I have 3 wind farms in "my" airspace, and flying around them is like flying around anything else, EXCEPT for the damn anonometer towers that can be 100' high and spring up overnight. Most I've seen are a flat gray galvinized finish and some are unguyed, so very hard to see. To top it off if one is gawking at the wind turbines (and they do tend to command your attention) getting surprised can happen. The only good thing about them is they are pretty insubstantial, and maybe could be hit without downing the airplane.

courierguy wrote: the damn anonometer towers that can be 100' high and spring up overnight. Most I've seen are a flat gray galvinized finish and some are unguyed, so very hard to see.

That's the stuff nightmares are made of...... at least mine are.

courierguy wrote: and maybe could be hit without downing the airplane.

Please don't prove that theory, I have my doubts.

Terry wrote:Those turbines are massive!
If they are the same as we have here in Oregon and Washington, each blade is 120' long.
I have also come across these towers in areas not to far from the turbines, not sure what they are for.....maybe checking wind conditions? They are very hard to see.

Yep, Terry, the ones in the picture are the big ones. 3 megawatt turbines. We have both 3mw and 1.5mw turbines here. There are about 3 or 4 different makes/models, some a little smaller than others, but all pretty big.....and lots of 'em.





Around here, they call the little towers "MET towers." The energy company puts them up a year or two ahead of the wind farm project. They "measure" the wind for strength and consistency over a long period of time to see if there is enough good wind to justify the turbines. After the turbines are built, the MET towers stay up to continue to monitor the wind to show how the turbines are producing in the given wind conditions.

They are VERY hard to see. Galvanized steel with no lights. All the ones here have guy wires and are probably +/- 200' tall. These would definitely ruin your day. I think the tower would win. I have the ones in the area where I regularly fly marked on my GPS.

Absolutely a beautiful afternoon to fly here in western Nebraska...and no wind!
We have about 400 windmills just accross the border in Colorado just south of the airport. I NEVER get down amongst the windmills to fly. As was previously mentioned are the small wind monitoring towers that are almost invisible hidden in and around the wind turbines..good place to stay away from!

A picture from this weekends flight to Alpine Wyoming, coming in from the east over the Palisades Res. My next solar job will be 40 miles up the canyon on the right!

Today I had to fly 70 miles to take a picture of a set of truck scales I craned in 4 months ago, and havn't been paid for yet. Tomorrow since I will be in the neighborhood of the manufacturer (270 miles away, he won't be expecting me.....) I will walk in, show him the picture (you make this?), and when he says yes, I'll ask how they got set in place. THEN I'll nicely tell him I did it and by the way I need to be paid. Could get interesting.

On the way home , just to mix a little business with pleasure:

Collecting...only one of the curses of the self employed...but, no matter what, better than corporate.

I finally get a chance to add a few pictures to one of the greatest aviation threads going.

Flew from Ramona, CA (KRNM) to Aqua Caliente (L54) and then Borrego Springs (L08) before heading back to Ramona. Mostly I was there to check out the hot springs at Aqua Caliente.

S-12Flyer wrote:......It's just like those signs that say "you are here". How do they know?!! I could be anywhere but somehow they knew I would be there, Amazing.

Kinda like the "cattle crossing" or wildlife crossing signs you see sometimes
-- how do those darned animals know where to cross? Can they read??

A beautiful day for flying...Just a few stops on our North loop yesterday...





AKT

AKT and the BCP flyers on the north course yesterday.
Did you see two big black bulls? I got all of the cattle home from the high country except those. Although both are about 2000 lbs and are large, they don't show up in the timber.
They may be in the area from Frenchmans Ranch north about 5 miles and west about 4 miles.They would really show up in the mountain meadows.
look for them when you fly that area please. The more eyes the better.
Thanks, Chance

shortfielder wrote:Hey Tadpole
Sorry that didn't work out for ya, but glad to have ya back. You still got the Stinson? Or, what ya gonna do for a plane? There are some deals out there.
Gary

hey Gary, what tires are you running now...been saving up for 29 11 10 ribs.. I think those will be the best fit for the maule and last a little longer than slick bushwheels....what say you.?

RWM wrote:

Terry wrote:Those turbines are massive!
If they are the same as we have here in Oregon and Washington, each blade is 120' long.
I have also come across these towers in areas not to far from the turbines, not sure what they are for.....maybe checking wind conditions? They are very hard to see.

Yep, Terry, the ones in the picture are the big ones. 3 megawatt turbines. We have both 3mw and 1.5mw turbines here. There are about 3 or 4 different makes/models, some a little smaller than others, but all pretty big.....and lots of 'em.





Around here, they call the little towers "MET towers." The energy company puts them up a year or two ahead of the wind farm project. They "measure" the wind for strength and consistency over a long period of time to see if there is enough good wind to justify the turbines. After the turbines are built, the MET towers stay up to continue to monitor the wind to show how the turbines are producing in the given wind conditions.

They are VERY hard to see. Galvanized steel with no lights. All the ones here have guy wires and are probably +/- 200' tall. These would definitely ruin your day. I think the tower would win. I have the ones in the area where I regularly fly marked on my GPS.

isn't it interesting that environmentalists will fight to the death to prevent off shore oil platforms and say they are ruining the view and are ugly but say nothing of thousands of wind machines ruining the desert views...

Swindler wrote:I finally get a chance to add a few pictures to one of the greatest aviation threads going.

Flew from Ramona, CA (KRNM) to Aqua Caliente (L54) and then Borrego Springs (L08) before heading back to Ramona. Mostly I was there to check out the hot springs at Aqua Caliente.

hey swindler... welcome.. bet your not flying today out of Ramona.. expect 60 MPH winds...

Deleted double post

Hey Butch
I am running the 29x11x10 airhawks on the 10" AKBush wheels. I am very happy with them, and wear wise they are holding up fine. I got the "bro" deal on these used, and they were shaven. If and when I replace them, I will get the unshaven. For the environment I land in, I feel I would be better off to loose the added 10 pounds of my own self and have the added protection of the extra rubber on the tires too help protect the tires from sharp rocks and cactii.

I notice w/the 29's there is a lot of wrinkling of the tube, and have been told that the tube from the 26's works much beter, so you might want to check on that.

I think the Bush tires are hands down the best backcountry tire, but if you are on asphalt much, then you may have to go with a harder compound tire. You might consider the 26's, pretty similar floatation, less wt, maybe cheaper??? Should be good on your plane.

I liked the 26 Goodyear blimp tires too(they did seem to have more of a tendacy to slip on the rim at lower pressures, but that seems easy enough to fix, so really not an issue, and you can keep your rims. I don't think they are as wide as either of the AirHawks, so, a little less floatation.

Any of them will really do what you want. I think those are probly the top 3 for us. Then it just bcomes a matter of what you like the looks of and best fits your wallet(or your "Babes" )

Most of this stuff inolves some sort of trade off, weight, speed, $$$$'s, just have to find what is the best ballance for you. Just like love

Gary

Working on the overhaul break in. Not really work. Got in 2 more hours. Phase 2 complete 2 more to go.

Central Oregon high desert. East of the Cascade Range looking west.


Went to Sisters Oregon to visit a bro. Went and got some coffee. Sisters is a town with an intentional western cowboy motif.


Nice fire place.


Main street


Airport. $10.00 to land BS




More flying the next 3 days

Cheers...Rob

scruiser wrote:Collecting...only one of the curses of the self employed...but, no matter what, better than corporate.

Not my company. Most all of our venders love our company. We usually send a check in with the orders. And I have a guy coming all the way from North Carolina to SoCal to service a liftgate on on of our trailers later this month. Well, my boss just told me yesterday to get an invoice so we can pay him now. But any little thing we spend money on has to be approved before hand with a "Purchase Request" form. Takes a little extra time on some projects, but that's just the way it is.

Fog, BAH! Keeps me from flying to the dark patches.

Other than IFR out of Troutdale and IFR back into Troutdale it was a beautiful day. Pacific City was pure sun and calm! Went to the Pelican pub for lunch with my boy and his friend.

On the way to Pacific City. Got to love the IFR ticket. Gets us to the sun.






On the way back to Troutdale just about to drop into the soup.


In it.


I see the ground


Got her made now


Cheers...Rob

Way to get after it Rob! Looks like an awesome time (minus the west side soup). You gotta love that big high pressure hanging in there so you can break in your new engine and spend a day at the beach. I'm jelous (working).

Clippwagon