Unicom (Thanks, Charlie!). Others say that the fact that the revelers have aged 12 years since the last one had something to do with it.
The flying on Sunday was spectacular, with climbs above 8000 feet with pegged varios being reported. So far, Greg (JD), Evan (T8), Sonny (LT), Skip (JS), and Dan (EA) have posted flights on OLC. Evan, who wrote about the day (Thanks, Evan!), may claim yet another Vermont distance record.
Thanks to Andy for towing and to Bill Swartz for instructing on Sunday.
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9 comments:
Fixed the link from my last email which goes to panorama worth looking at.
http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=2cbcb81a-9d89-435e-a647-496215ad5df6&m=false&i=0:0:0&c=0:0:0&z=548.482755730145&d=-1.28729691961072:-1.01289410112879:-1.04451908205862&p=0:0&t=False
What Andy meant to say was:
http://bit.ly/1oIRaV9
The algorithms on OLC are not quite right, and especially so for the "triangle" part of the score, in particular when a flight doubles up on itself (as in a figure-eight). To see a good demo of this algorithmic failing, compare the OLC triangles assigned to the latest flights of Dan and Greg, who apparently flew as a team on almost exactly the same route. Ignore OLC... - great flying Greg and Dan!
Thank you Henry for organizing PMSC's contribution to the Balloon Festival and setting up Condor in the Museum!
Henry rewarded himself on Sunday with a great 90 minute solo flight in the 2-33 making it to Thetford Hill and Vershire. Great flight Henry!
Dan is obviously a much better pilot than Greg.
Worth noting:
OLC triangles require that the triangle be closed. The definition of closed is that the start fix and the end fix must be within 1000m distance and 1000m altitude. This is the usual reason that "triangles" are not scored.
I'm too lazy to pick apart Greg's flight log to see if there is a different problem. Betting it's lack of closure.
-T8
If you really have time on your hands you can try these two alternatives to OLC:
https://www.skylines.aero/
and
http://www.crosscountry.aero/
I've been playing with them, and they each have their advantages.
But I'd rather be flying Condor than wasting my time staring at these websites.
In addition to "wasting your time" with OLC, please "invest your time" in making sure you've properly filled in the tow log, usually located on the seat of one golf cart or another, after your flight. At the end of the day, Sunday's log was pretty anemic when it came to names and data.
I second the opinion of the anonymous commenter, above.
Tim works very hard to do our accounting, and incomplete logsheets make the job that much harder. Give him a break!
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