tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311258352024-03-05T13:20:09.296-06:00AeroAustinThis is an ongoing tale of Alan and Jo's exploits in Austin, TX. Alan hopes there will be plenty of tasty beer involved, while Jo hopes to find lots of interesting aircraft.futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.comBlogger282125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-52079108077400442242017-06-04T11:49:00.002-05:002017-06-04T11:49:51.492-05:00An Autogyro Experience<div>
<span>It's not every day that one gets to experience an entirely different form of flying. So when Facebook friend Paul agreed to take me flying in his autogyro, I was elated!</span></div>
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<span>We met up at San Marcos airport, where he introduced me to his aircraft. It's a Magni Gyro M-16 Tandem Trainer. This type of aircraft has one engine (a Rotax 912) which powers the propeller at the back, pushing you forward. Unlike a helicopter, the rotor is not powered, and has a fixed pitch. It's like sticking your hand out of a moving car window; your forward speed pulls the rotor through the air and provides lift. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4HTDrHbUUo8FshB7_2xfNG49B_N2-y18QPZwelJUUF2gqDL_CCVHdvx63vL1t2mILd0R0AS5thffoi0r1x1dRfYipRxbyktGerIjZYuKke5xCpWn_F27Qto-J45ANhDVm-rVhg/s1600/Gyro-2-2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4HTDrHbUUo8FshB7_2xfNG49B_N2-y18QPZwelJUUF2gqDL_CCVHdvx63vL1t2mILd0R0AS5thffoi0r1x1dRfYipRxbyktGerIjZYuKke5xCpWn_F27Qto-J45ANhDVm-rVhg/s640/Gyro-2-2.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<span>We taxied out to the runway on the propeller alone; the rotor remains fixed at this time along the length of the airframe. Once run-up chokes are complete, Paul released the rotor and applied the pre-rotator. This starts the rotor turning and gets it up to a useful speed, 200 RPM. You can hear the swish-swish-swish of the rotor blades getting faster as it spins up. There's a gauge at the top of the panel that shows the rotor RPM. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLKaA9tZ2NnAjBizkh51q7tV7SUJcQInG_s_uW1dXmzVJjGQLubDGG_JRPVadVhVcUWuZ9-auZAF7c-yGIeMuMpyTUfvwsCnVmJD86Wx4Bzyo3o2bKKrtEH00D55pyUJjal5Q-g/s1600/Gyro-1-2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLKaA9tZ2NnAjBizkh51q7tV7SUJcQInG_s_uW1dXmzVJjGQLubDGG_JRPVadVhVcUWuZ9-auZAF7c-yGIeMuMpyTUfvwsCnVmJD86Wx4Bzyo3o2bKKrtEH00D55pyUJjal5Q-g/s640/Gyro-1-2.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<span>Paul began the takeoff roll and once the RPM was sufficient, (200-220 or so) he lifted us off, and we just levitated up! There's not much forward speed at this point, but the vertical ascent was impressive.</span></div>
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<span>The first thing Paul did was to turn towards one of the other runways that was not in use, to demonstrate an autorotation. He pulled the power back from the engine and really, it's a non-event; the aircraft starts to descend in a very civilized manner, at a very manageable speed. We made a leisurely landing on the runway, then added power back in and took off again. This demonstrated nicely that if we had an engine failure, there's plenty of scope to land safely.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7pYIXGbePsP0pjOePYcB77MHBxUtDJQcNFVoPjjLmkQawxypELOrb2ZFWQKbjXUuhilgO8zh_JEalL5kKxxr44CidrVHi54LdXhHDxz_cNCHwILUm_VO9C77EDDWLbHffwIvbQ/s1600/Gyro-2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7pYIXGbePsP0pjOePYcB77MHBxUtDJQcNFVoPjjLmkQawxypELOrb2ZFWQKbjXUuhilgO8zh_JEalL5kKxxr44CidrVHi54LdXhHDxz_cNCHwILUm_VO9C77EDDWLbHffwIvbQ/s400/Gyro-2.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<span>We headed out to the east, where there are open fields, few houses, and space to play. We flew low-level over some of these fields. Lots of fun :-) Paul threw in a few turns, which are fine. I was strapped in pretty well, so even though there's very little surrounding you, it doesn't feel like you're going to fall out or anything like that. On the subject of things falling out, however, you can't have anything loose in the cockpit; no holding on to cameras or such like, because if you drop something there's a danger it could go through the propeller behind you. Since this would be a Bad Thing, this is why I have no in-flight photos. Sorry; but there it is. </span></div>
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<span>It's too bad since I would love to post a picture of the Blanco river here - I didn't know so many tubes existed on the river! It was a lovely day and it seemed like the people of San Marcos were out in force on the water, floating along on their brightly coloured tubes; it looked like someone sprinkled packets of Fruit Polos or Cheerios all along the river.</span></div>
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<span>We were cruising at around 90 mph, for the most part. This is not a speed machine by any definition, but that's not the mission of a gyro. It is, however, very manouverable. Paul took us higher in order to demonstrate some more flight aspects. First, he brought us to halt in the sky. It's not really hovering, since without forward speed you enter autorotation and begin to descend, but you can stop above a point. To recover, just pitch nose down and gain some forward airspeed again to resume normal flying. Incidentally, in normal cruise the rotor speed seemed to be around 380-400 RPM.</span></div>
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<span>He also demonstrated a vertical flat spin. This is not something you want to experience in a fixed-wing aircraft by any stretch, but here it seems almost normal, if not a sensation I was used to. Stop in the sky, then just rotate it around the point as you descend. Once again, recover and resume flying. </span></div>
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<span>There's very little rudder required in making turns, apparently. You tip the rotor sideways to initiate a turn, and the whole aircraft weathervanes to follow the direction of travel. Paul allowed me to follow his movements on the controls, and there's very little input required in general. He says it is easy to trim and fly pretty much hands-off.</span></div>
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<span>We flew around some more near the river, and over a small lake in a field which had a huge swathe of water lilies. There were many birds around; I saw a few hawks below us. Not sure what a bird strike would do to a gyro; there's not much to hit but I imagine it wouldn't do the rotor or prop any good. But then, we're not going very fast, so they have plenty of time to evade us. The different terrains threw up the usual thermals and bumps in the air. They're not as pronounced in the gyro as in a fixed-wing aeroplane, but they feel a little odd. Paul said they don't hit as hard because the air just goes through the rotor. But there is a definite, momentary, tiny drop in lift which feels strange.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqdR8BYm8JtNw8ZTEUkDrspHFuQtxXT6NcG918IpgkdXkNMq0WMHCVMAWC8WLhcapuAsy2ab59PvL-oBikGvhOHw6PlmkzjAvOhs_ZjRGzRh1DQASZcQYgZFXhtakxLk2OH1x7KQ/s1600/Gyro-3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqdR8BYm8JtNw8ZTEUkDrspHFuQtxXT6NcG918IpgkdXkNMq0WMHCVMAWC8WLhcapuAsy2ab59PvL-oBikGvhOHw6PlmkzjAvOhs_ZjRGzRh1DQASZcQYgZFXhtakxLk2OH1x7KQ/s400/Gyro-3.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<span>The aircraft felt very stable in general. There is some rotor vibration; it's not horrible but it is there. And of course you're doing 90 with a helmet on; much like going fast on a motorcycle. These aviation helmets have headsets built in and seem to catch the wind a bit more than I remember from my bike helmet, although it's a long time since I wore that (and I wasn't doing 90, honest, Officer!). It is quite noisy; I was having a hard time hearing what Paul was saying, never mind ATC. So by the time we had flown a while, my ears and head were getting tired.</span></div>
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<span>We headed back to the airport where Paul did a couple more touch and goes, before we rejoined the pattern and landed. Over the fence speed was about 70 mph, although he held it a long time above the runway, because he could. Plop it down just before the taxiway and turn off. I think the landing rollout is about 10 feet, it stops almost instantly if you ask it to. The rotor is allowed to spin down and there's a brake to stop it completely once we got back to the parking spot. Mags off, master off, just like any other aircraft, and we're done.</span></div>
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<span>Many thanks to Paul for a really excellent flying experience!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKydg4_hEahg1mjszaVTtSuICcs9LhvrFmPiqQjqCVoqjUYvxUrB2rVP8o_NVaNBXgmN6lrfh1kt9tmjb2Ujp4zitcCXjnH8ww6Z8VZfwL046LvmxWeFIxysbjy3P90HloDfVcQ/s1600/Gyro-1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKydg4_hEahg1mjszaVTtSuICcs9LhvrFmPiqQjqCVoqjUYvxUrB2rVP8o_NVaNBXgmN6lrfh1kt9tmjb2Ujp4zitcCXjnH8ww6Z8VZfwL046LvmxWeFIxysbjy3P90HloDfVcQ/s400/Gyro-1.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-30622238499636164162015-12-04T09:09:00.000-06:002015-12-04T09:09:43.550-06:00Cadillac at Circuit of the Americas(This is a long post. If you just want to watch some racetrack action, scroll to the bottom for video)<br />
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One day in August this year, I received a piece of mail. It looked a little different to the average car-related sales flyer. This was elegant, glossy and appeared to be an invitation from Cadillac to join them at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), to drive their hot V-series cars. Fully catered, hands-on driving and at no cost to myself.<br />
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My first reaction was, "Wow, this looks amazing!", followed closely by "Is this for real?". Well apparently it was. Fast forward to December and I'm waking up early, unable to sleep, and found myself pitched up at the COTA gates at 06:45, waiting to get in.
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We were an interesting assortment of vehicles; from tricked-out trucks to Porsche 911s and my Jeep; doing follow-the-leader behind the staff Escalade, who led us into the far end of the main paddock, where we parked up near the Media Center. There was a line of cars waiting for us, getting their engines warmed up.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcg8q8HO4TNMIP2HCFWfLeW12MLF9CjqeMqeO7FLP9rsy-hVRnKEruG6tVdTbF2W6IShKPeY8i_t-aT2csx7xa3kR_Np3cjCW5ulhpw6YlWB6-Lpaxlbf4_1QmlsgwCtjVlFDMuQ/s1600/Cadillac-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcg8q8HO4TNMIP2HCFWfLeW12MLF9CjqeMqeO7FLP9rsy-hVRnKEruG6tVdTbF2W6IShKPeY8i_t-aT2csx7xa3kR_Np3cjCW5ulhpw6YlWB6-Lpaxlbf4_1QmlsgwCtjVlFDMuQ/s1600/Cadillac-1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A line of cars, all purring away.</td></tr>
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Inside the Media Center, we signed in, and were shown into one very large room which was laid out with a very nice breakfast to one side, and a stage in the middle. One of each type of car was parked either side, looking all shiny. Lots of tables and chairs awaited us; lots of people gathered inside. An interesting crowd. Many folks were obviously into their racing, and lots of folks seemed to know each other. I'm really wondering now how I got so lucky to be invited; I'm one of about five women amongst the hundred or so people here, and definitely not in the racing crowd. Still, no point worrying about that! I'm glad to be here.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgleGxTvZ_O4YTUJE9_lvKGBxkSXZPEanlp_APf-25zXgq_bYOWuLdoaht_1G84MoYqux7yuFzFmZvuU1FCiB1nDhShq8ZJW7H_JV1bYVKaxywt-TC6MpWWimHet-o3YKK6Gtnckg/s1600/Cadillac-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgleGxTvZ_O4YTUJE9_lvKGBxkSXZPEanlp_APf-25zXgq_bYOWuLdoaht_1G84MoYqux7yuFzFmZvuU1FCiB1nDhShq8ZJW7H_JV1bYVKaxywt-TC6MpWWimHet-o3YKK6Gtnckg/s1600/Cadillac-2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrUyMjAZrggKbzRqLA2G6T4PB0RxI7qidk2qdvmH0nY2ut_Sq0bYGjpuNuflKNAHCtSjiJlch9roIzNo7OndlIWuCJj2UVy1w4Lblp4rp_dwnp50__ikmo5LuT7KDK6jeBhy8L9w/s1600/Cadillac-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrUyMjAZrggKbzRqLA2G6T4PB0RxI7qidk2qdvmH0nY2ut_Sq0bYGjpuNuflKNAHCtSjiJlch9roIzNo7OndlIWuCJj2UVy1w4Lblp4rp_dwnp50__ikmo5LuT7KDK6jeBhy8L9w/s1600/Cadillac-3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many more chairs and tables are out of shot; they all were filled soon enough.</td></tr>
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After a welcome and safety brief, they split us into three groups. Our group was assigned to a batch of mostly CTS-Vs, and I happened to get into one of the two ATS-V cars in the pack. We conga-lined out of the paddock area, back out the main gate and up to one of the parking lots behind the long straight. This was good, since it gave me a chance to get a feel for the ATS-V under normal driving conditions. Now, let's have a look at this car. The smaller of the two V-series cars, this is fully track capable and has a 3.6L twin turbo engine, making 464 hp and producing 445 lb.-ft. of torque.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo62zCiwfGtkfks3X5qkYyvQpeA9d5upPAMKEFzn0B999B3YZE7PeaUnRuMFwaq5CV6ziAGDfFYCBocK0QDbewnRw6YEe-JJXM8ipVCUx-Db6IjDCXHBHTTNvxkBCMqaoq6Y9O7Q/s1600/Cadillac-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo62zCiwfGtkfks3X5qkYyvQpeA9d5upPAMKEFzn0B999B3YZE7PeaUnRuMFwaq5CV6ziAGDfFYCBocK0QDbewnRw6YEe-JJXM8ipVCUx-Db6IjDCXHBHTTNvxkBCMqaoq6Y9O7Q/s1600/Cadillac-6.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An ATS-V, showing off its bonnet vents.</td></tr>
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I could feel already that this car wanted to Go. That said, it was perfectly docile to drive around at normal speeds. It felt very poised and solid, easy to steer and was very pleasant. This one (like all the cars here today) had an automatic transmission; a quick-shifting eight speed that felt very responsive. I was glad of this; much as I love driving stick shift, it was one less thing to worry about in an unfamiliar environment.<br />
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We arrived at a small drag racing strip, where they split us into two lanes and we paired up for some races. It was only a hundred yards or so. Hammer down, followed by a quick stop in the box. Since this was my first time putting any hammers down in this type of environment, I was resoundly beaten by the other ATS-V. Never mind!<br />
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We lined up for part 2; a slalom around five or six cones. They told us to use only the throttle, not the brakes. The car handled beautifully around the cones; it is quite nimble. Then we each had another go. For this time around, the staff introduced us to the different modes in the cars. We'd been operating in Tour mode. Now they put us into Track mode, which tells the car to give us everything it's got (while still maintaining traction control and all the other good things that keep us safe). My second drag race was faster but I still got beaten. It felt much more sprightly though, and my stop was better. These cars have big Brembo discs and they do appear to work pretty well. And the difference in mode made itself felt in the slalom too, it felt even more nimble and quick around each cone.<br />
A nice introduction to the car.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOtAODgE3lypoi0i1kqfEKD5HTj8rTugGriCGh7bM1vNHN6dv-ker4OXPtGys_6heUx7wC24yCLSZW39baXJL52Ia374u8q0IT-yx-7dO60CcovJriN1A0eOUs2gpDZi39vEdbA/s1600/Cadillac-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOtAODgE3lypoi0i1kqfEKD5HTj8rTugGriCGh7bM1vNHN6dv-ker4OXPtGys_6heUx7wC24yCLSZW39baXJL52Ia374u8q0IT-yx-7dO60CcovJriN1A0eOUs2gpDZi39vEdbA/s1600/Cadillac-8.jpg" title="ATS-V driver view" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ATS-V cockpit. The CTS-V is similar, although a few switches move to the center console in that car.</td></tr>
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Both models of car here today have this nifty head-up display. I've highlighted it here inside a brighter circle; you can see the mph and rev counter right in front of you, which is great.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1DYEf8vw5YzwNarKID5PUCQfIL_z9dcb5PtHzE62jm_2i_JVbP9AVK-BDVT5iOc5kO9dJWIsk3LvnWboup6yhE9HTYrZ0va7Zh7eZPMYpuqXaECsKn448kDaj9TtSDQdwRMrDQ/s1600/Cadillac-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1DYEf8vw5YzwNarKID5PUCQfIL_z9dcb5PtHzE62jm_2i_JVbP9AVK-BDVT5iOc5kO9dJWIsk3LvnWboup6yhE9HTYrZ0va7Zh7eZPMYpuqXaECsKn448kDaj9TtSDQdwRMrDQ/s1600/Cadillac-9.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Head-up display, highlighted in the circle. It floats just below your main line of sight.</td></tr>
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We drove back into the track, and they led us to the support paddock in the middle of the track for some Autocross action. We swapped cars with another group; they drove ours away and we had a brace of ATS-Vs to play with.<br />
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If you've never seen autocross, it's where you have to drive around a very small course made of tape and cones, with narrow track width and lots of corners, some of them very sharp. There was a start gate and a finish box, and a timer. There were fewer cars here so we paired up. A fellow named Rob drove our car first, while I rode in the passenger seat. He absolutely caned it; really throwing it around the corners and squirting it down the short straights. Lots of revs and squealy, chirpy tyre noises. G-forces throwing you left and right. He did the course in 27 seconds.<br />
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I owe him a debt of thanks, because I'm pretty sure that if he hadn't shown me what the car could do, I wouldn't have been nearly as aggressive when it came to be my turn. Now, this was fun! I drove that course absolutely secure in the knowledge that the car could take anything I did with it. So I did my best to emulate Rob, having never driven like that in my life. My first lap, I did something over 30 seconds. Some of it sideways, and certainly at strange angles. Second lap, 30.6s. Messed up a corner or two, but sailed around some others. Third lap I really went for it and managed 29.6s. I was happy with that!<br />
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All this showed me that the ATS-V is certainly a highly capable machine; even thrown around as it was, it didn't miss a beat and felt controlled all the way.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxvgiY5MvP6XDF28qQ7pC47n1rYY7n5dEzVjCuxU0rfIY5ZkxWHCkjwEJiranh1ELQsy8D7ubiDQh7WOl5tHu7WxzBIREWu2CaOB6CeV5d1ngixFAwq3n1TFI2mBTsiBcDJPRog/s1600/Cadillac-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxvgiY5MvP6XDF28qQ7pC47n1rYY7n5dEzVjCuxU0rfIY5ZkxWHCkjwEJiranh1ELQsy8D7ubiDQh7WOl5tHu7WxzBIREWu2CaOB6CeV5d1ngixFAwq3n1TFI2mBTsiBcDJPRog/s1600/Cadillac-10.jpg" title="At the autocross track" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down the start of the Autocross track. The finish is out of frame to the right.</td></tr>
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Back to the main paddock, where... drumroll please... it was Track Time! Yes, we were about to get a taste of driving around the world-class track that is the Circuit of the Americas. I think it's fair to say I'd been looking forward to this, no doubt along with everyone else. First up were some laps in the ATS-V.
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They took us out in little packs of cars; one instructor with three students in trail. They had a neat system where the instructor has a radio, and the sound comes through on our car stereos. This was cool since he could talk to us all the way around the circuit.
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We also had a video log. Each car had the (optional) Cadillac Performance Data Recorder. This is a cool thing; the car has a camera in front and a brace of sensors, which records a video with a data overlay onto an SD memory card which slots into the glove box. The lanyards we'd been given earlier had SD cases attached to them; once we'd done driving on the track, we took the SD card out and kept it.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwLP6CtmvnE3cLYS44_cDcfPDVeJJZV1qNB1oFNf6iHpvOSU2C2iJlVCE4MGqHIyQ-Lu5MAuqzIJcqtZ3wcX8adnhyq4dGJ1_5BB71rLEibGC-jMrfKt57sXvAEPHh2bHVLduF1Q/s1600/Cadillac-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwLP6CtmvnE3cLYS44_cDcfPDVeJJZV1qNB1oFNf6iHpvOSU2C2iJlVCE4MGqHIyQ-Lu5MAuqzIJcqtZ3wcX8adnhyq4dGJ1_5BB71rLEibGC-jMrfKt57sXvAEPHh2bHVLduF1Q/s1600/Cadillac-12.jpg" title="ATS-V" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ATS-V</td></tr>
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I was first in line behind the pace car to begin with. We pulled slowly out into the pit lane and headed towards Turn 1. As we exited the pit lane, I realized the instructor really wasn't hanging around, and I'd better keep up! They wanted us to keep 3-4 car lengths between each of us, which turned out to be easier to achieve in some places than others. Up to Turn 1, around that hairpin at the top, bring it left again down into Turn 2 and gather speed into the S's. He kept it slower to begin with (although it seemed pretty quick to me) and since we were able to keep together as a group, he increased the pace. Zoom up Turn 9, accelerate past Turn 10, stand on the brakes for the hairpin at Turn 11 and a smooth turn in to the straight. He had me pull over to let the other cars move up, then I joined on to the back of the pack. Pedal to the metal to catch up again. Now we're moving! 118mph as I caught up to the group.
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I did not make an awesome job of rounding Turn 12, and was given some advice about that. We made it around the tricky complex through the grandstand area, then into that long sweeping right hander around the base of the Tower, before making a left, then another left, which put us back onto the start/finish straight. Everything so far had been a total sensory overload. I was registering the apex cones, and the braking zones. Not sure I ever spotted the turn-in markers. All senses were totally on the job at hand; getting the car around the track smoothly and rapidly and not falling back from the guy in front. However, this bit of track did involve a straight line for a few seconds, and I allowed it to hit me that here I was, driving at 114 mph down the friggin' Circuit of the Americas! It felt amazing.
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And then we were off for our second lap. This involved more of the same, except a bit faster (125mph down the straight!). Another lead change put me into Car 2 position, and I made a better turn around 12. Then it was back into the pits.
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Stepping out of the car, I was shaking from the adrenaline. We'd only been out on track for eight minutes but that was seriously intense. A cool down was required. They guided us inside, where we could grab a very welcome drink, and then give our SD cards to some folks who were clipping little segments from the video for us to be able to post on social media. This was a neat operation. They pushed the video clips across to iPads, where we could take care of logging in to our various networks.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQY2P28PEJYEwZSKq_sR9koCEzOYl6AI1iMUm_NBOSYbLFMwKVBd0XaVupX_Kf2fX2Iqadhyp5ulu1T6HsKnsK1GAHS-Y7a6u7zclvrvl49CmMegrv3WAhKoPovI3d2yA-MVnow/s1600/Cadillac-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQY2P28PEJYEwZSKq_sR9koCEzOYl6AI1iMUm_NBOSYbLFMwKVBd0XaVupX_Kf2fX2Iqadhyp5ulu1T6HsKnsK1GAHS-Y7a6u7zclvrvl49CmMegrv3WAhKoPovI3d2yA-MVnow/s1600/Cadillac-11.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They transformed some pit garages into a Cadillac comfort zone.</td></tr>
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We then had a classroom session, where we learnt some things about track work and how to corner properly. After this, we were able to have a brief Q&A with Johnny O'Connell, one of the works Cadillac racing drivers. He seemed like a very pleasant guy, and he's been doing well - he won the Pirelli World Challenge series this year in his ATS-V.R.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRXqxdCGUU42iV3cDmwBxnArdpy6_5ETycWhqHyJPSZbwW0f_KUeCfpNa6D0giI_K9lUn9t5PfqmXjA6BDXeuRyA4dLJxrJ7LZYjOVAzpYRaXw6vN5fOSokjNXuat7lJBDSVU3A/s1600/Cadillac-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRXqxdCGUU42iV3cDmwBxnArdpy6_5ETycWhqHyJPSZbwW0f_KUeCfpNa6D0giI_K9lUn9t5PfqmXjA6BDXeuRyA4dLJxrJ7LZYjOVAzpYRaXw6vN5fOSokjNXuat7lJBDSVU3A/s1600/Cadillac-13.jpg" title="Johnny O'Connell" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Johnny O'Connell with his ATS-V.R</td></tr>
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After a little while, it became time for our group to venture back out onto the track, this time in the mighty CTS-V. This is a monster car, with a supercharged 6.2 litre V8 engine, and an 8-speed auto transmission. It makes 640hp, 630 ft/lb of torque, some really excellent noises, and is capable of 200mph. A big, powerful car, which I'd never driven before in my life, and I was about to thrash it around a racetrack. Hm!
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1Hc8pCToWHMK63nUUnBYi35gWyLH_z9SOGyEULK_Bbpl_oQv37aBtlZGiWhV7Mu3OJVD-EBnGSO0_2HZ3bhsg2K1xljtbA6lj4fyzcHSmQXUb79qE4wVYH8FT6j5eGEu5c3Ibg/s1600/Cadillac-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1Hc8pCToWHMK63nUUnBYi35gWyLH_z9SOGyEULK_Bbpl_oQv37aBtlZGiWhV7Mu3OJVD-EBnGSO0_2HZ3bhsg2K1xljtbA6lj4fyzcHSmQXUb79qE4wVYH8FT6j5eGEu5c3Ibg/s1600/Cadillac-14.jpg" title="CTS-V" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The CTS-V. Doesn't it look pretty? I just love those Cadillac vertical lights, they give the cars a huge presence.</td></tr>
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I was at the back of the pack this time. We set off up the pit lane again, and I suddenly realized the rest of the pack was disappearing up the hill somewhat more rapidly this time. Oh yes, this car accelerates alright! Catching up at Turn 1, we swooped down the hill and set off around the track at a noticeably faster pace than earlier. This car felt much heavier in general; it has massive amounts of power but felt a little less nimble around the corners (or maybe it was just my dodgy cornering). I found myself falling behind the others a bit more than I should have done; when we got to the hairpin and did the driver order change, I had to really floor it to catch up. However this gave me the opportunity to experience doing 139mph down the main straight! Holy cow, this thing moves. It felt like there was plenty more to come too, but we were running out of straight line road.
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I definitely didn't do as well at some of the corners this time around. I don't know if it was because I hadn't driven the CTS-V earlier in the day and wasn't as familiar with it; I mean it really did feel like a lot of car to hustle around, but more likely I just have a lot to learn. I regret that I don't have the driving experience to fully appreciate what is obviously an extremely potent car, but hopefully the lessons I've learned here will help if I get to do this kind of thing again sometime in the future. That said, it was still an absolute blast and a great experience to drive. We did three laps altogether and it was awesome.
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Cooling down again after this session, some more time spent with the media card people and in the classroom again, learning about the different systems on the V-series cars. A last thank you and farewell from the Cadillac folks and we were done.<br />
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Now, here's a video of some racetrack action! A lap in the ATS-V, followed by one in the CTS-V. Spoiler: The CTS-V is at least 14 seconds quicker :-)<br />
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My thanks go right back to Cadillac for such a fabulous morning. Y'all have some excellent cars; I hope I get to drive them again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6TVzhn3CUyfd0meVYwdG4YhUkJxMLdzs4DTX85UsqB1v1XOr9-spRz3DjaQTlg2ka2qTKTGXs4saBuHPSByWYLfL0LDLhIa3aLUEKYuA4cH3CMXTCISechBTafQy_IA7MJ2fiZQ/s1600/Cadillac-5.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6TVzhn3CUyfd0meVYwdG4YhUkJxMLdzs4DTX85UsqB1v1XOr9-spRz3DjaQTlg2ka2qTKTGXs4saBuHPSByWYLfL0LDLhIa3aLUEKYuA4cH3CMXTCISechBTafQy_IA7MJ2fiZQ/s1600/Cadillac-5.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-86754362813856661332015-02-24T15:20:00.000-06:002015-02-24T15:20:26.569-06:00Rocking C House Build Time LapsesIn early 2014, it came to my attention that a house was to be built locally to me. I approached the owners about filming the build process. I've always wanted to do a long-term time lapse project, as well as to see exactly how houses are put together. They graciously allowed me access to the site and to place a camera.<br />
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The build started on March 31st 2014, and my videos run until the main structure was completed, around the 22nd July. I set the camera to record between 5am and 8pm at 1-minute intervals. This meant it produced a minimum of 900 frames each day. It would produce more frames on busy days - around 1200 frames - as it uses motion detection as well to trigger the camera. I could have chosen to switch off motion detection, but I left it on in order to see more detail. So while the timeline might be slightly skewed, in the grand scheme of things it's not making a huge difference by the time I've cut the relevant parts of each film sequence.<br />
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If you're only going to watch one of these, watch Part 2; it's the most visually exciting, seeing the structure being built.<br />
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<h4>
The Takeaways</h4>
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I've learnt a few things from doing this.<br />
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I used a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Trophy-Hybrid-Camera-Vision/dp/B00AU6DWPO/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2">Bushnell field camera</a> which is normally used for spotting wildlife.<br />
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The advantage of this is:<br />
- it's camouflaged (it took forever for the house owners to spot it, tied to a tree)<br />
- batteries last 2-3 weeks (takes 8xAA)<br />
- it's weatherproof<br />
- You can choose between time lapse or motion detection. If you look at my videos, it's doing both; there's a T or M flag in the bottom left that tells you what the trigger was for each frame. <br />
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It doesn't, however, handle bright white concrete very well, since it's designed to capture brown animals against green and brown trees. So I found that bright Texas sun on bright concrete and pale wood would wash out badly. I've reduced the exposure of pretty much all the morning-to-mid-afternoon sequences down by a stop and a bit, but the files are all jpg and that's about as good as it gets.<br />
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I've also had a few instances where the camera just stops recording, for reasons best known to itself. I _think_ the culprit is a dodgy battery connection; it seems that if you run your fingers along the line of batteries, it's enough to bring it back to life. But it's annoying when you've left it sitting for a few days and have nothing to show for it.<br />
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You could use a GoPro and that was my first thought, since they are small and weatherproof. However, the battery life is very short. When you run time lapse on a GoPro, it stays on constantly, it doesn't shut off between frames. So you get the same ~3hour battery life as if you were running video. I have seen folks mod the case by drilling a hole over the power input and then running the camera off whatever power source they have fixed up, but then you're no longer weatherproof. It's also more expensive losing a GoPro than a Bushnell, if someone decides to walk off with it.<br />
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If I was doing this again, I'd research my field cameras to see if there's one that is better optimised for bright subjects. The one I have was originally bought to see what kind of critters visit us in the night, so it's just what I had on hand for this job. <i>* see Addendum; below.</i><br />
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I'd also like to get two or three of them to film from different angles, so if one drops out then you still have others. Also, houses are big, and I've lost the right hand end since it doesn't fit into my field of view. There's many days when the builders are doing things around the other side of the house, and I just can't see it. However the tree I have it tied to was about the only place I could put it that was going to remain out of the way and have a good view of the site.<br />
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One other thing I've learnt is that you shouldn't be afraid to move the camera. I was married to the fact the camera was in its one spot, and wanted to have the finished video from all the same viewpoint, for continuity. However, we ended up with a big gap of at least six weeks between the outside of the house being finished, and the concrete driveway being poured. I was all set up to get the little bit of pathway that was all the concrete which would be appearing in the shot. Then I spoke to the homeowner about it. He'd been busy; I'd been away and also busy, neither of us had fully thought about what was going on. We decided to move the camera after all, to catch more of the driveway being put down. Of course, if we'd had this conversation earlier, I'd have moved the camera and caught his swimming pool being installed. You live and learn though. As it is; the camera decided not to record the part where they actually laid the driveway! Since a flat white bit of motionless concrete isn't that exciting, I have finished the video with the walls being coated in stone, instead.
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<h4>
Editing/Processing</h4>
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As for editing the movie, this takes patience, and hard drive space. 900 frames per day eats up hard drives pretty quickly, so I'm using an external Drobo drive to hold it all. I'm copying each day's worth of images into a separate folder. Lightroom and LRTimelapse are used to bolt everything together.<br />
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You have to open each day's directory which will ingest all the frames into LRTimelapse, then click to initialise them, in order to be able to play back that day's sequence. This takes about five minutes, and only then do you know if you've caught anything interesting that day. If nothing happened, repeat with the next day until you find some action. Then you can get into Lightroom and go back and forth with the files until they're corrected the way you need them - you will likely need to alter exposure and/or cropping, as well as deflickering the images. <a href="http://lrtimelapse.com/workflow/">This page on LRTimelapse.com</a> explains the process. Then you can export and render the video sequence. If you have around 1000 images files, this lot will take 20-30 minutes, for each day's video.<br />
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Once you have a bunch of daily videos, you can load them into Final Cut or another video editor, and cut them until you have something like the videos shown above.<br />
<h4>Addendum:</h4>
<p>I wrote most of this blog post around September 2014. I'm publishing it in February 2015. For many reasons, I have been delayed in making part 3, but it's here now. I've also recently become aware of the existence of <a href="http://www.brinno.com/construction-camera/BCC100">Brinno time lapse cameras</a>. Their construction camera would have been the perfect tool for this job; it records for months at a time and builds the video in-camera. Oh well! I guess if I do this again, I know which tool I'll use.<br>Anyone else want to build a house?</p>
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<br />futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-22239410444924890152014-09-26T14:35:00.001-05:002014-09-26T14:35:34.274-05:00Watching the races in style: Sports Car Endurance Racing at COTA<p>We went to the Circuit of the Americas to watch the endurance racing. The Lone Star Le Mans / Six Hours of the Circuit of the Americas contained many fabulous cars. Since Alan is the proud owner of a Grand Cherokee SRT, it allowed us to be able to purchase SRT hospitality tickets to the races. This turned out to be one excellent way to watch a race!
<p>The SRT brand runs across the Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep family; it's the hot versions of some of their cars. The Dodge Vipers are the racing cars, although the other breeds were represented on the SRT stand at the main square in the circuit.
<p>This is me with one of the Viper SRT cars - I think this is last year's car, on the SRT stand.
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBjaS-_JMLvJz8kuAo8wYm1kN90MzLTQ7YTvxO1ZGNu6W94A93My9mexK6XmFdEY36n03zi2r2YoHSj_2Lvto-MagbObIKI0Sq3Cj3MwoWtgHl57DpF0-Jb_47GcpPH3FvwFLUuQ/s640/Jo-with-Viper-91.jpg" />
<p>Here's the garage, in the pit area. They are removing the bonnets/hoods from the cars. Also in here is the white Viper Exchange car; I think this was technically a separate team but they seem to share the facilities.
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMldkT0YxfBkPnUDY_Ogj84rC9YLHUdW6iXdQwQJAB-xGu_2l3BBS3oMMGa45hs6ZPaSOPo0ZKZjKrVIJ6bSKI7NMa1QOUQRfPVnxcOH5aMBoVmlJhmWbKl-5tcrnQ6Ldom_pyqQ/s640/blogger-image--805585048.jpg">
<p>We were thoroughly looked after over the two days. The SRT folks had one of those big trucks whose sides expand to create space inside and outside. It was pretty awesome. The hosting staff were super friendly and welcoming. Here's breakfast:
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8nhYCKiRC6zay2JyF4HdMwECp0RUh8bdDe6hViHJersgMhv7Zg-cXl0UxWJVEzstrkBQSJqPNPJxPBlB7I3McFKgNs1-YqzLSAC-Tttno2GY6APcjskDVbe53LFkvCmmSXWEbOQ/s640/blogger-image-1448545913.jpg">
<p>They catered breakfast, lunch and on Saturday, dinner as well, for us. Lunch was served on nice COTA plates, and was good quality tasty food.<br>
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQ5A_eI2eY3NkFX8o4CmKkM3AKCgz5gn2iaYvV_tUFHlkX8lWfzMfKUO-5BLhp4QrtcW4cEZhMNkmNvLyHbRI8V5ABNSkWmqAhG5twp1xSBQ1aB8P8rbTKJRfvQK8Y7VQNZh9zA/s640/blogger-image--562836716.jpg">
<p>We were also given goody bags filled with Lone Star Le Mans merchandise, and later on they gave us some really nice SRT-branded water bottles. I have to say, the ticket price for this was very good value. If we had bought normal tickets, by the time we bought food and drink we'd have spent the same amount, and this way we have a lovely home base to watch the race from, all the water we can drink, free beer, nice restrooms... it's a veritable bastion of civilization!
<p>Another nice perk was getting to have a few minutes with the Viper drivers, who came to the truck on Friday to say a few words.
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwwwqt-gfyGpn3Xmuk4Z-RqT1Wa75UssYW9jUvZndJqbwzJiHleJG9lNhIUbM4BZ_umObU-cPRSBWcn68ICkebo-4P_1qN517RCz9_dbDPllr2lSQ-lSYK1Ib2UIuyhQ0Qd17hAQ/s640/blogger-image--1374723800.jpg">
<p>We were also allowed into the VIP area in the SRT garage; again, we could help ourselves to drinks from the fridge and watch the mechanics do their thing at closer quarters.
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgER_v3ectT6y49mukmXCt-1tTzzEjJiOSOcB5S3AY74NPMjKtyJa38OkuUYNAStoTd8xwouOe8wCnuUeqPAjfSaaCoRL4VjimZdiPLrKhTFqLOeKmVtBm7wJ1k21mBEhZQ97Rqcg/s640/blogger-image--582895622.jpg">
<p>And when it came time to watch some track action, we could stand on top of the truck and get this view looking up into Turn 1 (spot the Viper on the track). This was a prime spot from which to cheer on the Vipers, directly opposite their Snake Pit - and it must have worked, since the Vipers came in 1 and 2 in their GTLM class, while the Viper Exchange car won the GTD category. Congratulations, Vipers! <a href="http://www.drivesrt.com/news/2014/09/vipers-sweep-cota-bomarito-keating-bleekemolen-win-in-gtd-class.html">Clicky for details</a><br>
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEe8WGtT4PHlVvsX5BPJb3xWdHwHa5Vva1y1BP-ceQN_mf5KAWWOH8r32T1Y0kKYqvEBMlO7lq-onjlinyg_h9-62nopMOMIJnWvP9ebFLba_uWBEJuTk8iWWYR3weLX7B4Nrmlw/s640/blogger-image-849134186.jpg">
<p>So thanks, SRT people, for providing us with a splendid facility and hospitality within which to enjoy the weekend. It was great!
<p>If you want to see some of the track action, <a href="http://futurshox.net/misc/FIAWEC2014/index.html">click here for my photo gallery</a> from the weekend.
<p>Bonus picture: here's a lovely orange Viper SRT. This belonged to another crowd who were doing rides around the track. It's the same colour as my Jeep, so of course has to be included here :-)
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpV8fVfgQVM4NRzUmeYEDo7JOzneBflXCewGT1vqD5H8B82m0PO5AzngNVx8YvmQTHBedjfmCymklEk9Qgpg81luDzLNzlv4O37ABm1OKwZMT4bn0TnP6y1EpquCJFTd7mf-D7TA/s640/blogger-image-457002458.jpg">
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futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-63837527366468869582014-09-08T06:46:00.000-05:002014-09-08T07:22:47.580-05:00Just call me Daystar!<p>My husband is a kind and generous man, and for my birthday recently purchased me a pair of JW Speaker headlights for my Jeep! The stock Jeep lights are legal but somewhat akin to a 40w light bulb; nothing to write home about. The Speaker lights bring a gazillion candlepower of modern LED technology to the party. Let's have a look at some before and after pictures. These are all taken at the same camera settings (1600ISO, 2 seconds, F8) and I've done nothing to them, they're straight out of the camera.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/headlights-1.jpg"><br>Original lights on the road, low beam.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/headlights-4.jpg"><br>New lights on the road, low beam.</p>
<p>Obviously the color temperature change is massive. The stock lights are your typical yellow tungsten color, whereas the new ones are daylight-balanced white light. There's nothing much on this bit of road to light up apart from the mailboxes, however just to the left of the lights in the middle, you can see there's a row of columns further down the street. You can't see them at all with the stock lights. That's probably a good hundred feet away if not more.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/headlights-2.jpg"><br>Original lights on the driveway, low beam.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/headlights-5.jpg"><br>New lights on the driveway, low beam.</p>
<p>The new lights haven't been aligned yet and they're maybe a little high (I'm going to get them checked later today) but you can see the difference here. The grass is actually green and the light pattern is very distinct.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/headlights-3.jpg"><br>Original lights on the driveway, high beam.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/headlights-6.jpg"><br>New lights on the driveway, high beam.</p>
<p>High beam just adds to the illumination. I can't wait to see what I can see on real roads!</p>
<p>PS: They look pretty damn awesome, too :-)</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeD_o1O1HF6xEagKsK2Q-a7c3mSo76leONU8zRUxQ7Uu-_goxMHDzLWQGwIUt5hEBbSyW9HJRHlW4vFQBqKp700mN6p9U44SFjdZMYJ8ef233nFyNrDtlJYhn9Qo5cu8EFYeM_Q/s1600/photo+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeD_o1O1HF6xEagKsK2Q-a7c3mSo76leONU8zRUxQ7Uu-_goxMHDzLWQGwIUt5hEBbSyW9HJRHlW4vFQBqKp700mN6p9U44SFjdZMYJ8ef233nFyNrDtlJYhn9Qo5cu8EFYeM_Q/s640/photo+(3).JPG" /></a>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-84191604332918713642014-08-11T07:27:00.000-05:002014-08-11T07:27:18.770-05:00Boats and Balloons<p>This was quite a boaty weekend. Saturday morning saw me on Lake Travis, zooming about in a small boat owned by some friendly folks that agreed to take me balloon chasing! It was the annual Lake Flight of our balloon club, and I really wanted to get some different photos this year. So thanks, Jeff, for taking me. Here's some photos:</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/lakeballoons-1.jpg"></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/lakeballoons-2.jpg"></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/lakeballoons-3.jpg"></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/lakeballoons-4.jpg"></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/lakeballoons-5.jpg"></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/lakeballoons-6.jpg"></p>
<p>On Sunday, Alan and I went to Marble Falls to watch the drag boat racing. This is always awesome, and the Top Fuel boats are simply Bad Ass. They run the course in three, maybe four seconds. Raw, visceral power! So loud... you feel it in every bone. </p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/dragboats-1.jpg"></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/dragboats-2.jpg"></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/dragboats-3.jpg"></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/dragboats-4.jpg"></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/dragboats-5.jpg"></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/dragboats-6.jpg"></p>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-1584828865451735742014-07-30T15:21:00.000-05:002014-07-30T15:21:24.140-05:00Taking my Jeep Off Road<p>I recently joined Austin Jeep People, and through them found San Antonio-based Jeep Republic. JRep held a beginner off-road day at Hidden Falls, and I figured it was way past time for me to actually see what my Jeep could do. This is a bit embarrassing, but after almost eight years of Jeep ownership, it's taken me this long to get it off road!<br />
<br />
So Alan and I headed out and met with some other AJP folks, and our group was joined by a whole bunch of JRep Jeeps. They brought some experienced offroaders to act as trail guides. Their Jeeps were somewhat taller and more modified than my stock JKU :-)<br />
<br />
First order of business was to air down - this means deflating your tyres so there's a bigger contact patch between the tyre and the ground, which means more grip. Curtis lent me his deflator tool which made the job easy, and suggested I take my stock tyres from my normal 35psi down to 20psi. Folks with bigger, knobbly tyres might go down to 12psi.<br />
</p><p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/HF-blog-1.jpg"></p><p>
<br />
Second order of business is to disconnect the sway bar, which allows the axle to tilt more than usual underneath the Jeep body. This means you can drive on uneven ground with less fear of rolling over. An 18mm socket and wrench/spanner will do the job, but a lot of folks put quick-release disconnects on which lets you pull a pin to release them instead. Rubicon owners can just push a button; their disconnect is electronic!<br />
<br />
Then it's time to hit the trails. Driving with my Jeep in this configuration was an experience. Obviously, it feels very different. I was told to use 4-Low; this is 4-wheel drive low gear. I normally drive about in 2-wheel drive, and also have a 4-high option. 4-Low is very low gearing; I was doing 15mph in third and would normally be doing 30 at least. So we're not racing off.<br />
</p><p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/HF-blog-2.jpg"></p><p>
<br />
We first went up a hill in our big group of about 30 Jeeps. There's a steep, rocky part which was Interesting. It looked very steep to my uninitiated eyes! Someone told me that a Jeep is like a mountain goat, and to be honest they weren't wrong. Once I figured out how much gas to give it, we crawled up that hill no trouble at all. There was another obstacle further on; a large rock ledge down the hill. I didn't have the ground clearance to go down there - now I see why people lift their Jeeps. However, all the main obstacles have alternative routes, so I went down the trail next to it, and met with the other Jeeps on top of the ridge.<br />
<br />
We had all parked nose-in, before someone suggested we all turn around for photos. So we did! Cue 30 Jeeps all turning round and parking nose-out, which looked awesome once we were all back in place. General milling about and checking out everyone's Jeeps ensued for a while, before Veronica (the organiser) split us all into four groups. Alan and I were in the stock Jeep group, along with at least six other Wranglers and two Liberties. Justin led our group in his much-modified white Liberty.<br />
</p><p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/HF-blog-3.jpg"></p><p>
<br />
The park roads are fairly wide but as soon as you get into the trails, it gets very narrow. And there are scrapy, scratchy trees! I didn't expect it to be quite so narrow.... let us just say that my Jeep has acquired some battle scars... (I've since become good friends with a bottle of rubbing compound which has got rid of some scarring). Now I know why people take their doors off! And why the Rubicon usually has non-painted fenders...<br />
</p><p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/HF-blog-4.jpg"></p><p>
<br />
I suspect there's all the mud you could wish for after a big rain, here, but this day was hot and dry, and only a little bit of mud remained. Enough to get our wheels mucky. Did I mention it was hot? You definitely want to cram as much water into your Jeep as possible; you're going to need it. It was 100F+ all day.<br />
<br />
We crept through the trails, encountering deep ruts and tree stumps and rocks. Tree stumps have to be gone around, or driven over, depending on how tall they are. Ruts can be straddled, or just driven into. Sometimes you have no choice but to drive into them and then you get to see how to drive at all kinds of funny angles.<br />
</p><p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2014/HF-blog-5.jpg"></p><p>
<br />
I got stuck at one point, on a downhill step, on a rock. Luckily I apparently have skid plates underneath, so no damage was done other than to the protector plate; and that's its job. Justin was able to root around underneath and clear some rocks, so after a bit of back-and-forth with my Jeep under his instruction, I was able to extricate myself from the ledge.<br />
<br />
We eventually made it back to the center of the park, for a breather and rest stop. By this time it was well through the afternoon. The group went off to do another trail, but Alan and I chose to head home - we had animals to look after who were also out in the hot sun. And I have to be honest, I was pretty tired after all the driving about - constantly looking at unfamiliar terrain for several hours; trying to pick out a decent driving line. I went to sleep that night still able to feel the rocking motion!<br />
<br />
Big thanks to Jeep Republic for organising the day, and to Austin Jeep People for generally being awesome.<br/>Check out the video below to watch Jeeps in action.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/AJ4oKtnt8JI" width="640"></iframe>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-87367934574410745302014-07-16T12:26:00.001-05:002014-07-16T12:26:58.817-05:00A couple of ballooning videosHere's a couple of videos I made recently with the Central Texas Ballooning Association, of which I am a member.
In this one, I gave Greg one of my GoPro cameras on a monopole and told him to have fun with it.
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xrIijhP1Z8Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This video shows a couple of balloon inflations in Zilker Park. The general public are welcome to come and watch, and to help crew if they like. I used my quadcopter to get some aerial shots of the balloons.
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/F6IOwbLkJow" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-84850291898891202632014-03-18T09:16:00.000-05:002014-03-18T09:16:14.480-05:00Road Trip 2014: Time Lapse Video<p>I have one more thing for you here; a time lapse video shot in Utah and Arizona. I set a GoPro Hero2 camera running at 5-second intervals. We start by going into, and then out of Monument Valley, before crossing the desert landscape towards Page, AZ. Sadly the camera ran out of battery just before we dropped down from the hills. Bear in mind this is a two-hour drive and this is what the vast majority of the trip was like; hundreds of miles of desert between the occasional town.</p>
<p>Next up is the drive into, and through, Zion National Park, stopping at various parking lots on the way. We had to search for parking spaces in some of them which is why the video gets a little dizzy in places! Just pause it; and look at the mountains :-)</p>
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zbguVRE6NL8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-7749054623064881912014-03-17T07:52:00.000-05:002014-03-17T07:52:30.982-05:00Road Trip 2014: The Voyage Home<p><b>Day 8</b><br />
<p>I got a very early start this morning, delivering Alan to the airport around 5am. Coupled with the late night before and the fact the clocks changed for Springtime, this meant none of us got as much sleep as we'd have liked. Hey ho. I returned to the hotel, prised Diane out of bed (OK, she was up already!) and we hit the road. We followed the road back to the Hoover Dam, but this time drove over the bridge instead of down to the visitor centre. A few miles further on, we paused at a pretty viewpoint overlooking Lake Mohave and the Black Canyon.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day8-1.jpg"></br>
<p>Two hours down the road, we stopped for coffee. I was fairly dozy and so was Diane. Caffeine-fueled, Diane kept me awake for the next two hours, before we reached the town of Williams, AZ which is on Route 66. Of course, we stopped for souvenirs :-)
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day8-2.jpg"></br>
<p>The road north out of Williams leads to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. I've been to the West edge before, which was spectacular enough, but the South rim is really special. Between eight and ten miles across at a rough estimate and a mile deep, and one of those things for which the word 'awesome' should really be reserved. Just look at it:
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day8-3.jpg"></br>
<p>This is a close-up of the bit on the right of the picture above.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day8-4.jpg"></br>
<p>On the way up to the Canyon, I was surprised to spot an aviation museum! Yay! On the way back, I wheedled Diane into agreeing to stop there, if only for a few minutes. It was only a _little_ museum... It turned out to be a satellite of Planes of Fame, whose main site is in Chino, CA. I zapped around the museum in ten minutes flat, since we still had a lot of miles to travel and an appointment to keep.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day8-6.jpg"></br>
<p>Inside, they had many gems. I always love the Grumman F3-F, it's about as cute as aeroplanes get :-)
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day8-5.jpg"></br>
<p>Onwards, rode the 600, towards Meteor Crater near Winslow, AZ. (Yes, you can stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona. No, we didn't.) This is the biggest and best preserved meteor impact site on the Earth. It's about a mile in diameter. We maybe should have visited this _before_ the Grand Canyon, but it was impressive nonetheless!
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day8-7.jpg"></br>
<p>This is the largest chunk they found of the 45-meter meteor that created the crater. They have a very nice educational museum here.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day8-8.jpg"></br>
<p>Another three and a bit hours down the road, we ended up in Phoenix, after driving for about 30 miles down a really large amount of downhill. I've certainly never seen my gas mileage so good! My wagon gets 22 mpg on a good day (US gallons, British readers, don't be too horrified); I saw 24.9 after this.
<p>We checked into a Hampton Inn in Chandler, on the south side of Phoenix, and phoned friend Mark. We met him and his wife in a nearby BJ's Brewhouse for dinner, which was very pleasant. Both Diane and I were glad to get into our beds however, that was another long day on the road.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day8-9.jpg"></br>
<p>Day 8: 610 miles</p>
<br />
<br />
<b>Day 9</b><br />
<p>Diane and I started separately on this day; she elected to have a little longer in bed, while I went to the nearby Chandler Municipal Airport, to meet friends Jay and Jeff for breakfast. It was good to see them, and we had a very pleasant meal in the airport's excellent diner.</p>
<p>By day, we could see all the plant life in the Phoenix/Chandler area. There were many flowers; spring obviously comes sooner to this area than in Texas. The southern Arizona area is much more lush than the northern end, perhaps unsurprisingly after losing so much altitude. They also have a ton of the giant Saguaro cactus; those big, iconic cacti you see on Western films. These things are everywhere; they grow in forests and each stand around 20 feet tall. We stopped at an RV park to have a closer look at some.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day9-1.jpg"></br>
<p>I always thought they were full of bullet holes in the films, but it turns out they have holes in from natural causes; mainly birds making nests in them.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day9-2.jpg"></br>
<p>An hour down the dusty desert road, we pitched up at Biosphere2. This is a long running experiment which seeks to learn about the planet we live on (aka Biosphere 1). It was originally designed to be a sealed system, in which lived eight people; four men and four women. They stayed inside for two years, living only on what they grew inside. They could only grow enough coffee beans to have one cup every two weeks. There's no evidence they grew any hops, either ;-) Here's the outside of the main greenhouse:
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day9-3.jpg"></br>
<p>This is the entranceway, with the pressure door and living quarters in front. Behind are three smaller greenhouses.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day9-4.jpg"></br>
<p>Inside the main greenhouse; we're about 2/3 of the way along. Behind us is a rainforest area, below us is ocean, next is a temperate area, and at the end is a Sonoran desert zone. They grew a multitude of different plants, but now the experiments are evolving. There are separators between the zones where they used to be all one, for example, and they're about to change the ocean area to have some islands and new plants, since the original coral reef died.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day9-5.jpg"></br>
<p>All this glass means a ton of sunlight getting in, which heats and cools the air. To prevent pressure blowouts, they had a pair of lungs in the system. This is the interior of one of them. It sits under a geodesic dome. When the system is sealed, the central disc rises and falls; surrounded by a rubber diaphragm, with the air pressure. These days, it's held up by vacuum pressure and will fall to a resting position.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day9-6.jpg"></br>
<p>We drove on after this; past Pima air museum (sob! I could see hundreds of tails in the distance... another time...) another four hours or so along I-10. We made it as far as Deming, NM, by which time I was knackered again. We weren't going to make it to Las Cruces as we'd envisaged, but that was OK. Deming appeared to be mainly closed (and sadly, their brewpub appeared to be permanently closed), so we ended up eating at the Sonic drive-in next door to the Comfort Inn. Perhaps not the most nutritious of meals (particularly the ice cream) but when in Rome...</p>
<p>Day 9: 337 miles</p>
<br />
<br />
<b>Day 10</b><br />
<p>It was an hour's drive from Deming to Las Cruces, which I was definitely glad we hadn't done the night before. Just on the north side of Las Cruces lies the Space Murals Museum. I'd originally put this on the list as a mere curio, thinking it was just a bunch of murals at the roadside. That part was true - they have painted up a water or gas tower (not sure what it is) with space murals right enough. However we were very pleasantly surprised by the museum - there's a ton of interesting information, records and memorabilia from all kinds of NASA missions inside. Up to and including a giant scale model of the ISS that fills half the building.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day10-1.jpg"></br>
<p>Next stop was up and over the nearby mountain range, into the plains below where we found the White Sands Missile Range Museum. This is just inside the gates of the White Sands military base; you have to park up and go to the gatehouse and show your ID to get in. Bizarrely, the gate guard presented us with a load of Christian literature. (Really?!) We then went inside the gates to the missiles, of which there are many, fulfilling all kinds of purposes from weather monitoring to nuclear warheads.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day10-2.jpg"></br><br />
<p>I knew from my history that Dr Werner Von Braun had come from Germany to the USA after WW2 and worked as a rocket scientist. I didn't realise, however, just how much his V-2 design had influenced American rockets and missiles. There were many missiles whose plaques told us they were descendants of the V-2 you see preserved here:
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day10-4.jpg"></br>
<p>Von Braun obviously got around; he had his own personal light twin aircraft, with this plaque on the nose.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day10-3.jpg"></br>
<p>Leaving Las Cruces, we headed east into Texas; past El Paso where you can see Mexico from the interstate, and about 40 miles on we came upon the US Border Patrol Checkpoint. For the second time that day, Diane was glad she'd brought her passport for ID, and it was the first time someone had actually asked me for my green card (outside of an airport, anyway). The guard was happy, and we continued westwards, taking the road towards Marfa.<br />
<p>Along this road lies an art installation; Prada Marfa. This is meant to be a high fashion shop in the middle of the desert. They have handbags and shoes inside, laid out as for sale. Sadly, it's been vandalized several times; today there were muddy lumps and paint thrown at the windows; in fact the glass has been replaced with Perspex since the glass was being broken too often.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day10-5.jpg"></br>
<p>There was a friendly horse in the field here, who enjoyed some attention and followed us back towards the car.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day10-6.jpg"></br>
<p>I swung the Jeep round before we left to take this shot. Had to be done.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day10-7.jpg"></br>
<p>We had hoped to get a room in the Hotel Paisano in Marfa that night, but it was fully booked. So here's a picture of the pretty courthouse instead.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day10-8.jpg"></br>
<p>Onwards, then, to Alpine; about 30 miles up the road, over another mountain range. We ended up trying about eight different hotels before we could get a room, and the room we did find was the last but one in the Ramada (and possibly the whole of Alpine). It turns out that it is Spring Break, and all the Texas kids are out here on holiday. The Ramada was on the very edge of Alpine, so we ended up eating at the Oriental Express next door rather than going into town. More jasmine tea! Their hotel transport was pretty cool, though:
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day10-9.jpg"></br>
<p>The sky was lovely and clear, so we headed back up into the mountains after dinner with the camera. I'd spotted a picnic area nestled in a bowl in the landscape, about three miles outside Alpine, which would block any glow from the town. There was half a moon that night which made the sky fairly bright, and painted the landscape with moonlight. I managed to get plenty of stars, though.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day10-10.jpg"></br>
<p>Day 10: 374 miles</p>
<br />
<br />
<b>Day 11</b><br />
<p>We only had one stop to make on this last day of travelling. Three hours from Alpine took us to Sonora, where they have a show cave. In the parking lot, as Doctor Who appreciators, we were most amused to find this Tardis Chase and Recovery Vehicle, complete with Gallifreyan symbols on the side, Daleks on the dashboard, a Tardis light on top and Dalek/Cyberman kills on the door! We encountered the lady who owned it inside the gift shop; she said she'd been in Austin at the big SXSW festival, and the trailer contained a full size Tardis...
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day11-1.jpg"></br>
<p>We bought tickets for a guided tour of the cavern, which was to last an hour and three quarters. This was worth every cent and minute; the cave was truly spectacular. I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking here. I tried to include some people for scale otherwise it's hard to know what you're looking at.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day11-2.jpg"></br>
<p>This is an 11-million year old cave with active formations everywhere; we had to be sure not to touch anything or it would kill the growth. Here we have a pool, coloured green from copper deposits. It's apparently eleven feet deep although it doesn't look like it.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day11-3.jpg"></br>
<p>Stalactites were everywhere; you had to be careful not to hit your head. That said, the trails were easy, although there's about 300 stairs.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day11-4.jpg"></br>
<p>These columns are some of the biggest in the cave. They're what happens several million years after a stalactite and stalagmite grow to meet each other.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day11-5.jpg"></br>
<p>Almost at the end of the tour, these rocks are near the surface. The cave was originally carved out by water and would have all looked like this, before being coated in all the formations.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day11-6.jpg"></br>
<p>After visiting the cave, we continued east, taking 290 off of I-10 towards Fredericksburg. We ended up coming into town on the other side of the fork from which we had left. Three hours after leaving Sonora, we were HOME.</p>
<p>Day 11: 400 miles</p>
<p>Total mileage: 3,427
<br>For my British readers, this is the same (within a few miles) as driving from Land's End to John O'Groats, four times...<br>A big round of applause for my trusty Jeep! She carried us unfailingly, with vigour, style and comfort.<br>Hope y'all enjoyed the ride.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/Jeep-1.jpg"></br>
<br />futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-36642546719721079712014-03-16T11:37:00.000-05:002014-03-16T11:37:45.546-05:00Road Trip 2014: Las Vegas<p><b>Day 5</b>
<p>
On this day we elected to visit the Hoover Dam, which is a mere 40 minutes drive or so out of Las Vegas. Alan drove though; I had had quite enough of driving by this point and was glad of a day off. The Hoover Dam is very large and very impressive, it’s a wonderful piece of engineering. We did the full Dam Tour, which takes you inside the dam to view the water-driven turbines, and then into one of the vents that opens out half way down the dam wall. Here’s the view from the vent, showing the beautiful arch bridge next door:
<br />
<img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day5-3.jpg" /><br />
<p>We were amused by this part of the display inside the museum section. It seemed relevant ;-)
<br />
<img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day5-1.jpg" />
<p>This is the view from the bridge, looking back at the dam.
<img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day5-4.jpg" />
<p>Next to the bridge is the Welcome To Nevada Sign. There’s a similar one for Arizona on the other side, since the river forms the state boundary here.
<br />
<img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day5-2.jpg" />
<p>Back in Vegas, we went for a walk along the Strip. The whole point of this road trip was to show Diane around Las Vegas, as she's never visited before. She wanted to see lights. I think we can provide that! We visited the Bellagio Shops and City Center. City Center is one of the newest parts of Vegas and contains some of my favorite buildings. They’re all angles; those towers are deliberately leaning.
<img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day5-5.jpg" />
<p>A couple more Vegas shots - here’s Paris:
<br />
<img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day5-6.jpg" />
<p>and Excalibur:
<img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day5-7.jpg" /><br />
<p>We finished the evening in The Pub at Monte Carlo. This advertised over 100 beers and turned out to be filled with NASCAR fans, since the race was in town this weekend, and they were doing a radio interview as we arrived with someone who we didn't know. They all dispersed once the interview ended and we enjoyed our meal in relative peace...
<p>Day 5: 64 miles, none of them mine!</p>
<br />
<br />
<p><b>Day 6</b><br />
<p>We started the day at the Black Bear Diner up the road a bit, where we met friend Frank for breakfast. He turned up in his Model T Ford which was most excellent! Alan and I hadn't seen Frank in years, so it was good to catch up. After breakfast, he gave each of us a ride in his T which was a lot of fun. Here it is parked next to my Jeep:
<img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day6-3.jpg" /><br />
<p>We detoured back via Rio to buy some tickets, then drove over to the old part of town, and parked at the Golden Nugget. We spent a few bucks on the slot machines in here, since they're cheap! Or at least; you put a dollar in and get several turns, rather than one turn as in the newer casinos. We won just enough to lose it all again without feeling like we lost anything; except Diane who kept her $10 and bought us coffee :-)
<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day6-1.jpg" /><br />
<p>We walked down the big covered archway through Fremont Entertainment District and checked out another casino or two, before driving back and parking the wagon for the day.
<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day6-2.jpg" /><br />
<p>Then we took the monorail down to the Venetian, to have a look in the shops there. These are cool; there is an entire underground area that looks like Venice. They have canals outside too. Look at these gondolas! They are apparently 1/3 scale versions of the true Venetian ones, although they're big enough, so I wonder if they're maybe 1/2 scale ones.
<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day6-4.jpg" /><br />
<p>We took a ride :-) We had a very entertaining gondolier.<br />
<img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day6-5.jpg" /><br />
<p>A quick refreshment at The Rockhouse, before heading back towards the Bellagio to look at the fountains. Here's a few views of that area.
<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day6-6.jpg" /><br />
<img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day6-7.jpg" /><br />
<img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day6-8.jpg" /><br />
<p>Finally, we headed towards the Yard House, a beery restaurant in The Linq, which is the newest bit of Vegas. At the end of the Linq there is this new ferris wheel called the High Roller; apparently it is bigger than the London Eye. Sadly it was yet to open; they were saying maybe in April but it has to run for 20 days without passengers to test the bearings. It wasn't yet moving at all, but it looks great.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day6-9.jpg" /><br /><br />
<p>Day 6: 20 miles.</p>
<br />
<br />
<b>Day 7</b><br />
<p>We had breakfast in the hotel (we had a twin-room suite with kitchen and living room, so could look after ourselves somewhat more easily than in a regular hotel room) before heading out to look at the southern end of the Strip. We started at New York-New York, since Alan wanted to ride the roller coaster. This is an old school roller coaster that wraps around the building.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day7-2.jpg" /><br />
<p>I was somewhat nervous about riding it, but got on anyway... I coped with the steep downhills by pretending I was doing aerobatics.... but planes are a lot smoother than roller coasters, the jolting is what makes me cope with it less well... OK, I guess I enjoyed it; at least I can say I've been on it! Diane took the sensible route and remained ground side, playing the arcade machines :-)
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day7-1.jpg" /><br />
<p>We continued on south, towards Luxor which is the Egyptian styled hotel. Here's a view from inside the tram - sorry about the reflection but it's the only one I took with the pyramid from the outside!
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day7-5.jpg" /><br />
<p>And here's the scale of the Sphinx at the front; see the people walking in?
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day7-6.jpg" /><br />
<p>Inside, the pyramid is hollow. It's pretty impressive. I'm still not entirely sure how you would get to the hotel rooms, since normal elevators aren't going to work. Maybe they have steep escalators that run up the walls.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day7-3.jpg" /><br />
<p>Above the entranceway, you can walk into the middle. I don't think the Egyptians had lit-up segments on their obelisks, mind...
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day7-4.jpg" /><br />
<p>We had lunch at the Slice Of Vegas Pizza, which had an entire vegan menu; awesome! Then we walked on through the Mandalay Bay casino, before getting the tram back towards our hotel. Here's a view of the Vegas strip by day, taken from the walkway alongside Tropicana Avenue:
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day7-7.jpg" /><br />
<p>We spent a relaxing afternoon by the pool and in our suite, before driving back to the Rio. Here's a shot of my wagon driving down the Strip, just to prove we did :-)
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day7-8.jpg" /><br />
<p>We had our dinner at the Royal India Bistro, which turned out to be the quietest place in Vegas, at least when we arrived! To be fair, we were probably a bit early for dinner, and the place filled up as we ate. We enjoyed a very nice curry. Then we wandered through the hotel to the Penn & Teller Theater, to see Penn & Teller's show. This was very good indeed, we thoroughly enjoyed it.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day7-9.jpg" /><br /><br />
<p>And thus finished our time in Vegas. We started very early the next morning to get back on the road, and that will be the next blog post...</p>
<p>Day 7: 5 miles</p>
<p>Vegas segment: 89 miles</p>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-65171352390642679262014-03-15T17:09:00.001-05:002014-03-17T08:01:21.176-05:00Road Trip 2014: The Outward Voyage<p>In March of 2014, my friend Diane and I embarked on a cross-country road trip to Las Vegas. Alan would meet us in Vegas and spend a few days with us, before he flew home and we drove back.</p>
<p>Here's a whistle-stop tour of where we went... (hat tip to Foursquare for the list)</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Day 1</b></p>
<P>We left Austin early in the morning on Sunday and headed out northwest. Through Fredericksburg, take the right fork onto roads in Uncharted Territory, further than I've ever driven that way. An hour later we were in Brady, where we stopped for a quick picture of the pretty town square:
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day1-1.jpg"><br>Brady, TX<br />
<p>Another hour took us to San Angelo, where we stopped for lunch at Bo Bo Kitchen, a diner.</p>
<p>Here's where things got interesting. The temperature had dropped like a stone, and we found ourselves driving through a freak ice storm. The roads were fine - the ground was still warm - but the ice was accumulating on the windscreen faster than it could be fended off with heat. We eventually pulled into a gas station in Sterling City, along with everyone else. They don't sell ice scrapers in Texas, so folks were scraping with whatever they had!
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day1-1b.jpg"><br>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day1-2.jpg"><br>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day1-4.jpg"><br>
<p>We got the ice off, and as soon as we left the gas station, the air dried up and while it stayed cold, we had no more ice. The terrain had opened up by now into an endless flat landscape, through which we would spend the next three hours traversing. Only an occasional cow or nodding donkey punctuated the landscape, but if the picture below was a video, the view would stay the same...
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day1-3.jpg"><br>
<p>We had originally thought of driving six or eight hours towards the edge of Texas before stopping for the night. As it turned out, all the towns up there are small working towns, with nothing but ranchers and oilmen. No hotels. I felt OK, so we pressed on towards New Mexico. As we crossed the state line, the terrain was changing; becoming more rolling and with rocky outcrops.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day1-5.jpg"><br>
<p>By the time we reached Roswell, I'd been driving for eleven hours. I was pretty fried by this point. We checked into a Best Western, and went next door to an Applebee's for dinner. It was still very cold and windy, we were in need of warmth! And beer.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day1-6.jpg"><br>A pint of this Marble IPA was very welcome. Diane enjoyed a cocktail.</p>
<p>Day 1: 523 miles</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Day 2</b></p>
<p>The next morning remained cold but wasn't quite as windy. We walked into town where we looked around the UFO museum. The whole town of Roswell is alien-themed; businesses welcome aliens and the local tourist office uses a UFO as their logo.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day2-1.jpg"><br>Model crashed UFO
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day2-4.jpg"><br>Aliens!
<p>The museum was kind of interesting; they don't really have a lot of artifacts, it's all text to read on the walls, of various peoples' stories about the Roswell crash and other strange phenomena.</p>
<p>Personally, I thought the best thing about Roswell was just outside the art museum - this statue of Robert Goddard with one of his original rocket test rigs. He was one of the fathers of modern rocketry and was based in Roswell.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day2-2.jpg"><br>
<p>We also enjoyed seeing the town hall, surrounded by very lovely white trees. I don't know what they are but the bark was bright white.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day2-3.jpg"><br>
<p>We got on the road again and headed for Albuquerque. I'd identified a Giant Red Arrow which looked to be located in a mall; figured it would do as good as anything else for a lunch stop. When we got there, we found the mall was a Whole Foods supermarket - yay! A very nice lunch was enjoyed :-)
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day2-5.jpg"><br>
<p>Our last stop for the day was another three hours up some very long, straight roads, to the north end of New Mexico and the town of Farmington. We checked into a Comfort Inn and walked into town for about a mile, to have an excellent dinner in Three Rivers Brew Pub.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day2-6.jpg"><br><br />
<p>Day 2: 378 miles</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Day 3</b></p>
<p>From Farmington, NM we drove west, towards Four Corners, where the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona meet. It's a total tourist trap but it had to be visited. Diane was horrified to learn the location had actually moved over the years, when they re-surveyed the area and found they were off by a mile or two... As it stands, the official site is where it is and that's where we went!
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day3-3.jpg"><br>This is the main area. There are flags of each of the four states, and around the edge are little vendor stalls. These filled up with Native Americans selling souvenirs and jewelry.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day3-1.jpg"><br>In the middle lies this marker point. Diane should have a picture of me with a hand and foot in each state. This is me holding a fisheye-equipped iPhone over the middle! I have a foot in Arizona and New Mexico here, while Diane is standing in Utah.
<p>The roads were still long and straight but we're seeing mountainous bits now:
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day3-2.jpg"><br>
<p>Next stop was Monument Valley. The previous evening, my friend Steve had messaged me saying he was traveling in the area and we should meet for lunch at Goulding's Lodge, so we headed there. Here's my Jeep parked up at Goulding's, with Monument Valley in the background:
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day3-4.jpg"><br>This is as close as we got to the Valley, though. Steve told us the Native Americans wanted money even to reach the visitor center... and anyway, we had places to be. So a proper tour of the valley will have to wait for another day. However we did enjoy a nice lunch with Steve and his son, and Steve gave me a drive of his Tesla, which was fabulous :-)
<p>We continued on into Arizona - our route here saw us crossing back and forth between Arizona and Utah - and headed towards Page, where Horseshoe Bend is located. This is a deep canyon bend in the Colorado River which is very photogenic.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day3-5.jpg"><br>
<p>We also paused at the Glen Canyon Dam in Page, since it was pretty spectacular.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day3-6.jpg"><br>
<p>Finally, after a few more hours, we made our way to Kanab, UT to spend the night. Kanab turned out to be a very pleasant small town. We got a room in a Best Western - this one was motel-style with the doors on the outside - and some Chinese food at fusion house, a new restaurant. This being Utah, beer was scarce, but jasmine tea cures a lot of ills. We got back into the car and drove to a nearby park, where I tried some star photography. The sky was amazing, you can see the Milky Way really well.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day3-7.jpg"><br>
<p>Day 3: 350 miles</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Day 4</b></p>
<p>We made a leisurely start this morning and walked to the next block, where we found the Little Hollywood Movie Set Museum. This was quite a cool place; they have saved a bunch of sets from various films (mostly Westerns) that were made in the Utah area.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day4-1.jpg"><br>
<p>Back in the car, it was an hour or three's drive to Zion National Park. We had vague plans of doing both Zion and Bryce, but the road to Bryce was closed due to roadworks. As it turned out, Zion was plenty enough to keep us busy.</p>
<p>On the way to Zion, we drove through the town of Hurricane, where they have this nice Arch Bridge.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day4-2.jpg"><br>
<p>Zion National Park defies description. It's hard even to take a photo that shows the colossal scale of the place. It is approached via the towns of Rockville and Springdale, filled with lodges, restaurants and touristy shops. The Virgin River runs through everything and is the carver of this vast canyon. You could easily lose yourself in this park for a week. We had about three hours. Handily, we could drive ourselves along the tourist road; in the summer months they make you take courtesy shuttle buses. I can see why; the parking lots were chock full of cars as it was, we were lucky to find a space.<br />
<p>We picked out a couple of easy trails to visit, given the time we had. One of them led up a steep path to the Weeping Rock, an overhang with a perpetual slow drip; not really a waterfall but enough to make you feel rained on. Here's the rock as you approach it:
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day4-3.jpg"><br>
And this is what you see from underneath the overhang:
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day4-4.jpg"><br>
<p>Back down the hill, if you drive to the very end of the road and park up, you can walk along the canyon. It apparently narrows into a thin slot canyon but we didn't have the time available to walk up that far. It didn't really matter; the surroundings were just beautiful wherever we were in this amazing place.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day4-5.jpg"><br>
<p>Another three hours on the road took us to Las Vegas. We had a room booked at the Desert Rose Resort, which is tucked in between the MGM Grand (sort of) and the airport. It doesn't have a casino, but it does have a pool, which we took advantage of during the next few days :-)
<p>First order of business was to acquire beer and dinner. The Almighty Google told us there was a Whole Foods down the street a few miles, so back into the car we got, and headed there. I did like their sign in the vegetarian section.
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day4-6.jpg"><br>
<p>Last but most importantly, I had to go to the airport, to pick up Alan. He had flown in from a conference in California. I just had time to take a picture of the Cessna in the baggage hall, before he appeared and we both went back for some of that refreshing hop juice...
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/roadtrip2014/day4-7.jpg"><br>
<p>Day 4: 248 miles</p>
<p>Outward total: 1,499 (oh, just call it 1500) miles!</p>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-62311380219442193552013-11-04T09:17:00.000-06:002013-11-04T09:17:38.129-06:00Playing at Racing Cars<p>I had a few beers yesterday, to celebrate completing my first organised 5K run!</p>
<p>Alan and I went to the Circuit of the Americas for the 'Formula Run' event, which involves running a lap of the track, ahead of the F1 race in two weeks' time. I really wanted to run this lap.</p>
<p>Wind the clock back to this time last year, and it's no exaggeration to say that I could barely walk, never mind run. I was struck with some bad sciatica which took several months, many chiropractor visits and time in the gym to heal. Alan made me join the gym classes at his work and it's probably one of the best things he has ever done for me. We do a mixture of cardio, weight training and core work in these classes. Some days we run as part of the warmup, and one day something clicked, and I figured I could maybe run a little bit around the neighbourhood. One thing led to another and soon I put a Couch-to-5K app on my phone; it told me when to run and when to walk, increasing the run time and distance over eight weeks. I finished that training about 10 days ago, running my first 5K. Two more of those and it was time for the lap of the track!</p>
<p>Here's the view from the starting line. Yes, that's a steep hill up into Turn 1. Notorious, whichever method of transportation you're using to get around it. The drop down to Turn 2 is almost as hard; trying not to run out of control down the other side of that steep hill.</p>
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<p>Running around the track was cool; no photos since I was busy running, but it was interesting getting to see the track from a competitor's point of view. I may or may not have uttered the odd 'zoom' or 'screech' around certain corners ;-) The drag up to turns 7 and 8 is a long slow hill. Alan said it's harder on a bicycle (he rode around here a few months ago) but I was happy to find it wasn't as bad as I'd feared, running up it. Drop down again into the hairpin, then some gentle undulation along the straight before running into the turns in front of the main grandstands. There's a gentle hill, then back down, then up again as you come around the base of the Tower, before continuing around to the pit lane entrance; run past there into the left hander that takes you back to the start/finish straight. The 5K mark is at this corner; it's actually 5.4K for a complete lap, so run a bit more to the finish line. Yay!</p>
<p>Here's me after the finish</p>
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<p>I made Alan stand still for a pic of both of us :-)</p>
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<p>This is my Garmin GPS watch; it tells me I ran 3.36 miles (the track is 3.4 miles along the middle, but we took the racing lines) in 34 minutes and 9 seconds. My official time was 34.12 I think; but they time it from when the gun goes off, so if you're not right at the very front then you'll have a few extra seconds here.
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<p>They gave us these fabulous finisher medals as we crossed the line :-)</p>
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<p>When I got home, I uploaded the data from my watch to the Garmin website, you can see the red trace of where I ran :-)</p>
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<p>They just posted the results; I was 24th in my age group out of 82. <a href="http://formularun.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/results2013.htm">Clicky</a>; Alan was 59th out of 108 in his group. I think Alan did better since judging by the times, more guys were actually running than the girls were! I'm pretty happy with my time though. Next up: Back to COTA in December for another 5K! Let's see if I can beat my time...
futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-63126114659190628152013-10-07T06:35:00.001-05:002013-10-07T06:35:25.779-05:00Brewing<div>There have been many posts here about flying machines but not so many about Beer. We brewed this morning, and I figured it was high time to document some of this process.</div><div><br></div><div>Here we go; this is how we brew! Today, we are making Race Pace Pale Ale, a new recipe by Alan, destined to be consumed by thirsty Air Racers in a month or so's time.</div><div><br></div><div>First up, bring some water up to 170F in a big pot. That's a 75000ish BTU burner underneath the pot, so it doesn't take too long. The metal plate sticking out is to protect the thermometer on the front from direct heat.</div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE30XVcOqNdW3eIfRpegZtrkneSIRFJskIOyap3d5txuj17pX8bkeIhJvcLN_TEUbep7p4__BWBP5h_prnVG4fjmXRaax06WSUhfZn8ZUnLjQJWCvuCW_M9J02yar_pLAi4t_S7Q/s640/blogger-image--1677340099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE30XVcOqNdW3eIfRpegZtrkneSIRFJskIOyap3d5txuj17pX8bkeIhJvcLN_TEUbep7p4__BWBP5h_prnVG4fjmXRaax06WSUhfZn8ZUnLjQJWCvuCW_M9J02yar_pLAi4t_S7Q/s640/blogger-image--1677340099.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Measure out your grain. We are using mainly organic 2-row with some Cara pils and Crystal malt. Ignore the numbers on the scale, this was an action shot. 24 pounds of grain went into this beer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0O2K3iI5ttsoGvK3xoY5nO3sONU2GtxTP4cu15YOtTM9tzQRH3Z37jrXYBqTF-sBTUBX7WquBbN5SBZTyD_nMBFZj6I571-hg8MZh-64pPYGmJoJHUOoEDhBAIVcbZkyRZweFyA/s640/blogger-image--1567586081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0O2K3iI5ttsoGvK3xoY5nO3sONU2GtxTP4cu15YOtTM9tzQRH3Z37jrXYBqTF-sBTUBX7WquBbN5SBZTyD_nMBFZj6I571-hg8MZh-64pPYGmJoJHUOoEDhBAIVcbZkyRZweFyA/s640/blogger-image--1567586081.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The grain goes into the mash tun, which is a converted cooler. Alan installed these mesh pipes inside, which filter out the wort from the grain when we pour it off, from the tap in the front.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJT86bQmOXcneTqUo1SdNNFgxPsDRqJ2Whz1SibcWMYd6YGlxziD-GaLe6nNylJfLoeip69Brgj6tWfEuxFcSpRNxB9UyiMp_0yWHrta3lV6T08YpEP0Rvwao7Lf7-bl1SPkSmQ/s640/blogger-image--1757829682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJT86bQmOXcneTqUo1SdNNFgxPsDRqJ2Whz1SibcWMYd6YGlxziD-GaLe6nNylJfLoeip69Brgj6tWfEuxFcSpRNxB9UyiMp_0yWHrta3lV6T08YpEP0Rvwao7Lf7-bl1SPkSmQ/s640/blogger-image--1757829682.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The grain goes in through a milling machine, powered by a drill to turn the rollers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqFePbqKh2JRMC6nweecxNJxVSC_Js6TM06X4YWUjfDzb5eqlrxv-C4lLMLBiw0JvHWk845plm_LooELApdQHZI3rn1wAH28-WO33pP8dVOBqZdV4ZGnagw_H-rRC_nogV1Hojw/s640/blogger-image--1944490662.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqFePbqKh2JRMC6nweecxNJxVSC_Js6TM06X4YWUjfDzb5eqlrxv-C4lLMLBiw0JvHWk845plm_LooELApdQHZI3rn1wAH28-WO33pP8dVOBqZdV4ZGnagw_H-rRC_nogV1Hojw/s640/blogger-image--1944490662.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Now it is all pulverized and ready for hot water addition.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Yeah, I know there's a twig in there, it will get filtered out ;-)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg25xv9GlGZcyplE7J1HCl_bV1jm2z9R5Ub2HlJhVr8XU3ssVKmdLMGqLGsSI0Ml0TXt9txMz51H2fK2vtdaEFBlF3-k1J1UcueV7Z9moPBbjjbA9fi5mdXYXaJnBSmr03fZsk6DQ/s640/blogger-image--724546982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg25xv9GlGZcyplE7J1HCl_bV1jm2z9R5Ub2HlJhVr8XU3ssVKmdLMGqLGsSI0Ml0TXt9txMz51H2fK2vtdaEFBlF3-k1J1UcueV7Z9moPBbjjbA9fi5mdXYXaJnBSmr03fZsk6DQ/s640/blogger-image--724546982.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The water (hot liquor) is ready to go, at 170F. See the tap at the bottom here? We connect a hose to that and pump the liquor into the mash tun.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kvbtnGg9dSQY6zM8ycoO6W9CeXOpUV7qtAeQQZvxTnyvj-Jlbl79d2OnOjDCLCGNGYuqgU4DVyPmQ1vt3u4FOfUeUZ9I8h10fL_KMaSmosI_aqgGxjjVfJEs252bmjIgoWUumQ/s640/blogger-image--1710946587.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kvbtnGg9dSQY6zM8ycoO6W9CeXOpUV7qtAeQQZvxTnyvj-Jlbl79d2OnOjDCLCGNGYuqgU4DVyPmQ1vt3u4FOfUeUZ9I8h10fL_KMaSmosI_aqgGxjjVfJEs252bmjIgoWUumQ/s640/blogger-image--1710946587.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Alan adds some Burton salt and phosphoric acid to treat the water. It needs to be around pH 5.4-5.6 for proper brewing. We have quite calcified water around here which is alkaline, hence the acidification. The Burton salt gives the water characteristics of that found in the British town of Burton, which is said to have the best water in all of the UK for brewing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIgWu_stVfgktvXzB1OKT1kcBJqx6-eWIYR5yFjPuGcMhVgjh6ebg4c68P6NPhHQ6_z2BiR8AAGs6xmPr_u5LdVyzsFp0cvT9rwCGSsIy0d3RGJBH2P6ZDF6SAVMHYLKc0T2LDA/s640/blogger-image-1501731320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIgWu_stVfgktvXzB1OKT1kcBJqx6-eWIYR5yFjPuGcMhVgjh6ebg4c68P6NPhHQ6_z2BiR8AAGs6xmPr_u5LdVyzsFp0cvT9rwCGSsIy0d3RGJBH2P6ZDF6SAVMHYLKc0T2LDA/s640/blogger-image-1501731320.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Here, Alan is stirring the mash. He gives it a good mixing and then it sits for an hour, to extract all the sugary goodness from the grain.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSlTbSCMnhwrAKVfBLjn6zfAXzuaoby2RYHpXKBVfODhy2vKGaT-IlcgrF9GmoXHuZsRgw66M_vrZ5xuk5Xz35rrjeubCvr0AIlmXjt4EcxjfxiPUCN47wuHyPDgUR7VNqKNrlg/s640/blogger-image-1845862106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSlTbSCMnhwrAKVfBLjn6zfAXzuaoby2RYHpXKBVfODhy2vKGaT-IlcgrF9GmoXHuZsRgw66M_vrZ5xuk5Xz35rrjeubCvr0AIlmXjt4EcxjfxiPUCN47wuHyPDgUR7VNqKNrlg/s640/blogger-image-1845862106.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We place a sheet of tin foil with holes in, on top of the mash, which is to vorlauf the mash. This means basically pouring some off into a jug, which you pour over the tin foil, to recirculate the wort and encourage the grain bed to do the filtering. You can see the wort in the jug here is pretty cloudy and opaque; it becomes clearer after several pourings. It means you get less crud in your beer.</div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkfalIUuM6kzYoyxbKPL1nv_kQ1Sfin2zJ3p0MxyU4iMG9oPELOBxu0iYhDoYtwnaUYoQamIIa6_bQ9rHE41wuSKcXqee3n6wSORAgiE_DQpIgeLFA4vhqjFPJoPsZnTstslNuQ/s640/blogger-image--2086129023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkfalIUuM6kzYoyxbKPL1nv_kQ1Sfin2zJ3p0MxyU4iMG9oPELOBxu0iYhDoYtwnaUYoQamIIa6_bQ9rHE41wuSKcXqee3n6wSORAgiE_DQpIgeLFA4vhqjFPJoPsZnTstslNuQ/s640/blogger-image--2086129023.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We pour the wort from the mash tun into the boil pot.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The little silver cylinder half-visible at the bottom there is a HopBlocker, which is a filter that surrounds the tap, again to prevent crud from finding its way through the brew process. In this case, hops - they do not dissolve, they give their flavor and then need to be stopped from clogging up the system.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFCZeyiMZqy3umpcezqhpRVJZqyP6Va9vLkn1uzHBPuvnQuxqq2q2_c8uEB9J6fRrNl69vA223ESSFoh9f7CbOXGgtJE2tYS1-3QSgVDjsVc891yiUeY7iJ9jnBa2JW_7A9q_Lg/s640/blogger-image-1601591256.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFCZeyiMZqy3umpcezqhpRVJZqyP6Va9vLkn1uzHBPuvnQuxqq2q2_c8uEB9J6fRrNl69vA223ESSFoh9f7CbOXGgtJE2tYS1-3QSgVDjsVc891yiUeY7iJ9jnBa2JW_7A9q_Lg/s640/blogger-image-1601591256.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This instrument is a refractometer. It tells you sugar content, from which you can work out the specific gravity of a liquid. You deposit a drop of the liquid by pipette, between the Perspex cover and the body of the instrument, then look through it like an eyeglass.</div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEZRYi4N_av8uhoX5QgsrwuvHdW7aRUczgYrWQbvGOZeHCJfTG3Z2J2wW2VA0mpzWX9tBzWjJvCC8d-jUHeaaClPI016HR4LkscqrF6WsveLDqy1m5YR_keSELeADce0mCgLQHA/s640/blogger-image--1409748601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEZRYi4N_av8uhoX5QgsrwuvHdW7aRUczgYrWQbvGOZeHCJfTG3Z2J2wW2VA0mpzWX9tBzWjJvCC8d-jUHeaaClPI016HR4LkscqrF6WsveLDqy1m5YR_keSELeADce0mCgLQHA/s640/blogger-image--1409748601.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This was taken at first run off, I.e. the first bit of wort to be run into the boil pot. It says we are at 15 Brix.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicOxupzFRIP3_9KKchnG6sf5iq7LRr6hiCWNP1lwfSNDQzNOQmzOVobHT48UXFaCIZQydcDBDU4wOQtvhO6xSZ33UgZcK0T8iTIPg5UfwdFArkKAWiiqoRXS94Xl8hthpBvylEBg/s640/blogger-image--334209470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicOxupzFRIP3_9KKchnG6sf5iq7LRr6hiCWNP1lwfSNDQzNOQmzOVobHT48UXFaCIZQydcDBDU4wOQtvhO6xSZ33UgZcK0T8iTIPg5UfwdFArkKAWiiqoRXS94Xl8hthpBvylEBg/s640/blogger-image--334209470.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We repeat the addition of water to the grain once more. It stays in the mash tun for only 10-15 minutes this time, not a whole hour. Meanwhile, we get the first half heated towards a boil, then add the rest once it is ready. Eventually the whole lot reaches boiling point.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Here you can see the boil pot contains 14 gallons of wort in the gauge on the left.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJO22L07XFe5fmBiv8b5fxnDQR_ZY2UZLTm0fOc1W1hVOjjxqXDdZCLtHUIWZpi3wyWqg7SbcJRQxUSVCwe0Qt-A7JG8ucywTYAer1-cZKX8UlAZahBKslctdon1gjmU_qFOcmTQ/s640/blogger-image-989944530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJO22L07XFe5fmBiv8b5fxnDQR_ZY2UZLTm0fOc1W1hVOjjxqXDdZCLtHUIWZpi3wyWqg7SbcJRQxUSVCwe0Qt-A7JG8ucywTYAer1-cZKX8UlAZahBKslctdon1gjmU_qFOcmTQ/s640/blogger-image-989944530.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We get it to a nice rolling boil. This is where big pots come in handy. We used to do this in a smaller pot and it would always be in danger of boiling over.</div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_WSs2h5GTcyXXNuXDzaGpDD5l36sgvhbLf2qcwzJhpprBCq8IMknVOXrFYPxuKfWfEm-cza667Aff7FUcpGSWlcFHe1puDvuO-48JsM85WbLAI7lzlFtmhwfOX0bWR8bHfhKLA/s640/blogger-image-977008213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_WSs2h5GTcyXXNuXDzaGpDD5l36sgvhbLf2qcwzJhpprBCq8IMknVOXrFYPxuKfWfEm-cza667Aff7FUcpGSWlcFHe1puDvuO-48JsM85WbLAI7lzlFtmhwfOX0bWR8bHfhKLA/s640/blogger-image-977008213.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Here are some hops. They come as compressed pellets of hoppy goodness. You can buy loose hop leaves as well, but the pellets are easier to work with and more frequently stocked in shops.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">They remind me of the pony nuts we used to feed our horse, only green instead of brown :-)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The boil officially starts with the first hop addition. We add more at 45 and 55 minutes into the boil, and finish at one hour. Different hops give different characteristics to the beer. We are using Chinook and Cascade here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0ytDUO8g-ipb9E5XPJyll2mPNokm3jDSNojo0ne0t68BeX9RLVbcE3l0ws_r_2ZgdNMSyEu2DvQIQiXQ7kJy9KMdvFg_LHKAMNpMrIJjrCNsulJl3ln_fV_rWUuVOE3b8MyFaA/s640/blogger-image--1832420293.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0ytDUO8g-ipb9E5XPJyll2mPNokm3jDSNojo0ne0t68BeX9RLVbcE3l0ws_r_2ZgdNMSyEu2DvQIQiXQ7kJy9KMdvFg_LHKAMNpMrIJjrCNsulJl3ln_fV_rWUuVOE3b8MyFaA/s640/blogger-image--1832420293.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">15 minutes before the end of the boil, we add some Irish moss. This is a clarification agent. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jzN_C-bTwFbzTVEdvJGdHiziQMQO2LpH8hyphenhyphenvEF_JpKYZFPk_wabzEup1TjSyqPirHdcf0UNgSGonW6WBZvLFZz9C1SdgSH2wbw5X6JEMJ4HXYJfKIftvVy6xt9F40hSlFWt8sg/s640/blogger-image-51707544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jzN_C-bTwFbzTVEdvJGdHiziQMQO2LpH8hyphenhyphenvEF_JpKYZFPk_wabzEup1TjSyqPirHdcf0UNgSGonW6WBZvLFZz9C1SdgSH2wbw5X6JEMJ4HXYJfKIftvVy6xt9F40hSlFWt8sg/s640/blogger-image-51707544.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This magnificent piece of equipment is the Conical Fermenter, seen here without its lid. This will contain the beer during the fermentation process.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We are about to take the wort from the boil pot and put it in here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxrXWbwK9etGDmHkVpY2xPkK1gP89YVqdEP_W1ATAab7MaW50Ts4JLS_MVJaUz_I6dhgzZX_S9w010n9lHkAq5c03xlqrJsJIiOSWPlUYI_iZrG7LlxUNktkgV9rAqnfU1vc6uQ/s640/blogger-image--1866613152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxrXWbwK9etGDmHkVpY2xPkK1gP89YVqdEP_W1ATAab7MaW50Ts4JLS_MVJaUz_I6dhgzZX_S9w010n9lHkAq5c03xlqrJsJIiOSWPlUYI_iZrG7LlxUNktkgV9rAqnfU1vc6uQ/s640/blogger-image--1866613152.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This is a pre-chiller, i.e. a heat exchanger coil sitting in a pot. It is about to get covered in ice water. It will cool the water used to help cool the wort in a moment, when we remove it from the boil pot.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiyA94Y_6tBcQ1c5Zz4SNsoadEPnn7ckSvsg7zTPHbjiFDW8umFWzKVng0QcdftNqHCgw_rEa2n5uoei98PftM-_rPkAvFsdVQP3HPubrSB0ypChbaNsknxDpwR1dqJsuzkDRbg/s640/blogger-image-1745865843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiyA94Y_6tBcQ1c5Zz4SNsoadEPnn7ckSvsg7zTPHbjiFDW8umFWzKVng0QcdftNqHCgw_rEa2n5uoei98PftM-_rPkAvFsdVQP3HPubrSB0ypChbaNsknxDpwR1dqJsuzkDRbg/s640/blogger-image-1745865843.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Look at this nice shiny interior of the conical fermenter! You can see the bottom tap in the middle, and the side tap takeoff. At this point, everything is sterilized.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tvZ14NhP8HowG_iIH_edWsKKvOYhWKkvhIXbnFjCX7s-Muz-zMuv3jEhn9qt2dhVFNz-hIRQha66s9V2CFqJNmGxDUQCaBJU1RTOuEvHGC8jfGuCHjSlr0z2fhAdG-ahyphenhyphenjJD1w/s640/blogger-image--1157832762.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tvZ14NhP8HowG_iIH_edWsKKvOYhWKkvhIXbnFjCX7s-Muz-zMuv3jEhn9qt2dhVFNz-hIRQha66s9V2CFqJNmGxDUQCaBJU1RTOuEvHGC8jfGuCHjSlr0z2fhAdG-ahyphenhyphenjJD1w/s640/blogger-image--1157832762.jpg"></a></div><br></div>We start the transfer of the wort into the fermentation vessel.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Alan is using an infrared thermometer to check the wort as it comes in. It has to come down from boiling (212F) to 79F or thereabouts. It cannot be too hot or the yeast will be killed when we add it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifaN-4oLOerCsTA51NnTEeAdszT0a8pJNr-isn3l-f-U1lVNjTAQcRJmKZUiPXbPJBIHDxa4_Dsl5Hs99ei-NA3tMMVN_OZHLvRdI_1sPspcvY4jl3y3MI_WyFZu1Qw8P4vo_ctg/s640/blogger-image-196872379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifaN-4oLOerCsTA51NnTEeAdszT0a8pJNr-isn3l-f-U1lVNjTAQcRJmKZUiPXbPJBIHDxa4_Dsl5Hs99ei-NA3tMMVN_OZHLvRdI_1sPspcvY4jl3y3MI_WyFZu1Qw8P4vo_ctg/s640/blogger-image-196872379.jpg"></a></div><br></div>Here you can see some of the pipe work going on.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The wort leaves the boil pot and is pulled into a pump, which pushes it on to....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcvzBJdE189Ah6J2B1Gt5tHKMNg6eUd1TB_19szy0NHdcReNcGatOMxJJZ0K90xvJLE1njmqIuBbnlwFMK_nW_Gt_KH89qyAUUIXwJZM7FQGJTJhV41qsE2pqpas5_AQAhaDtKw/s640/blogger-image-1475435798.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcvzBJdE189Ah6J2B1Gt5tHKMNg6eUd1TB_19szy0NHdcReNcGatOMxJJZ0K90xvJLE1njmqIuBbnlwFMK_nW_Gt_KH89qyAUUIXwJZM7FQGJTJhV41qsE2pqpas5_AQAhaDtKw/s640/blogger-image-1475435798.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">... another heat exchanger. The cream colored pipes contain proto-beer. The black pipes contain water. The water comes in from the pre-chiller heat exchanger you saw earlier, so it is already chilled, and then it goes through the brass plate chiller you can see in the bottom of the picture. It is super efficient voodoo magic and drops the temperature of the wort like a stone. We collect the outgoing water in a large bucket and it is very warm when it comes out.</div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJH-dvm5MXKG78QY7DORm7untD-FV1lwZrL9qws4hD65kxFRiquYFTjDqHWfzZNAHknJGWi8X2rKlrnTLU-MrZAGbJOc620w_qmidam3iCzQGotjbiuMztnEyDLlgRA2QIG84Ag/s640/blogger-image-30081627.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJH-dvm5MXKG78QY7DORm7untD-FV1lwZrL9qws4hD65kxFRiquYFTjDqHWfzZNAHknJGWi8X2rKlrnTLU-MrZAGbJOc620w_qmidam3iCzQGotjbiuMztnEyDLlgRA2QIG84Ag/s640/blogger-image-30081627.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once the fermentation vessel is full, the last thing to do is to add the yeast. Yeast is magical stuff that makes beer and wine possible. It eats all the sugar and turns it to alcohol. This is why you measure sugar concentration; the more sugars you have, the more alcohol you will end up with.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Yeast is awesome!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Here it gets added, it is white before it gets stirred in.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1vE0ZQYiIRuDz3yXXoKWrnZB2yY0wYbjVMd2srgZx9ETLsYwyBvjui9W_nqOou_sgxWDbSxoH6VVD9_JnzVUR9ZuSQ9ABbfWVfyRUJIq-QIn82nmwifRT7QfLgZ7H0-qWTQX7bQ/s640/blogger-image--1014748185.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1vE0ZQYiIRuDz3yXXoKWrnZB2yY0wYbjVMd2srgZx9ETLsYwyBvjui9W_nqOou_sgxWDbSxoH6VVD9_JnzVUR9ZuSQ9ABbfWVfyRUJIq-QIn82nmwifRT7QfLgZ7H0-qWTQX7bQ/s640/blogger-image--1014748185.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Then we button up the fermentation vessel with its lid and pressure relief valves. OK, so I cannot take a photo straight, but here it is in the fridge. Alan dead lifts the thing into here, I don't know how he does it, it is frigging heavy. Anyway, it will stay at a series of controlled temperatures for the fermentation to take place. We will know in a week or so whether or not the brew shows promise, but first, the yeast has some eating to do...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9rEmt_04p72paZIt_PUuG1_gWNF-MjpiguHcmcs2lKYHilS2zNiZNkPhjL0qynrcXLKlzCbQHSbk9C_ALVHLniR8SGv4FuYhXrAeCI9CTBEO5sx-cbzc437NSgIcWbl3Zgturhg/s640/blogger-image--390711216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9rEmt_04p72paZIt_PUuG1_gWNF-MjpiguHcmcs2lKYHilS2zNiZNkPhjL0qynrcXLKlzCbQHSbk9C_ALVHLniR8SGv4FuYhXrAeCI9CTBEO5sx-cbzc437NSgIcWbl3Zgturhg/s640/blogger-image--390711216.jpg"></a></div><br></div>Next week, we will use the side tap to draw off a sample. It will be sweet and cloudy at first, and over the next two weeks it will become less sweet and more clear as the yeast does its work, and the various proteins drop out of the beer. They collect at the bottom of the cone, leaving the side tap available to take clear beer from. Three or four weeks after brewing, it should be ready to drink. At that point, we will transfer it into kegs and add some CO2 to carbonate it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Then; bottoms up!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Yay for beer :-)</div>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-80185047075604610582013-09-26T07:49:00.000-05:002013-09-26T07:49:25.491-05:00Reno Air Races 2013One of the questions often asked in the aviation world, right after 'Have you been to Oshkosh?', is 'Have you been to Reno?'. I am delighted to say that both Alan and I can now say 'Yes!' to the latter!<br />
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<img border="0" height="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-1.jpg" /><br/><i>Welcome to Reno!</i></div>
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We decided to go partly for a summer holiday for Alan, and also it was the 50th anniversary of the races, so it ought to be good. And there was a bonus in that several pilots from the Sport Air Racing League (SARL) would be racing in the Sport class.</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-7.jpg" /><br/><i>Voodoo engine test</i></div>
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Reno National Championship Air Races (as they are officially known) are held at Reno Stead airport and divided into six classes: Biplane, Formula One, Sport, T6, Jet and Unlimited Warbird. Each of these is subdivided into Bronze, Silver and Gold with the fastest aeroplanes competing in Gold.</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-4.jpg" /><br/><i>Rare Bear, a Gold-class Bearcat</i></div>
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Pilots arrive on the Saturday before the races for check-in and spend the first part of the week qualifying. Some of the classes are oversubscribed so a few planes get knocked out. They can only fly nine planes at a time so spots are limited. The final races are flown on the Sunday, eight days after check-in.</div>
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The races start early in the morning with the Biplane heats, followed by Formula One. They seemed to use rolling starts from the runway, unlike the other classes. </div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-3.jpg" /><br/><i>Biplanes rounding the corner; you can just see the tip of the white pylon cylinder at the bottom</i></div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-24.jpg" /><br/><i>A Formula One aircraft. See how tiny it is! These all use the same O-200 engine as found in a Cessna 150. They go somewhat faster, though.</i></div>
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Each heat and race is surprisingly short, only six or eight laps (I didn't count exactly; it might vary between classes too). They have a lot of races to get through each day and I guess fuel isn't cheap. Each class races on a slightly different length course, too, marked by pylons. Short courses for the smaller planes, long courses for the fast ones. I was told that the pylons are raised and lowered according to which class is flying at the time, although I didn't notice any going up and down, but then I wasn't looking...</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-11.jpg" /><br/><i>Jet class racing</i></div>
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From Sport class upwards, the planes are led away from the airfield by a non-racing lead aircraft, and they form up in line abreast alongside this plane before coming down the Chute, which from our point of view brought them over the grandstands into the right hand side of the airfield, heading away from the crowd onto the racecourse. <span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">The guy on the left of the formation in the Chute is effectively on pole position as everyone else has to gather in to the course for the most effective flight line.</span> If you are near a loudspeaker you can hear the starter say, "Gentlemen, you have a race!"</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-2.jpg" /><br/><i>Here they come!</i></div>
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They say "Fly low, fly fast, turn left!" around here and that is basically what you do. The racecourse is a left hand circuit around the Valley of Speed, with the start/finish straight being parallel to the grandstands, several hundred feet in front. The addition of the third dimension makes for interesting racing, although I am not sure of the exact rules for passing others. If it is anything like SARL rules then you have to pass with the other aircraft visible at all times, which puts you on the outside of the turn. One of the pilots said you need a 5mph advantage to pass but it wasn't clear if that was determined by rules or physics.</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-23.jpg" /><br/><i>One of the T-6 racers.</i></div>
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It is also different from motor racing in that you can see the racers all the way around the circuit! No trees or hills or buildings get in between you and the aircraft (they don't fly _that_ low ;-) So you can follow the action all the way around which gets pretty intense.</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-18.jpg" /><br/><i>Unlimited Gold aircraft on the back of the circuit</i></div>
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We spent a lot of time in the pit area. You have to buy a pit pass in addition to the main entry but it is so worth it, as that is where most of the action is. The pits are very accessible, even the big warbirds are right there in front of you with their big tents and trucks and T-shirt sales etc. Some of them have control centers and viewing areas on top of the trucks which is cool. There are rope barriers to stop folks just wandering in, but you can watch everything they are doing, all the engine works and Things Going On.</div>
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The smaller planes are housed in some large hangars at the far end of the field. Biplanes and Formula One share a hangar, since they are so tiny, while the Sport class racers are split between two other hangars.</div>
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We ended up spending a good amount of time in the Sport hangars, with some of the SARL racers. Alan Crawford flies his Lancair Legacy as Race 21 in the Sport Silver class, along with Ernie Sutter flying another Lancair as Race 66. Jason Rovey flies Race 391, a Vans RV-8, in the Sport Bronze class, with Bob Mills flying his Rocket Six, Race 49.</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-22.jpg" /><br/><i>Jason Rovey, Race 391</i></div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-13.jpg" /><br/><i>Bob Mills, Race 49</i></div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-9.jpg" /><br/><i>Alan Crawford, Race 21</i></div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-8.jpg" /><br/><i>Ernie Sutter, Race 66</i></div>
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Jason didn't fly on Friday as the Sport class had too many planes, so the slowest four planes took turns in sitting out so that everyone got a turn to fly. However on Saturday he had a very close race with a Glasair and only lost by a nose, in fact from our angle we couldn't tell if he had been beaten or not.</div>
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<img border="0" height="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-5.jpg" /><br/><i>Jason and his nemesis, Race 7, just before the finish</i></div>
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So Jason made some modifications to his spinner, to prevent this happening again ;-)</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-6.jpg" /><br/><i>Can't catch me now!</i></div>
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The crews were hard at work in all the pits before Sunday's races. Jason had Seth Baker on his crew doing sterling (and secretive!) work for him.</div>
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Alan had Dave Adams and Bobby Bennett working on his plane. Bobby is an engine master and Dave is a dab hand with fiberglass, so when Alan needed some fairings made for his flap hinges, Dave was on the case. It is hard to tell from one day to the next how much difference a mod makes in speed, with different weather conditions playing a part, but it was generally felt they might be good for an extra mile or two per hour.</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-15.jpg" /><br/><i>Race 21 Pit Crew</i></div>
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A cool interlude was when I was asked to come and photograph a gathering of Southwest employees, of which there seemed to be a large number in attendance! They were gathering along with their ex-CEO, Herb Kelleher, who founded the airline way back when.</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-10.jpg" /><br/><i>Southwest folks. Herb is in the red ball cap.</i></div>
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After a good heat on Saturday, Alan had a very close race on Sunday with a Lancair that he just couldn't squeak past, no matter how hard he tried. And he tried pretty hard!</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-14.jpg" /><br/><i>Tarnation!</i></div>
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Of course, many people come to Reno to watch the Unlimited aircraft. These are mostly ex-WW2 fighter aircraft, converted for more speed, with clipped wings, bigger engines, sleeker canopies and any other modifications the engineers can come up with. These bad boys will do 450-500mph and sound Awesome.
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-16.jpg" /><br/><i>Precious Metal; Griffon-powered and with a double propeller</i></div>
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One of the baddest boys out there is Strega, a P-51 Mustang. On the Tuesday of Reno week, the canopy imploded during a qualifying heat and she had to make an emergency landing (the pilot was fine, although I imagine he may have needed a new flight suit). This meant she had to start from the back of the pack after being fixed. Cue Friday's Unlimited Silver race, the first one we saw after arriving. Strega tore through the field like the others had lead bricks in their wings, I have never seen such a trouncing. We didn't discover why until after the race, when we found out the story. Of course, Strega is meant to fly in the Gold class.
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-17.jpg" /><br/><i>Strega taking off with Merlin power</i></div>
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However, Strega's luck wasn't quite all there - she apparently clipped a pylon in that Friday session, so had to do it all over again on the Saturday! Which she did with the same ease. And then came the Sunday race. Once again, starting from the back of the line, she tore through everyone in Gold as well, apart from the leader - Voodoo, another P-51 - which handily won the race.
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-20.jpg" /><br/><i>Voodoo finishing the race</i></div>
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On Sunday night after the races, they hold a huge banquet as the awards dinner. Alan kindly gave us tickets for it so we were able to join them, which was splendid. After the main awards were done, all the SARL guys and girls that could be found, were rounded up for a group photo on stage.</div>
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<img border="0" width="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-21.jpg" /><br/><i>SARL Pilots</i></div>
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There was, of course, general silliness and more photo taking; if you're curious to see more then head over to my <a href="http://sportairrace.org/sarl/node/855">SARL gallery on the SportAirRace.org site</a>.</div>
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<img border="0" height="640" src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/Reno2013-19.jpg" /><br/><i>A Sea Fury at the pylon</i></div>
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We would certainly love to go back to Reno. Let's hope next year's event is as cool!
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<br /></div>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-61792027404540703052013-09-06T15:17:00.000-05:002013-09-06T15:17:45.917-05:00Fly-Low<p>I'm doing the happy dance; I just received September's issue of Fly-Low in the mail, and it's full of my pictures!
<p>I attended Oshkosh on a Fly-Low press pass, and this is the fruits of my labour. Although I've been lucky to have had lots of pictures in Fly-Low over the last couple of years - mainly due to the SARL Air Races - this might be the most I've had in a single issue.
<p>Enjoy! You can download the current issue here: <a href="http://www.fly-low.com/current-issue/">http://www.fly-low.com/current-issue/</a> - but the PDF here will change each month.
<p>The cover, showing Gene Soucy during his night show.<br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKVlRQtjRwxMwlAhFHjk4q6nSelrYPzXSyk0H55eFqE3QASdfjwDXdUE9_LjxWxlmAcjg7XKDXXHVlqvtzf-gAeO9iTY85dpuUIJkBMwXNmAV5zvfCrhl_X7HwtG3KkHAPGF-kQ/s1600/Fly-Low-September-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKVlRQtjRwxMwlAhFHjk4q6nSelrYPzXSyk0H55eFqE3QASdfjwDXdUE9_LjxWxlmAcjg7XKDXXHVlqvtzf-gAeO9iTY85dpuUIJkBMwXNmAV5zvfCrhl_X7HwtG3KkHAPGF-kQ/s640/Fly-Low-September-1.jpg" /></a>
<p>The contents page, with Dusty from 'Planes'.<br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kiZWl5SFLLlSYjOHhOPfDuMhY5gDX81WGvBym0pz34ozYLQznxFYDHSyNVcwIkiVio8NRtEkMqfgTToun3_7fXBDZFEEzDaAvMIbniI2hOFxlGivBBzdJwhYC6MsY7MR9vV5Ig/s1600/Fly-Low-September-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kiZWl5SFLLlSYjOHhOPfDuMhY5gDX81WGvBym0pz34ozYLQznxFYDHSyNVcwIkiVio8NRtEkMqfgTToun3_7fXBDZFEEzDaAvMIbniI2hOFxlGivBBzdJwhYC6MsY7MR9vV5Ig/s640/Fly-Low-September-2.jpg" /></a>
<p>A whole double page spread!<br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgBQ68gQKGN3J6JtmoakWuw_I49VVUDr-NLTpPKoPsouJPHjopRNPGgL-wAocb5LfHR-YICBepOSZBuUilDFy_yDWwj6H3rguO-PgBQpQtHA5tMLISZSp9Wt2EmSunnHE7oGAzA/s1600/Fly-Low-September-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgBQ68gQKGN3J6JtmoakWuw_I49VVUDr-NLTpPKoPsouJPHjopRNPGgL-wAocb5LfHR-YICBepOSZBuUilDFy_yDWwj6H3rguO-PgBQpQtHA5tMLISZSp9Wt2EmSunnHE7oGAzA/s640/Fly-Low-September-3.jpg" /></a>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-87664654706064019942013-08-28T16:04:00.000-05:002013-08-28T16:04:09.790-05:00#OSH13<p>I need to write a longer post about Oshkosh, but this video will have to sate your appetite for now. Here's this year's time lapse offering from various points around the show, including the last leg of our flight up there in Glenn's 172. We stopped for fuel in Maquoketa, IA which is about an hour and twenty from Oshkosh. Pictures were taken at 5-second intervals from a GoPro mounted on the wing. The same GoPro was used for the rest of it, with 2-second intervals.</p>
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Pj4F7lPvIU4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-44848918952243300992013-06-03T07:17:00.000-05:002013-06-03T07:17:08.804-05:00San Marcos to Burnet by Cirrus SR20<p>Friend Charlie sent me one of those nice texts - the sort that invites a person to go flying :-) So quite unexpectedly, I found myself heading down to San Marcos (KHYI) to meet with Charlie and his Cirrus SR20 on a very nice Sunday afternoon.</p>
<p>Charlie wanted to go to Burnet (KBMQ) to meet with another friend and discuss a project they are both working on. It's about a half hour's flight between the two airports.</p>
<p>Here's the plane ready to go at San Marcos.<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/2013Cirrus-0.jpg"></p>
<p>The instrument panel in flight. My favourite kind of panel - enough electronics and GPS trickery to be useful, with a normal 6-pack of steam gauges for sanity!<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/2013Cirrus-3.jpg"></p>
<p>Charlie doing a bit of flying, before handing me the controls - yay! I got to fly it most of the way there and back :-)<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/2013Cirrus-1.jpg"></p>
<p>On the ramp at Burnet, with another Cirrus taking off behind.<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/2013Cirrus-4.jpg"></p>
<p>You can see what a clear blue day it was. Here's Lake Travis, west of Austin. We flew out at 4500ft and back at 5500ft, and there were hardly any bumps at all; really smooth air, which is quite unusual for a warm Texas afternoon. The day had started out pretty cool before the clouds evaporated so that probably helped.<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/2013Cirrus-5.jpg"></p>
<p>Here's a still from a video Charlie took of me flying the plane, on the way out and back. See how the Cirrus has a side stick; it takes a little getting used to, compared with a normal stick. It's a comfortable arm position, however.<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/2013/2013Cirrus-6.jpg"></p>
<p>And the video in question!</p>
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CL9RQOXmWCo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>Thanks Charlie, that was fun :-)</p>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-38127642749464792092013-01-25T10:26:00.001-06:002013-01-25T10:26:23.097-06:00The Trojan Phlyers at Bluebonnet Airshow<p>Last Spring, I had the chance to fly with the Trojan Phlyers in their T-28 aircraft. You can <a href="http://futurshox.blogspot.com/search/label/T-28">read about that here</a> (scroll down a bit). They liked the video I made, and asked if I could make another one, of them performing an airshow routine. They wanted to use it as a promo for the team. Of course I could!</p>
<p>They invited me up to their Spring T-28 workshop held at their home base of Midway airport at Midlothian, just southeast of Dallas. The intention was to have a whole bunch of T-28s practising formation flying, and lots of filming of this. Unfortunately the weather put paid to much flying, but they did give me one hell of a cool aerobatic ride before it all clagged in. More about that later.</p>
<p>This led us on to the next opportunity which was the Bluebonnet Airshow at Burnet, TX, in April 2012. I spent the Friday before the show crawling over the planes trying to rig cameras. This is actually quite tricky in a T-28; there are not many hard surfaces to grab onto with a camera mount. Most objects move, or are used to fly the plane, or they don't have a good view out of the plane. Suction cup mounts were undesirable, since I would not be in the aircraft to catch them if they came unstuck.</p>
<p> We ended up with one camera clamped onto the edge of the panel glareshield, over the rubber strip, in the lead plane. The other one in the wingman's plane was clamped to the box behind the rear seat; there's a hole in the side which you can just get a mount onto. Copious amounts of gaffer tape held them on, and the audio recorder was plugged into the back seat headset and contained in the lockbox to the right of the seat.</p>
<p>I wanted to mount a third rear-facing camera in the lead ship, but there was no way to get the camera mounted and have the canopy closed; it was too tall. So we abandoned that idea. I think if I had the larger tube mount, I could perhaps have got it around another part of the box structure, if memory serves. Another time. We also did not get to test any of this before the show; practise was running late so they did not fly on Friday as they'd intended.</p>
<p>On show day - Saturday - I loitered around near the T-28s until half an hour before they were due to perform. I started all the cameras and audio recorder, then left them to it. I was going to grab some ground-to-air footage while they flew their show, which I did with my Canon 7D and the 400mm lens. This mostly worked, but a few shots were too shaky for my liking, which is why I asked Jeff Lee of LiveAirshowTV if I could purloin some of his footage for the final video. I think two or three of the passes are his. I'm writing this now in January 2013 after editing the video in April 2012, so forgive me if the details are a little fuzzy.</p>
<p>Why such a long delay? Mainly because the Trojan Phlyers were uncertain what to do with the film... while they liked the flying sequences, it was not wholly what they were looking for. I was unable to attend any other shows at which they were flying, so things went dormant until they decided what to do, eventually turning it over to a film company, who <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvoVh_QBJnM">came up with this</a> which was shown at ICAS (The International Council of Airshows conference in December). It uses several segments of my footage, so I am glad to have been able to contribute something.</p>
<p>And after all that, I can now show you this, the airshow routine from Burnet:</p>
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4k3GFTPR1u8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>Many thanks to the Trojan Phlyers for the opportunity to work and fly with them - they're great guys!</p>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-4856990205604980942012-12-12T17:35:00.000-06:002012-12-12T17:36:07.745-06:00Enchanted Rock from the air<p>Friend Doug asked if I wanted to fly with him, and see if I could find and navigate to Enchanted Rock. This sounded like a great plan, so we set a course of 305° from San Marcos, and calculated that 30 minutes later we would be floating over the Rock. And sure enough! Half an hour of flying later, this is what we saw...</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/KHYI-T82-Dec12-1.jpg"></p>
<p>Enchanted Rock is a geological Batholith, rising up from the Hill Country between Fredericksburg and Llano. It is not like the rest of the area. It's also a Texas State Park, and I have climbed it on many occasions. The right hand dome seen below is the usual route, although the park encompasses both domes and the land surrounding them.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/KHYI-T82-Dec12-2.jpg"></p>
<p>We flew a circuit around the Rock to get a look at it.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/KHYI-T82-Dec12-3.jpg"></p>
<p>This might be the first time I've actually laid eyes on this side of the Rock. They say there's a cave about half way down the steep side.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/KHYI-T82-Dec12-4.jpg"></p>
<p>We could see several people on top of the big dome here; maybe twenty or so folks enjoying the day. We left the area quickly to avoid annoying them, or others.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/KHYI-T82-Dec12-5.jpg"></p>
<p>Nine minutes further south, and we were in the pattern for Fredericksburg.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/KHYI-T82-Dec12-6.jpg"></p>
<p>Here we got lunch in the Airport Diner, always a good stop. They will make delicious vegetable wraps if you ask them nicely.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/KHYI-T82-Dec12-8.jpg"></p>
<p>After lunch, another half hour or so brought us back to San Marcos. A very excellent day's flying. Thanks Doug!</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/KHYI-T82-Dec12-9.jpg"></p>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-67796624858005576342012-11-20T09:44:00.000-06:002012-11-20T10:19:01.261-06:00Formula 1 at the Circuit of the Americas<p>When someone builds a world-class racing track near your house, and uses it to host one of the premier racing events on the planet, it would be churlish to ignore this, right? So while it's been a few years since we really followed F1 racing, we bought tickets and set about anticipating this racing weekend.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn2-redbull-2.jpg"><br><i>Red Bull F1 Car at Turn 2</i></p>
<p>Of course we were there to see the Formula 1 racing, which is cool in itself, and those cars ran each of the three days, with practise on Friday, more practise on Saturday morning, Qualifying on Saturday afternoon and the race on Sunday.</p>
<p>There were other cars present however, which is just as well or things would have been very quiet at times. We had the Ferrari Challenge, in which a brace of Ferraris raced each other. There was the Pirelli GT3 series, featuring 30 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. And there was the Historic Grand Prix, featuring GP cars from 1966 to 1983 when they ran 3-litre engines. This was very cool to see; there were a lot of different designs of car and many of them were familiar to me from watching F1 as a kid.</p>
<p>They say that on Friday there were 65,000 people in attendance, about 85,000 on Saturday and 117,426 on Sunday. That's a lot of people, and this is a brand new race track with brand new infrastructure, a lot of which hadn't quite been finished yet. Overall, I think the <a href="http://circuitoftheamericas.com/">Circuit of the Americas</a> has a lot to be proud of, but here's an in-depth look at the venue from this weekend.</p>
<h2>Transport</h2>
<p>We live about 25 minutes south of the racetrack, which is about three miles from Austin Bergstrom airport, across the SH130 toll road. We had to drive another ten minutes north on SH130 to get to the parking at Travis County Expo Centre. All the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) traffic was being routed there, and people ferried to the circuit on a huge fleet of buses. Unless, of course, you wanted to pay $200 for a parking pass, to bring your car to the circuit. We heard they had hired 530 buses for the event! On Friday, there were coaches from every corner of Texas and beyond, while over the weekend they had a vast array of school buses, including a number from Bastrop and Dallas. The buses were loaded in a quick and efficient manner, and we hardly had to wait at all. All you could see on SH130 was a constant stream of buses; a lot of them were coming from the other pickup point downtown, too.</p>
<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGpp_l23JVpkXgblcu5wJgY5ZECSDGCRE-hIwMCiQYzovUa_KDf9MZ7qAiCE4MYdrwjeQlDw68RdIcGcepeVBFtguY0-hmzDibhzSHesSg4ng7eg1rtcVGQVNmrgjtMYMVIZoFKA/s1600/photo+2-786702.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGpp_l23JVpkXgblcu5wJgY5ZECSDGCRE-hIwMCiQYzovUa_KDf9MZ7qAiCE4MYdrwjeQlDw68RdIcGcepeVBFtguY0-hmzDibhzSHesSg4ng7eg1rtcVGQVNmrgjtMYMVIZoFKA/s640/photo+2-786702.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5812870959493708210" /></a><br><i>Batches of buses waiting for passengers</i></p>
<p>Even on Sunday leaving the circuit after the race, the service was good. They would load ten buses at once, then that batch would drive off and the next batch move into place. Very good service. However, I think we got off lightly - we were amongst the first wave of people to leave the track. <a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/on-f1s-big-day-an-austin-success/nS9WR/">This report from the Austin Statesman</a> says that some folks lined up for an hour to get on the buses. The organizers had obviously anticipated this and had constructed an entertainment stage near the buses for bands to play while people waited!</p>
<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ9qQiLJ-uab5jAS2UmnHt-dljv8oq6mo7dyNa1uA8duLOUXN2TIIRrLYJ6M9ThjjcUmZouIB-BToEB7DjjA30j8EiJ2pQe3-Tjpe0oKCoi_OlZAEwtNNefRD32hRi8bXzWtwfsg/s1600/photo+1-782018.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ9qQiLJ-uab5jAS2UmnHt-dljv8oq6mo7dyNa1uA8duLOUXN2TIIRrLYJ6M9ThjjcUmZouIB-BToEB7DjjA30j8EiJ2pQe3-Tjpe0oKCoi_OlZAEwtNNefRD32hRi8bXzWtwfsg/s640/photo+1-782018.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5812870939972661154" /></a><br><i>A stream of folks coming through the gate</i></p>
<p>Once at the bus drop-off, it was actually a mile walk - maybe more - to the circuit entrance. This was a bit unexpected! There was a wide gravel pedestrian path up to the main gates. This was bordered by unfinished landscaping - a lot of earth banks were covered in mesh netting that of course were getting ripped up by people taking short cuts. There were also golf carts running up and down - very slowly, since they were trying to avoid the people. They could really do with a separate fenced-off cart track here.</p>
<p>While I'm thinking about landscaping, it's a good job we had such beautiful weather over the weekend. A lot of the venue remains as bare earth, although grass is trying to grow in some areas. Time and seasons will fix their landscaping issues, but it would have been an utter quagmire if it had rained. I realise COTA had to prioritize what they were able to get finished in time for this weekend; I'm sure the track will be lovely in due course.</p>
<p>On reaching the main gate, you go through a line of ticket and bag checkers, this is all very quick and painless. They scan your ticket's bar code on the way in - if you leave the track, you have to get it scanned again if you want re-entry. There's a bunch of welcoming staff inside the gates, handing out maps and information. All the staff were very friendly and cheerful; they seemed happy to be there.</p>
<h2>Food</h2>
<p>The biggest gripe we had over the weekend was the food situation. The prices were very steep, for one thing. A 20oz bottle of water was $4, a litre for $7, a beer for $8 or $9. Not sure who sets the prices for these things, but Damn. This is Texas, where outdoor events usually have water freely available, or if you have to buy it then it's $1-$2 a bottle. Beers are usually $5-6. We are not used to this level of mark-up!</p>
<p>Being vegan, our food choices were limited. We found some very tasty tofu tacos at Chi'Lantro food truck, but they were pretty small at $9 for two tacos. There were veggie burritos at one place for $12 which we devoured in three bites - not good value for money! Similar burritos might have been had from the Gyro place around the corner ($9), but the queue was a thousand miles long and we are not that patient. There were two Asian stands who had veggie Bahn Mi, but we never managed to get any, since one never seemed to be open, and the other had run out. The best deal for us were the Boomerang handheld pies; they had spinach and mushroom on Saturday and Thai veggie on Sunday. They were still $8 a pop but it's quick to serve pies, so the line was never long. You couldn't get much in the way of coffee though; only two places sold it and one of those seemed impromptu - good for that vendor in filling a need. </p>
<p>The venue seemed to be plagued with food problems in one way or another. I believe they had connectivity problems on Friday and Saturday; it wasn't until Sunday that I saw anyone taking credit cards. The Statesman link above tells of some folks running out of beer! We couldn't get bottled water first thing on Sunday from some vendors, who hadn't been restocked. There just weren't enough food vendors at some points round the track - lines from 11am to 2pm were insane, even on Friday. The catering was managed by Sodexo, a company who specialises in large event management, so I don't know if it was them or the venue or a combination of little problems, but they have some things to sort out for the next race. Austin is swarming with food trucks - they should get a few more in and dot them around the whole venue.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn2-schumacher-4.jpg"><br><i>Heikki Kovalainen at Turn 2</i></p>
<p>Food wasn't the only expensive stuff available for purchase - I couldn't believe the price of the F1 team merchandise! $55 for a baseball hat, $50-80 for a T-shirt, up to $250 for a 'proper' team shirt with all the logos on etc. And there were a <b>lot</b> of people wearing these things, probably 20-30% of the crowd. The COTA merchandise was much more reasonable; $30-35 for a T-shirt. The lines for their stands were very long though; I shall pay a visit to their online shop imminently and avoid the wait.</p>
<p>However, at the other end of the eating process, I must commend COTA on their restroom arrangements! They must have hired every porta-potty in Texas. They were everywhere; all around the track, and thousands of them. They had them at each end of the bus drop-off and pickup points. They had lots of paper stocks, and hand-washing gel outside. I never had to wait to use one. They got that one Right.</p>
<h2>Photography</h2>
<p>First off, I must express my delight at the policy COTA chose to use over the weekend, of allowing any and all stills camera gear inside the circuit, including long lenses. (Video is disallowed). They originally wanted to ban lenses longer than 10" in length, but a public outcry convinced them to change their minds. This was a Godsend! While my 400mm is actually smaller than 10", I spotted a good number of people sporting fixed 400-500mm lenses, and each of us needed equipment of that focal length in order to get even slightly close to the cars.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-track-map-650.jpg"><br><i>Here's a map of the track showing the numbered turns (credit: COTA) with the sun positions during the day marked on by me. You can see that being on the south side looking north is favorable for photography, which is handy, since that's where the good corners are.</i></p>
<p>A racing venue such as this is always going to present certain realities that make photography challenging, for the most part. The tall fences are there in front of you for a good reason; F1 and other motorsports have seen their fair share of wheels and other parts detaching themselves from cars. You don't want to be whacked in the head by a flying tyre.</p>
<p>COTA uses a double fence. The main debris-deflector fence is pretty heavy duty; made of many pillars and strong mesh wire, with many horizontal support wires. If you could get up to this fence, you could shoot through it with a long lens - the depth of field will render the fence invisible. This is what a lot of the credentialed photographers were doing. However there is an outer fence, with a roadway in between. This outer fence is shorter and less sturdy but the 20-foot gap in between means you can't get close enough to really lose the fences if they are in your shot. And they're in your shot for most of the way around.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn7-fence-100-23.jpg"><br><i>A historic F1 racer going around turn 7, behind the fence. You can lose the fence with a slow shutter speed (1/100s) but you lose a lot of shots to motion blur - these cars are fast!.</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn7-fence-160-22.jpg"><br><i>Bumping it up to 1/160 gives you more keepers, and more fence. Tall cars like this one run the risk of horizontal wires showing up, too.</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn18-fence-ferrari-27.jpg"><br><i>Here's a Ferrari Challenger going around turn 18, where it's (a) backlit and (b) almost impossible to avoid the fence posts.</i></p>
<p>There are a few places you can go to get unobstructed shots. Turn 2 and 3 aren't bad; if you can get up onto the wheelchair ramp on the turn 2 stand, that gives a nice view down onto the track. The pedestrian bridge gives a good almost-overhead view but of course they want to keep traffic on here moving; it is a human swarm during the day, so you can't really stop on here.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn2-mclaren-3.jpg"><br><i>A McLaren around turn 2, where you can look down on the cars if you're lucky. I love the McLaren paint scheme; that chrome looks liquid.</i></p>
<p>The pit straight and garage area are almost inaccessible (unless you have a LOT of money for a pit pass!) so forget trying to get any shots here. The best you can do is go to turn 1, up on top of the hill, where you can get a long view down the hill, but it's not great photographically unless you have 600mm or more, although you'll be dealing with heat haze at that length. It is one heck of a hill for the racers though; a good steep climb up to the corner.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn1-downhill-12.jpg"><br><i>Looking down at the start/finish straight from Turn 1</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-garage-13.jpg"><br><i>This is as close as you can get to the garages from a viewpoint overlooking the pit wall. Too many fences for any good shots into the track, however.</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn1-uphill-25.jpg"><br><i>Cars climbing the hill up to Turn 1, shot from turn 18</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn1-downhill-26.jpg"><br><i>Cars streaming downhill from Turn 1</i></p>
<p>Turns 6 and 7 offer one of the best spots. Here, the track rises a little in front of you, then dips down slightly, but the ground crowd-side continues rising. You can get the cars coming towards you here, before getting them 3/4 to sideways on as they go around the corner.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn7-forceIndia-5.jpg"><br><i>A Force India F1 car at Turn 7. I like the Force India colours.</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn6-GT3-28.jpg"><br><i>Porsche GT3 cars coming around turn 6</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn6-GT3-29.jpg"><br><i>GT3s overtaking each other at turn 7</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn6-ferrari-6.jpg"><br><i>A Ferrari at turn 6</i></p>
<p>There's similar potential at turn 10, although it's not as good. You can catch some coming out of turns 8 and 9 but they're a little far away.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn8-historics-7.jpg"><br><i>Historic F1 cars coming out of turn 8</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn8-tyrrell-8.jpg"><br><i>I was fascinated with this 6-wheeled Tyrrell</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn10-11-long-31.jpg"><br><i>Ferraris coming out of turn 10 down to the hairpin</i></p>
<p>Lastly, the hairpin (turn 11) offers a mostly-unobstructed view; again you can see them head on, and then get their tails as they charge off down the straight. This is the busiest spot for General Admission folks such as ourselves; there is a large grassy bank here which gets completely filled with people and chairs. It's pretty cool to see so many folks wearing their team colours, and waving their countries' flags. If you watched the F1 race coverage at all, you might have seen a Scotland flag waving here; we were standing behind that for the first few laps.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn11-wide-19.jpg"><br><i>A wide shot, showing how many folks are here, and how far you are from the cars!</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn11-brakes-20.jpg"><br><i>There is potential to catch people stomping on their brakes at the hairpin.</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn11-long-21.jpg"><br><i>Looking down at the turn 15 grandstand, from the hairpin. It's a long way off!</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn11-towards-11.jpg"><br><i>Historic F1 cars approaching the hairpin</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn11-away-10.jpg"><br><i>Looking down the long straight, which has a surprising amount of elevation change.</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn11-12-fast-34.jpg"><br><i>The long straight from turn 11 to turn 12 does not offer many vantage points, most of the trackside is taken up with RV parking. You can get close near turn 12 and try to catch cars as they pass you at around 200mph. This is as good as I got, at 1/400s!</i></p>
<p>We moved down to the grassy area between turns 12 and 15 for most of the race. Here, you can see the cars coming at you from the straight; decelerating into the series of tight bends in front of the turn 15 grandstand. Unfortunately this area is very flat, and obstructed by various signs, TV cameras, cherry picker crane etc. There's a lot of people crammed in here and it is hard to see the cars. However Alan was happy since he got to see the overtaking manoeuvre that won Lewis Hamilton the race. (I was in the loo, dammit! Sod's law, hard at work.) This was also a strategic manoeuvre on our part, since that corner is nearest the exit gate, which explains why we managed to beat the hordes to the buses ;-)</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-turn14-1.jpg"><br><i>I think this Ferrari was around turn 14, from the gap in between the grandstands.</i></p>
<p>Of course, the photos would be better if you can get above the fences onto the bleacher seating or the grandstands. You'd better be made of money though. We paid $130 (plus tax etc) for General Admission tickets; the cheapest option. This isn't really a bad price for three days of racing entertainment. They only sell tickets as 3-day passes, so whether you just come on race day or for the whole weekend, it's the same price. The next level is the bleacher seating, which goes for $250-$400, I think it depends on where you sit. If you're between turns 2 and 10, you'll have the sun behind you. You want this. After the bleachers, you need a grandstand seat. And for this, you need to buy a Personal Seat Licence which is valid for ten years ($2000-$40,000 - <a href="http://circuitoftheamericas.com/tickets-psl/ticket_page/the-main-grandstand">seriously</a>), and then your tickets (~$750) on top of that! So we figured we'd pass on that...</p>
<p>Alan did investigate the Paddock Pass tickets, for a laugh. A mere $5000/person gets you into the paddock, with a free programme and set of earplugs. OK, then, moving on... Again, I am not sure if it is COTA, F1 or Bernie Ecclestone himself that sets the prices of these things. I suppose it's no surprise that the upper echelon tickets are marketed towards corporate buyers.</p>
<p>The one other location that would make decent photos is from the top of the observation tower. They were charging $35/person to go up the 251ft tall tower in the centre of the circuit. I don't know how long you are allowed to stay up there, but it's a very strikingly-designed piece of architecture, and the pictures I have seen from up there look great. Another $70 for the pair of us to go up there wasn't really going to happen, however. Where do you draw the line on spending money?</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-tower-18.jpg"><br><i>The tower dominates the track, as seen here from the hairpin (turn 11).</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-tower-15.jpg"><br><i>A close up of the viewing gallery at the top.</i></p>
<p>COTA is hosting some other world series races in early 2013 whose tickets are easily half the price of the F1 tickets - Moto GP and Australian V8 Supercars, to name but two. I also notice that the track is being split for the V8s; they're using the smaller club circuit. Both events have a lot more GA admissions; I don't know if they are removing some of the scaffolding/bleacher seating for these events, in which case a lot of the photography could be improved, if we don't have big stands in the way. Time will tell, I guess.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-track-blowers-30.jpg"><br><i>Turbine engine blowers clean the track after each race</i></p>
<h2>Aircraft</h2>
<p>This wouldn't be an aviation blog without a few aircraft, would it? And there were plenty in the skies over COTA. Dominating the airspace were the helicopters, mostly bringing people in from nearby airports and from temporary heliports downtown. They mostly stayed to the south of the track and as such were far away and backlit; not very photogenic, but sometimes one strayed close enough for a decent shot, especially at the hairpin end.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-aircraft-heli-33.jpg"><br><i>$550/person gets you a ride in here</i></p>
<p>The one helicopter that we did see a whole lot of was the camera ship for the F1 races. This pilot was very skilled. All those long, swooping shots that you see on TV, chasing cars down the long straights, they all come from this guy. He is doing lots of long, swoopy flying to get you those shots; it's impressive stuff.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-aircraft-cameraship-16.jpg"><br><i>Spot the camera on the nose, and what I assume is a transmitter on the skid.</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-aircraft-cameraship-17.jpg"><br><i>Looking inside, you can see the cameraman is intent on his large screen in front of him.</i></p>
<p>Meanwhile, other aircraft were out to play... here's the Environmental Protection Agency doing air quality checks. They flew a pattern across the whole track area avery day.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-aircraft-commander-EPA-9.jpg"><br><i>The EPA on the prowl</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-aircraft-EPA-24.jpg"><br><i>A close up showing the sensors in the bottom of the fuselage</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-aircraft-police-14.jpg"><br><i>The local police helicopter, possibly providing extra camera coverage.</i></p>
<p>Last but certainly not least, we enjoyed a flyby before the F1 race, consisting of an F-16, P-38 and two P-51s. I believe they all came up from San Antonio; certainly the P-38 'Glacier Girl' is based there but I am not quite sure which P-51s we have here. I suspect the F-16 was from the Air National Guard at Lackland.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/COTA/COTAF1-aircraft-heritage-flight-32.jpg"><br><i></i></p>
<p>And there you have it! Many kudos to COTA; it was a fun and impressive weekend. Roll on the next race.</p>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-25770896865198594782012-11-15T15:57:00.000-06:002012-11-15T15:57:08.917-06:00A brief commercial, if I may<p>I made these shiny Calendars for the Sport Air Racing League. Come and get 'em! Splendid photos of twelve racing planes! All the race dates for the 2013 season, and as a free bonus, you get the rest of the year's days too!</p>
<p>Buy them cheap (while supplies last) from SARL: <a href="http://sportairrace.org/id501.html">click here</a> <br>Once these stocks are gone, you can buy them direct from <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/jo-hunter/sport-air-racing-league-2013/calendar/product-20467181.html">this page on Lulu.com</a>.
<p><img src="http://sportairrace.org/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Rocket100/CalendarCover.jpg"></p>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-79324361812886033982012-11-14T12:27:00.000-06:002012-11-14T12:27:24.913-06:00Flying with Doug<p>Friend Doug built himself a Vans RV-6. He spent about two and a half years building it, and got it flying in December 2011. Since then, he's flown all his test hours (40 of them) in order to prove the aeroplane, and flown lots more; because, well, he has a RV-6, and who wouldn't fly the pants off their RV if they had one?</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-19oct2012-650-1.jpg"><br><i>Doug and his RV-6</i></p>
<p>Recently, he delighted me by asking if I'd like to join him on a flight. So we went off to San Marcos and I acquainted myself with his aeroplane. It is very nice, containing a completely glass panel fitted with Grand Rapids instruments.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-19oct2012-650-2.jpg"></p>
<p>We flew out past Lockhart to the practise area south and east of San Marcos, which is fairly quiet airspace with few airfields. Doug gave me control of the plane, and I got a feel for the way it flies. This airplane loves to climb! I've been lucky enough to fly a few different RVs and they are all sensitive on the controls; this one is no exception. It will run away with you as soon as you're not paying attention. So even though this was a beautiful, clear, calm day as only Central Texas can provide in the fall, I did spend a short while chasing the plane all over the sky until I got a handle on it.</p>
<p>After I got it sorted, we were flying straight and level, and Doug suggested I try some turns. Around we went, in 90-degree increments, left and right. Then I tried doing a complete 360-degree turn, and to my extreme satisfaction, we felt a bump on resuming our initial heading - we had flown through our own wake :-) I always wanted to do that! </p>
<p>We tried some slow flight; Doug had me reduce the throttle down to about 15 inches and the plane slowed to around 90 knots. The controls get very mushy at the slower speeds (cruise is more like 180 knots) and turns happen a lot quicker, it feels like you're turning on a dime (a sixpence, for our UK readers!).</p>
<p>Back to San Marcos we flew, and I was very happy. Apparently I didn't disgrace myself too badly either, as Doug has taken me up twice since then!</p>
<p>On our second flight, I was getting to know the electronic display a little better. Doug reckons it takes a good ten hours of flight to really get going with it - at first, it is a sea of numbers and moving arrows. It still is, to some extent, but the heading, airspeed, vertical speed indicator, altitude and artificial horizon are all obvious enough. There are other indicators and reference points that pop up now and again, especially when the autopilot gets involved. The little circle just left of centre on the main panel seen here is an indicator to show you where you're going at that moment in time.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-19oct2012-650-3.jpg"></p>
<p>You can probably just make out on the left hand panel that it shows fuel levels, manifold pressure, engine RPM, cylinder head temperatures etc. It can show all kinds of other things too, but that screen is usually visible.</p>
<p>Before wet set off on our second flight, Doug took me through the whole flight planning process; deciding on where you want to go, then using a whiz wheel and chart to calculate the heading to fly, compensated for magnetic deviation and wind, and for how long to fly before you reach your destination, how much fuel burn you will use etc. This was very cool as I've not had this stuff explained to me before. We thought that we should reach Gonzales 15 minutes after we took off. The timer was started as we entered the runway, and 13.5 minutes later we crossed Gonzales airport - we'd had a slight tailwind which we didn't account for.</p>
<p>We spent more time on this flight doing turns, and lots of slow flight practise. Doug walked me through making a downwind, base and approach leg at the proper power settings - we stayed up at 2500ft or so, but I got the idea. Still not sure if I could actually land (I have confidence I probably could), but at least I'd crash slowly now ;-)</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-19oct2012-650-4.jpg"></p>
<p>Here's San Marcos from the air.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-7nov2012-650-1.jpg"></p>
<p>Yesterday, Doug texted me and asked if I'd like to join him for a jaunt up to Georgetown for some cheap fuel. Avgas (100LL) is currently about $5.60/gal in San Marcos, and $4.50/gal in Georgetown. I am always amazed at the huge variation in avgas prices; if you go to Bergstrom you can pay $8/gal. So off we set to the north, flew over our neighbourhood - always fun! - and got a nice view of Austin as we passed by, although it was a little far away for the lens I was using to make a decent picture.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-13nov2012-650-9.jpg"><br><i>We made it to Georgetown!</i></p>
<p>After fueling up, we flew towards Taylor. Doug had made mention of doing a touch-and-go there but there was some random traffic floating around the area, so we hung back. Doug had me make a bit of an approach there; at least turning towards the runway a couple of miles out, before we turned away and headed south again.</p>
<p>Doug asked the controllers at Austin Bergstrom if we might be allowed into their airspace, to have a look at the Circuit of the Americas, which is where the Formula 1 race is being held this weekend. They have spent the last two years building this track and it looks pretty awesome. We have tickets to the F1 race, so watch this space for reports! Anyway, the track is very close to the approach into runway 35R at Bergstrom, just across the other side of the 130 toll road. So you don't want to be getting in the way of commercial jet traffic. The controllers were very accommodating however and let us make an orbit around the track to get some photos. I wonder how many planes have been doing the same thing; I know for a fact we're not the only ones!</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-13nov2012-650-15.jpg"><br><i>Bergstrom is really close!</i></p>
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<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-13nov2012-650-11.jpg"><br><i>Circuit of the Americas</i></p>
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<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-13nov2012-650-13.jpg"><br><i>The middle of the track area</i></p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-13nov2012-650-14.jpg"><br><i>The hairpin</i></p>
<!--<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-13nov2012-650-16.jpg"></p>-->
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/flying-13nov2012-650-17.jpg"><br><i>Flying away</i></p>
<p>So that was sweet; getting a look at the circuit from on high. They have painted a bunch of red white and blue stars all over the sides of the circuit, it looks all shiny and new. I hope those of you watching the F1 race on TV get a good look at it all! Watch for Alan and me waving; maybe you'll see us in the grassy area at the end of the hairpin. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, I will let Doug's lessons sink in. He has been very generous with his time and airplane. Thanks, Doug!</p>
futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-62747650459355359812012-10-18T10:00:00.002-05:002012-10-18T10:00:31.521-05:00Jeeps Old and New<p>I hope you have your shades ready.</p>
<p>You may know that for the last six years I have been driving this 2006 Jeep Wrangler X. She's been a real gem and we have had some fun together. But time marches on, progress is made and I guess we were due for a change, so when Alan asked if I might be interested in a new Jeep... well, I was tempted. So off we went to look at some.</p>
<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1_FDSybgpEDw3TPPBogiB__XEwXZWONwiSmnIb_QAUmUTRW0MkCxv_QNTJOhyphenhyphen67K0LTGo5CBxDwVHfkne8clm5DCv-piZbJA5Gy_UrkEhoTYzs7GETidC80yLWWxWsvDsiD57Q/s1600/photo+1-709989.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1_FDSybgpEDw3TPPBogiB__XEwXZWONwiSmnIb_QAUmUTRW0MkCxv_QNTJOhyphenhyphen67K0LTGo5CBxDwVHfkne8clm5DCv-piZbJA5Gy_UrkEhoTYzs7GETidC80yLWWxWsvDsiD57Q/s640/photo+1-709989.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5800638991811612770" /></a></p>
<p>I am very used to this view. </p>
<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtoZ3mG4CcZLqGPTrNqvUEqmhhprF9LyzJava77NJW2w9NLSEFOH8Hs_BKgLjW9BQz-FUiZTP2FYMINnSWlO1NgbMtLbubrxN62ou6bphA32JnpeealODfuoT5VBQOIEExN1Pnrg/s1600/photo+2-711776.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtoZ3mG4CcZLqGPTrNqvUEqmhhprF9LyzJava77NJW2w9NLSEFOH8Hs_BKgLjW9BQz-FUiZTP2FYMINnSWlO1NgbMtLbubrxN62ou6bphA32JnpeealODfuoT5VBQOIEExN1Pnrg/s640/photo+2-711776.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5800638998011447202" /></a></p>
<p>Here's what the passenger got to look at. You can see we put in an aftermarket stereo with separate satellite radio and bluetooth modules.</p>
<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicIgB_-2GqqkKiYysLL3yTgJBJ9_bX027LWlTQXt_vv8pIf8hqXdyxy3Xdm8iifHn_TN9qh6_0KIezw4EXIuW-x1VurOky4tTcN9EnK59FCEmeETrZElEo1DbXic66Qovivwb7g/s1600/photo+3-714172.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicIgB_-2GqqkKiYysLL3yTgJBJ9_bX027LWlTQXt_vv8pIf8hqXdyxy3Xdm8iifHn_TN9qh6_0KIezw4EXIuW-x1VurOky4tTcN9EnK59FCEmeETrZElEo1DbXic66Qovivwb7g/s640/photo+3-714172.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5800639010986372194" /></a></p>
<p>Those new Jeeps were so tempting, that after a test drive, we put an order in... and here we are two months later. Check out this beauty!</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/JeepyWagon-6.jpg"></p>
<p>This is a Wrangler Unlimited Sahara in Crush Orange. And she's sweet! Compare the view with the previous version. It's all got a lot shinier. The display showing 'S 62' is telling me I'm facing south and it's 62F outside. It tells me all sorts of other information, too.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/JeepyWagon-1.jpg"></p>
<p>Here's the rest of the panel. That is a fully equipped navigation system in the middle, with satellite radio, bluetooth etc all built in. I think it even plays DVD films, when you're not moving, of course. You can talk to it too; it has voice recognition which works very well, so you can make phone calls or tell it which radio station you want.</p>
<p>Underneath that is a climate control system; you can just set the temperature you want and it will Make it So.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/JeepyWagon-3.jpg"></p>
<p>Here's a shot of the whole front. The centre console box has got wider since my last Wrangler; Alan and I can sit in there and not bash elbows any more. There's also another inch of width between my other elbow and the door. Checking the specs of each car, the overall width has increased from 66.7" to 73.9", which would explain that. Of course the new Jeep is quite a bit longer too - from 155.4" (old 2-door) to 184.4" (new 4-door). It's not quite as easy to see where you're going when reversing, so I will have to be careful with this extra size.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/JeepyWagon-2.jpg"></p>
<p>Turning round a bit, imagine sitting in these nice comfy leather seats! They're heated, too. Although I don't suppose I'll be using that feature a whole lot in Texas.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/JeepyWagon-4.jpg"></p>
<p>Driving it is really nice. The ride is very smooth, there's none of the jiggliness of the old Wrangler. You do feel the Jeep kick going over certain kinds of bumps - it's a type of wriggle that Jeeps seem to have; I think it's due to the type of suspension in these. But it's nothing like the older car.</p>
<p>The gearbox is very good. Not that the old one was bad, but this seems evolved. The gearstick slicks into gear, the clutch is smooth. Of course I am still getting used to it since it's completely different to my old one. The gears seem more spaced out. Although both cars had six speed boxes, I used to get better results pulling away in second gear since first was so short, and I'd be in fourth at 40mph and in sixth at 60mph.</p>
<p>This new gearbox wants to pull away in first - second is a bit much, unless you were going downhill maybe. I was cruising around yesterday at 65mph in fifth gear just fine; the old car would have been unhappy about that. The tachometer has a green arc drawn on it now; apparently keeping it within the green arc is the sweet spot for the engine. I've noticed I get an 'eco' message that pops up when it's not working hard, too.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/JeepyWagon-5.jpg"></p>
<p>Looking at the engine, it has changed a bit! The old engine bay was a mess of pipes and braces. Now we have this clean looking plastic cover and a few yellow parts for me to top up the fluids. As for the engines themselves, the old one was an inline 6-cylinder, 4-litre affair making 190 horsepower and 235 ft-lbs of torque. The new engine is Jeep's new Pentastar engine that came out last year, which is much more modern and efficient. It is a 3.6 litre V6 making 285 horsepower and 260 ft-lbs of torque. It's also a lot quieter than the previous engine, although it makes a very nice sound.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/JeepyWagon-11.jpg"></p>
<p>Here's the back end open. Lots of cargo space in the Unlimited! It has plenty of tie down hooks and a reversible cargo mat (carpet/rubber) so hopefully I won't get Christmas tree needles lodging in there forever more this year. It's taller, too - I won't have to live in fear of bashing my head on the tailgate door any more. It's also taller inside, the ride height seems so when you're driving along. Which is nice.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/JeepyWagon-7.jpg"></p>
<p>There's lots of nice little details, too. Spot the little Jeep on the wheel, here! There's more on the other wheels, and one on the bottom of the black edge of the windshield. These are new wheels for the 2013 model; I really like them. They still have the factory markings on... I had better clean them.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/JeepyWagon-8.jpg"></p>
<p>The whole driving experience in this new Jeep is much more refined. My old one had a lot of character which was great, but this one seems more civilized. There's a lot less wind and engine noise which means you can actually listen to classical music stations, or hold phone conversations properly without having to bellow into the microphone. I have yet to try using Siri but she didn't work at all in the old car; I am hoping she will be happy with the lack of background din.</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/JeepyWagon-9.jpg"></p>
<p>Of course, there's plenty of wind noise if you take the roof off... this IS a Jeep after all! These new ones have a modular roof, so you can remove only the front panels if you like, the heavy back end can stay on. And you don't need tools to do it; it's all levers and hand screws. I can report that driving with the panels off is great, and something we will have to do plenty of :-)</p>
<p><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/JeepyWagon-10.jpg"></p>
<p>I am looking forward to many adventures with this Jeep :-)</p>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31125835.post-86143084599200377142012-08-09T10:35:00.000-05:002012-08-09T10:54:11.479-05:00AirVenture Cup Air Race<p>On the Sunday right before Oshkosh, for the last sixteen years, the <a href="http://www.airventurecuprace.com">AirVenture Cup Air Race</a> has been held. The starting point alternates between Mitchell, SD and Dayton, OH, making the race around 450-500 miles long. It used to finish at Oshkosh but the finish line has been moved out to nearby airfields since Oshkosh gets so busy. This year, the finish line was set to be at West Bend, about an hour's drive south of Oshkosh. It is also the first year that the Sport Air Racing League was in control of the race, which meant that it was open to production aircraft for the first time - previously it had been for Experimental aircraft only.</p>
<p>I was lucky enough to hitch a ride with Sam down to West Bend. We got there in time to be told there was a big lump of weather moving in from the south, and the finish line was therefore being moved to Waupaca, about 40 minutes drive <b>north</b> of Oshkosh! So after a quick refreshment break, a bunch of people piled into their cars and we headed back up the road. I did manage to take a picture of this cool sign at West Bend before we left:<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/OSH12-AVC-1.jpg"></p>
<p>About an hour and 40 later, we arrived at Waupaca. The race start had been delayed to allow the timers to move, so we were in plenty of time before racers started coming through. A tent canopy was set up with some tables for the timers, and some bright orange tarpaulins were laid out either side of the taxiway to mark the finish line.</p>
<p>Eventually we started to hear radio calls from incoming racers. First in were all the speedy Lancairs, Questaires, SX300s and similar. This is a Questaire Venture:<br>
<img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-Questaire-N94Y-10.jpg"></p>
<p>There were around forty aircraft in the race, and quite a wide variety of aircraft types. However, this is something I did not expect to see looming in my lens!<br>
<img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-Boomerang-N24BT-107.jpg"></p>
<p>What a treat to see the one-of-a-kind Rutan Boomerang being wrung out across the finish line! It truly is as asymmetric as the pictures show; it was designed to be a very safe twin; if one engine fails there is no yaw due to the difference in shape either side.<br>
<img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-Boomerang-N24BT-110.jpg"></p>
<p>Here's Team Ely, who are currently in the points lead for this SARL racing season:<br>
<img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-AA5A-N26958-130.jpg"></p>
<p>Three twin-engined Defiants entered the race, so they made a new race class for them. They move along pretty fast, and have that curious rudder underneath next to the nose gear. The vertical surfaces on the wings do not move. This is another Rutan design.<br>
<img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-Defiant-N2HM-186.jpg"></p>
<p>Nice to see the Polen Special out again, I haven't seen it in a couple of years.<br>
<img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-Polen-N11DP-177.jpg"></p>
<p>Low finish pass of the Day award goes to Race 83; zooooom!<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-EZ-N83DT-87.jpg">
<p>There was a bit of a line for the gas pump afterwards.<br>
<img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC---82.jpg"></p>
<p>I took a few moments to look at the aircraft on the ramp once they were parked. Here's the inside of the Boomerang. It is cool how the door moves inside and down, it is more of a hatch then a door.<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-Boomerang-N24BT-163.jpg"></p>
<p>Later on, I was delighted when the race staff threw me into the back of this Cirrus for the journey back to Oshkosh!<br>
<img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-SR22-N563RM-170.jpg"></p>
<p>Waupaca Airfield from the air. The finish line was over the taxiway on the left, where there is a 4-way junction with the smaller taxiway leading to the ramp.<br>
<img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-airports-Waupaca-203.jpg"></p>
<p>The glass panel inside the Cirrus shows clearly the route through Ripon and Fisk into Oshkosh. This time, I got to experience the higher, faster version since we would fly at 2300 feet and 135 knots. We got routed further along the railroad tracks to join the circuit for 27.<br>
<img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-SR22-N563RM-204.jpg"></p>
<p>Entering the downwind for 27, you get a great view of the North 40, which is pretty packed with aircraft already. The gap on the left would fill up quickly.<br>
<img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-airports-Oshkosh-208.jpg"></p>
<p>Getting into line for the final for 27 takes you over the lake and back in. There are at least five aircraft ahead of us in this shot! One is far left, over the trees. The next is about 1/3 in to the image from the left, again over the trees. The next is up and right a bit, at the top edge of the trees. There's one about to cross the runway threshold; from our point of view he is over the grass on the left. And the last is hard to spot, but he's between the orange and green dots on the runway. Click on the image below to see them better, but that's a typical day at Oshkosh.<br>
<a href="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/OSH12-AVC-final-1.jpg"><img src="http://futurshox.net/planes28/AVC-airports-Oshkosh-210.jpg"></a></p>
<p>Later that day, I was walking past the race tent and got collared by Linda, who said I should go with her and the other racers to the awards dinner! We all got into a school bus which took us to Wendt's On The Lake; a fish restaurant located a little ways past the seaplane base on the shores of Lake Winnebago. The dock that runs out into the lake used to be the finish line for the race; tradition has seen the awards dinner held here ever since. It was obviously a popular spot since it was heaving! Eventually everyone got settled under a huge marquee and enjoyed some dinner (and free beer; woo-hoo!).<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/OSH12-AVC-3.jpg"></p>
<p>The awards were duly presented; for the individual recipients <a href="http://futurshox.net/tmp/AVC/index.html">click here</a> for the photos, but here's a picture of the awards they were all racing for:<br><img src="http://futurshox.net/blog/pics/OSH12-AVC-2.jpg"></p>
<p>I think everyone enjoyed themselves; they certainly all seemed to have very large smiles at the end of a long and competitive race.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sportairrace.org">Sport Air Racing League</a><br><a href="http://futurshox.net/aerogallery.php?event=319">Full AVC photo gallery</a></p>futurshoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18418553542931249254noreply@blogger.com0